Aleksandar Ranković (footballer)

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Aleksandar Ranković (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Ранковић; born 31 August 1978) is a Serbian football manager and former player. He is the head coach of Lion City Sailors in the Singapore Premier League and also holds a Dutch passport.

Playing career
Ranković was a defensive midfielder. He began at FK Rad (1997–2002), then moved to SBV Vitesse (2002–2005), followed by ADO Den Haag (2005–2011), and finished his playing career with Partizan in 2011. In total, he made 278 club appearances and scored 17 goals. Notably, in January 2007 he was sent off against AZ after pushing the referee and shouting threats; he received a five‑match ban and later apologized.

Coaching career
After retiring, Ranković worked with youth teams at ADO Den Haag (U17, U19) and served as an assistant at Vitesse and Sparta Rotterdam. He was head coach of ADO Den Haag in 2020, then an assistant at Sparta Rotterdam (2021–2022) and Utrecht (2022–2023). In 2023 he became head coach of Lion City Sailors.

Lion City Sailors era
His first game in charge was July 1, 2023, a 7–1 win over Tanjong Pagar United. In the 2023–24 season, the team won group-stage matches in the AFC Champions League era, including wins over Kitchee (2–1) and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (2–0). He led Lion City Sailors to win the 2023 Singapore Cup. On May 4, 2024, the team won the 2024 Singapore Community Shield (2–0 vs Albirex Niigata (S)). In the 2024–25 period, he guided the team to the ACL group stage as group leaders, reached the round of 16 after defeating Muangthong United 7–2 on aggregate, then the quarter-finals, and eventually the final of the AFC Champions League Two, which they lost 2–1 to Sharjah. He also led the Sailors to a domestic double by winning the 2024–25 Singapore Premier League and the 2024–25 Singapore Cup. On July 7, 2025, Ranković signed a two-year contract extension with Lion City Sailors.