 Bonačić in 2017 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Luka Bonačić | ||
| Date of birth | (1955-03-21)21 March 1955 (age 70) | ||
| Place of birth | Split,FPR Yugoslavia | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1971–1974 | Hajduk Split | 45 | (8) |
| 1973–1974 | →Šibenik (loan) | 15 | (2) |
| 1974–1975 | Grasshopper Zürich | 13 | (4) |
| 1976–1978 | Maribor | 9 | (0) |
| 1977–1978 | →Hajduk Split (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 1979–1980 | VfL Bochum | 10 | (0) |
| 1980–1981 | Málaga | 22 | (5) |
| 1981–1982 | Hajduk Split | 7 | (0) |
| 1983–1984 | Šibenik | 10 | (1) |
| 1985 | Footscray JUST | 9 | (3) |
| 1986 | Melbourne Croatia | 0 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1988–1989 | Central United | ||
| 1991–1992 | Dubrovnik | ||
| 1992–1993 | Pazinka | ||
| 1993–1994 | Zadar | ||
| 1994–1995 | Neretva | ||
| 1995–1996 | Varteks | ||
| 1996 | Rijeka | ||
| 1996–1997 | Osijek | ||
| 1997–1998 | Hajduk Split | ||
| 1998–1999 | Slaven Belupo | ||
| 1999–2000 | GOŠK Dubrovnik | ||
| 2000 | Varteks | ||
| 2000–2001 | Mura | ||
| 2001–2002 | Hrvatski Dragovoljac | ||
| 2002–2003 | Šibenik | ||
| 2003–2004 | Foolad | ||
| 2004–2005 | Esteghlal Ahvaz | ||
| 2005 | Dinamo Tirana | ||
| 2006 | Hajduk Split | ||
| 2006–2008 | Sepahan | ||
| 2008–2009 | Al-Nasr Dubai | ||
| 2009 | Foolad | ||
| 2009–2010 | Mes Kerman | ||
| 2010–2011 | Gostaresh | ||
| 2011 | Sepahan | ||
| 2012 | NK Zagreb | ||
| 2013 | Mes Kerman | ||
| 2013–2014 | Zob Ahan | ||
| 2014 | Mes Kerman | ||
| 2014–2016 | Al-Shahania | ||
| 2016 | Al Ahli | ||
| 2017 | Gostaresh | ||
| 2017–2018 | Al-Arabi | ||
| 2019–2020 | Varaždin | ||
| 2020 | Zob Ahan | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Luka Bonačić (pronounced[lûːkabɔ̌natʃitɕ]; born 21 March 1955) is a Croatianfootball coach and former professional player.
He was born inSplit,Croatia that was then part ofSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He began his football career at the Split Football Academy. He joinedHajduk Split in 1969 when he was 14.
He signed a pro contract with Hajduk in 1971. He played 45 games for club and scored eight goals. He joinedGrasshopper Club Zürich in 1979, but after one year he transferred toVfL Bochum.CD Málaga andFootscray JUST were Bonačić's next clubs. He retired after playing forMelbourne Croatia in 1986. He was called up for theCroatia national team in 1982 but never played.
Bonačić is known as coach who gives young talented players a chance. In the 1992–93 season, when he wasNK Pazinka coach, he launched the career ofDado Prso, the formerRangers andMonaco striker. Also whilst atSlaven Belupo, he started the career of young central defenderIvica Križanac who currently plays forFC Zenit inRussia.
He was selected as Croatian Coach of the Year in 1996 when he reached the final of theCroatian Cup with middle-class Croatian clubNK Varteks. In 1996, he won with Varteks againstDinamo Zagreb 4–3.[citation needed]
Thanks to his success with NK Varteks, in the 1997–98 season he became head coach of top Croatian clubHajduk Split. Soon after Bonačić's appointment, however, the management board named coachTomislav Ivić as Bonačić's assistant. Ivić preferred defensive football and young coach Bonačić preferred attacking football. As a result, the team had a conflict of tactics.
After ten match days, Hajduk had won nine and lost only one match which made them leading the Croatian Championship with eight points advantage ahead of second ranking Dinamo Zagreb. The management board of Hajduk Split (controlled by Franjo Tuđman's assistants) decided to fire Bonačić and promoted Ivić to head coach. After two months, Hajduk had lost many points under Ivić and the management sacked him and asked Bonačić to return. Bonačić returned, but due to the points lost under Ivić, he could only manage a respectable second behind Dinamo Zagreb.
