Vladimir Stojković

Stojković joined Red Star Belgrade from local FK Loznica, coming up through the former's youth setup. Entering the full squad he was initially overshadowed by Vladimir Dišljenković, and as a result appeared in only one league match during the 2001–02 season and one in the following, under head coach Zoran Filipović.

Due to Dišljenković's status as first-choice, which was further cemented with the return of head coach Slavoljub Muslin, the club loaned Stojković out in late June 2003 to Bosnia and Herzegovina champions FK Leotar, who were reinforcing the squad ahead of the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League.[4] He appeared in all four of their qualifying games under head coach Milan Jovin, being eliminated in the second round.

However, after only two months, Stojković left the club, reportedly over unpaid wages. He then tried to get a spot on the Red Star roster, but manager Muslin told him he was not counting on him. After his contract was terminated he started training privately with goalkeeping coach Tomo Savić, in order to stay in competitive shape while waiting for the January 2004 transfer window to open up.[5]

Stojković joined FK Zemun in the 2004 winter transfer window. Under head coach Dušan Mitošević, the 20-year-old was initially backup to Miloš Adamović. His first appearance incidentally came against his former side Red Star and, although his new team lost, he made a penalty shot save on Marko Pantelić, and went on to appear in five more league matches during the remainder of the campaign.

Going into his second season with Zemun, Stojković was undisputed starter, appearing in 28 league games as they finished in fifth position. During spring 2005, he made a string of saves during the league match against Red Star in a hard-fought 0–0 draw, a result that suited FK Partizan, who eventually won the national championship.

In the summer of 2005, six months after Dišljenković's departure to Ukraine's FC Metalurh Donetsk, Stojković returned to Red Star where he initially acted as understudy to experienced Ivan Ranđelović. However, ahead of the UEFA Cup first round return leg trip to S.C. Braga, head coach Walter Zenga promoted him to first-choice,[6] and the player seized the opportunity, immediately impressing in the new role as the team defeated the Portuguese on away goals to qualify for the group stages.

It would be at this stage of the competition that Stojković would get his most memorable moment of the season, saving a penalty from Antonio Cassano who attempted a Panenka-shot, as Red Star beat A.S. Roma 3–1 at home.[7] A new fan favorite from then onwards, he cemented his place in goal as the club won the league and cup double.

Stojković moved to FC Nantes in summer 2006 for a rumoured €3 million, in order to replace departing Mickaël Landreau. After a promising first few Ligue 1 matches, however, his form rapidly declined, and he lost the starting job to 20-year-old understudy Vincent Briant, shortly before the winter break. At the same time, a vicious rift emerged within the squad that led to a series of poor results and the dismissal of the manager; Stojković fell out of favour with new coach Michel Der Zakarian, and was encouraged to seek a transfer or a loan when French star keeper Fabien Barthez was persuaded to come out of retirement and sign for the rest of the campaign.[8]

In January 2007, Stojković was shipped off to SBV Vitesse on a six-month loan. On 3 March he played his first Eredivisie game, a 2–3 home loss against SBV Excelsior.[9]

On 11 July 2007, Stojković signed a five-year contract with Sporting CP,[10] which paid €1.1 million to Nantes.[11][12] He started out well, but got injured towards the end of the first half of the season in Portugal and lost his place to youngster Rui Patrício; after recovering he never managed to reclaim his place in the starting eleven, being demoted to as low as third-choice after a run-in with head coach Paulo Bento.[13]

In July 2008, Sporting allowed Stojković to go to a trial at Premier League side Everton, with a view to a loan deal. However, on 22 July, he left his first training session after only an hour without explanation. The club's spokesperson said that Everton lost interest and that they'd been warned earlier that Stojković is a "complicated character";[14] the player denied walking out, saying "Everything went fine, I didn't have any problem. What I've read in the Portuguese press is wrong. I'm not someone who creates problems".

