Milan Kosanović was a Yugoslav Serb born in Lika, in what is now Croatia. The rise of the Croatian nationalism and fascism during World War II under the Ustaše, and their promotion of genocide against Serbs, Jews, Romani people, and political dissidents, forced Milan Kosanović (aged-15) and his family to be relocated from Yugoslavia via a displaced person camp to the United Kingdom in , he initially played rugby league in the Halifax junior league. Milan Kosanović opened, and was the landlord, of Milan's Wine Bar in Halifax.