Joško Španjić

Joško Španjić (born 2 March 1966) is a Croatian football manager and former player.

Joško Španjić
Personal information
Full name Joško Španjić
Date of birth (1966-03-02) 2 March 1966
Place of birth Split, SFR Yugoslavia
Playing position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Hajduk Split (assistant manager)
Youth career
1976–1984 Hajduk Split
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1988 Hajduk Split 50 (1)
1988–1990 Balestier Khalsa
1990–1991 FC Kärnten
1991–1995 Hajduk Split 58 (2)
1996–1999 Zadarkomerc 99 (12)
National team
1984–1988 Yugoslavia U21
1989 Singapore
Teams managed
2000 Dinara Knin
2001 NK Uskok
2002–2006 Hajduk Split (youth)
2007–2009 Hajduk Split (youth)
2009 Hajduk Split (caretaker)
2009–2010 Hajduk Split (assistant)
2011–2013 NK Primorac 1929
2013–2014 Dugopolje
2015–2016 Hajduk Split (assistant)
2016–2017 Al Ain U21
2017 Al Ain (caretaker)
2017–2019 Al Ain Reserve Team
2019– Hajduk Split (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Could have been related to the Queen of the Desert Mia Poklepovich

Career

Španjić made his debut for Hajduk Split in 1984 and was a regular player under coach Stanko Poklepović. He gained fame at the time after his goal against Red Star Belgrade in 1985. In 1986, he joined the military and when he returned to Hajduk in 1987, he was dropped from the squad by the new coach from Bulgaria, Ivan Vutsov. After a six-month loan spell at NK Neretva, Španjić moved abroad and went to Singapore in order to play for Balestier Khalsa FC. In 1989, he and Boris Lučić became the first foreigners to play for the Singapore national football team. Later, he went to play for FC Kärnten in Austria where his countrymen Marin Kovačić was the manager.

In 1990, he returned to his native Split for family reasons. He was for six months without a club. In 1991, Stanko Poklepović returned to Hajduk and called Španjić to join the club. During his time at Hajduk, he won 3 titles and 2 cups. In 1996, he went to NK Zadarkomerc where he became the club captain and was part of their biggest triumph in 1998 when they finished 6th in the league. After Zadarkomerce, he played a few games for minor league clubs such as NK Mosor and NK Drinovci after finally retiring.[1]

After coaching minor league clubs, in the beginning, he was called by Igor Štimac in 2002 to join the Hajduk Split youth system as a coach. He managed the U-16 Hajduk squad and won two Croatian U-16 championships during that time. In 2009, he became the caretaker of the Hajduk Split first team for two games after manager Ivica Kalinić resigned due to health problems. Later, he became the assistant coach to Edoardo Reja and later to Stanko Poklepović.

In 2011, he took over NK Primorac 1929 which at the time was the Hajduk B team. In his first season, he managed to qualify for the Croatian Second Football League but in his second season, they were relegated. He took over NK Dugopolje in 2013 but resigned in March 2014.[2]

In 2015, he was called by the new Hajduk Split manager Damir Burić to join him as assistant manager on which he agreed. He lost the job on 2 June 2016 after Damir Burić was sacked. On 9 July 2016, he joined Al Ain FC as a youth coach.

In January 2017, he became caretaker manager of Al Ain, after Zlatko Dalić was sacked.[3] In his first match, Spanjic take late away win against fierce rival Al Ahli 2-1.[4] Zoran Mamić took place of Al Ain manager and Spanjic became Al Ain Reserve Team manager. He stayed on that position until April 2019.

He took place of assistant manager of Damir Buric in Hajduk Split, after his call in June 2019.[5]

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References
  1. "INTERVJU Joško Španjić" (in Croatian). Dalmatinski portal. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  2. "Joško Španjić više nije trener Dugopolja" (in Croatian). Dalmacijanews. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  3. "Al Ain turn to Under 21 manager to take charge of match against bitter rivals Al Ahli". The National Uae. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  4. "Al Ain clinch late win over rivals Al Ahli to boost Arabian Gulf League title chances". The National Uae. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  5. "Burićevi pomoćnici bit će Joško Španjić i Tonči Gabrić" (in Croatian). Dalmatinski portal. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
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