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Branko Culina
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Branko Culina
Branko Culina (Croatian pronunciation: [ˈtʃulina]; born 1 October 1957) is a soccer coach and former player. He previously managed Sydney FC and the Newcastle Jets in the A-League.
Culina was born in Zadar, Socialist Republic of Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia and emigrated to Australia with his mother in 1968, at the age of 10, settling in Melbourne's Croatian community. His senior playing career began with St. Albans Saints where he captained the senior team at the age of 15. In 1974, he transferred to Essendon Croatia, he had seven successful years at the club which included winning the Victorian State Championship in 1978 and the Victorian treble (State Champions, Dockerty Cup and the State League Cup) in 1979.
In 1980, he joined sister club Sydney Croatia before moving to National Soccer League club Blacktown City Demons. After a season at each he returned to Melbourne with St Albans Saints, where he remained until retiring 1988.
After retiring as a player he stayed with St Albans as a coach in the Victorian Premier League for the 1989 season before taking up a role at North Geelong. At North Geelong, Culina lead the side to the 1990 Division One title leading to promotion to the VPL. He then won the VPL with North Geelong at the first go in 1991, beating Brunswick Juventus in the Grand Final at Middle Park. In 1992, he returned to the NSL at Melbourne Knights,
Culina returned to the NSL at Sydney United for the 1994–95 season. His three seasons at United would be his most successful to date, winning the minor premiership and reaching the competition Grand Final in the 1996–97 season, as well as winning the Waratah Cup in 1995 and 1996. Overall, he coached 133 games for Sydney United, with 62 wins, 32 draws, and 39 losses, including an Australian record of 8 consecutive victories.
During this time he was also coach to his teenage son Jason Culina who was breaking into the Sydney United first team. While some accusations of nepotism floated around Branko has said he 'didn't have to do [Jason] any favours because he didn't need any', perhaps evidenced best by Jason's later success as a Socceroo.
After his successful 1996–97 season, he was signed with great promise to take over Sydney Olympic. Over three seasons, he would become Olympic's longest serving coach, narrowly missing out on a finals place in his first year before pushing the team into the finals in both 1999-00 and 2000–01 NSL seasons.
In 2001, he returned to Sydney United, however the club was now less of a force in the national league. Following the demise of the NSL, Culina had been working as Technical director for the state governing body Soccer NSW, which included a coaching role in 2005 for the NSW State Representative Team.
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Branko Culina
Branko Culina (Croatian pronunciation: [ˈtʃulina]; born 1 October 1957) is a soccer coach and former player. He previously managed Sydney FC and the Newcastle Jets in the A-League.
Culina was born in Zadar, Socialist Republic of Croatia, FPR Yugoslavia and emigrated to Australia with his mother in 1968, at the age of 10, settling in Melbourne's Croatian community. His senior playing career began with St. Albans Saints where he captained the senior team at the age of 15. In 1974, he transferred to Essendon Croatia, he had seven successful years at the club which included winning the Victorian State Championship in 1978 and the Victorian treble (State Champions, Dockerty Cup and the State League Cup) in 1979.
In 1980, he joined sister club Sydney Croatia before moving to National Soccer League club Blacktown City Demons. After a season at each he returned to Melbourne with St Albans Saints, where he remained until retiring 1988.
After retiring as a player he stayed with St Albans as a coach in the Victorian Premier League for the 1989 season before taking up a role at North Geelong. At North Geelong, Culina lead the side to the 1990 Division One title leading to promotion to the VPL. He then won the VPL with North Geelong at the first go in 1991, beating Brunswick Juventus in the Grand Final at Middle Park. In 1992, he returned to the NSL at Melbourne Knights,
Culina returned to the NSL at Sydney United for the 1994–95 season. His three seasons at United would be his most successful to date, winning the minor premiership and reaching the competition Grand Final in the 1996–97 season, as well as winning the Waratah Cup in 1995 and 1996. Overall, he coached 133 games for Sydney United, with 62 wins, 32 draws, and 39 losses, including an Australian record of 8 consecutive victories.
During this time he was also coach to his teenage son Jason Culina who was breaking into the Sydney United first team. While some accusations of nepotism floated around Branko has said he 'didn't have to do [Jason] any favours because he didn't need any', perhaps evidenced best by Jason's later success as a Socceroo.
After his successful 1996–97 season, he was signed with great promise to take over Sydney Olympic. Over three seasons, he would become Olympic's longest serving coach, narrowly missing out on a finals place in his first year before pushing the team into the finals in both 1999-00 and 2000–01 NSL seasons.
In 2001, he returned to Sydney United, however the club was now less of a force in the national league. Following the demise of the NSL, Culina had been working as Technical director for the state governing body Soccer NSW, which included a coaching role in 2005 for the NSW State Representative Team.
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