Ljubo Milicevic (; born 13 February 1981) is an Australian former professional

soccer player 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

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

defensive 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. ...

Club career

Early career and overseas

Milicevic attended secondary school at St James College in East Bentleigh. He 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 ...

, where he captained the side to two consecutive National Youth League titles. He then entered professional soccer with

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 ...

in Australia, playing one game in the

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 ...

(NSL) before moving to

Perth Glory Perth Glory Football Club is an Australian professional Association football, soccer club based in Perth, Perth, Western Australia. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under Professional sports league organi ...

in 1999, where he scored on his debut and played a major role in getting the Western Australian side to its first ever NSL Grand Final in 2000 where he made a name for himself by being the youngest player to ever score in an Australian grand final. Suffering a serious knee injury in the first game of the

World Youth Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

in Argentina hampered his chances of moving to German giants

Hertha Berlin Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football, following relegation from t ...

. Later that same year he finally went to Europe and went on to play for

FC Zurich FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss professional Association football, football club based in Basel, in the Basel-Stadt, Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been List of Swiss footba ...

FC Thun Fussballclub Thun 1898 is a Swiss association football, football team from the Bernese Oberland town of Thun. The club plays in the Swiss Super League from 2025–26, the top tier of the Swiss football league system, following promotion from the ...

and

BSC Young Boys Berner Sport Club Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation, ) is a Swiss professional sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 17 Swiss league championships and eight Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss footbal ...

in Switzerland. The latter two clubs Milicevic captained in the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

and European competition at the age of 25. He also captained the Australian under-20 side at the World Youth Cup in 2001 in Argentina and later the Australian Olympic team that qualified for the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

in Athens; unfortunately, he missed the competition due to a groin injury he sustained during qualification.

Melbourne Victory FC

On 20 February 2007 it was announced that Milicevic had signed for the reigning

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

champions

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory ...

. He was not home long before he again drew interest from abroad with Croatian heavyweights

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

and

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

both chasing his signature. Milicevic declared the only club he would ever play for in Croatia would be his childhood dream team Hajduk Split, citing both the fanatical Torcida and close friend

Josip Skoko Josip Skoko (born 10 December 1975) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as a central midfielder for North Geelong Warriors, Hajduk Split, Genk, Gençlerbirliği, Wigan Athletic, Stoke City and Melbourne Heart. Skok ...

as inspirations. His time with the Victory was marred by a long-term knee injury he incurred on the opening day of the season. His contract with Melbourne Victory was "mutually terminated" on 22 February 2008.

Time away from the game

It was revealed during January 2009 that Milicevic had suffered from depression throughout his time playing overseas. He then started training with

Dandenong City Dandenong City Soccer Club, commonly as Dandenong City Hajduk and formerly known as Chelsea Hajduk, is an Australian soccer club based in the South-East region of Melbourne, Victoria. The club's home is at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex in the su ...

in 2009 in a bid to regain fitness and get his personal life back in order.

Newcastle United Jets FC

On 4 February 2009 he signed a one-year deal with the

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from the Australi ...

. Milicevic surprised coach

Gary van Egmond Gary Rudy Peter van Egmond (, ; born 29 June 1965) is an Australian former soccer player and former head coach of Newcastle Jets in the A-League Men and Women. He is currently head coach of Hills United in the NSW NPL League One. Playing ...

with his level of fitness and immediately set about imposing a sense of drive and vigour on the training paddock, something which many felt that the Jets had distinctly lacked in the course of their disastrous A-League title defence in 2008–09. His return to competitive soccer was anticipated by fans and the media alike, and despite the Jets' shaky performance in their opening 2–0 away loss in the

Asian Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious cl ...

Beijing Guoan Beijing Guoan Football Club (), known in AFC competitions as Beijing FC, is a Chinese professional football club based in Beijing, that competes in . Beijing Guoan plays its home matches at the Workers' Stadium, located within Chaoyang Distr ...

, Milicevic starred in their subsequent game, a 2–0 victory over Korea's

Ulsan Hyundai Ulsan HD FC (), formerly Ulsan Hyundai FC, is a South Korean professional football club based in Ulsan that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Founded in 1983 as Hyundai Horang-i, they joined the K League in 198 ...

in which he marshalled the defence impressively and, along with some inspired goalkeeping by departing custodian

Ante Covic Ante Covic (born 13 June 1975) is an Australian football manager and former soccer goalkeeper, and is the current manager of Bankstown City (Women) in NSW League One. Covic was a member of the Australian national team at the 2006 FIFA World C ...

