Eddie Krncevic

NSL Career: Marconi, Sydney Croatia, Gippsland 100 (38) / 1979 - 1996/97

Socceroos Career: 20 (4) A Internationals / 15 (13) B Internationals

One of the early stars of the NSL and a trailblazer for Australian footballers, Eddie Krncevic was a damaging forward who possessed great speed and was lethal in front of goals. Krncevic was part of one of the greatest front thirds in national league history along with Peter Sharne and Mark Jankovics.

An all-round athlete, Krncevic started his junior football career with Juventus (Brunswick) and was also a talented basketball and Australian rules football player. Krncevic moved to Essendon Lions in 1976 where he joined future NSL star Ivan Grujičić and future NSL coach Branko Culina.

Krncevic made his first team debut at the age of 15 in the Victorian Metropolitan League Division One and became a regular during the 1977 season when the club moved up to the Victorian State League. Krncevic stayed with the club until the end of the 1978 season where he helped them win the VSL Championship before securing a $9,000 transfer to NSL club Marconi.

At Marconi, Krncevic formed one of the best attacking trios in the history of Australian football with speedsters Mark Jankovics and Peter Sharne and made his full international debut against New Zealand at just 18 years of age, becoming a Socceroos regular in the process. Krncevic scored 13 goals in 26 league appearances in his debut NSL season and was the named the league's U-21 Player of the Year as Marconi won it's first NSL Championship. 

Krncevic continued to improve in the 1980 season as he combined with Jankovics and Sharne to score 34 league goals as Marconi finished fourth in the league before scoring a free-kick in the side's three-nil NSL Cup Final victory over Heidelberg. Marconi coach Les Scheinflug was replaced by Raúl Blanco for the 1981 season and the club went through a difficult period, finishing third-to-last, but reached the NSL Cup Semi-Finals after Krncevic scored a hat-trick in their quarter-final victory over APIA.

Following a successful trial with Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb, Krncevic signed for a $30,000 transfer fee and became the first player outside of Europe to play in the Yugoslav First League. Krncevic made just one league appearance in his first season as Dinamo won the First League and spent the next two seasons at the club where he played in Dinamo's Yugoslav Cup Final victory over FK Sarajevo in 1983.

During the 1983/84 season, Krncevic, along with Rangers forward David Mitchell, became the first Australians to play in the European Cup Winners' Cup. Despite little resistance from Dinamo in regards to being released for international duty, Krncevic was not chosen by Australian selectors during his time in Croatia and moved to German side MSV Duisburg for the 1984/85 2. Bundesliga season.

Krncevic spent some time in midfield for Duisburg where he further developed his game before moving to Belgium First Division side Cercle Brugge midway though the season and played in the club's 1985 Belgian Cup Final victory over Beveren in which he scored in the penalty shoot-out. Prior to the start of the 1985/86 First Division season, Krncevic had a guest stint in the NSL with Sydney Croatia where he scored three goals in three games. 

Krncevic found himself back in goal scoring form during his second season at Brugge, scoring 12 goals in 32 league games, and played in the club's losing cup final to Club Brugge. Krncevic became one of the top goal scorers in Belgium during the next two seasons with league giants Anderlecht, scoring 29 goals in 55 league games, and won the 1986/87 Belgian Championship and 1988 Belgian Cup - scoring the sealer in Anderlecht's two-nil win over Standard Liège in the final.

The Geelong-born forward became just the second Australian footballer after Craig Johnston to play in the European Cup during the 1986/87 season and scored a brace in his first game against Romanian club Steaua București. During the 1988/89 off-season, Krncevic made a guest appearance in the NSL for former club Marconi before returning to Anderlecht where he hit his peak, scoring 23 goals in 29 league games. 

Krncevic became the first Australian footballer to win the golden boot in a European competition and scored the opening goal in Anderlecht's 1989 Belgian Cup Final victory over Standard Liège. The Australian goal machine received his first national team call-up since 1981 during Australia's 1990 World Cup qualifying campaign before moving to French Ligue 1 side Mulhouse, becoming the first Australian footballer to play in France's top division. 

Krncevic scored seven goals in 30 league appearances for Mulhouse but was unable to help them avoid relegation before returning to Belgium. Krncevic spent the next six seasons in Belgium where he helped Eendracht Aalst gain promotion to the First Division and scored 16 goals in 83 First Division appearances for FC Liège, Eendracht Aalst and Charleroi. 

Morwell Falcons changed their name to Gippsland Falcons for the 1996/97 NSL season and brought Krncevic home after spending the last 15 years in Europe as a full-time professional. Krncevic captained the side and scored five goals in 19 league games before hanging up his boots at the age of 36.

The following season, franchise club Carlton joined the NSL and Krncevic became their inaugural coach and took the club to the grand final in their first season, losing two-one to South Melbourne. Following an unsuccessful second season in charge of Carlton, Krncevic coached Marconi for two seasons, taking them to consecutive elimination finals before joining South Melbourne. 

Krncevic led South to the minor semi-final in the 2001/02 season before continuing his coaching career in Victoria. Krncevic was selected as striker alongside John Kosmina in FFA's Socceroos Team of the 1980s and was just the third Victorian-born footballer to be inducted in to the Football Australia Hall of Fame.