Aleksandar Ranković (footballer)

Aleksandar Ranković
Ranković with Lion City Sailors in 2024
Personal information
Full name Aleksandar Ranković
Date of birth (1978-08-31) 31 August 1978
Place of birth Belgrade, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2002 Rad 101 (7)
2002–2005 Vitesse 72 (4)
2005–2011 ADO Den Haag 104 (6)
2011 Partizan 1 (0)
Total 278 (17)
Managerial career
2013–2014 ADO Den Haag (youth)
2014–2017 ADO Den Haag U19
2017-2018 Vitesse (assistant)
2018–2020 Sparta Rotterdam (assistant)
2020 ADO Den Haag
2021–2022 Sparta Rotterdam (assistant)
2022–2023 Utrecht (assistant)
2023– Lion City Sailors
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Aleksandar Ranković (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Ранковић; born 31 August 1978) is a Serbian football manager and former player. He is currently the head coach of Singapore Premier League club Lion City Sailors. As a player, Ranković played the entirety of his professional career in the Netherlands and his native Serbia. Ranković also holds a Dutch Passport.

Club career

Ranković started his professional career with FK Rad, making his first appearances in 1997, at the age of 19. In 2002, Dutch side SBV Vitesse showed interest for the player and brought him into the Eredivisie, where he played as a first team regular for three seasons. In 2005, he moved to fellow Eredivisie participants ADO Den Haag where he became one of their key players.

Ranković hit the news in January 2007, when he was sent off in a 3–1 defeat to AZ, match in which he also scored a goal.[1] The incident took place after the referee Kevin Blom awarded a penalty to AZ, and Ranković pushed Blom whilst shouting "When I see you in the city, I'll kill you".[2] Ranković received a five match ban for the death threats.[3] He later apologized for the incident.[4]

On 22 June 2011, Ranković signed a one-year deal with FK Partizan.[5]

Managerial career

ADO Den Haag

On 15 May 2020, Ranković was announced as the new head coach of ADO Den Haag until 2022.[6]

Utrecht

On 30 June 2022, Ranković joined Utrecht as an assistant coach under Henk Fraser.

Lion City Sailors

On 28 June 2023, Ranković signed a two years contract with Singaporean side, Lion City Sailors as their head coach. In his first ever game in charge on 1 July 2023, he guide the team to a 1–7 away win against Tanjong Pagar United. Ranković also guided the club in the 2023–24 AFC Champions League group stage winning against Hong Kong giants, Kitchee 2–1 and Korean giants, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 2–0. In his first season at the club, he steered the team to win the 2023 Singapore Cup.

On 4 May 2024, Ranković steered his club to lift the 2024 Singapore Community Shield in a 2–0 win over Albirex Niigata (S). During the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two season, Ranković managed to guide the Lion City Sailors to the round of 16 as group leaders making them the first ever Singaporean Club to do so. He made history with the club after guiding them to the quarter-finals of the 2024–25 AFC Champions League Two after defeating Thailand side Muangthong United 7–2 on aggregate in the round of 16. Ranković then guided the team all the way to the AFC Champions League Two final but lost to Emirati club Sharjah 2–1. However, he guided Lion City Sailors to a domestic double after winning the 2024–25 league title and the 2024–25 Singapore Cup.


On 7 July 2025, Ranković sign a two-years contract extension with the club.

Managerial statistics

As of 25 November 2023
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
ADO Den Haag Netherlands 1 July 2020 8 November 2020 9 2 1 6 14 24 −10 022.22
Lion City Sailors Singapore 30 June 2023 Present 16 11 1 4 53 23 +30 068.75
Total 24 13 1 10 67 47 +20 054.17

Honours

Manager

Lion City Sailors

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Report: ADO Den Haag v AZ Alkmaar". ESPN. 19 January 2007. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  2. ^ "Rankovic: 'When I see you in the city, I'll kill you'" (in Dutch). v-bal.nl. 9 February 2007. Archived from the original on 30 September 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  3. ^ "Rankovic bedreigde arbiter met dood". De Volkskrant (in Dutch). 9 February 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  4. ^ "Rankovic heeft spijt van bedreiging" (in Dutch). voetbalprimeur.nl. 9 February 2007. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  5. ^ "Ranković nova akvizicija u Partizanu!" (in Serbian). partizan.rs. 22 June 2011. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  6. ^ "Rankovic opvolger Pardew als hoofdtrainer ADO Den Haag". nos.nl. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
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