Stojković continued at Sporting in the beginning of 2008–09, but did not play any minutes in the league. In January 2009 he went on loan to La Liga's Getafe CF until the end of the campaign, the Madrid-based team becoming his fifth in less than three years.[15]

On 12 April 2009 – three months after arriving – due to first-choice Jacobo's suspension following a red card, and Argentine Óscar Ustari still convalescing from a severe injury, Stojković made his debut with Getafe, keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 win at Sevilla FC.[16] Six days later he started at home against FC Barcelona, and made the highlight reel with a string of spectacular saves on Thierry Henry, Lionel Messi and Gerard Piqué, though the opponents still won 1–0 on a deflected first half goal.[17]

Towards the end of the season, Getafe expressed interest in a permanent deal, but could not agree on price with Sporting. According to his agent Zoran Stojadinović, the Spaniards offered Sporting €500,000 plus 25% of a future transfer, but the Portuguese refused.[18]

Back at Sporting for 2009–10 meant more frustration for Stojković, as he continued to be out of head coach Bento's plans. In late October 2009, he publicly acknowledged that his chances of securing a place in the team under the manager were minimal, also intimating that he was willing to take a pay cut in order to go to a club where he would be assured of playing, in order to stay match fit ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup;[19] Bento was forced to resign in early November 2009 due to poor results, but that did not improve the player's status, as new coach Carlos Carvalhal continued omitting him from his squads.

Controversy was also raised by the report in the Portuguese tabloid Correio da Manhã suggesting that teammates João Moutinho, Ânderson Polga, Liédson and Marco Caneira, together with president José Eduardo Bettencourt wanted Stojković out of the club for publicly displaying happiness at Bento's departure.[20][21] However, this was immediately denied on the club's website.[22]

In late December 2009, it was announced that Stojković would be loaned to Wigan Athletic for a six-month period, acting as cover for Richard Kingson while the Ghanaian was on international duty at the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.[23] The move was officially confirmed on 7 January 2010,[24] and he became the fourth Serb goalkeeper in history to appear in English football after Radojko Avramović, Petar Borota and Saša Ilić.[25]

Stojković made his debut for the Latics on 23 January 2010, in a 2–2 away draw with Notts County in the fourth round of the FA Cup[26]– it was his first competitive appearance at club level after his loan return from Getafe.[27] His Premier League debut came four days later at home against Blackburn Rovers, where he put in a jittery performance in a 1–2 loss, notably being at fault in the opposition's opening goal when he raced off his line, weakly punching away Brett Emerton's deep free kick with the ball getting to Morten Gamst Pedersen who half-volleyed it into the unguarded net;[28] after Chris Kirkland recovered from injury, he was dropped to the bench.

Stojković reappeared for Wigan on 29 March 2010 in an away fixture against Manchester City: in the 72nd minute of the game, a mix-up between the goalie and defender Paul Scharner allowed Emmanuel Adebayor to flick the ball to Carlos Tevez who slotted into an open net;[29] At the end of the season, the English turned down the option of making the loan a permanent deal.[30]

On 27 August 2010, Stojković signed a season-long loan deal with Serbian champions Partizan.[31][32] The deal between Sporting and Partizan was structured so that the player's €45,000-per month salary would be paid 80% by the former and 20% by the latter, meaning that for the ten months of his loan spell Sporting would pay him €360,000 in total while the other party would contribute €90,000.[33]

Seeking another option in goal for the Champions League group stage following subpar performances of first-choice Radiša Ilić, Partizan brought in a player who, only two months earlier, had become an honorary member of rivals Red Star in a public ceremony where he was given membership card number 134. Due to this, Stojković's move was highly controversial and caused a great deal of disappointment and anger among Red Star fans as well as plenty of reaction in the Serbian general public.[34][35] Some press outlets even reported that being aware of the controversial nature of his move, he himself apparently insisted on a clause that allowed him to skip derby matches, the first of which was scheduled for 23 October 2010;[36] when asked about it, he denied the existence of such clause but, almost immediately after the news hit the press, he started receiving threats, including death threats as well as ones against his family.[37]

Stojković made his official Partizan debut on 4 September 2010 in a 2–0 home victory over FK Hajduk Kula, where he hardly was tested as the visiting side concentrated mostly on defending.[38] On 23 October, the long-awaited derby against Red Star took place: due to unsavoury events leading up to the match, there were general concerns about it turning into yet another violent incident and in particular about the goalkeeper's personal safety but, despite immense pressure and tension, he was unwavering about his desire to be in goal for the match. The game ended without a single incident as Partizan recorded a 1–0 away win and, after the final whistle, he ran to the south stand where Partizan's most loyal fans gathered, lifting his jersey to reveal a T-shirt that read: "Please Forgive My Ugly Past";[39] the move wasn't well received in the general public with local press accusing the player of being tacky and needlessly raising the tension by provoking his old club; however, he claimed he was only trying to show his feelings and insisted he was not being provocative.[40]

