Ilija Dimovski (footballer)

Born in Prilep, Vardarska banovina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, he played as right full-back with local side FK Pobeda between 1957 and 1961. When he started playing Pobeda was playing in third level, but in 1959 they got promoted to the Yugoslav Second League. In 1961 he was signed by Serbian side FK Radnički Niš which were rivals of Pobeda in the league. However, Dimovski will play with Radnički only one more season in Yugslav second level, since Radnički was an ambitious team and achieved promotion to the Yugoslav First League after just one season since Dimovski joined the club. It was the start of a major rise of Radnički and the beginning of a period of over two decades in which Radnički became among the most stable Yugoslav clubs. Dimovski became a fulcral player of this generation and stayed in the club 13 years.[3] When he finished his spell with Radnički in 1974, the club direction nominated him as the main coach, however only three days later Đorđe Kačunković replaced him, and so Dimovski entered Yugoslav football history as the coach with the shortest spell in a club.[2] In 1974, he had a short spell with lower-level side FK Proleter Novi Sad.[4]

After retiring, Dimovski became a coach. He became assistant manager of Kučunković at Radnički Niš, and help the club win its first major international trophy, the 1974 Balkans Cup.[2] He will later lead Radnički Niš as main coach to their maximal achievement in Europe, taking them to the semi-finals of the 1981–82 UEFA Cup.[3] After coaching Radnički Niš, he coached FK Vardar, FK Pobeda, FK Pelister, FK Osogovo, FK Rabotnički, FK Napredok, FK Bregalnica Delčevo, FK Priština,[5] FK Radnički Pirot, etc.[3] He also coached in Australia, Footscray JUST in 1989.[6]