Miroslav Buljan (born 18 December 1955) is a Croatian retired professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former player. He particularly managed various Croatian clubs in the 1.HNL, 2.HNL, and 3.HNL, as well as

Široki Brijeg Široki Brijeg () is a city and the regional capital of West Herzegovina Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. the town itself had a population of 6,149 and the municipality of 28,929. Name ...

in the

Bosnian Premier League The Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina (; ; sr-Cyrl, Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), officially known as the Wwin League of Bosnia and Herzegovina for sponsorship purposes, is the top tier football leagu ...

Playing career

Born in

Slavonski Brod Slavonski Brod (, ), commonly shortened to simply Brod, is a city in eastern Croatia, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Being one of the principal cities in the historical regions of Slavonia and Posavina, Slavonski Brod is the 7th lar ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

, present day

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 ...

, Buljan began playing

in the youth levels of hometown club Marsonia in 1964. In 1974, he joined the youth team of

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 ...

, but a year later, in 1975, he signed his first professional contract with Marsonia, and played at the club until 1983.

Managerial career

During his tenure as a player with Marsonia, Buljan managed to achieve a

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

coaching license, and received his first coaching experience in 1996 with Marsonia in the 1. HNL. Following the relegation of Marsonia he remained in the top tier after managing

Slaven Belupo Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo (), often referred to as Slaven Belupo, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city of Koprivnica in the north of Croatia. They play their home matches at Gradski stadion in Koprivnica. They play in ...

in 1997. In 1999, Buljan went to Bosnia and Herzegovina t0 manage

. After two seasons at Šrioki Brijeg, he returned to Croatia where he had several managerial stints in the 3. HNL with Sloga,

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located southwest of Zagreb and northeast of Rijeka, and is connected to them via the ...

, and

Ogulin Ogulin () is a town in central Croatia, in Karlovac County. It has a population of 7,389 (2021) (it was 8,216 in 2011), and a total municipal population of 12,251 (2021). Ogulin is known for its historic stone castle, known as Kula, and the nearby ...

. In 2006, Buljan began managing in the

2. HNL The Prva nogometna liga (), commonly Prva NL or 1. NL, is the second tier of the Croatian football league system, football league system in Croatia. The league was formed in 1991 with the breakup of Yugoslavia and the dissolution of the Yugoslav ...

with

Belišće Belišće () ( sr-Cyrl, Белишће, ) is a town in Croatia, located in the region of Slavonia, Osijek-Baranja County, at the altitude of 93 m. The population of the town is 6,518 (2011), with 10,825 in the municipality. In 2011 census, the maj ...

, and with

Koprivnica Koprivnica () is a city in Northern Croatia, located 70 kilometers northeast of Zagreb. It is the capital and the largest city of Koprivnica-Križevci County. In 2011, the city's administrative area of 90.94 km2 had a total populati ...

in 2007. He went abroad once more in 2008 to the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

to manage

Toronto Croatia C.N.S.C. Toronto Croatia (Croatian National Sports Club Toronto Croatia) is a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that plays in the Supergroup Open Division in the Canadian Academy of Football. The team's colours are red, white and b ...

. In 2010, he returned to the 2. HNL where he managed MV Croatia. Buljan was appointed manager in 2011 of

King Faisal Babes King Faisal Football Club, nicknamed the Babes, is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Kumasi, Ashanti Region. Owned by Kumasi's Muslim community and named after King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, the Babes compete in Division One League, ...

in the Ghanaian Premier League. After a season in Africa, he returned to MV Croatia and managed the club in 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buljan, Miroslav 1955 births Living people Footballers from Slavonski Brod Men's association football midfielders Yugoslav men's footballers NK Marsonia players Croatian football managers NK Marsonia managers NK Slaven Belupo managers NK Široki Brijeg managers NK Karlovac 1919 managers NK Belišće managers Toronto Croatia coaches King Faisal F.C. managers Croatian Football League managers First League of Bosnia and Herzegovina managers Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina managers Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) coaches Croatian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina Expatriate soccer coaches in Canada Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate football managers in Ghana Croatian expatriate sportspeople in Ghana