Tony Popovic (born 4 July 1973) is an Australian association football manager and former player.
He is the current manager of A-League club Melbourne Victory.
As a player Popovic's usual position was centre-back.
1989
Starting in 1989 at Sydney United he went on to play for Sanfrecce Hiroshima of Japan and Premier League side Crystal Palace, among other clubs.
1992
Popovic competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona for the Australia U23 team.
1995
He began his full international career in 1995 with the Australia national team.
Over the next eleven years Popovic made 58 appearances for the Socceroos, scoring 8 goals.
2001
Popovic signed for Crystal Palace on a free transfer in August 2001 from Sanfrecce Hiroshima.
He became an integral part of the Palace defence, eventually becoming club captain.
He played more than 120 matches for Crystal Palace.
In his last season he played for Crystal Palace in 21 Premier League matches.
In total he made more than 120 appearances for the club.
2006
He appeared with the Australian national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where he played against reigning World Champions Brazil.
Popovic's contract with Palace expired at the end of June 2006, and he decided against accepting the club's offer of a new contract.
He instead moved to Qatar club, Al-Arabi.
The highlight of Popovic's career came in 2006 when the Australian national team qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup under the management of Guus Hiddink.
He took part in both legs in the qualifying match against Uruguay.
Being replaced in the first half of the second leg, due to injury, by Harry Kewell.
The tall defender was named in the competing squad and made his World Cup debut against Brazil on 18 June.
He suffered a calf injury 40 minutes into the game and was replaced by Mark Bresciano for the second half.
His injury ruled him out of Australia's last match in the group stage, against Croatia, and their second round loss against eventual winners, Italy.
On 4 October 2006, Popovic announced his retirement from the Socceroos.
His final game was a friendly against Paraguay that month.
He scored his eighth international goal, from a Mark Bresciano free kick, in his final minute on field to put Australia ahead, 1–0 in a game that finished 1–1.
2007
In 2007, with the growth of the A-League and slight homesickness, Popovic moved to Sydney FC, signing a two-year deal, with coach Branko Culina also announcing him the club's captain.
Popovic scored his first goal on 28 October 2007 from a corner to beat the Mariners 3–2 in front of his home crowd of 17,850.
2008
Popovic started his coaching career in 2008 with Sydney FC.
Popovic announced his retirement on 11 November 2008 after nearly 20 years as a professional footballer.
2011
After retiring, Popovic moved into an assistant coach's role with Sydney FC, where he remained until February 2011, when he returned to England and to Crystal Palace as first team coach, after former teammate Dougie Freedman was appointed manager.
2012
After a brief stint as assistant manager at Crystal Palace he was chosen as the inaugural manager of Western Sydney Wanderers at the start of the 2012–13 season.
His major achievements as a manager are winning the 2012–13 A-League Premiership and 2014 AFC Champions League with the Wanderers, the 2018–19 A-League Premiership with Perth Glory and an Australia Cup with Melbourne Victory in 2022.
He is the father of Kristian and Gabriel Popovic, both of whom are also professional footballers.
Popovic was born in Sydney to a Croatian family,
and grew up in Fairfield, New South Wales.
He began his career with Sydney United.
He rose through the youth ranks, making 162 appearances in seven years for the first team, before moving to play in the J1 League.
Popovic signed with Sanfrecce Hiroshima where he stayed for five years scoring 13 goals in 94 appearances.
On 17 May 2012, Popovic was announced as inaugural manager of A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers.
He joined the club on a four seasons deal after requesting to be released from the final year of his contracted role as assistant manager of Crystal Palace.
In Wanderers' first season, Popovic was named A-League Coach of the Year after finishing first in the league.
