David Babunski (; born 1 March 1994) is a Macedonian professional

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 ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. A product of

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

La Masia La Masia de Can Planes, usually shortened to La Masia (; ), is FC Barcelona's youth academy. It includes more than 300 young players and has been an instrumental factor in Barcelona's European success, producing several world class players and ...

, he played for their reserves before transferring to

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

in January 2016, winning the

Serbian SuperLiga The Serbian Super League (), also known as Mozzart SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Serbia and the highest level of the Serbian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a sys ...

in his first season. He later played in Japan, Romania and Hungary. Babunski has been capped by the Macedonia football team at international level, making his senior debut in 2013.

Club career

Barcelona

Born in

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

, Babunski joined

in 2006, aged 12, after starring at

UDA Gramenet Unión Deportiva Atlético Gramenet is a Spanish football team based in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1945 it currently plays in , holding home games at '' Municipal de Sant Adrià'' in Sant Adrià ...

. In December 2011, he was elected Macedonian Young Sportsperson of the Year, ahead of

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

kas Aziz Ismail and Berat Jakupi. Babunski was promoted to the reserves in June 2013, and made his professional debut on 24 August, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 home win against

CD Lugo Club Deportivo Lugo is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lugo, in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. Founded on 8 July 1953, it plays in Primera Federación, holding home games at ''Estadio Anxo ...

in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

championship. He scored his first goal on 31 May 2014, netting a last-minute winner in a 4–3 home success over

AD Alcorcón Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Primera Federación, holding home matches at the Municipal de Santo Domingo, ...

. He played 16 games in 2014–15, a campaign which ended with relegation to

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. On 28 February 2015, as a half-time substitute for

Juan Cámara Juan del Carmen Cámara Mesa (; born 13 February 1994) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Real Jaén. Club career Born in Jaén, Andalusia as the son of a goalkeeper for Real Jaén, Cámara finished his youth caree ...

, he received a straight red card in a 2–4 loss to

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

at the

Mini Estadi Miniestadi (, meaning in English "Mini Stadium"), officially named "Miniestadi", was a football stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The 15,276-seat stadium was situated across from Camp Nou, the home stadium of FC Barcelona. The stadium was ...

. After a decade in the ranks of Barcelona, Babunski left by mutual consent in January 2016.

Red Star Belgrade

Babunski signed a -year deal with

on 28 January 2016. He made his

debut on 20 February, replacing Aleksandar Katai for the final 11 minutes of a 2–1 home win over

FK Mladost Lučani FK Mladost Lučani () is a professional football club based in Lučani, Serbia. They compete in the Serbian SuperLiga, the top tier of the national league system. History Founded in 1952, the club achieved its first notable success by winning the ...

, and played five more matches as the team won their 27th title.

Japan

On 30 January 2017, Babunski signed for Japanese club Yokohama F. Marinos, as their second purchase from Red Star that month after that of Hugo Vieira. He made his debut 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 ...

on 25 February, scoring the first goal of a 3–2 home win over

Urawa Red Diamonds The or simply Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ, ''Urawa Rezzu''), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, are a professional association football, football club in the city of Saitama (city), Saitama, part of t ...

in the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

opener. In August 2018, Babunski signed for

Omiya Ardija is a Japanese professional association football club based in Ōmiya-ku, Saitama, Ōmiya, Saitama Prefecture. Its "hometown" (as designated by the league) is shared with neighbours Urawa Red Diamonds. The team currently play in J2 League, the ...

, in the same league.

Romania

On 2 March 2020, Babunski signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Romanian club

FC Botoșani Asociația Fotbal Club Botoșani (), commonly known as FC Botoșani or simply Botoșani, is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Botoșani, Botoșani County, that competes in the Liga I. In 2013, twelve years after being ...

. On 29 December, he was released from the club by mutual consent. On 11 January 2021, Babunski joined

FC Viitorul Constanța Fotbal Club Viitorul Constanța (), commonly known as Viitorul Constanța or simply Viitorul, was a Romanian professional football club based in Ovidiu, Constanța County. They last played their home matches in blue and black kits at the Stadio ...

also of

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

Hungary

On 8 July 2021, Babunski signed a two-year deal with Hungarian club

Debreceni VSC Debreceni Vasutas Sport Club is a Hungarian professional football club based in Debrecen that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság I, the first tier of Hungarian football. They are best known internationally for reaching the group stages of the U ...

. In the summer of 2022, Debreceni VSC terminated his contract by mutual consent. On 20 September 2022, Babunski signed with

Mezőkövesd Mezőkövesd is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, Northern Hungary. It lies from Miskolc and from Eger. Mezőkövesd is a town in northeastern Hungary, located in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County, near the Bükk Mountains. It is known as the ...

, and in January 2023 signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract with the club.

Dundee United

On 16 July 2024, Babunski signed for

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

side

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

on a one-year deal with the option for a further season.

International career

A regular in all of Macedonia's youth squads, Babunski scored his first goal for the under-21 team on 25 May 2012, netting his side's second in a 2–2 friendly draw against

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. In August 2013 he was called up by the main squad for a friendly against

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. Babunski made his debut for the side on the 14th, playing the last 31 minutes of the 2–0 home win in

Personal life

Babunski's father, Boban, was also a footballer, and played in several countries including Spain. His younger brother, Dorian, is also a footballer who plays as a forward, and the pair played together at Debrecen. Babunski's great-great-grandfather was

Jovan Babunski Jovan Stojković ( sr-Cyrl, Јован Стојковић; 25 December 1878 – 17 February 1920), known as Jovan Babunski (), was a Serbian Chetnik commander (Serbian: ''vojvoda'' / ) during the Macedonian Struggle, Balkan Wars and World W ...

, a '' vojvoda,'' while he has stated that he is proud of being Jovan Babunski's descendant. Babunski is a vocal supporter of the human rights of refugees. He, his brother, and four friends spent Christmas 2015 at a refugee camp in

Gevgelija Gevgelija (; ) is a town with a population of 15,685 located in the very southeast of North Macedonia along the banks of the Vardar River, situated at the country's main border with Greece (Bogorodica-Evzoni), the point which links the motorway f ...

, a Macedonian town on the Greek border and part of the Balkan route for displaced people seeking accommodation in the West.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Red Star Belgrade *

: 2015–16

References

External links

*
Profile at MacedonianFootball.com

Profile at Yokohama F. Marinos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Babunski, David 1994 births Living people Footballers from Skopje Macedonian people of Serbian descent Men's association football midfielders Macedonian men's footballers 21st-century Macedonian sportsmen North Macedonia men's under-21 international footballers North Macedonia men's international footballers FC Barcelona Atlètic players Red Star Belgrade footballers Yokohama F. Marinos players RB Omiya Ardija players FC Botoșani players FC Viitorul Constanța players Debreceni VSC players Mezőkövesdi SE footballers Dundee United F.C. players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Serbian SuperLiga players J1 League players J2 League players Liga I players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Macedonian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Macedonian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland