Pavle Dolezar (; born 1 May 1944), also known as Paul Dolezar, is a Serbian-French

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 and former professional footballer who used to play as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Playing career

Born in

Bačka Palanka Bačka Palanka ( sr-cyrl, Бачка Паланка, ; ) is a town and municipality located in the South Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the left bank of the Danube. In 2022 the town had a total ...

,"Asovi Yu Fudbala", page 23

SR Serbia The Socialist Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / ", Социјалистичка Република Србија, Socijalistička Republika Srbija), previously known as the People's Republic of Serbia ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, separator=" / " ...

, back then part of Yugoslavia, he began his youth career playing with Bačka Bačka Palanka and

OFK Slavija Novi Sad OFK Slavija Novi Sad (Serbian Cyrillic: ОФК Славија Нови Сад) is a football club based in Novi Sad, Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms ...

. He debuted as senior in 1963 playing with Bačka Bačka Palanka in

Yugoslav Second League Yugoslav Second League ( Bosnian: ''Druga savezna liga,'' Croatian: ''Druga savezna liga'', Serbian: ''Друга савезна лига'', Slovenian: ''Druga zvezna liga'', Macedonian: ''Втора сојузна лига'', ''Vtora sojuzna l ...

until the winter break of the 1966–67 season when he was brought by one of back then dominant clubs in the region of Vojvodina, Proleter Zrenjanin. In the season he joined Proleter, the club achieved promotion to the

Yugoslav First League The Yugoslav First League ( Bosnian: Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Прва савезна лига у фудбалу, Prva savezna liga u fudbalu, , , , , ) was the premier football league in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) ...

and Dolezar played with Proleter in the Yugoslav highest level in the seasons 1967–68 and 1968–69. He then moved abroad and played with Paris-Neuilly,

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to t ...

, AGOVV,

Go Ahead Eagles The Go Ahead Eagles are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer in the province of Overijssel. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in th ...

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian language, West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch professional association football, football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherla ...

R. Charleroi S.C. Royal Charleroi Sporting Club, often simply known as Charleroi or Sporting Charleroi, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Charleroi, in the province of Hainaut. Charleroi plays in the Belgian Pro League. Their current ...

SO Cholet Stade Olympique Choletais is a French association football team founded in 1913. The club is based in Cholet, Pays de la Loire and play at Omnisports Stadium, which has a capacity of 9,000 spectators. They currently play in the Régional 3, ...

and

US Alençon Union Sportive Alençonnaise 61 is a French association football club founded in 1916. They are based in the town of Alençon. As of the 2018–19 season, they play in the Championnat National 3. Current squad Ho ...

Managerial career

After retiring as a footballer he became a manager and coached Neuilly-sur-Seine, SO Cholet and

Béziers Béziers (; ) is a city in southern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hérault Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region. Every August Béziers ho ...

in France. He also managed Tunisian side

AS Gabès Avenir Sportif de Gabès, (), known as AS Gabès or simply ASG for short, is a Tunisian football club based in Gabès. The club was founded in 1978 and its colours are red and black. Their home stadium, Gabès Municipal Stadium, has a capacity ...

before moving to South Africa. In 1997 and 1998, he led the Kaizer Chief's to the Rothmans Cup title. He was sacked as manager of the Chiefs in June 1999 and was appointed as manager of Sundowns in July 1999. In 1999, he won the Rothmans Cup title again with

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premiership, the first tier of South African football league syste ...

in a final against

Free State Stars Free State Stars Football club was a South African professional soccer club based in Bethlehem, Free State that played in the National First Division. Formerly known as Makwane Computer Stars, Fairway Stars and Qwa Qwa Stars, their most signi ...

. After the Rothmans cup win, he went on to win the 1999 PSL Castle league with Mamelodi Sundowns. In 2005, Dolezar remarkably won the SAA Super 8 cup with

Bloemfontein Celtic Bloemfontein Celtic Football Club (simply known as Celtic) is a South African soccer club based in Bloemfontein. Bloemfontein Celtic had a large fan base in the Free State and competed in the Premiership before selling their status to Royal ...

. It had been 20 years since Bloemfontein Celtic won silverware

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dolezar, Pavle 1944 births Living people Footballers from Bačka Palanka Men's association football midfielders Yugoslav men's footballers OFK Bačka players FK Proleter Zrenjanin players Heracles Almelo players AGOVV players Go Ahead Eagles players SC Heerenveen players Royal Charleroi S.C. players SO Cholet players US Alençon players Yugoslav First League players Eredivisie players Ligue 2 players Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Yugoslav football managers Serbia and Montenegro football managers Serbian football managers AS Béziers Hérault (football) managers AS Gabès managers Kaizer Chiefs F.C. managers Mamelodi Sundowns F.C. managers Sharjah FC managers Bloemfontein Celtic F.C. managers Black Leopards F.C. managers Yugoslav expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in France Expatriate football managers in Tunisia Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Tunisia Serbia and Montenegro expatriate football managers Expatriate soccer managers in South Africa Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Expatriate football managers in the United Arab Emirates Serbia and Montenegro expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Serbian expatriate football managers Serbian expatriate sportspeople in South Africa