Dragan Popović

Dragan Popović
Dragan "Don" Popovic (Serbian Cyrillic: Драган Дон Поповић; born 1 January 1941) is a retired professional soccer midfielder and coach in the United States. He played professionally in Yugoslavia, Canada and the North American Soccer League. He later coached in both the North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League.
In 1993 became the director of the youth soccer, Lou Fusz Soccer Club, which has teams playing in the St. Louis Youth Soccer Association (SLYSA) soccer league and the Midwest Regional League (MRL)
Playing career
Club
Popovic turned professional in 1958 at age 17 in Yugoslavia. In 1967, he moved to the United States to play for the St. Louis Stars of the first National Professional Soccer League. In 1968, the NPSL merged with the United Soccer Association to form the North American Soccer League. That year, Popovic moved to the Kansas City Spurs where he played at least one full year and perhaps part of another. In 1969, he moved back to the Stars where he finished his NASL playing career in 1971. He then moved to Canada where he played for the Toronto White Eagles of the Canadian National Soccer League until 1973. That year, he played for the Canadian national team in an exhibition game with Arsenal F.C.
Managerial career
While playing for the St. Louis Stars, Popovic also served as an assistant coach. In 1974, Popovic became the head coach of the Toronto White Eagles. He took the team to the 1975 Canadian National Soccer League championship. In 1976, the Rochester Lancers of the North American Soccer League hired Popovic as head coach. In 1978, the New York Arrows entered the newly created Major Indoor Soccer League. It drew most of its players from the Lancers and hired Popovic as head coach. He led the Arrows to four consecutive MISL championships (1979–1982). The Arrows fired him at the end of February 1983 and he was hired a week later to coach the Golden Bay Earthquakes. He coached the Earthquakes during the 1983 and 1985 outdoor seasons as well as the 1983–1984 indoor season. The Earthquakes sat out the 1984–1985 indoor season. On 16 December 1984, the Las Vegas Americans hired Popovic to replace player-coach Alan Mayer as head coach. When the Americans folded in June 1985, Popovic was hired by the Pittsburgh Spirit. The Spirit folded at the end of the season and Popovic committed to coaching a team in Portugal. In December 1985, the New York Express made an offer to hire Popovic. While he began running practices and overseeing player acquisitions and even coached one games in late January 1987, the team never signed him to a contract. When no coaching jobs became available, Popovic entered the real estate business. In 1989, the expansion St. Louis Storm hired Popovic. He coached the team for nearly three seasons before being fired in March 1992. He was inducted into the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame in 2004.
Honors
1971 – NASL All League First Team, while playing for the St. Louis Stars
1971 – NASL All Tournament, while playing for the St. Louis Stars in an indoor tournament
1981 – Coach of the Year while coaching the New York Arrows
1983 – Coach of the Year while coaching the Golden Bay Earthquakes
2004 – Inducted into the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame
Youth Soccer Highlights
Popovic was the head coach for the following championship teams:
2000 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-13 (under 13 years of age)
2001 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-14 (under 14 years of age)
2008 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-14 (under 14 years of age)
2007 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-13 (under 13 years of age)
2006 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-15 (under 15 years of age)
2003 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-15 (under 15 years of age)* 2010 Missouri State Cup, Boys U-16 (under 16 years of age)
References
External links
Don Popovic's bio on the Lou Fusz Soccer Club web site
NASL stats
CSA – Real estate Coaching
TeamMania.net :: Lou Fusz Soccer Club >> Lou Fusz Strikers Soccer Club
1941 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Berane
Serbs of Montenegro
American people of Serbian descent
Men's association football midfielders
Yugoslav men's footballers
Red Star Belgrade footballers
HNK Hajduk Split players
St. Louis Stars (soccer) players
Kansas City Spurs players
Serbian White Eagles FC players
National Professional Soccer League (1967) players
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players
Canadian National Soccer League players
Yugoslav expatriate men's footballers
Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States
Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada
Yugoslav expatriate sportspeople in Canada
American soccer coaches
Yugoslav football managers
Serbian White Eagles FC coaches
San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) coaches
Canadian National Soccer League coaches
Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) coaches
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) coaches
St. Louis Storm