Tony Popovic

Antony Popovic (/ˈpɒpəvɪtʃ/ POP-ə-vitch; Croatian: Tony Popović, pronounced [pǒpoʋitɕ]; born 4 July 1973) is an Australian association football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Greek Super League 2 club Xanthi.

Antony Popovic
Personal information
Full name Antony Popovic
Date of birth (1973-07-04) 4 July 1973
Place of birth Sydney, Australia
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 Xanthi (manager)
Youth career
– Fairfield Bulls
– Sydney United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1997 Sydney United 162 (14)
1994 → Canberra FC (loan) 5 (1)
1997–2001 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 87 (13)
2001–2006 Crystal Palace 123 (6)
2006–2007 Al-Arabi 17 (2)
2007–2008 Sydney FC 27 (1)
Total 421 (37)
National team
1988–1989 Australia U-17 7 (2)
1990–1991 Australia U-20 9 (1)
1992 Australia U-23 4 (0)
1995–2006 Australia 58 (8)
Teams managed
2008–2011 Sydney FC (assistant)
2009 Sydney FC (caretaker)
2011–2012 Crystal Palace (assistant)
2012–2017 Western Sydney Wanderers
2017 Karabükspor
2018–2020 Perth Glory
2020– Xanthi
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

As a player Popovic's usual position was centre-back. Starting in 1989 at Sydney United he went on to play for Sanfrecce Hiroshima of Japan and Premier League side Crystal Palace, among other clubs. He appeared with the Australian national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where he played against reigning World Champions Brazil.

Popovic started his coaching career in 2008 with Sydney FC. After a brief stint as assistant manager at Crystal Palace he was chosen as the inaugural manager of Western Sydney Wanderers at the start of the 2012–13 season. His major achievements as a manager are winning the 2012–13 A-League Premiership and 2014 AFC Champions League with the Wanderers and the 2018–19 A-League Premiership with Perth Glory.

He is the father of Kristian and Gabriel Popovic, both of whom are also professional football players.

Club career
Popovic playing for Sydney FC in 2008
Popovic playing for Sydney FC in 2008

Early career

Popovic was born in Sydney to a Croatian family,[1] and grew up in Fairfield, New South Wales.[2] He began his career with Sydney United with a one-year stint in his junior career at Fairfield Bulls. He rose through the youth ranks, making 162 appearances in seven years for the first team, before moving to play in the J1 League. Popovic signed with Sanfrecce Hiroshima where he stayed for five years scoring 13 goals in 94 appearances.

Crystal Palace

Tony Popovic signed for Crystal Palace on a free transfer in August 2001 from Sanfrecce Hiroshima. He became an integral part of the Palace defence, eventually becoming club captain. He played more than 120 matches for Crystal Palace. In his last season he played for Crystal Palace in 21 Premier League matches. In total he made more than 120 appearances for the club.[3]

Popovic's contract with Palace expired at the end of June 2006, and he decided against accepting the club's offer of a new contract. He instead moved to Qatar club, Al-Arabi.

Sydney FC

In 2007, with the growth of the A-League and slight homesickness, Popovic moved to Sydney FC, signing a two-year deal, with coach Branko Culina also announcing him the club's captain.[4] Popovic scored his first goal on 28 October 2007 from a corner to beat the Mariners 3–2 in front of his home crowd of 17,850.

Popovic announced his retirement on 11 November 2008 after nearly 20 years as a professional footballer.[5]

International career

Popovic competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona for the Australian U-23 team. He began his full international career in 1995 with the Australian national team. Over the next eleven years Popovic made 58 appearances for the Socceroos, scoring 8 goals.

The highlight of Popovic's career came in 2006 when the Australian national team qualified for the FIFA World Cup under the management of Guus Hiddink. He took part in both legs in the qualifying match against Uruguay. Being replaced in the first half of the second leg, due to injury, by Harry Kewell. The tall defender was named in the competing squad and made his World Cup debut against Brazil on 18 June. He suffered a calf injury 40 minutes into the game and was replaced by Marco Bresciano for the second half.[5] His injury ruled him out of Australia's last match in the group stage, against Croatia, and their second round loss against eventual winners, Italy.

On 4 October 2006, Popovic announced his retirement from the Socceroos.[6]

His final game was a friendly against Paraguay that month. He scored his eighth international goal, from a Mark Bresciano free kick, in his final minute on field to put Australia ahead, 1–0 in a game that finished 1–1.[5]

Coaching career
Popovic in 2010.

After retiring, Popovic moved into an assistant coach's role with Sydney FC,[7] where he remained until February 2011, when he returned to England and to Crystal Palace as first team coach,[8] after former teammate Dougie Freedman was appointed manager.[9]

Western Sydney Wanderers

On 17 May 2012, Popovic was announced as inaugural manager of A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers.[10] He joined the club on a four seasons deal after requesting to be released from the final year of his contracted role as assistant manager of Crystal Palace.[10] In Wanderers' first season, Popovic was named A-League Coach of the Year after finishing first in the league.[11] In the 2013–14 season Popovic led Wanderers to the 2014 AFC Champions League Final in the club's first attempt in the competition. They defeated Al-Hilal in the final, becoming the first Australian team to win the tournament. As a result of this achievement, Popovic was named as the 2014 AFC Coach of the Year.[12] With poor recruiting, the loss of assistant coach Ante Milicic, and a grueling schedule of matches, the 2014–15 season saw Popovic's team finish ninth in the league and eliminated from the group stage of the 2015 AFC Champions League. Despite an unfavorable season Popovic signed a new three-season deal with Western Sydney Wanderers, which would keep him at the club helm until 2018.[13]

Karabükspor

On 1 October 2017, Popovic made a shock announcement that he had resigned from Western Sydney Wanderers to coach Turkish Süper Lig club Karabükspor. It came less than a week out from the start of the 2017–18 A-League season.[14] After nine games, on 15 December 2017, he was sacked by the club and was owed AUD$1.4M compensation.[15]

Perth Glory

On 11 May 2018, Popovic was confirmed as Perth Glory's new manager following the dismissal of Kenny Lowe at the end of the 2017–18 season.[16] His first game in charge was a pre-season friendly against Chelsea which the Glory lost 0–1.[17] Under Popovic's management, Perth won the 2018–19 premiership with two rounds remaining.

