View source for Nenad Starovlah

{{Short description|Bosnian footballer (born 1955)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name           = Nenad Starovlah
| image          = Nenad Starovlah.jpg
| caption        = Starovlah as [[AC Omonia|Omonia]] team manager in 2015
| fullname       = Nenad Starovlah
| birth_date     = {{Birth date and age|1955|7|29|df=yes}}
| birth_place    = [[Sarajevo]], [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|FPR Yugoslavia]]
| height         = {{height|m=1.88}}
| position       = [[Defender (association football)|Defender]]
| youthyears1    = {{0|0000}}–1972
| youthclubs1    = [[FK Željezničar Sarajevo|Željezničar]]
| years1         = 1972–1982
| clubs1         = [[FK Željezničar Sarajevo|Željezničar]]
| caps1          = 137
| goals1         = 4
| totalcaps      = 137
| totalgoals     = 4
| nationalyears1 = 1978–1980
| nationalteam1  = [[Yugoslavia national football team|Yugoslavia]]
| nationalcaps1  = 2<ref>{{Reprezentacija|starovlah-nenad}}</ref>
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalSport | Men's [[Football (soccer)|Football]]}}
{{MedalCountry | {{YUG}} }}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Mediterranean Games]]}}
{{MedalGold  | [[1979 Mediterranean Games|1979 Split]] | [[Football at the 1971 Mediterranean Games|Team]]}}
| manageryears1  = 1985–1987
| managerclubs1  = [[Yugoslavia national under-21 football team|Yugoslavia U21]] (assistant) 
| manageryears2  = 1987–1990
| managerclubs2  = [[Serbia national under-17 football team|Yugoslavia U16]] 
| manageryears3  = 1987–1990
| managerclubs3  = [[Bosnia and Herzegovina national under-17 football team|Bosnia and Herzegovina U17]] 
| manageryears4  = 1989–1991
| managerclubs4  = [[Yugoslavia Olympic football team|Yugoslavia Olympic]] 
| manageryears5  = 1992–1993
| managerclubs5  = [[FK Hajduk Kula|Hajduk Kula]]
| manageryears6  = 1993–1994
| managerclubs6  = [[FK Borac Čačak|Borac Čačak]]
| manageryears7  = 1994
| managerclubs7  = [[Ethnikos Piraeus F.C.|Ethnikos Piraeus]]
| manageryears8  = 1998
| managerclubs8  = [[Apollon Limassol FC|Apollon Limassol]]
| manageryears9  = 1999–2000
| managerclubs9  = [[Enosis Neon Paralimni FC|Enosis Neon Paralimni]]
| manageryears10 = 2000–2001
| managerclubs10 = [[FK Sutjeska Nikšić|Sutjeska Nikšić]]
| manageryears11 = 2002–2006
| managerclubs11 = [[Apollon Limassol FC|Apollon Limassol]] (academy technical director)
| manageryears12 = 2006
| managerclubs12 = [[FK Željezničar Sarajevo|Željezničar]]
| manageryears13 = 2008–2016
| managerclubs13 = [[AC Omonia|Omonia]] (team manager)
}}

'''Nenad Starovlah''' ([[Serbian Cyrillic alphabet|Serbian Cyrillic]]: Ненад Старовлах; Greek: Νέναντ Στάροβλαχ; born 29 July 1955) is a Bosnian professional [[Manager (association football)|football manager]] and former [[Football player|player]]. He also holds [[Cyprus|Cypriot]] citizenship.

==Club career==
Born in [[Sarajevo]], Starovlah was chosen as the best young player at the tournament of the Republic Championship and was after the tournament called up to the first team of hometown club [[FK Željezničar Sarajevo|Željezničar]] in July 1972. He later on played 137 league games for Željezničar from 1972 till 1982, and as a defender nevertheless scored 18 goals. He was part of the team that played in the [[1980–81 Yugoslav Cup]] final against [[FK Velež Mostar|Velež Mostar]] which they lost 3–2. He retired from professional football in 1982 at the age of 27 because of a serious knee injury.

==International career==
Starovlah got a chance to play in two games for the [[Yugoslavia national football team|Yugoslavia national team]], with whom he won the gold medal at the [[1979 Mediterranean Games]] in [[Split, Croatia|Split]].

==Managerial career==
===Early career===
After ending his playing career in 1982, Starovlah took over the U10 side of [[FK Željezničar Sarajevo|Željezničar]] and for eight years he managed the team, winning six republic titles of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to the fact that sixteen of these players from that generation signed a professional contract with the first team, Starovlah became an assistant manager of the Željezničar first team in 1991 under [[Milan Ribar]]. [[Yugoslav Wars|War in Yugoslavia]] began in 1992 and as a result the team split. Many of these players  continued their career abroad like [[Mario Stanić]], [[Elvir Baljić]], [[Marijo Dodik]], [[Boris Vasković]], [[Veldin Karić]] and others. Starovlah also took over the [[Serbia national under-17 football team|Yugoslav U16 national team]] in 1987. The team reached the finals of the [[1990 UEFA European Under-16 Championship]], losing the final to [[Czechoslovakia national under-16 football team|Czechoslovakia]] by 3–2. During the same period whilst he was the head coach of the Yugoslav U16 team, Starovlah was also the head coach of the [[Bosnia and Herzegovina national under-17 football team|Bosnia and Herzevoina U17 national team]].

