Ned Zelic

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Nediljko Zelić, short form Ned Zelić [ˈzɛːlitɕ] (born on July 4, 1971 in Sydney), is an Australian football (soccer) player who most recently played for the Newcastle United Jets. He previously played for the Australian team but made himself unavailable after disagreements with coach Frank Farina. Zelic was a member of the Australian team that competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. He is of Croat origin.

Zelic started his career in the old Australian National Soccer League where he played with clubs Sydney Croatia and Sydney Olympic.

Zelic spent most of the 1990s playing in Europe, most notably for Borussia Dortmund of Germany. He had a small stint at QPR, but, following a £1.3m move, he soon fell out of favour with the London club and returned to Germany.

In 2005, Ned Zelic agreed terms to a two year deal to captain the Newcastle Jets in the Hyundai A-League where he played out the whole season from central defence. The Jets finished fourth on the league table and lost to the Central Coast Mariners 2-1 on aggregate over two legs in the Minor Semi-Final.

In June 2006 he was released from his contract with the Newcastle Jets due to his wife being pregnant in Melbourne. He was almost immediately replaced by Paul Okon, who will likely also take his direct spot in central defence in the team. After being granted a work permit, he signed a one-year deal with the Dutch second division side Helmond Sport in August 2006. In Helmond he will work again with his former 1860 Munich team mate Gerald Vanenburg, who now is a trainer.

With discussion in The Age that Zelic was up for a recall to the Australian national side around October 2005, Zelic did not make a return to the side and took up a career in the media. He first appeared as a football analyst on Australian television channel SBS during the World Cup Qualifier against Uruguay, and continued this role (alongside Andrew Orsatti) during the 2006 FIFA World Cup.