Bonačić is known as coach who doesn't like officials of clubs to decide which player will be in the starting eleven. On a few occasions he has left Croatian and foreign clubs when some presidents of clubs have tried to impose him which players "must" play in the first team. In 2006, he was attacked by a group of people whilst returning to his flat inSplit.[citation needed] Bonačić claimed that agents of players which were only substitute during his stay at Hajduk because he thought that their quality was not enough good were behind the attack.[1] A few months after this incident he has decided to leave Hajduk and he has told for Croatian press that he will never more return to Hajduk.
In 2006, Bonačić accepted an offer as head-coach ofIranian sideSepahan. He was highly successful with Sepahan winning theHazfi Cup in 2006 and 2007. Also in 2007, he managed to take Sepahan to theAFC Champions League final but lost to Japanese sideUrawa Red Diamonds 3–1 on aggregate. Sepahan became the first Iranian football club to make it to the knockout stage and final since Esteghlal in 1990's.
In January 2008, Bonačić signed an 18-month contract withAl-Nasr inDubai and was sacked in February 2009.
In December 2010, Bonačić signed a contract withAzadegan League clubGostaresh based in Iran,Tabriz.
He returned to his previous club and was named as new head coach of Sepahan on 22 June 2011.[2][3] After a 3–0 defeat toMes Kerman in the Pro League and elimination fromChampions League, Bonačić was dismissed by club chairman.[4]
In September 2012, Bonačić took over the helm ofNK Zagreb[5] and headed this team until October 2012 when he was replaced byMiroslav Blažević.
On 27 December 2012, Bonačić joinedMes Kerman as head coach for the second time but left the team at the end of theseason after leading the club at the sixth place.[6] On 1 July 2013, he was named as the head coach ofZob Ahan, signed a one-year contract with the club.[7] On 16 December 2013, it was announced that Luka will leave Zob Ahan in January 2014 and will be succeeded byMojtaba Taghavi. On 23 January 2014, Luka returns as manager ofMes Kerman with signing a contract until the end of the season. He led Mes Kerman to theHazfi Cupfinal for the first time, however, his side lost the match 1–0 toTractor Sazi. On 6 April, Mes Kerman relegated to theAzadegan League after a 0–0 draw withSaba Qom. He was given a one-year contract by the club to lead them inAzadegan League and promotion back Mes Kerman to theIran Pro League at the end of the season. However, he was sacked on 11 November 2014 after poor results. On 21 November 2014, he was named as manager ofQatar Stars League sideAl-Shahania.
On 9 October 2019, Bonačić was named the new head coach ofVaraždin in theCroatian First Football League.[8]
In June 2020, Bonačić was re-appointed head coach of Iranian club Zob Ahan following the departure of Montenegrin coachMiodrag Radulović.[9]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| NK Varteks |  | June 1995 | June 1996 | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 050.00 |
| Hajduk Split | | January 1997 | December 1998 | 52 | 31 | 10 | 11 | 059.62 |
| Foolad |  | June 2003 | June 2004 | 26 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 050.00 |
| Esteghlal Ahvaz | | June 2004 | February 2005 | 20 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 040.00 |
| KS Dinamo Tirana |  | February 2005 | February 2006 | 36 | 17 | 10 | 9 | 047.22 |
| Hajduk Split | | February 2006 | June 2006 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 033.33 |
| Sepahan | | June 2006 | January 2008 | 88 | 52 | 24 | 12 | 059.09 |
| Al Nasr |  | July 2008 | July 2009 | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 027.27 |
| Mes Kerman | | December 2009 | May 2010 | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 032.35 |
| Gostaresh | | June 2010 | June 2011 | 26 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 053.85 |
| Sepahan | | June 2011 | October 2011 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 045.45 |
| NK Zagreb | | September 2012 | November 2012 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 042.86 |
| Mes Kerman | | January 2013 | June 2013 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 037.50 |
| Zob Ahan | | July 2013 | January 2014 | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 022.73 |
| Mes Kerman | | January 2014 | November 2014 | 15 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 013.33 |
| Al-Shahania |  | November 2014 | January 2016 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 045.45 |
| Gostaresh | | June 2017 | September 2017 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 025.00 |
| Al-Arabi | | November 2017 | October 2018 | 19 | 9 | 3 | 7 | 047.37 |
| Varaždin | | October 2019 | February 2020 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 009.09 |
| Zob Ahan | | June 2020 | August 2020 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 022.22 |
| Total | 420 | 177 | 117 | 126 | 042.14 | |||
