Ante Milicic will depart his role as Macarthur FC head coach at the end of the 2021-22 Isuzu UTE A-League season, with family reasons at the heart of a decision which leaves him with “mixed emotions”.
Milicic will return to Croatia at the conclusion of the current campaign – his second at the helm of a club he has led since its inception.
Macarthur enjoyed a successful start to life in the A-League Men’s under Milicic, reaching the semifinals at the first time of asking before losing to eventual champions Melbourne City in the 2020-21 finals series.
The Bulls have been inconsistent under Milicic this season, currently sat in seventh on the table with consecutive defeats hurting their chances of a top-six finish.
Milicic has overseen 52 league fixtures at Macarthur, winning 21, drawing 11 and losing 20.
He says he will remain a Bulls supporter for life.
“It has been a great honour to be the first-ever Head Coach of Macarthur FC,” Milicic told the club website.
“I was attracted to this role several years ago because of the exciting opportunity to help build the foundations of this great club in a region in South Western Sydney that has a very exciting future.
“I will remain a great supporter of the Bulls forever. We are now determined to finish the season strongly. I want to thank my players, coaching staff, passionate fans, chairman Gino Marra, CEO Sam Krslovic, and the members of the Board for their great support. I leave with mixed emotions, but for family reasons I will be returning to Croatia.”
Bulls CEO Krslovic says Milicic will always be welcome back in Campbelltown after leading the club through its formative years in the A-League Men’s.
“On behalf of the Board of Macarthur FC, I would like to thank Ante for his extraordinary work over the last two seasons,” Krslovic said.
“He has introduced a world-class football environment at the Bulls that will serve us well into the future. Since offering Ante his first-ever coaching job at Sydney United in 2009, I have enjoyed seeing Ante’s growth and success as a coach in the A-League and Australia’s men’s and women’s national teams. We wish him well in the future, and he is always welcome back at Bulls.”