On August 26 2020, shortly after coaching Perth to disappointing 2-0 loss to Sydney FC in the semi finals, Popovic activated a contractual clause allowing him to leave the club for a European team. He announced that he had signed Greek Super League side Xanthi FC.

Statistics

[18]

Club performance League Cup League Cup Total
Season Club League AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Australia League Cup League Cup Total
1989/90Sydney CroatiaNational Soccer League130130
1990/91171171
1991/92201201
1992/93242242
1993/94Sydney UnitedNational Soccer League272272
1994/95253253
1995/96294294
1996/977272
Japan League Emperor's Cup J.League Cup Total
1997Sanfrecce HiroshimaJ1 League1100060170
19982543121306
19992365010296
20002132032265
200170000070
England League FA Cup League Cup Total
2001/02Crystal PalaceFirst Division20210212
2002/0336430404
2003/0430110311
2004/05Premier League230230
2005/06League Championship1202010150
Qatar League Emir Cup Sheikh Jassem Cup Total
2006/07Al-ArabiStars League172172
Australia League Cup League Cup Total
2007/08Sydney FCA-League201201
2008/097070
CountryAustralia 1891618916
Japan 871310112310917
England 1197501197
Qatar 172172
Total 4123815112343942
Australia national team
YearAppsGoals
199580
1996100
199720
199820
199900
200071
2001105
200200
200321
200450
200580
200641
Total588

International goals
DateVenueOpponentResultResultCompetitionScored
19 June 2000Papeete, Tahiti Cook Islands17–0WonOceania Nations Cup1 (1)
9 April 2001BCU International Stadium Tonga22–0Won2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)1 (2)
11 April 2001BCU International Stadium American Samoa31–0Won2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)2 (4)
16 April 2001BCU International Stadium Samoa11–0Won2002 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)2 (6)
12 February 2003Boleyn Ground, London England3–1WonFriendly1 (7)
7 September 2006Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Paraguay1–1DrawFriendly1 (8)

Managerial statistics
As of 2 March 2020[19][14][20]
Team From To Record
GWDLWin %
Western Sydney Wanderers 17 May 2012 1 October 2017 180 77 40 63 042.78
Karabükspor 1 October 2017 15 December 2017 11 3 0 8 027.27
Perth Glory 11 May 2018 2 September 2020 60 30 13 17 050.00
Total 251 110 53 88 043.82

Honours

Player
Australia
Champions (3): 1996, 2000, 2004

Manager
Western Sydney Wanderers
Premiers (1): 2012–13
Runners-up (2): 2013–14, 2015–16
Runners-up (3): 2013, 2014, 2016
Winners (1): 2014
Perth Glory
Premiers (1): 2018–19
Runners-up (1): 2019

Individual

References
  1. I.Š (4 November 2014). "VIDEO: 'Infamous' Nishimura again shocked, but also helped the Croats". Gol.gr. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  2. Halloran, Jessica (12 July 2007). "After 12 years, Poppa comes home to a whole new ball game". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  3. "Sydney welcomes back Milligan". Fox Sports. Australian Associated Press. 2 August 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  4. "Popovic to lead Sydney FC". ABC News. 2 August 2007. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  5. Hassett, Sebastian (11 November 2008). "Tony Popovic announces retirement". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  6. "Socceroo defender Moore fails to arrive". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 October 2006. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  7. "Popovic, Filan commit to Sydney". The World Game. Special Broadcasting Service. 23 March 2010. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  8. "Popovic To Quit Sydney For UK". Australian FourFourTwo. 4 February 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  9. Gentry, Nick (8 February 2011). "Popovic poised to start Palace role at Coventry". News Shopper. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  10. "Popovic head coach for new Sydney club". Football Federation Australia. 17 May 2012. Archived from the original on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  11. "Western Sydney Wanderers coach Tony Popovic named A-League Coach of the Year". Adelaide Now. 15 April 2013. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  12. http://www.foxsports.com.au/football/tony-popovic-nominated-for-2014-afc-coach-of-the-year-award-after-leading-wanderers-to-acl-glory/story-e6frf423-1227126036473
  13. "Popovic Extends Deal to 2018". wswanderersfc.com.au. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  14. "Tony Popovic quits as Western Sydney Wanderers A-League coach". ABC. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  15. "Tony Popovic sacked: Karabukspor, Socceroos". Fox Sports. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  16. "Popovic confirmed as new Head Coach". Perth Glory FC. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  17. "Chelsea begin new era in Perth with 1–0 win over gutsy Glory at Optus Stadium". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 July 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  18. "Tony Popovic". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman.
  19. "Tony Popovic". ALeague Stats. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  20. "Karabükspor matches". Soccerway. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
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