===Hajduk Kula===
In 1992, after years of experience in the previous teams managed, Starovlah moved to Serbia and became manager of [[FK Hajduk Kula|Hajduk Kula]], making great results at the club.

Radoman Vasović, the club's president at the time, declared:

"Even if prior to deciding to assign Starovlah as our manager, we had information about who and what personality he had, it is not till now that we can say that we are absolutely certain that we received what we wanted: a young and professional manager, a person who is fully dedicated to football, who has energy and ambition to achieve the goal that has been set, and who knows how to teach the players how to play football but also to psychologically motivate them to always give their maximum.”{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}

===Borac Čačak===
Starovlah then joined [[FK Borac Čačak|Borac Čačak]], where the committee of the club considered that he was the ideal manager to help their team achieve their major goal which was to get promotion to the [[First League of Serbia and Montenegro|First League of FR Yugoslavia]]. In 1994, with Starovlah the team achieved their goal after a thirty-two year wait.

===Period in Greece and Cypurus===
In July 1994, Starovlah signed a 1-year contract with, at the time, [[Super League Greece]] club [[Ethnikos Piraeus F.C.|Ethnikos Piraeus]]. After only four months as the club's manager, Starovlah got sacked after a series of bad results. Then, from 1995 until 1999, he worked at [[Apollon Limassol FC|Apollon Limassol]] in Cyprus. He first was first appointed as the club's academy technical advisor, and later in 1998 became manager.

In 1999, Starovlah signed a contract with another Cypriot club, [[Enosis Neon Paralimni FC|Enosis Neon Paralimni]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nenad Starovlah|url=https://www.worldfootball.net/player_summary/nenad-starovlah/|access-date=2021-05-25|website=worldfootball.net|language=en}}</ref> In the [[1999–2000 Cypriot First Division|1999–2000]] season, Enosis finished in 8th place in the league and after the end of the season Starovlah left the club.

===Sutjeska Nikšić===
Continuing his career, in 2000 Starovlah returned to FR Yugoslavia and became the manager of [[FK Sutjeska Nikšić|Sutjeska Nikšić]]. He stayed there for one year.

===Return to Apollon (academy technical director)===
After Sutjeska, Starovlah made his return to Apollon. During his time at the club, he was the technical director of the academy. Starovlah managed a number of players who are known to be one of the most successful both in the [[Cypriot First Division]] and abroad. On 1 October 2004, the Cypriot newspapers named him “Ο πιο πιστός στρατιώτης,” which in English means “The most dedicated soldier.”

===Željezničar===
In July 2006, Starovlah became the manager of the club where it all started, [[FK Željezničar Sarajevo|Željezničar]] in the [[Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina|Bosnian Premier League]]. In September 2006, Starovlah was controversaly sacked, even though at the time the team was in 4th place and had only 5 points less than 1st placed club, fierce city rivals [[FK Sarajevo|Sarajevo]].

===Omonia (team manager)===
In 2008, Starovlah became the team manager of Cypriot club [[AC Omonia|Omonia]]. He remained on that position until 2016. During that time, Omonia made big success in both the league and cup, and Starovlah was very much praised for all the success the club made during that time.

==Reception==
Some players mentioned that Starovlah was their mentor and guided them to their current careers. Zoran Simunović described him as “a high quality manager with many diplomas, who managed to make a lot of success in his career.” Panayiotis Frangeskou named Starovlah to be his “football father,” due to his years of support. [[Zoran Šaraba]] stated that “Starovlah is a great expert who is in love with football. He knows how to work, he is ambitious and is a real professional whom everyone loves: players, management and fans." Of course, Starovlah has also been criticized by certain managers and players as well.

==Honours==
===Player===
'''Yugoslavia'''
*[[Mediterranean Games]]: [[1979 Mediterranean Games|1979]]

===Manager===
'''Borac Čačak'''
*[[Second League of Serbia and Montenegro|Second League of FR Yugoslavia]]: [[1993–94 Second League of FR Yugoslavia|1993–94]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*{{NFT player}}

{{navboxes
|title = Managerial positions
|list1 =
{{Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. managers}}
{{FK Sutjeska Nikšić managers}}
{{FK Željezničar managers}}
}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starovlah, Nenad}}
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Footballers from Sarajevo]]
[[Category:Yugoslav men's footballers]]
[[Category:Yugoslav First League players]]
[[Category:Yugoslav Second League players]]
[[Category:FK Željezničar Sarajevo players]]
[[Category:Yugoslavia men's international footballers]]
[[Category:Competitors at the 1979 Mediterranean Games]]
[[Category:Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Yugoslavia]]
[[Category:Mediterranean Games medalists in football]]
[[Category:Men's association football defenders]]
[[Category:Yugoslav football managers]]
[[Category:Bosnia and Herzegovina football managers]]
[[Category:Expatriate football managers in Serbia and Montenegro]]
[[Category:Expatriate football managers in Cyprus]]
[[Category:Super League Greece managers]]
[[Category:Cypriot First Division managers]]
[[Category:Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina managers]]
[[Category:FK Hajduk Kula managers]]
[[Category:FK Borac Čačak managers]]
[[Category:Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Apollon Limassol FC managers]]
[[Category:Enosis Neon Paralimni FC managers]]
[[Category:FK Sutjeska Nikšić managers]]
[[Category:FK Željezničar Sarajevo managers]]