Miodrag "Grof" Božović (, ; born 22 June 1968) is a Montenegrin football

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and former player.

Playing career

Club

A tall central defender, Božović played alongside Yugoslav and Montenegrin legends

Predrag Mijatović Predrag "Peđa" Mijatović ( sr-Cyrl, Предраг Мијатовић, ; born 19 January 1969) is a Montenegrin retired professional footballer who played as a striker. At club level, Mijatović played for six clubs: Budućnost, Partizan, Va ...

and

Dejan Savićević Dejan Savićević ( cyrl, Дејан Савићевић, ; born 15 September 1966) is a Montenegrin former footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Since 2004, he has been the president of the Montenegrin Football Association (FSCG), cu ...

at Budućnost Titograd and for fellow Yugoslav team

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

, whom he left in 1994 during the civil war to play in Indonesia. He also played for

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

clubs

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional football club based in Waalwijk, that is currently competing in the Eredivisie. Its name is derived from 'Rooms Katholieke Combinatie' ('Roman Catholic Combination' in Dutch) and was established as a merger ...

and

RBC Roosendaal RBC, commonly known under its previous official name RBC Roosendaal, is a football club based in Roosendaal, Netherlands. RBC currently plays in the seventh-tier Tweede Klasse after a bankruptcy in 2011, restarting the club in tenth tier Vijfde ...

, as well as in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...

and Japan. During his playing career Božović won

Yugoslav Cup The Yugoslav Cup ( hr, Pokal Jugoslavije; sr, Куп Југославије; sl, Pokal Jugoslavije, mk, Куп на Југославија), officially known between 1923 and 1940 as the King Alexander Cup ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Kup kralja Aleksandra, ...

with

International

He represented his U-21 national side once.

Managerial career

As a coach, he had a successful spell in Budućnost in the 2006–07 season, when his team was leading in

Montenegrin First League The First League of Montenegro ( Montenegrin: ''Prva crnogorska fudbalska liga'' — ''Prva CFL'' — ''1. CFL''; ) is the top football league in Montenegro. Founded in 2006, competition is headed by the Football Association of Montenegro. 10 te ...

, but he resigned and joined

Grbalj Grbalj ( sr-Cyrl, Грбаљ), denotes a historic, rural region, as well as a tribe of the Montenegrin littoral, and a parish located between town of Budva and the Luštica peninsula, Bay of Kotor in coastal Montenegro. Most of the region now li ...

in February 2007, due to the disagreement with the board."Bozovic shock in Montenegro"
''uefa.com'' Božović also was successful in Borac Čačak, as he made a competitive team out of a humble club. Russian side

FC Amkar Perm FC Amkar Perm (russian: link=no, Футбо́льный клуб "Амка́р" Пермь ) is a professional football club. Originally founded in 1994, it is based in the city of Perm. It was a participant in second-tier football from 1995 and ...

qualified for the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

for the first time in club's history under his management. Next season, his new club

FC Moscow :''This article refers to the Moscow government team formed in 2004. For the predecessors in the Russian Premier League, see FC Torpedo-ZIL and FC Torpedo-Metallurg.'' FC Moscow (Russian: Футбольный клуб Москва) was a Russian ...

was among the leaders in the

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

for long stretches, before fading in the end of the season and falling out of European qualification. In early 2010, FC Moscow dropped out of the Premier League due to financial considerations, and Božović became a free agent. On 27 April 2010, Božović signed a three-year contract with

FC Dynamo Moscow FC Dynamo Moscow (''FC Dynamo Moskva'', russian: Дина́мо Москва́ ) is a Russian football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Foot ...

. After the game against his former club, Amkar, he was questioned in the flash interview, did he feel that he was playing against the team he had built himself. His answer was: "I feel I was playing against players who made me a coach.""Браво, Миодраг!"
''Express Yourself (russian)'' He resigned from Dynamo on 21 April 2011 after losing in a Russian Cup quarterfinal against

FC Rostov FC Rostov (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб Ростов) is a Russian professional football club based in Rostov-on-Don, Rostov Oblast. The club are members of the Russian Premier League, and play at the Rostov Arena. After the ...

(winning the Cup was the last hope for Dynamo to qualify for UEFA Europa League). In

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

Božović was nicknamed Grof (the

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form '' jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particula ...

