| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bojan Hodak | ||
| Date of birth | (1971-05-04)4 May 1971 (age 54)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Zagreb,Yugoslavia | ||
| Position | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Persib Bandung (head coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1984–1990 | Trnje | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1990–1994 | Vrapče | ||
| 1995 | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | ||
| 1996 | Ponikve | ||
| 1997 | Balestier Central | ||
| 1998–1999 | Jurong | ||
| 1999 | Hong Kong Rangers | ||
| 2000–2001 | Jurong | ||
| 2002 | Trnje | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 2006–2009 | UPB-MyTeam | ||
| 2010–2011 | Phnom Penh Crown | ||
| 2011–2012 | Shandong Taishan (assistant coach) | ||
| 2012–2013 | Kelantan | ||
| 2014–2015 | Johor Darul Ta'zim | ||
| 2016 | Penang (CEO) | ||
| 2017–2019 | Malaysia U19 | ||
| 2020 | PSM Makassar | ||
| 2021–2023 | Kuala Lumpur City | ||
| 2023– | Persib Bandung | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Bojan Hodak (born 4 May 1971) is a Croatian professionalfootballcoach and formerplayer. He is currently coachingSuper League clubPersib Bandung.[2]
Hodak was born and raised inZagreb, Croatia, as the second child in a family with a strong military background. His father and brother were both army officers. In his early years, he spent most time playing basketball and football, not preferring one over the other as he excelled in both. There was neither a prominent figure that encouraged him, nor was there any history of sportsmen in his family, but Hodak carried on for fun, joining his friends. However at the age of 16, his local clubNK Trnje began paying him for his services and he duly gave up basketball to focus his time and energy in football.[3]
Hodak's coaching career began in Malaysia in 2006 with the now-defunctUPB-MyTeam, where he guided them to promotion into theMalaysian Super League. There he was responsible for the development of UPB-MyTeam's very young squad, which produced many Malaysian national players, includingNorshahrul Idlan Talaha,Shakir Shaari,Bunyamin Umar,Syed Adney Syed Hussein,Stanley Samuel,Azmi Muslim,Nazrin Nawi andAzamuddin Akil.
WithPhnom Penh Crown, he won theCambodian League and qualified for theAFC President's Cup Final Round for the first time inCambodian football history.
WithShandong Taishan, he won the Reserve CSL and he was assistant coach in the First team that lost theChinese FA Cup final 2–1 toTianjin Teda.
Hodak was appointed manager and head coach ofKelantan in February 2012.[4][5] He made Kelantan history during his debut season, guiding them to a historic treble of theMalaysian FA Cup,Malaysian Super League andMalaysia Cup. The team also qualified for the2012 AFC Cup quarter-finals where they lost toArbil FC ofIraq, 3–6 on aggregate.[6] In his second season with Kelantan, despite losing six key players, the team managed to retain theFA Cup, but lost the league championship toLionsXII andMalaysia Cup final toSri Pahang. He left the team after the conclusion of the 2013 season.[7]
WithJohor Darul Ta'zim, he won the2014 Malaysia Super League and qualified for theAFC Cup. The team collected 44 points from 22 matches and beat Sarawak 1–0 at Stadium Negeri Sarawak, Kuching. In January 2015, he guided JDT to the Charity Shield after JDT beat Pahang 2-0.
Hodak was appointedCEO ofPenang in May 2016 with the target to save Penang from relegation. Penang were bottom of the Malaysian Super League with only 6 points from 11 matches. He signedNenad Baćina as head coach, changed three players and the team started improving. In the second half of the season, Penang was one of the best teams, winning 16 points, with onlyJohor Darul Ta'zim andKedah Darul Aman winning more points in these 11 matches.
The team managed to stay in Malaysian Super League in 2016. After Hodak left at the end of the 2016 season, Penang was relegated the next season, after collecting only 12 points From 22 matches.
WithMalaysia U-19, Hodak achieved best results in the history by winningAFF U-19 Championship in 2018.Before that, in 2017 he was runner Up in same age group and manage to qualify for AFC U-19 Championship 2017.
On the last day of 2019 (31 December 2019),PSM Makassar officially announced Bojan Hodak as their new coach for the upcoming 2020 season.[8]
Bojan helped the City Boys reached their first cup final after 22 years (since 1999 Malaysia FA Cup).
On top of that,Kuala Lumpur City put an end to the 32-year drought of Malaysia Cup (last won in 1989) by winning the 2021 Malaysia Cup final by beating the overwhelming favourites JDT 2–0 at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
As title holders of the Malaysia Cup, Kuala Lumpur City qualified to play in the 2022 AFC Cup campaign via cup competition after Malaysia FA Cup was abandoned due toCOVID-19 pandemic. Bojan led the team to thefinal, where they have to finish as the runner-up after losing 0–2 to Omani clubAl-Seeb.
Bojan's last match for the team was thefinal of the2023 Malaysia FA Cup against Johor Darul Ta'zim which ended in their loss of 0–2. In 26 July 2023, four days after the match, Bojan announced his resignation.
In the same day of Bojan's resignation announcement from Kuala Lumpur City,Persib Bandung introduced him as the new head coach to replaceLuis Milla.[9] At the moment of his arrival, Maung Bandung was struggling in their2023–24 Liga 1 campaign. They were down in the relegation zone, positioned 16th out of 18 teams.
Under Bojan, Persib had managed to breach out of the bottom and managed to qualify for the championship series after finishing second in the regular series standings.
Persib was finally able to emerge as champions after winning 6–1 in aggregate againstMadura United in thefinals. Bojan made club history as the first foreign head coach to win a league title. In addition, he was awarded as the season's Best Coach.[10]
Bojan made another history in the2024–25 season as he led Persib to a back-to-back championship. The team sealed the title in Matchday 31 after both contendersDewa United andPersebaya Surabaya failed to secure a win in their fixtures, leaving them ten points behind Persib with only three matches left to be played. This achievement had placed Bojan in par withIndra Thohir as the only other Persib head coach to win consecutive league titles by winning the 1993–94 Perserikatan and the1994–95 Liga Indonesia.[11]
| Team | Nat. | From | To | Record | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||||
| UPB-MyTeam |  | 1 November 2006 | 21 June 2009 | 81 | 37 | 15 | 29 | 045.68 | |
| Phnom Penh Crown |  | 1 October 2010 | 31 May 2011 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 071.43 | |
| Kelantan | | 27 February 2012 | 31 December 2013 | 90 | 53 | 21 | 16 | 058.89 | |
| Johor Darul Ta'zim | | 26 February 2014 | 1 May 2015 | 38 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 060.53 | |
| Malaysia U19 | | 1 August 2017 | 31 July 2019 | 17 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 064.71 | |
| PSM Makassar |  | 1 January 2020 | 1 April 2020 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 050.00 | |
| Kuala Lumpur City | | 7 January 2021 | 26 July 2023 | 90 | 37 | 29 | 24 | 041.11 | |
| Persib Bandung | | 26 July 2023 | Present | 90 | 50 | 28 | 12 | 055.56 | |
| Career Total | 428 | 225 | 112 | 91 | 052.57 | ||||
UPB MyTeam
Phnom Penh Crown
Kelantan
Johor Darul Ta'zim
Malaysia U19
Kuala Lumpur City
Persib Bandung
Individual
