Kris Trajanovski (born 19 February 1972 in

Geelong, Victoria Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

) is an Australian association football player and coach.

Playing career

Club career

After playing with Altona Magic in the

Victorian State League The Victorian State League, known as VETO Sports State League for sponsorship purposes is an Australian soccer league based in Victoria that was founded in 1958 and administered by Football Victoria. It consists of five divisions (separated by ...

, Trajanovski attended the

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 1989. In 1991, he joined

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

team Preston Makedonia. He then joined Rockdale Ilinden in the New South Wales State League in 1992. Trajanovski joined Hong Kong team Happy Valley for the final six matches of the 1992–93 Hong Kong First Division League season. He returned to Hong Kong for the 1994–95 Hong Kong First Division League season, playing for

South China South China ( zh, s=, p=Huá'nán, j=jyut6 naam4) is a geographical and cultural region that covers the southernmost part of China. Its precise meaning varies with context. A notable feature of South China in comparison to the rest of China is ...

. Returning to Australia, he joined NSL club Sydney Olympic in 1995. After two seasons with Olympic he moved to Adelaide City for the 1997–98 NSL season. 1998 saw a move to Marconi where he stayed until 2001. Again moving, he signed for Brisbane Strikers and played two seasons in the

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

capital. In 2003, he joined Singapore club Tanjong Pagar United. In November 2003 he returned to Australia to play for

Melbourne Knights Melbourne Knights Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in the suburb of Sunshine North, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the second-tier of the Australian soccer league ...

during the 2003–04 NSL season. His career at national league level finished with the demise of the

in 2004. Between 1991 and 2004 he played 314 NSL games, scoring 90 goals. Despite stepping away from the national stage he continued to play state league football. In 2004, he joined Whittlesea in the Victorian Premier League and later had a stint with Seaford Rangers in the South Australian Premier League. As of March 2011 he was a playing-coach with the Adelaide Cobras in the South Australian Premier League.

International career

In 1991 Trajanovski was a member of the Australian under-20 team at the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship in Portugal. He played in four matches at the tournament, including the semi-final against eventual champions Portugal. In 1996 Trajanovski played for

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, ...

in an exhibition match against Sampdoria in Jakarta. Trajanovski made his debut for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 1996 against

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

in Pretoria. Despite scoring in only three full international matches for the ''Socceroos'', each time he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

. The first hat-trick was in the first leg of the

1996 OFC Nations Cup The 1996 OFC Nations Cup was not held as a cohesive tournament, but consisted of semi-finals and a final played on a two-legged basis, stretched out between November 1995 and November 1996. The four participating teams were Australia and New Ze ...

final against

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

Papeete Papeete (Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Papeʻetē'', pronounced ; old name: ''Vaiʻetē''Personal communication with Michael Koch in ) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the France, French Republic in the Pacific ...

when he scored four of Australia's six goals. In the second leg of the final in Canberra he scored three goals to lead Australia to an 11–0 aggregate win. His third hat-trick was almost two years later in September 1998. Playing against

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

he scored three or four goals as a substitute in Australia's 16–0 win.

Coaching career

In 2011 Trajanovski was appointed coach of Adelaide Cobras in the South Australian Premier League.

Career Statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Australia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Trajanovski goal.''

Honours

Australia *

OFC Nations Cup The OFC Men's Nations Cup, known as the OFC Nations Cup before the 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup, 2024 edition, is the primary association football competition contested by the senior list of men's national association football teams, men's natio ...

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

; runner-up 198

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trajanovski, Kris 1972 births Living people Australian men's soccer players Australia men's international soccer players National Soccer League (Australia) players FFSA Super League players Marconi Stallions FC players Melbourne Knights FC players Australian people of Macedonian descent Preston Lions FC players FK Beograd (Australia) players Australian Institute of Sport soccer players 1996 OFC Nations Cup players OFC Nations Cup–winning players 1998 OFC Nations Cup players Men's association football forwards Sportspeople from Geelong Soccer players from Victoria (state)