Radojko "Raddy" Avramović (; born 29 November 1949) is a Serbian former football coach and player. A goalkeeper, Avramović most notably played for Croatian club Rijeka and English club Notts County as well as internationally for Yugoslavia. During his managerial career, Avramović was most notably a long-term manager of Singapore national team, being widely regarded as the most successful coach leading Singapore. He also briefly managed Myanmar and Kuwait national teams.
Avramović discontinued his law studies two years into university to become a footballer. He began his playing career with Borac Čačak in the Yugoslav Second League in 1968. He signed for Yugoslav First League club Rijeka in 1975. As a 1977–78 Yugoslav Cup winner with Rijeka, he played in the 1978–79 Cup Winners' Cup. He won his only international cap with Yugoslavia in a Balkan Cup match against Greece on 15 November 1978. He was scouted by Notts County manager Jimmy Sirrel, who signed him for a club record £200,000 in 1979 and would later regard Avramović as one of his best players. He contributed with 16 clean sheets as the club was promoted to the First Division in 1981 in their return to the top flight after 54 years. He made a total of 167 appearances for Notts County before moving to Coventry City for the 1983–84 season. In 1984, he returned to Yugoslavia with OFK Belgrade where he played his final season, helping them to the Second League East Division title before retiring as a player at the age of 35.
Avramović was placed in charge of Oman's age group teams from 1993 to 1998. In August 1998, he was appointed as assistant coach to Kuwait, and as coach of their Olympic squad a year later. He guided the under-23 team through the Asian qualifiers to the 2000 Summer Olympics. Following the departure of Berti Vogts in February 2002, Avramović took over as national coach of Kuwait. He led the senior team to their first West Asian Games title in April, and the under-23 team to the quarter-finals of the 2002 Asian Games in October, which they lost 1–0 to eventual silver medalists Iran. His contract was however terminated in December after a poor performance at the 2002 Arab Nations Cup. He led Oman outfit Muscat Club to the 2002-03 Omani League title during a six-month stint from February 2003. In July 2003, Avramović was unveiled as coach of the Singapore national team. He led them to their first international title in the 2004 ASEAN Football Championship, completing a hat-trick of tournament wins with further triumphs in 2007 and 2012. After a decade in Singapore, Avramović stood down as national coach in December 2012. In February 2014, he was appointed as coach of the Myanmar national team; he stepped down from the position in 2015. He returned to Kuwait for brief spells with Al Tadhmon SC and the Kuwait national team in 2017 and 2018, respectively, until returning to Singapore in 2019 to manage Home United. He was forced to retire early into his term due to a serious illness.
Club career Avramović began his playing career with Yugoslav Second League club Borac Čačak in 1968 after discontinuing his law studies two years into university. As he disliked heading the ball, Avramović switched from playing in central defence to the goalkeeper position. He won the 1972–73 Second League East Division title with the club. In 1975, he signed for First League club Rijeka where he made 119 league appearances and won the 1977–78 Yugoslav Cup. As Cup winners, Rijeka qualified for the 1978–79 Cup Winners' Cup. In the first round, Rijeka defeated Welsh club Wrexham 3–2 over two legs to advance to the next round. Rijeka were drawn against Belgian outfit K.S.K. Beveren in the second round. After a goalless draw in the home leg, Rijeka conceded two goals in the return leg to exit the competition 2–0 on aggregate.
In 1978, the Football Association lifted the restriction on foreign players in the Football League. Avramović was scouted by Notts County manager Jimmy Sirrel, who claimed he had found "a goalie who would keep them in the Second Division" and persuaded his chairman Jack Dunnet to pay a club record £200,000 for his transfer. Sirrel took Avramović under his personal care, and would later regard him as one of his best players. At the beginning of the Avramović's career at Notts County, there was a social function at which he went around and bought all his new teammates a drink as a friendly gesture. A local reporter saw this and wrote a newspaper article about Avramović being a "boozer" and a "big-time-Charlie". The next time that same reporter went to Meadow Lane, Sirrel physically caught hold of him and had him thrown off the premises and banned from the ground. The Evening Post had to give the reporter the Nottingham Forest job whilst the City Ground reporter switched over to Notts County. On 4 August 1979, Avramović played his first competitive game for the club against Mansfield Town in an Anglo-Scottish Cup qualifier. He made his league debut against Cardiff City on 18 August, with his side running out 4–1 winners. The Magpies finished 17th in the league in that season but gained promotion to the First Division by claiming the runners-up spot in the 1980–81 season, with Avramović contributing with 16 clean sheets. In the first season of the club's return to the top flight after 54 years, Avramović played in all 42 league games as they defeated Arsenal 2–1 in October and beat defending champions Aston Villa 1–0. Avramović made a total of 167 appearances in four seasons for the club.
