Velibor Pudar (Serbian Cyrillic: Велибор Пудар; born 22 November 1964) is a Bosnian football manager and former goalkeeper.

Velibor Pudar
Personal information
Full name Velibor Pudar
Date of birth (1964-11-22) 22 November 1964 (age 59)
Place of birth Mostar, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1981–1985 Lokomotiva Mostar
1986–1992 Velež Mostar 38 (0)
1992–1993 Apollon Athens 9 (0)
1993–1995 Čukarički
1995 Sutjeska Nikšić
1996 Jedinstvo Paraćin
1996–1997 Palilulac Beograd
1998 Vasalunds IF
1999 TPV Tampere 6 (0)
2000–2005 Velež Mostar
2000 Leotar
Managerial career
2008–2009 Bratstvo Gračanica
2009–2010 Igman Konjic
2010–2015 Al-Ittihad (goalkeeping coach)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career edit

Born in Mostar, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina of Serb parents, he played with FK Lokomotiva Mostar from where he moved to FK Velež Mostar in summer 1987.[1] He played with Velež between 1987 and 1992 in the Yugoslav First League.[2] With the beginning of the war, he moved abroad where he played one season with Apollon Smyrni F.C. in the Greek top league. After that season, he moved to FR Yugoslavia where he played with Montenegrin club FK Sutjeska Nikšić in the First League, and with several other clubs in other leagues, namely, Serbian clubs FK Čukarički, FK Jedinstvo Paraćin and FK Palilulac Beograd. By the end of the 1990s he also played in Sweden with Vasalunds IF and in Finland with TPV Tampere before returning to Bosnia and Herzegovina to play with FK Leotar finishing his career as a coach and player of FK Velež Mostar in 2005.

Managerial career edit

It was in 2005 that Pudar obtained the level A UEFA licence for coaching, after graduating in Belgrade's Higher School for Football. After early coaching experiences while still playing with FK Leotar and FK Velež Mostar, he also coached NK Bratstvo Gračanica in the 2008–2009 season. In the 2009–2010 season coached FK Igman Konjic, 2010–2015 coached Ittihad FC and in 2015–2016 he coached Al-Taawoun FC.

Personal life edit

Velibor is the father of swimmer Lana Pudar, who competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics[3] and who claimed the gold medal in the women’s 200-metre butterfly at the 2022 European Aquatics Championships in Rome, Italy.[4]

References edit

  1. ^ Book: "Rođeni - Prvoligaške generacije 1952 - 1991" by Zoran Mrđenović, pag. 39 (in Serbian)
  2. ^ Playerhistory.com
  3. ^ "Velibor Pudar: Moja je Lana svjetsko čudo, Mostar večeras neće spavati". Moj Cazin (in Bosnian). 13 March 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  4. ^ "European Championships: Teen Lana Pudar Claims Gold in 200 Fly for Bosnia and Herzegovina". Swimming World News. 17 August 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.

External links edit