Svetozar Šapurić

Svetozar Šapurić (Serbian Cyrillic: Светозар Шапурић; 28 August 1960 – 27 December 2024) was a Serbian football manager and player.

Svetozar Šapurić

Personal information
Date of birth	(1960-08-28)28 August 1960
Place of birth	Titov Vrbas, SAP Vojvodina, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
Date of death	27 December 2024(2024-12-27) (aged 64)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
1972–1977	Vrbas
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1977–1985	Vrbas	173	(18)
1985–1989	Vojvodina	117	(8)
1989–1993	APOEL	92	(11)
1993–1995	Anorthosis	41	(4)
1995–1996	APOEL	18	(2)
Total		441	(43)
Managerial career
1996	APOEL
1996–1999	Vojvodina (sporting director)
2000	APOEL
2001–2002	Olympiakos Nicosia
2003–2004	Ethnikos Achna
2006–2008	Ethnikos Achna
2008	Apollon Limassol
2009–2011	Ethnikos Achna
2011–2012	Changchun Yatai
2013–2014	Changchun Yatai
2015–2018	APOEL (sporting director)
2019	Changchun Yatai
2021–2023	Cangzhou Mighty Lions
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Šapurić started out at his hometown club Vrbas, spending eight seasons in the senior squad (1977–1985),^[1] before securing a move to Vojvodina. He was a member of the team that won the Yugoslav First League in 1989.^[2] Subsequently, Šapurić moved abroad to Cyprus and signed with APOEL. He later switched to Anorthosis (1993–1995), before returning to APOEL for his final season.

After finishing his playing career, Šapurić was briefly manager of APOEL in 1996. He later served as sporting director for his former club Vojvodina from September 1996 to October 1999.^[3] Afterwards, Šapurić returned to Cyprus for his second brief spell as manager of APOEL in 2000. He was also later appointed their sporting director in December 2015,^[4] remaining in charge until September 2018.

Death

Šapurić died on 27 December 2024, at the age of 64.^[5]