Mike Pejic
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Pejic | ||
| Date of birth | 25 January 1950 | ||
| Place of birth | Chesterton, Staffordshire, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Playing position | Left-back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1966–1968 | Stoke City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1968–1976 | Stoke City | 274 | (6) |
| 1976–1979 | Everton | 76 | (2) |
| 1979–1980 | Aston Villa | 10 | (0) |
| Total | 360 | (8) | |
| National team | |||
| England U-23 | 8 | (0) | |
| 1974 | England | 4 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1984–1985 | Leek Town | ||
| 1985–1986 | Northwich Victoria | ||
| 1994–1995 | Chester City | ||
| 1998 | Leek Town (caretaker-manager) | ||
| 1999 | Selangor FA | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Michael Pejic (born 25 January 1950) is a former England international footballer who played in the Football League for Aston Villa, Everton and Stoke City.
Pejic started his career with Stoke City under the management of Tony Waddington. He became a very important player in Stoke's successful early 1970s side, helping the club win the League Cup in 1972. A left-back, he was renowned for being a tough player and was prone to being sent-off, and on one occasion was suspended for five matches. He broke his leg in February 1974, and in his absence City's genuine First Division title challenge fell away. He was sold to Everton for a £135,000 fee in January 1976, where he played three seasons before joining Aston Villa in 1979. He retired due to injury in 1980.
He later managed Leek Town, Northwich Victoria, Chester City, and Malaysian side Selangor FA, and also coached Port Vale from 1986 to 1992. In the late 2000s he coached at Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town.
Pejic was born in Chesterton near Newcastle-under-Lyme and supported Stoke City from an early age. His father, an immigrant farmer from Yugoslavia, took him to watch the matches at the Victoria Ground. In his teenage years Pejic was playing for Newcastle-under-Lyme schools as a left-winger and signed professional forms with Stoke in 1967, where manager Tony Waddington took the decision to convert him into a left-back. After two years in the reserves he made his debut against West Ham United at Upton Park, helping Stoke keep a clean sheet against World Cup winner Geoff Hurst. He took over from the disappointing Alex Elder and established himself in the first team. Pejic was a strong athlete with a sweet left foot and was compactly built at 5 ft 8in. Pejic was a 'hard player' and was a strong tackler who enjoyed letting his opposing winger know he was around with a scything tackle. He was a fitness fanatic who, unlike many of his Stoke teammates had another job outside of football, as he kept a farm near Leek.
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