Milan Janković (footballer, born 1959)
Yugoslavian footballer
Milan Janković (Serbian Cyrillic: Милан Јанковић; born 31 December 1959) is a Serbian retired footballer who played as a midfielder.
Club career
Born in Belgrade, Socialist Republic of Serbia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Janković played youth football with Red Star Belgrade, signing in 1978 with NK Maribor alongside Vladislav Bogićević and Rade Radić in exchange for the best Slovenian player at the time, Milan Arnejčič. Two years later, however, he returned to his previous club, going on to be an important member as the capital side won two leagues and as many cups; he also missed the entire 1982–83 season due to injury.
In late January 1987, aged 27, Janković was allowed to leave his country, joining La Liga powerhouse Real Madrid and being a starter in most of his first full campaign, teaming up in midfield with Rafael Gordillo, Míchel and Rafael Martín Vázquez in support of strikers Emilio Butragueño and Hugo Sánchez, as the Merengues won the league with 95 goals scored.
Janković closed out his career in 1990 at the age of 30, after two seasons with Anderlecht in Belgium.
International career
Janković won 12 caps for Yugoslavia in three years, but did not attend any major international tournament. He scored on his debut, a 2–4 friendly loss with Brazil on 30 April 1986. His final international was a November 1989 friendly match away against Brazil.
Post-retirement
In 1991, the year after ending his playing career, Janković emigrated to Australia, settling in North Queensland with his Croatian-born wife.
In the 2000s, Janković coached the Tonga national team.
“Milan Janković (footballer, born 1959)” enters the record as yugoslavian footballer. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Milan, Janković and footballer can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2146290. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1959, 1978, 1982 and 1987.
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