| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nikola Jovanović | ||
| Date of birth | (1952-09-18)18 September 1952 (age 73) | ||
| Place of birth | Cetinje,PR Montenegro, FPR Yugoslavia | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1972–1975 | Budućnost Titograd | ||
| 1975–1979 | Red Star Belgrade | 75 | (1) |
| 1980–1982 | Manchester United | 21 | (4) |
| 1981–1982 | →Budućnost Titograd (loan) | 12 | (1) |
| 1982–1984 | Budućnost Titograd | ||
| International career | |||
| 1979–1982 | Yugoslavia | 7 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2003-2007 | Domžale (sports dir) | ||
| 2013- | Budućnost Podgorica (sports dir) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Nikola Jovanović (Cyrillic: Никола Joвaнoвић; born 18 September 1952) is a retiredMontenegrinfootballer. Representing Yugoslavia during his career, he is known for being second player from outside theBritish Isles to joinManchester United.[1] The first player wasCarlo Sartori. He is now a sports director ofFK Budućnost Podgorica.
Jovanović was one of the most successful players of, then Yugoslav, giantRed Star where he played as a defender and had an impressive overall record of 359 matches and 50 goals for theBelgrade side.[2] He then made history when he became the first Yugoslav footballer to play for leadingEnglish league sideManchester United, where he made 21Football League appearances in the early 1980s after being signed by managerDave Sexton. In addition, he was the first non-British Isles player to be signed by the club — Italian-bornCarlo Sartori, who played for United during the 1960s and 1970s, moved to Manchester as a child and came through the club's youth system.[3] Before signing for Manchester United he turned down an offer fromBayern Munich and decided in favour of the English side.[2] In January 1980, Manchester United made Jovanović one of the club's most expensively signed players at the time by paying £300,000 for his services toRed Star (it was Red Star's andYugoslav First League record transfer fee at the time).[2] However, his time atOld Trafford was short lived and he failed to justify his transfer fee. By the end of his first season he began suffering from chronic back pain and before long was on his way back to his nativeYugoslavia.[2] After being injured for almost two seasons he retired at the age of 31.[2]Before he returned to Yugoslavia, he went to Hong Kong joined Sea Bees football team from quarter 4 1982 to February 1983.[citation needed]
Jovanović made his debut forYugoslavia in an April 1979European Championship qualification away againstCyprus and has earned a total of 7 caps, scoring no goals. He was part of the squad at the1982 FIFA World Cup[2] and his final international was a June 1982 World Cup match againstHonduras inZaragoza.[4]
Born inCetinje, present dayMontenegro, he resides with his family inMengeš,Slovenia.[2] He has worked as sports director at Slovenian clubNK Domžale and was offered jobs as Montenegrin national team coach and as sports director at former club Budućnost.[5] He took up the latter role in summer 2013.[6]