), because of his orderly and elegant appearance."Mysterious Count"
''Sovetsky Sport (russian)'' In June 2012 he became the manager of

. The next season Rostov won the

2013–14 Russian Cup The 2013–14 Russian Cup, known as the 2013–14 Pirelli–Russian Football Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 22nd season of the Russian football knockout tournament since the dissolution of Soviet Union. The competition started on 7 July 20 ...

Red Star

2015-16

On 29 May 2015 it was announced that Božović would manage his former club

."Гроф Божовић нови тренер Црвене звезде"
"Moja Crvena zvezda: Grof Božović novi trener Crvene zvezde" (serbian) His start as Red Star manager was turbulent. Red Star was eliminated by Kairat in the

first qualifying round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

for the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

and started off the regular season with a comeback win against

OFK Beograd OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club'') is a Serbian professional football club based in Belgrade, more precisely in Karaburm ...

and a draw against Metalac in

Gornji Milanovac Gornji Milanovac ( sr-Cyrl, Гoрњи Милановац, ) is a town and municipality located in the Moravica District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 24,216, while the population of the municipality is 44,406. The town was found ...

in the first two rounds of the

Serbian Superliga The Serbian Super League ( sr, Супер лига Србије / Super liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet Super League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Супер лига / Mozzart Bet Super liga) for sponsorship reasons, is a Serbian profes ...

. Serbian media and journalist were not on his side and criticized him and his team's play. After a draw against Radnički Niš in front of 22.000 fans who started to chant against the club board, Božović offered his resignation. Fans were explicit in their desire that board members must leave the club right away, not him, and gave clear support to Božović. Several board members including the vice president and the general director left the club and Božović started a "little war" with the media. After the series of bad performances, Red Star dominated throughout the match and won after a comeback against Čukarički, considered the best match of the season. Following these incidents, Božović masterminded Red Star to 24 straight wins in the regular season, a new club record, and dominated the

with 32 points ahead of their rivals. With Božović at the helm Red Star made the best start in club history. Božović lead Red Star to the 27th club league title in history, and the first in his career. Božović stated that he is very happy like never before in his life.

2016-17

After clear and unambiguous support from Red Star fans, who were chanted his name and ask to stay, Grof Božović signed new two-year contract with Red Star to lead the club to the Champions League. Božović said that chants from the fans and whole stands of Marakana are the biggest thing which happened to him in his life, after birth of his sons. He record his first European victory, which is also Red Star first in three years and five matches in a row, against

Valletta FC Valletta F.C. is a professional football club based in Valletta, the capital city of Malta, and competes in the Maltese Premier League, the top flight of Maltese football. The club was founded in 1943 after a merge of Valletta Prestons, Vallett ...

in first match of

second qualifying round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...

for the Champions League in

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 wa ...

Return to Russia

He signed with the

club

FC Arsenal Tula FC Arsenal Tula (russian: ФК Арсенал Тула) is a Russian professional football club from Tula playing in the second-tier Russian First League. Originally founded in 1923, FC Arsenal Tula was promoted to the Russian Premier League i ...

before the 2017–18 season. He led the club to the 7th place in the

2017–18 Russian Premier League The 2017–18 Russian Premier League was the 26th season of the premier football competition in Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the 15th under the current Russian Premier League name. Spartak Moscow came into the season as th ...

, the best position in club's history. He did not renew his Arsenal contract at the end of the season. On 5 October 2018, he signed a 2-year contract with

FC Krylia Sovetov Samara PFC Krylia Sovetov Samara (russian: Профессиональный футбольный клуб «Крылья Советов» Самара) is a football club from Russia based in Samara. It returned to the Russian Premier League for the ...

. He left Krylia Sovetov by mutual consent on 28 June 2020, with the team in the last position in the table. On 3 September 2021, he returned to Arsenal Tula. Arsenal was relegated at the end of the 2021–22 Russian Premier League after taking last place.

Managerial statistics

Club statistics

Honours

Player

;Red Star Belgrade *

FR Yugoslavia Cup The Serbia and Montenegro Cup was an association football knockout cup tournament of Serbia and Montenegro played between 1992 and 2006, after which Serbia and Montenegro became separate nations. The competition was the continuation of the old ...

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

Manager

;Rostov * Russian Cup: 2013–14 ;Red Star Belgrade *

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League ( sr, Супер лига Србије / Super liga Srbije), referred to as the Mozzart Bet Super League ( sr, Моцарт Бет Супер лига / Mozzart Bet Super liga) for sponsorship reasons, is a Serbian profes ...

: 2015–16

References

External links