Blagoja "Billy" Celeski (born 14 July 1985) is a retired Macedonian-born Australian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. He last played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Ventforet Kofu is a Japanese professional football club from Kōfu in Yamanashi Prefecture. The team currently competes in the J2 League, Japanese second tier of professional football, hosting their home matches in the JIT Recycle Ink Stadium, located in Kōf ...

in the

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

in 2016.

Club career

Celeski signed for

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

for the

2005–06 A-League The 2005–06 A-League was the 29th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the inaugural season of the A-League. After over 12 months without a national professional club competition since the close of the 2003–04 National Soccer Lea ...

season from Bullen Zebras playing 18 times and won the club's media award, but was released at the end of the season. Celeski graduated from the

Victorian Institute of Sport The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It provides high performance sports programs for talented athletes, enabling them to achieve national and international succ ...

and

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

. In March 2007 Celeski was signed by Perth Glory again. A notable performance, with Perth Glory, in the

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

occurred on Saturday, 15 December 2007 – where Celeski scored a hat-trick in Perth Glory's 4–2 win over

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

at the

Sydney Football Stadium Sydney Football Stadium may refer to: * Sydney Football Stadium (1988), the original stadium which was demolished in 2019. * Sydney Football Stadium (2022) Sydney Football Stadium, currently known as Allianz Stadium for sponsorship reasons, i ...

. Afterwards Celeski signed for

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

at the end of the 2007–08 season in a one-year deal, post-mutual termination of his Perth Glory contract, primarily to bolster the squad for the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

. Celeski scored his first goal for his new club in their 3–2 win over

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional men's soccer club located in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club was one of the eight founding members of the A-League Men and have competed in it concurrently since its formation, u ...

on 31 October 2008. Celeski signed a new 2-year contract with Melbourne Victory on 23 December 2008. Celeski went on to play a role in the Melbourne team, performing an important role in their title-winning campaign, while also not missing a league match until late 2009. This was to be stopped on 3 September of that year however, when he suffered a season ending

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

, in the opening of a match against

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 Australi ...

. On 20 July 2013, Celeski represented the A-League All Stars in the inaugural A-League All Stars Game against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, a match in which the A-League All Stars were thrashed 5–1, courtesy of goals from

Danny Welbeck Daniel Nii Tackie Mensah Welbeck (born 26 November 1990) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for club Brighton & Hove Albion F.C., Brighton & Hove Albion. Welbeck m ...

Jesse Lingard Jesse Ellis Lingard (born 15 December 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for and captains K League 1 club FC Seoul. He has won the UEFA Europa League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, and FA Community Sh ...

and

Robin van Persie Robin van Persie (; born 6 August 1983) is a Dutch football coach and former professional association football, footballer who is the head coach of Eredivisie club Feyenoord. He is regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and was ...

. Just 4 days later, on 24 July 2013, he represented Melbourne Victory against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, a match in which the Victory lost 2–0, courtesy of goals from

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard MBE (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and a former player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players,Adrian Leijer Adrian Leijer (born 25 March 1986) is an Australian footballer who plays as a centre back. Leijer played on one occasion for Australia and made over 100 appearances for Melbourne Victory in the A-League. Club career Early years Leijer was born ...

. He was the only Victory player to have played in both of those exhibition matches. On 30 July 2013, just a few days after representing the

A-League All Stars The A-Leagues All Star Game is an association football match contested by the A-Leagues All Stars team against an invitee club. The All Stars team is made up of selected A-League Men or A-League Women players. The game is played during the footb ...

against

and representing Melbourne Victory against

, Billy Celeski transferred from Melbourne Victory to UAE Pro-League club Al-Shaab. On 24 February 2014, Celeski transferred to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

side

Liaoning Whowin Liaoning Football Club (), officially known as Liaoning Hongyun (), was a professional association football club with a long history in Chinese football. The club can predate their formation to 1953, when Shenyang government sports body joined ex ...

. On 29 May 2014, he was released along with

Artyom Filiposyan Artyom Filiposyan (, born 6 January 1988) is an Uzbek professional footballer who plays as a centre-back. Career Club He began his playing career at Mash'al Mubarek. After two seasons he moved to Nasaf Qarshi where he spent three seasons. In ...

. On 6 August 2014, Celeski signed with the

. He was reportedly sacked by Jets owner

Nathan Tinkler Nathan Tinkler (born 1 February 1976) is an Australian mining industry executive and was previously the principal shareholder of Aston Resources and Whitehaven Coal. He started out as a mining apprentice in the Hunter Valley, in New South Wale ...

, following a player revolt midway through the season. On 3 February 2016, Celeski joined

club

International career

Celeski made his first senior international debut for the Socceroos on 28 January 2009 in an AFC Asian Cup qualifying match versus

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, appearing as a substitute for

Tom Pondeljak Tomislav "Tom" Pondeljak (born 8 January 1976 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is a retired Australian football (soccer) player who last played for Victorian Premier League side St Albans Saints SC. Club career Pondeljak started his career ...

. He was also a member of the unsuccessful Olyroos squad that took part in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Personal life

Celeski was born in

Ohrid Ohrid ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...

SR Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia (), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia, Yugoslav Macedonia or simply Macedonia, was one of the six constituent republics of the post-World War II Socialist Federal Republic of Y ...

, and moved to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia as a child.

Honours

Club

: * A-League Championship: 2008–09 * A-League Premiership: 2008–09

Individual

* A-League All Star:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

References

External links

Billy Celeski
at Aussie Footballers

at vicfootball * *
Melbourne Victory profile

FFA – Olyroos profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Celeski, Billy 1985 births A-League Men players A-League Men All-Stars Living people Sportspeople from Ohrid Australian people of Macedonian descent Australian men's soccer players Perth Glory FC players Brunswick Juventus FC players Immigrants to Australia Melbourne Victory FC players Al-Shaab CSC players Liaoning F.C. players Newcastle Jets FC players J1 League players Ventforet Kofu players Olympic soccer players for Australia Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Australia men's international soccer players Victorian Institute of Sport alumni Expatriate men's footballers in China Chinese Super League players Men's association football midfielders UAE Pro League players Soccer players from Melbourne 21st-century Australian sportsmen