Milan Vilotić

Milan Vilotić (Serbian Cyrillic: Милан Вилотић; born 21 October 1986) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as centre-back.

Milan Vilotić
Vilotić with Red Star Belgrade in 2011
Personal information
Date of birth (1986-10-21) 21 October 1986
Place of birth Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2009 Čukarički 80 (5)
2006 → Lokomotiva Beograd (loan) 15 (1)
2009–2012 Red Star Belgrade 47 (2)
2012–2014 Grasshoppers 44 (4)
2014–2017 Young Boys 56 (7)
2017–2018 Grasshoppers 32 (2)
2018–2020 St. Gallen 16 (0)
International career
2011 Serbia 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Čukarički

Born in Belgrade, Vilotić first played professional football with Čukarički from the age of 18. He played over 80 matches for Čukarički from 2004, debuting with one of the best generation of Čukarički players which included Miloš Ninković.

Red Star Belgrade

In summer 2009 he transferred to Red Star Belgrade. In 2010, however, he was diagnosed with a potentially life-threatening condition and missed half of the 2010–11 season. After the second half of the season, Vilotić was showing promising potential and was promoted to captain of Red Star for a brief period in the 2011 summer off-season. However, at the half-time of a friendly match with F.C. Ashdod, Red Star coach Robert Prosinečki got upset at Vilotić and said in a subsequent conference that he was demoted from being Red Star's captain.[1] By late November 2011, he was also openly accused in the media by his teammate Cristian Borja of creating a bad atmosphere in the squad with the intention of sabotaging the foreign players that were playing in Red Star at the time.[2]

Grasshoppers

In July 2012, Vilotić signed with Grasshopper Club Zürich on a bosman move. He quickly became the team's most reliable centre-back and scored a penalty after over-time in the 2013 Schweizer Cup Final.

Young Boys

On 31 January 2014, Vilotić moved to the league rivals BSC Young Boys, ending a two-year playing spell with Grasshopper.[3]

International career

Milan was part of the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Serbian squad and has played for the Serbia national under-21 football team. In April 2010 national team coach Radomir Antić selected him in Serbia squad for a friendly match against Japan in Osaka, but Vilotić failed to debut due to stomach problems. In May 2011, he received another call up and played his first game in a Serbia jersey against Australia. In November 2013 Vilotić showed interest in playing for Montenegro on international level.[4]

Illness

In August 2010, after a medical screening he has been diagnosed with a malignant tumor on right scapula that had threatened to end his playing career. After a surgical intervention in Bologna, and a period of recovery, during which he had the undivided support of the public in Serbia, in January 2011 doctors confirmed that he could play professional football again.

Career statistics

Club
As of 31 January 2014
Club performance League Cup Continental Total
SeasonClubLeague AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Serbia League Serbian Cup Europe Total
2009–10Red StarSuperLiga2820020302
2010–111002020140
2011–12901030130
Switzerland League Schweizer Cup Europe Total
2012–13GrasshopperSuper League3124020372
2013–141322120173
League Cup Continental Total
Total Serbia 4723070572
Switzerland 4446140545
Career total 916911101117

Honours

Club

Red Star

Grasshoppers

Individual

References
  1. Mondo: Prosinečki i Vilotić – gde je puklo? (in Serbian) 17 July 2011
  2. Borha: U Zvezdi sabotiraju strance! at Večernje novosti, 27 November 2011, retrieved 19 September 2014 (in Serbian)
  3. Milan Vilotic zu YB BSC Young Boys. 1 February 2014. (in German)
  4. Mozzart Sport: Vilotić želi da igra za Crnu Goru? (in Serbian) 2 November 2013
  5. "Super League - Salah zum SL-«Spieler des Jahres» gewählt". Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) (in German). 27 January 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
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