Tony Popovic

Tony Popovic

Popovic as Western Sydney Wanderers manager in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Tony Popovic[1]
Date of birth	(1973-07-04) 4 July 1973 (age 51)
Place of birth	Sydney, Australia
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	Australia (head coach)
Youth career
	Sydney United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1989–1997	Sydney United	162	(14)
1994	→ Canberra FC (loan)	5	(1)
1997–2001	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	87	(13)
2001–2006	Crystal Palace	123	(6)
2006–2007	Al-Arabi	17	(2)
2007–2008	Sydney FC	27	(1)
Total		421	(37)
International career
1988–1989	Australia U17	7	(2)
1990–1991	Australia U20	9	(1)
1992	Australia U23	4	(0)
1995–2006	Australia	58	(8)
Managerial career
2009	Sydney FC (caretaker)
2012–2017	Western Sydney Wanderers
2017	Karabükspor
2018–2020	Perth Glory
2020–2021	Xanthi
2021–2024	Melbourne Victory
2024–	Australia
Medal record Representing  Australia Men's Association football FIFA Confederations Cup 2001 South Korea-Japan OFC Nations Cup Winner 1996 Oceania Winner 2000 Tahiti
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Tony Popovic (born 4 July 1973) is an Australian association football manager and former player. He is currently head coach of the Australia national football team.

As a player Popovic's usual position was centre-back. 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. He appeared with the Australian national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where he played against reigning World Champions Brazil.

Popovic started his coaching career in 2008 with Sydney FC. 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 holds the record of coaching the most A-League Grand Final losses with 5 to the end of the 2023/2024 season

He is the father of Kristian and Gabriel Popovic, both of whom are also professional footballers.