Australian association football player and manager
Tony Popovic
Popovic as Western Sydney Wanderers manager in 2013
Personal information
Full name
Tony Popovic[1]
Date of birth
(1973-07-04) 4 July 1973 (age 50)
Place of birth
Sydney, Australia
Height
1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s)
Centre-back
Team information
Current team
Melbourne Victory (manager)
Youth career
Sydney United
Senior career*
Years
Team
Apps
(Gls)
1989–1997
Sydney United
162
(14)
1994
→ Canberra FC (loan)
5
(1)
1997–2001
Sanfrecce Hiroshima
87
(13)
2001–2006
Crystal Palace
123
(6)
2006–2007
Al-Arabi
17
(2)
2007–2008
Sydney FC
27
(1)
Total
421
(37)
International career
1988–1989
Australia U17
7
(2)
1990–1991
Australia U20
9
(1)
1992
Australia U23
4
(0)
1995–2006
Australia
58
(8)
Managerial career
2008–2011
Sydney FC (assistant)
2009
Sydney FC (caretaker)
2011–2012
Crystal Palace (assistant)
2012–2017
Western Sydney Wanderers
2017
Karabükspor
2018–2020
Perth Glory
2020–2021
Xanthi
2021–
Melbourne Victory
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
Tony Popovic (born 4 July 1973) is an Australian association football manager and former player. He is the current manager of A-League club Melbourne Victory.[2]
As a player Popovic's usual position was centre-back. Starting in 1989 at Sydney United he went on to play for Sanfrecce Hiroshima of Japan and Premier League side Crystal Palace, among other clubs. He appeared with the Australian national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where he played against reigning World Champions Brazil.
Popovic started his coaching career in 2008 with Sydney FC. After a brief stint as assistant manager at Crystal Palace he was chosen as the inaugural manager of Western Sydney Wanderers at the start of the 2012–13 season. His major achievements as a manager are winning the 2012–13 A-League Premiership and 2014 AFC Champions League with the Wanderers, the 2018–19 A-League Premiership with Perth Glory and an Australia Cup with Melbourne Victory in 2022.
He is the father of Kristian and Gabriel Popovic, both of whom are also professional footballers.
^"2006 FIFA World Cup Germany: List of Players: Australia" (PDF). FIFA. 21 March 2014. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2019.
^"Victory appoints Tony Popovic". Melbourne Victory FC. Football Australia. 22 April 2021. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
TonyPopovic (born 4 July 1973) is an Australian association football manager and former player. He is the current manager of A-League club Melbourne Victory...
Premiership and appeared in two more grand finals under the management of TonyPopovic and Ian Ferguson. The club has also appeared in the AFC Champions League...
2019 Popovic is the son of former Crystal Palace and Socceroos player TonyPopovic, and the older brother of Perth Glory player Gabriel Popovic. Australia...
FFA Cup Final Starting XI On 22 April 2021, the Victory announced that TonyPopovic will take over as the club's manager from the beginning of the 2021–22...
of the as yet unnamed club. TonyPopovic was also announced as the inaugural head coach of the Western Sydney team. Popovic joined the club after requesting...
TonyPopovic, and the younger brother of Kristian Popovic. "Perth Glory vs. Western Sydney Wanderers - 7 August 2019 - Soccerway". "Gabriel Popovic al...
2024, Adelaide United announced the sale of Popović to K League 1 club Gwangju. Popović was named in Tony Vidmar's Olyroos squad for a pair of friendly...
against Paraguay on 7 October, along with fellow international retirees TonyPopovic, Tony Vidmar and Stan Lazaridis, coming off as a substitute in the 90th...
club Sydney FC name Ian Crook as new head coach after missing out on TonyPopovic". Fox Sports. 14 May 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2015. "Del Piero agrees...
(Reporter) Alicia Ferguson (Reporter) TonyPopovic, Brett Emerton, Paul Okon, Shane Smeltz, Luke Wilkshire, Alex Wilkinson, Tony Vidmar, Amy Harrison and Sasa...
history (including two caretakers), the first being TonyPopovic and the current being Marko Rudan. Popovic has been the club's most successful manager, winning...
coaching of TonyPopovic. In July 2021, Brillante returned to his home country to play for the Melbourne Victory also under coach TonyPopovic. He was named...
United finished seventh. United's youth policy, training players such as TonyPopovic, Zeljko Kalac, Ante Milicic and Ante Moric, was coming to fruition; these...
mixed martial arts fighter Val Perovic – Australian rules footballer TonyPopović – former football (soccer) player and current manager Jack Rocchi – Australian...
bring in Lennie Lawrence as his assistant and former Palace teammate TonyPopovic as first team coach. He was ultimately successful in guiding Crystal...
763 Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (Japan) Western Sydney Wanderers coach, TonyPopovic, spoke after the match about the win, saying "we were called a small...
Retrieved 19 July 2023. Smithies, Tony (21 December 2013). "Jaushua Sotirio is just 18-years-old but is now in TonyPopovic's Western Sydney Wanderers plans"...
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