Bobby Despotovski
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Slobodan Despotovski | ||
| Date of birth | 14 July 1971 | ||
| Place of birth | Perth, Australia | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1989 | Red Star Belgrade | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1989–1991 | Dinamo Pančevo | ||
| 1994 | Floreat Athena | ||
| 1994–1995 | Heidelberg United | 18 | (9) |
| 1995–1996 | Morwell Falcons | 6 | (1) |
| 1996 | Collingwood (Melbourne) Warriors | 24 | (26) |
| 1996–2004 | Perth Glory | 211 | (101) |
| 2004–2005 | Bonnyrigg White Eagles | ||
| 2005 | Inglewood United | ||
| 2005–2007 | Perth Glory | 29 | (13) |
| 2007– | Inglewood United | 34 | (25) |
| National team | |||
| 2002 | Australia | 4 | (5) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2007 | Inglewood United | ||
| 2015– | Perth Glory NPL U20's | ||
| 2015– | Perth Glory W-League | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Slobodan "Bobby" Despotovski (born 14 July 1971 in Perth, Western Australia) is an Australian football (soccer) player.
Only nine months after his birth his family moved to Yugoslavia because his mother, Valentina, was home-sick. He grew up with his family in the town of Pančevo, 16 km outside capital Belgrade, and played junior level football with Red Star Belgrade.
When Despotovski was 15 he had a choice to continue either Handball which he says has always played a large part in his life or to pursue a career in professional football, eventually he chose football and was selected to play for the reserve team at his first senior club, Dinamo Pančevo.
After a stint with the Yugoslav People's Army during the Balkans war which ended as a result of self-inflicted injuries, Despotovski in 1992 returned to his birthplace, Perth and continued his professional career with Floreat Athena in the Western Australian Premier League. In 1994 he joined Heidelberg in the NSL and left the club to join the now defunct NSL club Morwell Falcons in 1995.
Bobby's career took off when he received a call from the then Perth Glory general manager, Roger Lefort. The new club wanted Despotovski to lead their attack in the club's inaugural season and he certainly didn't disappoint scoring 14 goals in only 23 NSL games.
Despotovski was in the center of a controversy when playing against the Melbourne Knights (a team primarily supported by Croatian Australians) at the Knights Stadium on 21 May 2001 he gave a three fingered salute to the predominantly Croatian crowd which is a Serbian Orthodox symbol that represents Orthodox Christianity. As the Perth team left the stadium Despotovski and Perth coach Bernd Stange were assaulted by angry Knights supporters. To avoid repetition of violence, the next Knights home fixture against Perth was played in Launceston.
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