, helped the Jets to their first competitive clean sheet in fourteen games. After joining Newcastle, Milicevic was adopted as a cult hero by the Newcastle fans, something not seen since

Milton Rodriguez Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) Places Australia * Milton, New South Wales * Milton, Queensland, a suburb o ...

was at the club. On 18 March 2010, Milicevic signed a one-year contract extension with the Jets until the end of the 2010–11 becoming captain yet again and leading the team to the best defensive record in the league A-League season.

Free agency and South Melbourne FC

On 12 January 2011, it was announced that Milicevic was not going to re-sign for the Jets and left for Switzerland, where he trialled with former club

in the

. However, he did not agree to terms with Basel, nor was another option pursued with German second division club

Arminia Bielefeld DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia is most well known as ...

. He had to wait until the European summer before committing to a new deal. In March 2011, he signed a short-term contract with

Victorian Premier League The Victorian Premier League (VPL) is an Australian soccer league based in Victoria that was founded in 2023 and administered by Football Victoria. It consists of two divisions that were named after the VPL's breakaway of the National Premier L ...

club

South Melbourne FC South Melbourne Football Club is an Australian semi-professional Association football, soccer club based in suburb of Albert Park, Victoria, Albert Park, in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The club currently competes in the National P ...

to keep himself fit, intending to return to Europe for the beginning of the 2011–12 season.

Hajduk Split

On 8 June 2011, it was announced that Milicevic had signed a contract with Croatian club

. After struggling with injuries during the first half-season, Milicevic and Hajduk agreed on contract termination, leaving Milicevic as a free agent.

Return to Australia

On 19 August 2013 he announced that he had agreed to play for A-League club

, but by 3 October 2013 had left the club, just before the start of the 2013–14 season. After a 3-year absence from the game, Milicevic signed with

National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 The National Premier Leagues Victoria (NPL Victoria or NPL VIC) is a semi-professional association football, soccer league in Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level w ...

team

at the start of the 2017 season. He joined Charlestown City Blues for 2018. In July 2018, Milicevic officially retired from soccer, following a season-ending knee injury.

International career

Milicevic captained both the

Young Socceroos The Australia national under-20 soccer team, known colloquially as the Young Socceroos, represents Australia in international under-20 Association football, soccer. The team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football ...

and

Olyroos The Australia national under-23 soccer team represents Australia in international under-23 soccer and at the Olympic Games. The team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia (FA), which is currently a member ...

. After being made captain, he went to the

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

in Argentina in 2001 Miličević has also been capped 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 ...

. His senior debut was against

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, ...

Subiaco Oval Subiaco Oval (; nicknamed Subi) was a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia, located in the suburb of Subiaco, Western Australia, Subiaco. It was opened in 1908 and closed in 2017 after the completion of the new Perth Stadium in Burswood, ...

, Perth in March 2005; he then made three appearances at the

2005 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup association football, football tournament was the seventh FIFA Confederations Cup. It was held in Germany between 15 June and 29 June 2005, as a prelude to the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The tournament was won by 2002 FI ...

against Germany, Argentina and Tunisia.

Career statistics

Honours

Australia U-20 *

OFC U-19 Men's Championship The OFC U-19 Championship is a tournament held once every two years to decide the under-19 champions of Oceania and also decides who will represent Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) at the biennial FIFA U-20 World Cup. Between 1974 and 2012, t ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

References

External links

Ljubo Milicevic
at Aussie Footballers
Jets profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milicevic, Ljubo 1981 births Living people Soccer players from Melbourne Australian people of Croatian descent Men's association football defenders Australian expatriate men's soccer players Australia men's international soccer players 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup players Melbourne Knights FC players Newcastle Jets FC players Perth Glory FC players FC Zürich players FC Basel players FC Thun players BSC Young Boys players Melbourne Victory FC players HNK Hajduk Split players A-League Men players Swiss Super League players Men's association football utility players National Soccer League (Australia) players Croatian Football League players Australian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Australian men's soccer players Australian Institute of Sport soccer players 21st-century Australian sportsmen