Blagoj Istatov (; 5 April 1947 – 27 September 2018) was a Yugoslav and Macedonian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and player.

Playing career

Born in

Strumica Strumica (, ) is the largest city2002 census results
in English and Macedonian (PDF) in so ...

, Istatov started out at local club

Belasica Belasica ( Macedonian and Bulgarian: , also translit. ''Belasitsa'' or ''Belasitza'', Ottoman Turkish: بلش Turkish: ''Beleş''), Belles (, ''Bélles'') or Kerkini (, ''Kerkíni'';), is a mountain range in the region of Macedonia in Southe ...

, making his senior debut in 1964. He switched to Pobeda in 1968, amassing over 100 appearances in the

Yugoslav Second League Yugoslav Second League ( Bosnian: ''Druga savezna liga,'' Croatian: ''Druga savezna liga'', Serbian: ''Друга савезна лига'', Slovenian: ''Druga zvezna liga'', Macedonian: ''Втора сојузна лига'', ''Vtora sojuzna l ...

over the next five seasons. In 1973, Istatov was transferred to

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

side Partizan. He spent three seasons with the ''Crno-beli'', collecting 50 appearances across all competitions. In Partizan's title-winning season of 1975–76, Istatov served as a backup for

Radmilo Ivančević Radmilo Ivančević ( sr-cyr, Радмило Иванчевић; born 4 September 1950) is a Serbian football manager and former footballer. Coaching career Ivančević's career began in 1983 as manager of Serbian amateur club Šumadija Aranđ ...

, appearing in three games. In 1976, Istatov moved abroad and signed with Dutch club

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

. He was their first-choice goalkeeper for two seasons, making 63

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

appearances, before returning to Yugoslavia to finish his career at

Managerial career

After hanging up his boots, Istatov served as manager of his parent club

on numerous occasions.

Career statistics

Honours

Partizan *

: 1975–76

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Istatov, Blagoj 1947 births 2018 deaths Footballers from Strumica Yugoslav men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers FK Belasica players FK Pobeda players FK Partizan players FC Utrecht players Yugoslav Second League players Yugoslav First League players Eredivisie players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Yugoslav football managers Macedonian football managers FK Belasica managers FK Skopje managers Macedonian First Football League managers