Stanko Poklepović

Stanko Poklepović

Personal information
Date of birth	19 April 1938
Place of birth	Split, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1958–1972	RNK Split
Teams managed
1969	RNK Split
1971–1972	RNK Split
1984–1986	Hajduk Split
1987–1989	Budućnost Titograd
1989–1990	Borac Banja Luka
1990–1991	APOEL
1991–1993	Hajduk Split
1992–1993	Croatia
1994	Dubrovnik
1994–1995	Iran
1995–1997	Persepolis
1997–1998	Publikum Celje
1998–1999	Osijek
1999–2000	Ferencváros
2001–2002	Sepahan
2002–2003	Osijek
2005	Sepahan
2009	Damash Gilan
2010	Hajduk Split
2015	Hajduk Split
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Stanko "Špaco" Poklepović (born 19 April 1938) is a Croatian football coach, who was recently managed Hajduk Split.^[1]

Coaching career

He made his impact in the 1984–85 Yugoslav First League as the manager of Hajduk Split when he took over the Yugoslav powerhouse at the time when a lot of important players left the club and a lot of young players like Asanović, Andrijašević and Španjić joined the club with no experience. Poklepović almost won the league but finished 2nd because of match fixing that was popular with other clubs in the league. Hajduk managed to break the record and scored 2 goals in every match that season.

In the 1985–86 UEFA Cup Poklepović lead Hajduk to the quarter-finals. Poklepović won the first leg match against Waregem 1-0 on Poljud but he was then fired from Hajduk because of under-performing in the league and so he didn't manage the second leg game against Waregem which Hajduk lost on penalties after a 0-1 defeat.

In 1991 he returned to Hajduk and managed to win the 1992 Prva HNL which was Stanko's first league trophy in his career. In 1992 he took over the Croatian national football team but after 4 games and only 1 win he left the team.

In 1994 he went to manage the Iranian national football team and Persepolis. He managed to win the 1995–96 Azadegan League and the 1996–97 Azadegan League with Persepolis.

In 1998 he took over Osijek and managed to win the 1998–99 Croatian Cup which is Osijek's first and only trophy till today. He also finished 4th in the 1998–99 Prva HNL and secured a place in European competitions for Osijek. He returned again to Iran in 2005 and 2009 but unsuccessfully.

In February 2010 he returned to Hajduk Split for the third time.^[2] He managed to win the 2009–10 Croatian Cup and finished 2nd in the 2009–10 Prva HNL. He qualified with Hajduk for the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League after defeating Dinamo București and Unirea Urziceni in the qualifying rounds. In the 2010–11 Prva HNL he controlled the 1st position for a while and became a favorite of the fans and the media. In the European league he defeated Anderlecht 1-0 on Poljud which was Hajduk's biggest European victory since the mid 1990-s.^[3] After losing a cup game against Istra 1961 in the 1/16 round and losing the 1st position in the league he was sacked by Hajduk chairman Joško Svaguša on 27 October 2010.^[4]

In February 2015, five years later, Poklepović was returned again to Hajduk Split,^[1] but later in April, he was sacked because of underperforming in the league.

Managerial honours

Hajduk Split

• Prva HNL (1): 1992
• Croatian Cup (1): 2009-10
• Croatian Supercup (1): 1992

NK Osijek

• Croatian Cup (1): 1998-99

Persepolis F.C.

• Azadegan League (2): 1995-96, 1996-97

References

1. Rupnik, Borna (19 February 2015). "Edoardo Reja otpao, Stanko Poklepović preuzima Hajduk". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 19 February 2015.
2. Jurišić, Bernard; Attias, Vedran (12 February 2010). "Stanko Poklepović novi trener Hajduka". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 20 February 2015.
3. Babić, Vedran (30 September 2010). "Video: Vukušić za pobjedu i ludilo!". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 20 February 2015.
4. Jurišić, Bernard (28 October 2010). "Poklepović smijenjen, zasad Španjić". Sportnet.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved 20 February 2015.