Goran Bunjevčević ( sr-cyr, Горан Буњевчевић, ; 17 February 1973 – 28 June 2018) was a Serbian

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 played as a defender in Serbia, England and the Netherlands.

Playing career

Club career

Tottenham Hotspur

Bunjevčević joined

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

in May 2001 from Red Star Belgrade for a reported fee of £5 million. He made his

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

debut on 18 August against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

in a 0–0 draw. In September of the 2001–02 season Tottenham played Chelsea in the league and Bunjevčević suffered a fractured cheekbone which left him out of the squad till December. Starting only in League Cup matches, during the 2004–05 season he scored his only goals (two) for the club (in the 6–0 away defeat of

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

on 22 September in the competition, and a late equaliser in the 4–3 away win against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

on 29 October that took the game into extra time). He was released on 26 May 2006 after five years at

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

and making a total of 58 appearances in all competitions.

ADO Den Haag

After release by Tottenham, Bunjevčević joined Dutch outfit

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

. He played at the club for one season before retiring.

International career

Bunjevčević was a member of the

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

side at the

UEFA Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

but he did not appear in any matches. In total, he collected sixteen caps between 1998 and 2003 for the national side.

Administrative career

At the beginning of March 2008 he was named as

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 ...

's sporting director, replacing Stevan Stojanović in the position. Bunjevčević worked at the post under club president

Toplica Spasojević Toplica Spasojević ( sr-cyr, Топлица Спасојевић; born 1956 in Svilajnac, Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia), is a former president of Red Star Belgrade. He has graduated from the University of Belgrade Faculty of Economics. Work experien ...

. On 2 September 2008 Bunjevčević left Red Star Belgrade along with club president Spasojević. By December 2014, it had been 3 years since he became the chairman of FK Zemun. In May 2016, Bunjevčević was elected into an executive board of the

Football Association of Serbia The Football Association of Serbia () is the governing body of football in Serbia, based in Belgrade. It organizes Serbian football leagues, namely the Serbian Superliga, the Serbia national football team, as well as the Second Leagues. FSS was ...

under a new president, Slaviša Kokeza. He became sport director of the association, managing among others the appointment of the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

coach.

Personal life

His younger brother Mirko was also a footballer.

Death

On 20 May 2018, Bunjevčević suffered an

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward :wikt:bulge, bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also b ...

followed by a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

and had to undergo emergency surgery. While in hospital care, the Serbia national team at the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

beat

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

1–0, and the team captain and only scorer

Aleksandar Kolarov Aleksandar Kolarov (, ; born 10 November 1985) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a left back. He is the current assistant coach of Serie A club Inter Milan. Kolarov began his career at Red Star Belgrade, but he did not br ...

dedicated the goal and the win to Bunjevčević. On 28 June 2018, Bunjevčević died at the age of 45 after over a month in a coma.

Career statistics

International

Honours

;Red Star Belgrade *

First League of FR Yugoslavia The First League of Serbia and Montenegro () was the top football league of Serbia and Montenegro, before the country's dissolution in 2006. The league was formed as the First League of FR Yugoslavia following the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992, ef ...

: 1999–00, 2000–01 *

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 ...

: 1998–99, 1999–00

References

External links

*
FootballDatabase provides Goran Bunjevčević's profile and stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bunjevcevic, Goran 1973 births 2018 deaths Serbs of Croatia Footballers from Karlovac Men's association football defenders Serbia and Montenegro men's footballers Serbia and Montenegro men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2000 players Serbian men's footballers FK BASK players RFK Grafičar Beograd players FK Rad players Red Star Belgrade footballers Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players ADO Den Haag players First League of Serbia and Montenegro players Premier League players Eredivisie players Serbia and Montenegro expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in England Serbian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Serbian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Serbian sports executives and administrators Deaths from aneurysm