Alen Stajcic

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Alen Stajčić
Alen Stajcic at 2017 Algarve Cup.jpeg
Stajčić with the Matildas in 2017
Personal information
Full name Alen Stajčić
Date of birth (1973-11-02) 2 November 1973 (age 47)
Place of birth Australia[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994 Mount Druitt Town 6 (0)
1994–1997 Bonnyrigg White Eagles 35 (2)
1998 Bankstown City Lions 13 (2)
2000
2000–2002 Sutherland Sharks 38 (2)
Teams managed
2002–2004
2008–2014 Sydney FC women
2014–2019 Australia women
2019 Central Coast Mariners (caretaker)
2019–2021 Central Coast Mariners
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 August 2007

Alen Stajčić (born 2 November 1973) is a former Australian soccer player and coach who last managed A-League club Central Coast Mariners. While as a footballer he was a NSW Premier League player and Australian Youth Representative.

Since turning his hand to coaching he had become the head coach of NSWIS for Women's Soccer, Head Coach of The Hills Sports High School Football Program, Head Coach of the Australian Under 20 Women's National Team.[2] He was appointed coach for Sydney FC in the first season of the Australian W-League.[3] From 2014 to 2019, he was the head coach of the Matildas.

Personal life[]

Stajčić is able to speak Serbo-Croatian fluently.[4]

Club career[]

A former NSW Premier League player and Captain with Bonnyrigg, Bankstown and Sutherland, Alen represented NSW at the youth level and played for several clubs within the National Youth League and Winter Super League.

Managerial career[]

Alen Stajcic had been the head coach of the NSWIS Women's Football Program from 2002–2013. Widely considered as the one of the best football nurseries in Australia, the program produced over 30 senior Internationals in that 10-year period. He was also the head coach of the Women's National Soccer League side, the NSW Sapphires, which he guided to a premiership in the 2003/04 season. He started as head coach of HSHS in the foundation year (2003) and has gone on to win many titles and good performances.

In 2006, he was the assistant coach for the Young Matilda's while they were competing at the FIFA U/20's Women's Championships in Russia. Unfortunately they bowed out in the group stage, missing the next round by 1 point to Brazil and Russia. As of 05/03/07 Stajcic became the Young Matildas Coach.

In 2008, Stajcic became the inaugural Sydney FC Women's head coach, until 2014. They qualified for the semi finals in all 6 seasons, winning 2 grand finals and 2 premierships along the way. In 2013, Sydney FC beat Japanese powerhouse NTV Beleza and Sth American Champions Colo Colo to claim 3rd place the IWCC in Japan.

Australia women[]

As of September 2014, Stajcic was appointed full-time head coach of the Australian Women's National Football team, the Matildas. In the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada, they became the 1st Senior Australian Football Team to win a knockout match in a World Cup when they defeated Brazil 1–0 in the Round of 16 before losing 1–0 to Japan in the quarter finals. Earlier in 2014, Stajcic had led the Matildas in an Interim capacity, to a Silver Medal at the Asian Championships.

Currently, Stajcic stands as the only Australian-born head coach to win a match at a FIFA World Cup.

In March 2016, the Matildas qualified for the Olympic Games for the first time in 12 years. Along the way eliminating World Cup finalists Japan. The Matildas topped the Asian Qualifying group and were undefeated in the tournament. The Matildas subsequently attained their highest-ever FIFA Ranking of 5. At the 2016 Rio Olympics Australia were grouped with Canada, Germany and Zimbabwe. Australia progressed through to the Quarter Finals, where they were beaten 7–6 on penalties by Hosts Brazil after a 0–0 draw.

Despite qualifying for the 2019 Women's World Cup, Stajcic was sacked from his position by Football Federation Australia for reasons that were not made clear by the FFA at the time of the sacking, with FFA board member Heather Reid making cryptic remarks about how people "would be shocked" if they knew the reasons, with leaks to the media resulting in Lucy Zelic claiming the facts were legally confidential. Australian player Sam Kerr posted on twitter saying "My trust was in Staj to lead us to the World Cup final & I believe he was the best coach for that". Stajcic took legal action against the FFA for the sacking and the veil of secrecy behind it, and in May 2019 this legal action lead to a settlement with a 'six figure' settlement accounting for the loss of potential World Cup bonuses and reputation damage.[5] Heather Reid said in a statement following the settlement, "I apologise unreservedly for the damage, distress and hurt that I have caused to Alen Stajcic as a professional football coach".[6]

Central Coast Mariners[]

Following the sacking of Mike Mulvey from Central Coast Mariners, on 12 March 2019 Stajcic was appointed as the caretaker head coach for the club.[7] On 2 May 2019, Stajcic was appointed head coach on a 3-year contract until the end of the 2021–22 A-League season.[8][9] In the final 6 games of season he was in charge for 2 wins and 4 losses.

The 2019/20 season was his first as the full time head coach, and the Mariners finished in last place with 5 wins, 3 draws and 18 losses from 26 games.

The early stages of the 2020/21 season went very well for the Mariners, and they won 5 of the first 7 matches, putting them in outright first place with 15 points.

Managerial statistics[]

As of 11 May 2021[10]
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L Win %
Australia women Australia September 2014 January 2019 64 37 11 16 057.81
Central Coast Mariners Australia March 2019 Present 56 19 8 29 033.93
Total 120 56 19 45 046.67

Honours[]

  • W-league Coach of the Year: 2010–11
  • W-league Coach of the Year: 2013–14
  • Inducted into Sydney FC Hall of Fame: 2015
  • Australian Institute of Sport Coach of the Year: 2017[11]

As a player[]

  • Australian Schoolboy International: 1992

As a coach[]

Central Coast Mariners A-league Team
  • FFA Cup Semi-Finalists: 2019/20
  • A-league Finalists 2020/21
Matildas
  • Finalists Asian Cup: 2014, 2018
  • Quarter Finalist World Cup: 2015
  • Quarter Finalist Olympics: 2016
  • Tournament of Nations Winners 2017
  • Record high FIFA World Ranking of 4: 2017
Sydney FC Women's Team
  • Semi Finalists: 2008, 2011–12, 2013–14
  • Premiers: 2009, 2010–11
  • Champions: 2009, 2012–13
  • Finalists: 2010–11
  • 3rd Place International Women's Club Championship: 2013
Young Matilda's (As Assistant Coach)
  • Qualified for World U-20's Women Championships: 2006
    • Knocked out in Group Stage

NSW Sapphires

  • Winner of Nation Women's Soccer League: 2003–04
  • Finalists of Nation Women's Soccer League: 2002–03

References[]

  1. ^ "A. Stajcic". Soccerway. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Coach Profile". FootballAustralia.com.au. Foootball Federation Australia. 27 May 2011. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  3. ^ "Young Matildas Coach For Sydney". Australian FourFourTwo. 1 April 2012. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  4. ^ "Exploring Language & Cultural Barriers Within Australian Football".
  5. ^ Rugari, Vince (9 February 2021). "Football Australia director Heather Reid facing push to oust her from board". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment Co. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  6. ^ Bossi, Dominic (31 May 2019). "FFA loses face and cash in apology to Stajcic". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment Co. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  7. ^ "Central Coast Mariners appoint sacked Matildas coach Alen Stajcic". The Guardian. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Alen Stajcic commits to Central Coast Mariners until 2022". Central Coast Mariners FC. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Stajcic signs three-year Central Coast Mariners deal". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment Co. 2 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Alen Stajcic". Ultimate A-League. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  11. ^ "Matildas and Kerr Australia's fan favourites at AIS awards". Australian Sports Commission website. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 12 December 2017.

External links[]

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