Nikola Žigić

Nikola Žigić (Никола Жигић, ; born 25 September 1980) is a Serbian former footballer who played as a centre forward.

Žigić was born in Bačka Topola, in what was then SFR Yugoslavia.

He began playing football as a youngster with AIK Bačka Topola, and scored 68 goals from 76 first-team matches over a three-year period in the third tier of Yugoslav football.

He joined his hometown football club, AIK Bačka Topola, as a youngster, and graduated to the senior side in 1998–99.

He began as a centre back, but soon realised he preferred scoring goals to defending.

During the Yugoslav Wars in 1999, Žigić's hometown was beneath the flight-path of NATO bombers heading for Belgrade; for much of that part of the conflict, the family home was without electricity or running water.

Žigić is married to Sanja; the couple have two daughters and a son.

, they were living near Valencia, Spain, and Žigić was assisting in his agent's business.

Military service took him to Bar in 2001, where he was able to continue his goalscoring career with the local second-level club Mornar.

Žigić's parents did not want him to take football seriously until he completed his education, and he remained with AIK Bačka Topola until 2001, scoring 68 goals in 76 matches in the Serbian League Vojvodina, the third level of Yugoslav football.

When military service took him to Bar, he was able to play for the local club, Mornar, for whom he scored 15 goals from 23 appearances in the 2001–02 Second League of FR Yugoslavia.

After trials in France with Saint-Étienne and Créteil came to nothing, Žigić returned home where he played 8 matches for third-tier club Kolubara, scoring 3 goals.

Because he was not considered ready for first-team football at that level, he spent the latter part of the 2002–03 season on loan at Spartak Subotica, another third-tier side, for whom his goalscoring rate was even higher: 14 goals from just 11 league games.

A brief spell back in the third tier with Kolubara preceded his turning professional with First League side Red Star Belgrade in January 2003.

He spent time on loan at third-tier Spartak Subotica before making his Red Star debut later that year.

Despite suggestions that his height, of 2.02m, made him better suited to sports other than football, Žigić ended the season as First League top scorer, domestic player of the year, league champion and scorer of the winning goal in the cup final.

Žigić signed his first professional contract in January 2003, with Red Star Belgrade, the biggest club in the country.

Returning head coach Slavoljub Muslin brought Žigić into Red Star's senior squad for the 2003–04 First League season, and gave him his debut in the starting eleven on the opening day.

That first game ended in defeat, and Žigić's physical appearance – a growth spurt from the age of 16 had brought his height to 2.02m – provoked suggestions that he might be better suited to basketball.

He opened the scoring as they beat Hajduk Kula 2–0 in the next league match.

In between, he produced a hat-trick against Nistru in the 2003–04 UEFA Cup qualifying round, and went on to contribute a further three goals as Red Star beat Odense 6–5 on aggregate in the first round.

He scored twice in the 3–0 win in the Eternal Derby against Partizan, and celebrated by miming a basketball shot.

By the mid-season break, he had 12 league goals as well as the 6 in the UEFA Cup, and was named Player of the Year for 2003, both by the captains of the First League teams voting via the Večernje novosti newspaper and by the Football Association.

Resuming the partnership with Marko Pantelić begun in the second half of 2003–04, Žigić continued to score freely in the new season.

With Red Star two goals and a man down in the first leg of the Champions League qualifier against Young Boys, he netted twice in the last 12 minutes to give his team an away draw.

Domestically, Pantelić top-scored with 21 league goals and Žigić contributed 15 as Red Star finished in second place, behind Partizan.

Žigić made his senior international debut for Serbia and Montenegro in March 2004, and following the breakup of Serbia and Montenegro in 2006, he played internationally for Serbia until 2011.

He won 57 caps for his country and scored 20 goals.

He won a second league–cup double in 2005–06, a second player of the year award, and finished his three-year Red Star career with 70 goals from 109 appearances in all competitions.

In August 2006, Žigić signed for Spanish club Racing Santander; his goals and his partnership with Pedro Munitis helped them achieve a mid-table finish in La Liga.

He then moved to Valencia, but was unable to establish himself as a regular in the starting eleven.

He was a member of the 2006 and 2010 World Cup squads, and briefly captained his country in 2011.

Žigić was born in Bačka Topola, in what was then SFR Yugoslavia, the son of Jovan, a former footballer, and his wife Milica, who had been a basketball player.

He completed his secondary education at the mechanical engineering school in Bačka Topola.

His brother Branko, 15 months his junior, also became a footballer, as a central defender with clubs including Cement Beočin and Serbian First League club Proleter Novi Sad.

He spent the second half of the 2008–09 La Liga season back with Racing on loan, for whom he scored 13 goals in just 19 matches.

Žigić joined Birmingham City of the Premier League in 2010, and in his first season, he scored in their League Cup win.

Even after relegation to the Championship, and despite increasing efforts to remove his large salary from the financially struggling club's wage bill, he remained with Birmingham for the full four years of his contract.

Having been without a club for a few months, he rejoined Birmingham for the second half of the 2014–15 season.

He finished the season as the league's top scorer, with 18, as Red Star won their 23rd title, and scored the winning goal in the cup final.