Tony Popovic
Australian association football player and manager / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Tony Popovic?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Tony Popovic (born 4 July 1973) is an Australian association football manager and former player. He is the current manager of A-League club Melbourne Victory.[2]
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Tony Popovic[1] | ||
Date of birth | (1973-07-04) 4 July 1973 (age 50) | ||
Place of birth | Sydney, Australia | ||
Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||
Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Melbourne Victory (manager) | ||
Youth career | |||
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) | |
International career | |||
1988–1989 | Australia U17 | 7 | (2) |
1990–1991 | Australia U20 | 9 | (1) |
1992 | Australia U23 | 4 | (0) |
1995–2006 | Australia | 58 | (8) |
Managerial career | |||
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 | ||
2020–2021 | Xanthi | ||
2021– | Melbourne Victory | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
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, the 2018–19 A-League Premiership with Perth Glory and an Australia Cup with Melbourne Victory in 2022. He holds the record of coaching the most A-League Grand Final losses with 5 to the end of the 2023/2024 season
He is the father of Kristian and Gabriel Popovic, both of whom are also professional footballers.