Saša Papac (born 7 February 1980) is a Bosnian former professional

footballer 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

left-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 ...

. He was capped 39 times for the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team.

Club career

Early career

Papac started his career with

NK Široki Brijeg Nogometni klub Široki Brijeg () is a professional association football club from the city of Široki Brijeg, that is situated in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Currently, Široki Brijeg plays in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina and plays ...

in the

Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina 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 ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. He made fourteen appearances, scoring once for the club. He then moved to Austria with

FC Kärnten FC Kärnten was an Football in Austria, Austrian association football club based in Klagenfurt, Carinthia (state), Carinthia. It was founded in 1920 under the name of KSK Klagenfurt. History Austria Klagenfurt Austria Klagenfurt played success ...

a year later. Papac spent three years with Kärnten, making 100 appearances and scoring on three occasions. When Kärnten were relegated from the

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

he joined

Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (), known in English as Austria Vienna, and Austria Wien in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian professional association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the most trophies of any Aust ...

. While in Vienna he made 76 appearances (with three goals) and won the league in 2006. He was also part of the side which won successive

Austrian Cup The Austrian Cup (), known as UNIQA ÖFB Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual football competition held by the Austrian Football Association, the ÖFB. During the 2008–09 season, Austria Wien won the tournament for a record 27th time. Wo ...

s in 2005 and 2006.

Rangers

He signed for Rangers on 31 August 2006 for a fee of £450,000. He became Rangers' third signing from Austria Vienna in the 2006 summer transfer window, after

Libor Sionko Libor Sionko (born 1 February 1977) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. At club level he started in his home town of Ostrava, playing for the youth teams of TJ Vítkovice and Baník Ostrava. Professionally, he ...

and Filip Šebo. Papac made his debut for Rangers on 17 September 2006, coming on as a half time substitute for Steven Smith in a

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

game against Hibernian. The side went on to lose the match 2–1. With the arrival of

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing career consiste ...

in January 2007, Papac lost his place in the first team. He struggled to get into the side, making only one appearance in over two months, but returned towards the end of the season on the left side of defence. He was linked with a move to French club Saint-Etienne in the summer but rejected it in order to claim a first-team spot. He spent the early part of his career as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

but during his six-year stint at Rangers developed into a left-back. In the 2007–08 season Papac was a regular at left-back and played in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,League Cup and

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

finals. Papac netted his first goal for Rangers on his 83rd appearance for the club, during a league match against

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

on 4 November 2008. He signed a two-year contract extension in November 2008 that would keep him at the club until the summer of 2011. In season 2008–09, Papac made 39 appearances and won both the League and Scottish Cup. Papac made 46 appearances the following season and won the League for the second consecutive time along with the League Cup. During an

Old Firm The Old Firm is a collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded i ...

defeat to Celtic on 2 March 2011, Papac was knocked out after being hit in the face by a strike from Mark Wilson. Papac signed a new one-year contract extension with Rangers just two days after helping the club to a third consecutive championship. On 4 May 2012, Papac revealed that he would be leaving Rangers at the end of the season.

Retirement

On 28 August 2012, Papac announced his retirement from professional football for health reasons, after failing to recover properly from a groin injury.

International career

Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team in 2002

Papac made his debut on 12 January 2001, against

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

at the Sahara Millennium Cup but quit in March 2007, citing problems with the staff at the Bosnian FA. He played his last match versus Greece before quitting the national team in October 2006. In January 2008, he decided to return to the international set-up under new boss

Meho Kodro Mehmed "Meho" Kodro (born 12 January 1967) is a Bosnian professional football manager and former player who played as a forward. Kodro started playing professionally at Velež Mostar, making his first team debut in 1985. He spent most of his 1 ...

. Shortly after Kodro's dismissal, he was called up by new coach

Miroslav Blažević Miroslav "Ćiro" Blažević (; 9 February 1935 – 8 February 2023) was a Bosnian-Croatian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. A former right winger, his professional ...

but refused to come and retired from international football claiming it was to give space to new young players. However, in 2010 it emerged that Papac could make a return to the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

. In June 2011,

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newspaper '' The Herald'' reported Papac was returning to international football. On 1 July 2011, Papac confirmed that he would return to play for the national team. His final international was a February 2012

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

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. In 2015, he was hired as a scout for the Bosnian national team.

Managerial career

On 15 November 2017, Papac was announced as new

director of football A sporting director, or director of sport, is an senior management, executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many typ ...

of Željezničar. He did not want to extend his contract and announced on 27 May 2018 that when his contract expires on 1 June 2018, he will leave the position which he did. He thanked the club on the opportunity and wished it good luck in its future.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Player

Austria Vienna *

: 2005–06 *

: 2004–05, 2005–06 Rangers *

: 2008–09, 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2007–08, 2008–09 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

: 2007–08, 2009–10,

runner-up: 2007–08

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Papac, Sasa 1980 births Living people Footballers from Mostar Men's association football defenders Bosnia and Herzegovina men's footballers 21st-century Bosnia and Herzegovina sportsmen Bosnia and Herzegovina men's international footballers NK Široki Brijeg players FC Kärnten players FK Austria Wien players Rangers F.C. players Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Scottish Premier League players Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Bosnia and Herzegovina expatriate sportspeople in Scotland