Bobby Despotovski

Football player infobox
playername= Bobby Despotovski
fullname = Slobodan Despotovski


dateofbirth = birth date and age|1971|7|14
cityofbirth = Perth
countryofbirth = Australia
height = height|m=1.80
currentclub = Inglewood United
position = Manager (former Striker)
youthyears = 1989
youthclubs = Red Star Belgrade
years = 1989–1991
1994
1994-1995
1995-1996
1996
1996-2004
2004-2005
2005
2005-2007
2007-present
clubs = Dinamo Pančevo
Floreat Athena
Heidelberg United
Morwell Falcons
Melbourne Warriors
Perth Glory
Bonnyrigg White Eagles
Inglewood United
Perth Glory
Inglewood United
caps(goals) =


018 00(9)
006 00(1)
000 0(25)
211 (103)


0 0
0029 00(11)
nationalyears = 2002
nationalteam = flagicon|Australia Australia
nationalcaps(goals) = 004 0(5)
manageryears = 2007
managerclubs = Inglewood United
pcupdate = 1 February 2007
ntupdate = 1 February 2007

Slobodan "Bobby" Despotovski (born July 14 1971 in Perth, Western Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) player of Serbian origin.

Club career

Only nine months after his birth his family moved to Yugoslavia because his mother,Valentina, was home-sick. He grew up with his family in the town of Pančevo, 16km outside capital Belgrade, and played junior level football with Red Star Belgrade.

When Despotovski was 15 he had a choice to continue either Handball which he says has always played a large part in his life or to pursue a career in professional football, eventually he chose football and was selected to play for the reserve team at his first senior club, Dinamo Pančevo.

After a stint with the Yugoslav People's Army during the Balkans war which ended as a result of self-inflicted injuries, Despotovski in 1992 returned to his birthplace, Perth, Western Australia and continued his professional career with Floreat Athena in the Western Australian Premier League. In 1994 he joined Heidelberg in the NSL and left the club to join the now defunct NSL club Morwell Falcons in 1995.

Bobby’s career took off when he received a call from the then Perth Glory general manager, Roger Lefort. The new club wanted Despotovski to lead their attack in the club's inaugural season and he certainly didn't disappoint scoring 14 goals in only 23 NSL games.

Despotovski was in the center of a controversy when playing against the Melbourne Knights (a team primarily supported by Croatian Australians) at the Somers Street Stadium on May 21, 2001 he gave a three fingered salute to the predominantly Croatian crowd which is a Serbian Orthodox symbol that represents Orthodox Chistianity. As the Perth team left the stadium Despotovski and Perth coach Bernd Stange were assaulted by angry Knights supporters. To avoid repetition of violence, the next Knights home fixture against Perth was played in Launceston.

He was one of the most successful strikers in the now defunct Australian National Soccer League. Despotovski was with the Western Australian team Perth Glory for 10 years.

Following the conclusion of the 2004/2005 season of the NSL Despotovski signed with Perth Glory for the 2005/2006 A-League season after a brief stint with the Bonnyrigg White Eagles in the Vodafone Premier League in NSW. Despotovski finished the season as joint top goal scorer of the league and winner of the Johnny Warren Medal. Season 2006/2007 started without Bobby because of his re-occurring back injury but he returned to partner Stuart Young up front.

He is now the coach of Inglewood United. He will also commence in 2008 as the coach of perth boys school Hale School's 1st XI Soccer side. Despotovski holds both the game and goal scoring record for Perth Glory.

Trivia

Despotovski also owns a sports store on Hay Street in the Perth central business district, Bobby 10 Football World.

Honours

With Perth Glory:
* NSL Championship: 2002-2003, 2003-2004Personal Honours:
* Johnny Warren Medal: 2005-2006 with Perth Glory
* A-League Golden Boot: 2005-2006 with Perth Glory - 8 goals
* Perth Glory Most Glorious Player Award: 2005-2006, 2003-2004, 2001-2002, 2000-2001
* Perth Glory Player's Player of the Year: 2005-2006
* Perth Glory Member's Player of the Year: 2002-2003

External links

* [http://www.ozfootball.net/ark/Players/D/DE.html Oz Football profile]
* [http://www.bobby10.com Bobby 10 Football World website]