Ivan Graf (born 17 June 1987) is a Croatian footballer who plays as a defender for

Opatija Opatija (; ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Croatia, town and a municipality in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in northwestern Croatia. The traditional seaside resort on the Kvarner Gulf is known for its Mediterranean climate and its historic bu ...

Club career

Born in capital city of

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, Graf started his football path in football school of local city based lower league Kustošija football club where he spent his entire youth career. With Kustošija he also kicked off his senior career in 2006–07 season which was his first senior competitive season. After debut season with Kustošija he decided to leave his domestic club on a free transfer and joined another lower league city club, neighbouring Vrapče on a two-year contract for the start of 2007–08 season. Graf spent two consecutive seasons with Vrapče and by the end of 2008–09 season with his two-year contract completed he decided not to extend his contract and stay at Vrapče. He felt as a free player it was time to move on and to change the domain of Croatian lower league football after playing it for three seasons.

Primorje Ajdovščina

Therefore, joining

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

n club Primorje Ajdovščina the following season was seen as uncommon move due to general opinion at the time that Slovenian football was limited compared to Croatian one in almost all aspects of football such as tactics, training, style of play, finance, managing, fan base and overall status of football and was not attractive enough for Croatian football players whose financial demands were higher. However, Graf made a firm decision to join NK Primorje Ajdovščina due to initiative from Primorje head coach Vjekoslav Lokica. Croatian coach Lokica after tight relegation from

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga (, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of prom ...

in 2008–09 season was preparing the team for express comeback and saw in young Graf a key figure to secure the promotion. NK Primorje was seen till then for a number of seasons as a stable Slovenian first division club and with Graf in defence they achieved the goal, becoming

Slovenian Second League The Slovenian Second Football League (), also known by the abbreviation 2. SNL, is the second highest Association football, football league in Slovenia. The league was formed in 1991 and is operated by the Football Association of Slovenia. Format ...

Champions with only two games lost and sixteen goals conceded in entire 2009–10 season winning so promotion to

for 2010–11 season in style. In October 2010, it was announced that the salaries of him along with four other players were due. As a result, he started a legal procedure. He was also linked to a transfer to fellow Slovenian club

Domžale Domžale (; )''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 24. is a town and the seat of the Municipality of Domžale in Slovenia. The town lies ne ...

. In March 2011, he moved to Ukrainian club Tavriya on a two-year contract and became the sixth signing for the club in the winter transfer window. In October, his contract was terminated by mutual consent. Graf returned to Croatia in 2012 and signed for

Lučko Lučko is a settlement in the Novi Zagreb - zapad district of the city of Zagreb, located south of the Sava and southwest of the city center. Lučko is located near the Lučko interchange that connects the A1 motorway, the Zagreb bypass and t ...

on an undisclosed fee. In 2013, he was transferred to

. In July, he joined fellow Croatian club Istra 1961. He made his debut in a 3–1 victory against

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

where he scored a goal in the 59th minute.

Kazakhstan

Graf joined

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League (, ''Qazaqstan Premier Ligasy''), commonly referred to as the Kazakh Premier League or simply the Premier League, is a professional association football league in Kazakhstan and the highest level of the ...

team FC Irtysh Pavlodar at the start of the 2015 season, being told he could leave the club in July 2015, before signing a new one-year deal with Irtysh Pavlodar in January 2016. Prior to the 2016 season, Graf joined

FC Kaisar FC Kaysar (, ''Qaisar Futbol Kluby'') is a Football in Kazakhstan, Kazakh professional association football, football club based in the Gany Muratbayev Stadium in Kyzylorda. They are founding members of the Kazakhstan Premier League and have miss ...

. On 4 February 2021, Graf joined Shakhter Karagandy from Kaisar. On 29 January 2023, Graf signed a contract with FC Kyzylzhar.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Graf, Ivan 1987 births Living people Footballers from Zagreb Men's association football defenders Croatian men's footballers NK Kustošija players NK Vrapče players NK Primorje players SC Tavriya Simferopol players NK Lučko players NK Zagreb players NK Istra 1961 players FC Irtysh Pavlodar players FC Kaisar players FC Shakhter Karagandy players FC Kyzylzhar players NK Opatija players Slovenian Second League players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Ukrainian Premier League players Croatian Football League players First Football League (Croatia) players Kazakhstan Premier League players Croatian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan 21st-century Croatian sportsmen