On 11 August 2012, Stojković scored the first goal of his career, netting from a penalty in the first round of the season, a 7–0 home trouncing of FK BSK Borča.[41] On 7 October, after suffering an injury against FK Javor Ivanjica,[42] he was sidelined for the rest of the year, but was still named in the league's best eleven due to his performances.[43]

In 2013, Stojković was voted Player of the Year by the club's fans.[44]

Stojković making his signature save while with Partizan in 2017

On 25 January 2014, free agent Stojković signed a six-month contract with Ergotelis F.C. in the Superleague Greece.[45] He made his debut with his new team two days later, in a 1–0 away defeat of Panionios FC.

On 10 June 2014, Stojković signed a three-year contract with Maccabi Haifa F.C. in the Israeli Premier League. Two years later he returned to England, agreeing to a two-year deal at Championship club Nottingham Forest[46] and playing his first game on 11 September 2016 in a 2–2 away draw against Aston Villa.[47]

On 15 August 2017, Stojković returned to his former club Partizan.[48] He made his debut two days later, in a 0–0 home draw to Videoton FC in the first leg of the Europa League play-off round.[49]

On 23 January 2018, Stojković agreed to sign a new four-year contract.[50][51] After the retirement of Saša Ilić, he was appointed the new captain.[52]

Stojković was a backup goalkeeper to Nikola Milojević in the Serbia and Montenegro under-21 squad that reached the final of the 2004 UEFA European Championship in Germany, but did not play one single minute in the tournament.

At the same time he broke through Red Star's starting XI, Stojković got more opportunities. In May 2006, he captained the under-21s during the 2006 European Championships in Portugal in the absence of suspended Danko Lazović, helping the national team reach the semi-finals.[53]

Stojković with Serbia at the 2018 World Cup

Uncapped, Stojković was named as member of the Serbian senior squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and served as backup again, now to Dragoslav Jevrić. After the arrival of Javier Clemente as head coach following the competition, he became first-choice for the newly independent Serbia, making his debut against the Czech Republic on 16 August 2006.

Stojković played well overall during the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, notably performing in a 1–1 draw versus Portugal with a string of spectacular saves. Clemente was replaced by Miroslav Đukić following the country's failure to qualify for the finals, but the player continued to start regularly.

In July 2008, Stojković was named on the Olympic team for Olympic tournament in Beijing. He continued to feature regularly under new boss Radomir Antić, even though he was completely ostracised at Sporting; after appearing in most of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers he helped Serbia to a 1–0 win against Germany in South Africa, saving Lukas Podolski's penalty.[54]

On 29 July 2010, in a vague statement to the Serbian sports daily Sportski žurnal, Stojković intimated a possibility of "temporarily stepping away from the national team" if he did not manage to find a club where he would get regular playing time by the time the Euro 2012 qualification process started.[55] Antić did not call him up for the home friendly with Greece, as well as the first two competitive games against Faroe Islands and Slovenia.

However, after the manager was fired after the draw with Slovenia, Stojković was selected again by new coach Vladimir Petrović, for the next qualifier against Estonia on 8 October 2010. This was the first national team home match for the player following his move to Partizan, and he received a fair amount of verbal abuse from the Red Star fans in the crowd, which affected his performance as he let in a long-range goal to help the visitors tie the score at 1–1; later, with the hosts trailing 2–1, he made another mistake that led to a goal after miscommunication with centre back Aleksandar Luković, leading to a back pass that ended up in the Serbian goal.[56]

Only four days later, before the start of the qualifying match against Italy in Genoa, Stojković was assaulted by a group of Red Star fans who broke into the Serbian team bus.[57][58] He returned to the national team setup more than a year after the incident, being called for two friendlies in November 2011.

On 11 October 2014, with Serbia losing 0–1 away to Armenia in a Euro 2016 qualifier, Stojković saved a late penalty from Marcos Pizzelli, after which Zoran Tošić scored the final equaliser.[59] He was also selected for the 2018 World Cup,[60] playing all three group stage matches.[61][62][63]

As of 6 June 2020[67][68]

As of 1 July 2019[70][71]

• Serbian Player of the Year: 2017
• Serbian SuperLiga Team of the Season: 2012–13, 2017–18
• Partizan Player of the Year: 2013[44]