Sydney FC starlet Adrian Segečić has become the first Australian-Croatian to claim a golden boot award in the A-League era.
His award breaks a 21-year drought, when Ante Miličić claimed the last golden boot award of the NSL era, with Nicolas Milanović (Western Sydney) and Noah Botić (Western United) just one goal behind.
Whilst Croatian names used to dominate the top scorer’s charts in the NSL era, with Mark Viduka (twice), David Zdrilić and Miličić claiming the top honour, it has been a different story in the A-League era.
But the 2024/25 A-League season has coincided with the stunning emergence of a young Croatian-background trio. Whilst Milanović, Botić and Segečić – who tied with Adelaide striker Archie Goodwin for the Golden Boot – are Australian youth internationals, none have yet won a Socceroos call up.
With Botić and Milanović to feature in May’s A-League finals, Socceroos coach Tony Popović wil be watching on with interest ahead of June’s decisive World Cup qualifiers against Japan (Perth) and Saudi Arabia (away).
Marin Jakolis, the Croatian-born Macarthur FC winger who hopes to represent the Socceroos, also finished the season’s most prolific creator (12 assists and 10 goals).
Botić, Segečić and Milanović have all been linked with European moves for 2025/26.
Sydney FC coach Ufuk Talay admitted he might struggle to keep Segečić, who scored 18 goals in all competitions, including five ACL 2 goals.
“We want to keep him. But he (may) have opportunities to go abroad with the season he’s had,” Talay said.
Botic said Europe was “something me and my family have been discussing. But I’m focusing on finals and hopefully help (Western) win a trophy.”
Croatian Golden Boot Winners
Mark Viduka: 1993/94, 1994/95 (Melbourne Knights)
David Zdrilić: 1996/97 (Sydney United)
Ante Miličić: 2003/04 (Parramatta Power)
Adrian Segečić: 2024/25 (Sydney FC)
A-League Golden Boot 2024/25
Adrian Segečić: 13 (Sydney FC)
Archie Goodwin: 13 (Adelaide United)
Nicolas Milanović: 12 (Western Sydney Wanderers)
Noah Botić: 12 (Western United)
The Next Croat-Roos
This article was originally published in the May Edition of Hrvatski Vjesnik