Antoni Charles Sarcevic (born 13 March 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for side Bradford City.
After being released by Manchester City, Sarcevic began his senior career with Woodley Sports, where he spent only one season before joining Crewe Alexandra, but struggled to break into the first team and went on loan to Chester in 2010, before making a permanent transfer to them in the next year, but moved to League Two side Fleetwood Town in June 2013 for an undisclosed fee. He scored 15 league goals for Fleetwood in 2013–14, he also topped the club's assist charts with nine, and was named in the League Two PFA Team of the Year after his performances for Fleetwood. In January 2017, Sarcevic joined Plymouth Argyle on a free transfer. He has been promoted eight times in his career.WATCH: Bradford City's 96th-minute promotion-clinching goal
Club career Born in Manchester, Sarcevic was in the youth system of boyhood club Manchester City aged seven to 15, before joining the youth system at Woodley Sports in 2008. He made his first team debut for Woodley in August 2009 and was offered a trial with Premier League club Blackburn Rovers during the 2009–10 season.
Crewe Alexandra Sarcevic was signed by League Two side Crewe Alexandra for an undisclosed fee in May 2010, on a one-year contract with an option to extend for a further year. He was loaned out to Northern Premier League Division One North club Chester in October 2010. After two goals in seven appearances he was recalled to Crewe by Dario Gradi. Impressive in his loan spell, he scored on his Crewe debut on 1 February 2011, the last goal of a 6–2 defeat to Northampton Town.
Chester On 23 November 2011 he returned to Chester as a permanent signing. During his first two seasons with Chester, they were promoted twice to the Football Conference, in the process winning the Northern Premier League Premier Division, Peter Swales Shield, Conference North and Cheshire Senior Cup. After impressive performances for Chester Sarcevic reportedly attracted interest from football league clubs and won a call up to the England C.
Fleetwood Town On 26 June 2013 Fleetwood Town signed Antoni Sarcevic for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut for the club as Fleetwood Town beat Dagenham & Redbridge 3–1. On 23 November Sarcevic scored his first Football League hat-trick in the 5–4 home victory against Mansfield Town 5–4. His 15th goal of the season was a 75th-minute free-kick in the play-off final against Burton Albion on 26 May, which won promotion to League One.
Shrewsbury Town At the end of his contract at Fleetwood, Sarcevic joined fellow League One side Shrewsbury Town on a free transfer in May 2016, signing a two-year deal. He left the club on 9 December 2016, by a mutual consent after agreeing to cancel his contract.
Plymouth Argyle On 26 January 2017, Sarcevic joined League 2 side Plymouth Argyle on a free transfer. Sarcevic scored on his first start for Plymouth to earn them victory at Cambridge United on 4 February 2017. Due to his passion and consistent performances in the side he has earned the nickname 'Manchester Messi' from the green army.
Bolton Wanderers On 15 July 2020, Sarcevic joined League Two side Bolton Wanderers, signing a two-year deal. On 29 August, the club announced that Sarcevic has been named club captain for the forthcoming season.Bolton Wanderers @OfficialBWFC "Your Bolton Wanderers captain for the 2020/21 season: @ASarcevic #BWFC" Twitter, 29 August 2020. 7:00AM. He scored on his competitive debut on 5 September, scoring the equaliser in Bolton's first match of the season, a 1–2 home defeat against Bradford in the first round of the EFL Cup. "Sarce" (as he has been called in Bolton) led the team to a 4–1 victory over Crawley Town on 8 May which secured promotion to League One for the 2021–22 season. After Bolton had a poor run of form in October 2021, Sarcevic was dropped to the bench. It was reported that this caused an argument with manager Ian Evatt with both considering their relationship to be irreparable as a result. This apparently caused Sarcevic to accept a move to Stockport County. In May 2024, Sarcevic confirmed there was a falling out and that he felt he was treated unfairly by Evatt and thought there was no reason for why he was being treated as he was.
Stockport County On 22 October 2021, Sarcevic joined National League side Stockport County on a free transfer, with the midfielder signing a contract until 2024. Sarcevic made his league debut for the club a day later on 23 October, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 loss against Notts County. He was a member of the Stockport side that won the League Two title in 2023–24, making 37 appearances and scoring 8 times. On 16 May 2024, Stockport County announced Sarcevic was leaving the club at the end of his deal.
Bradford City On 17 May 2024, Bradford announced Sarcevic joined them on a two-year deal, re-joining his former manager at Fleetwood Graham Alexander. Following a four-month injury lay-off, his return to the side coincided with a significant upturn in form, three goals in five games seeing him named EFL League Two Player of the Month for February 2025. On 3 May 2025 in the last game of the season against his former club Fleetwood Town, Sarcevic scored the winning goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time to secure Bradford's promotion to League One for the 2025-26 season. This was the eighth promotion of his career.
At the end of the 2025–26 season he triggered a clause in his contract to remain with the club for a further year.
International career Antoni was called up to England C for the first to face Bermuda in a friendly on 5 May 2013. He scored the first goal in the game.
Personal life He is of Italian and Serbian descent.
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsWoodley Sports2009–10NPL Division One North377??—??37+7+Crewe Alexandra2010–11League Two61000000612011–12League Two60100030100Total121100030161Chester (loan)2010–11NPL Division One North4000—3272Chester2011–12NPL Premier Division23300—312642012–13Conference North371241—644717Total601541—957321Fleetwood Town2013–14League Two421330108254152014–15League One3721010104022015–16League One393101030443Total11818503012213820Shrewsbury Town2016–17League One120002010150Plymouth Argyle2016–17League Two1720000001722017–18League One3031010303532018–19League One3732110204242019–20League Two32103100303811Total1161862208013221Bolton Wanderers2020–21League Two3271011103582021–22League One143002010173Total46101031205211Stockport County2021–22National League25420—002742022–23League Two2842210203362023–24League Two338201010378Total86166220309718Bradford City2024–25League Two2470010302872025–26League One29100020003110Total53170030305917Career total544101235151449603+115+
Honours Chester Conference North: 2012–13 Northern Premier League Premier Division: 2011–12 Peter Swales Shield: 2012 Cheshire Senior Cup: 2012–13
Fleetwood Town Football League Two play-offs: 2014
Plymouth Argyle EFL League Two second-place promotion: 2016–17
Bolton Wanderers EFL League Two third-place promotion: 2020–21
Stockport County EFL League Two: 2023–24 National League: 2021–22
Bradford City EFL League Two third-place promotion: 2024–25
Individual PFA Team of the Year: 2013–14 League Two, 2019–20 League Two Plymouth Argyle Player of the Year: 2019–20 EFL League Two Team of the Season: 2020–21 EFL League Two Player of the Month: February 2025
References
External links