In 1983, Avramović left for Canada to play for FC Inter-Montréal. Afterwards, Coventry City manager Bobby Gould convinced him to join them in the 1983–84 First Division. He made his debut in a 2–1 win at Highfield Road over Leicester City. He was dropped from the starting line-up after a number of goalkeeping errors. He let a clearance from Watford custodian Steve Sherwood bounce over his head into an empty net and punched a cross into his own net in a 2–3 home defeat to Stoke City a few weeks later. Gould then declared he would not pick Avramović again in the post-match interview. He returned to Yugoslavia with OFK Belgrade in 1984, winning the Yugoslav Second League East Division title in his only season with the club before retiring at the age of 35.
International career Avramović earned his only cap with the Yugoslavia national team on 15 November 1978. He played the full match as Yugoslavia defeated Greece 4–1 in the Balkan Cup.
Coaching career
Early years Avramović moved to Asia in 1991. He was placed in charge of Oman's age group teams from 1993 to 1998. In August 1998, he was appointed as assistant coach to Kuwait, and as coach of their Olympic squad a year later. He guided the Olympic squad through the Asian qualifiers to the 2000 Summer Olympics. Following the departure of Berti Vogts in February 2002, Avramović took over as national coach of Kuwait. He led the senior team to their first West Asian Games title in April, and the under-23 team to the quarter-finals of the 2002 Asian Games in October, which they lost 1–0 to eventual silver medalists Iran. His contract was however terminated when in December when hosts Kuwait failed to reach the semi-finals of the 2002 Arab Nations Cup. From February to July 2003, he coached Omani outfit Muscat Club to the 2002-03 Omani League title.
Singapore In December 2002, Singapore failed to achieve their target of reaching the 2002 AFF Championship final. The results included a 4–0 loss to traditional rivals Malaysia at the former National Stadium and Singapore exited the competition on an inferior goal difference at the group stage. Coach Jan B. Poulsen was sacked in the aftermath and after a six-month search, Avramović was appointed as coach of Singapore's senior and under-23 teams on a two-and-a-half-year contract in July 2003. The FAS tasked him with the targets of qualifying for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup, as well as reaching the finals of the 2004 AFF Championship and 2005 Southeast Asian Games. He took charge of his first game with a 4–1 international friendly win over Hong Kong in August. The Lions started their 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualifying campaign with two defeats to Avramović's former team, Kuwait in September. They gained their first points with a win and a draw over Palestine. A 2–0 defeat to Qatar in November dashed their hopes of reaching the finals. In the post-mortem, Avramović stated his emphasis on developing more young players for the national squad.
Singapore were drawn in the same group as Japan, India and Oman for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification in 2004. They finished bottom of Group 3 with a win and five losses, including two narrow defeats to 2000 AFC Asian Cup winners Japan and a 7–0 trashing by Oman in Muscat on 9 June. The 2004 AFF Championship draw pitted Singapore against Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos and co-hosts Vietnam in Group A. Despite a record of four wins in eighteen matches, the FAS gave their assurance that Avramović would not be sacked even if he failed to meet the target of reaching the tournament final. Avramović 2004 AFF Championship squad included naturalised players Daniel Bennett, Agu Casmir and Itimi Dickson. Singapore drew 1–1 with Vietnam in their opening match, following it up with a 2–2 stalemate against Indonesia. A 6–2 win over Laos and a 3–0 defeat of Cambodia ensured their passage to the semi-finals as group runners-up. Singapore faced Myanmar in the semi-finals, registering a 4–3 win in the first leg in a game where first-choice striker Indra Sahdan was suspended and questions were raised over the eligibility of a Myanmar player.Myanmar's Myo Min Tun was dismissed for violent conduct in a LG Cup match against India in August 2004. The AFC had issued a six-month ban but Myo continued to play in the AFF-organised Tiger Cup which was not a competition sanctioned by the AFC. A 4–2 extra-time win over 8-man MyanmarMyanmar striker Yan Paing was sent off for his second yellow card and Lynn Tun received a straight red for conceding a penalty. Moe Kyaw Thu was dismissed for kicking mud at the referee to reduce Myanmar to eight men. in the home leg put the Lions through to the finals where they faced Indonesia. Singapore achieved a 3–1 win at Senayan in the first leg, followed by a 2–1 win at Kallang on 16 January 2005. Singapore clinched the trophy on home soil and their second international title after their 1998 tournament triumph. The Lions were honoured for their Cup win with the Team of the Year award at the Singapore Sports Awards 2005.
The FAS's offer of a new two-year contract in May 2005 amid interest in the service of the coach by other Middle Eastern and Asian teams was not taken up by Avramović, who lamented the lack of stronger competitive matches for the national team and little support for the players. In June, Avramović announced a shortlist of 40 players for the Southeast Asian Games in November. As part of their preparations, Singapore entered the inaugural AFF U-23 Youth Championship held in September, finishing runners-up behind Thailand. Although the under-23 squad contained nine players that won the 2004 Tiger Cup, they failed to progress beyond the group stage of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games. Despite earlier speculation of his departure, Avramović signed a two-year contract extension in December.