Ante Milicic ( ; hr, Ante Miličić ; (born 4 April 1974) is an Australian soccer manager and former professional player.

Personal life

The son of Croatian immigrants, Milicic grew up in

Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A smal ...

, a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney. Milicic was largely brought up by his father after his mother died when he was 17. At 16, he was selected to train at the Australian Institute of Sport.

Club career

He played for a variety of sides in two stints in the National Soccer League. The first stint was played almost entirely for

Sydney United Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but ...

, for whom he played as a junior, and which culminated in playing in their runner-up 1996/97 side. After that season he moved to NAC Breda in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and after 2 seasons there went to

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

's NK Rijeka, where he was the club's top scorer in 2000/01 with 10 goals. On his return to the NSL in season 2001/02, he rejoined

for a brief stay, before moving to city rival Sydney Olympic during the same season. He would spend the rest of the season and the next playing there, including scoring the only goal of the 2001/02 Grand Final against Perth Glory. In the final he was awarded the Joe Marston Medal, delivering Sydney Olympic their second NSL title, as well as playing in the runner up side the following season against Perth Glory. In the last season of the NSL in 2003–04 season, he moved to Parramatta Power, where he would again experience Grand Final defeat against the Perth Glory. After the NSL was disbanded, Milicic played in the

Malaysia Super League The Malaysia Super League ( ms, Liga Super Malaysia) is the men's top professional football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP), now known as the Malays ...

for

Pahang Pahang (; Jawi: , Pahang Hulu Malay: ''Paha'', Pahang Hilir Malay: ''Pahaeng'', Ulu Tembeling Malay: ''Pahaq)'' officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific ''Darul Makmur'' (Jawi: , "The Abode of Tranquility") is a sultanate and ...

. He score a brace for Pahang in his debut against

Perlis Perlis, ( Northern Malay: ''Peghelih''), also known by its honorific title Perlis Indera Kayangan, is the smallest state in Malaysia by area and population. Located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, it borders the Thai provinces ...

. He scored 9 goals for Pahang as their were crowned as the league champions in 2004 season. It was widely felt that with the $1.5 million salary caps imposed on all A-League clubs, Milicic would not be able to be brought back to Australia. However, he joined the Newcastle United Jets, who finished 4th on the A-League ladder in 2005/2006, also joining close friends

Labinot Haliti Labinot Haliti (born 26 October 1985) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a second striker or winger. Early life Haliti's was born in Pristina, and fled his home country at the age of 14 with his family, arriving in Au ...

Ned Zelic Nedjeljko Zelic (born 4 July 1971), commonly known as Ned Zelic, is an Australian former footballer who played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder. Club career Zelic started his career in the old Australian National Soccer League, where he ...

. Ante Milicic was the first player in the A-League to score a Hat-Trick in the game

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...

New Zealand Knights New Zealand Knights Football Club (formed from the Football Kingz Football Club in 2004) were the only professional association football club in New Zealand before they became defunct. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, they played in the A-Leagu ...

on 4 November 2005 in round 11. In May 2006 Ante signed to transfer to rival A-League team

Queensland Roar Brisbane Roar Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Brisbane, Queensland and has won the domestic title on three occasions, as well as holding the longest unbeaten record of 36 league matches without defeat. Brisb ...

, where he played in 44 matches scoring 11 goals. On 8 December 2007, Milicic had his contract terminated by mutual consent and joining

Malaysian Premier League The Malaysia Premier League ( ms, Liga Premier) was the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia. The league replaced the former second-tier league, Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The Malaysia Premier Leag ...

Shahzan Muda FC, citing that "''It wasn't quite happening for me at Queensland Roar.''"

National team statistics

Coaching

Milicic returned home to his club

as player/coach for season 2009 and 2010 in the

NSW Premier League The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, the organising body in New South Wales (the other being the National Premier Leagues Norther ...

. It is his first venture as coach and currently boasts a record of 9 wins (8 in Premier League 1 Tiger Turf Cup), 2 Draws and 1 Loss. He was also called up as an assistant coach to the Australia men's national under-20 soccer team team for the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt and 2011 Under 20s World Cup in Colombia. On 18 November 2009, it was announced that he would be joining

Jesper Olsen Jesper Olsen (born 20 March 1961) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a left winger. He is best remembered for representing Ajax of the Netherlands and Manchester United of England. He was a regular player for the Danish na ...

as an assistant coach at new A-League side

Melbourne Heart Melbourne City Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the south–eastern Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne East, that plays in the A-League, the top level of Australian soccer, under licence from Australian Profession ...

. After being passed over for the vacant manager position at

, he joined his close friend

Tony Popovic 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. As a player Popovic's usual position was centre-back. Starting in 1989 at Sydney Unit ...

as the inaugural assistant coach of

Western Sydney Wanderers FC Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in ...

. At the end of the 2013–14 A-League season, Milicic joined Ange Postecoglou as assistant coach of Australia's men’s national football team, the Socceroos. On 18 February 2019, Milicic was announced by the FFA as the interim head coach of the Australia women's national team, the Matildas, managing the Matildas to a round of 16 finish at the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football championship contested by 24 women's national teams representing member associations of FIFA. I ...

. He resigned from this position on 19 July 2020. On 15 May 2019, Milicic was announced as the inaugural head coach for new A-League club

Macarthur FC Macarthur Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in South Western Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in Australia's premier soccer competition, the A-League, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). On 1 ...

. He began following his spell with the Matildas. After two seasons with Macarthur, on 26 April 2022, Milicic informed the club that the 2021–22 season would be his last choosing to return to Croatia for family reasons.

Managerial statistics

Honours

With Australia: *

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Nations Cup is an international association football tournament held among the OFC member nations. It was held every two years from 1996 to 2004; before 1996 there were two other tournaments held at irregular intervals, under the name ...

: 2004 With Sydney Olympic: * NSL Championship: 2001–02 With

: *

: 2004 With Trinity Grammar 4th XI: * Cassen Cup- Most Outstanding Opens Team: 2009 Personal honours: * Joe Marston Medal: 2001–2002 with Sydney Olympic *

Johnny Warren Medal The Johnny Warren Medal is awarded to the best player of the Australian national soccer club competition. It was first awarded in the National Soccer League in 1990, and upon the NSL's demise in November 2004, was carried forward into the new nat ...

: 2003–2004 with Parramatta Power * NSL Top Scorer: 2003–2004 with Parramatta Power – 20 goals

References

External links

Oz Football profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milicic, Ante 1974 births Living people Soccer players from Sydney Australian people of Croatian descent Australian expatriate soccer players Australia international soccer players Expatriate footballers in Malaysia Expatriate footballers in Croatia A-League Men players National Soccer League (Australia) players Croatian Football League players Eredivisie players NAC Breda players Newcastle Jets FC players HNK Rijeka players Parramatta Power players Brisbane Roar FC players Sydney Olympic FC players Sydney United 58 FC players Sri Pahang FC players Australian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Australian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Australian Institute of Sport soccer players Association football forwards 2002 OFC Nations Cup players 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup managers Australian soccer coaches Melbourne City FC non-playing staff Australia women's national soccer team managers Sydney United 58 FC managers Australian soccer players