Zivko Gocic, the former captain of Serbia and a 2016 Olympic champion, has returned to Partizan.
He has been appointed as the main coach for all teams at the club – the head of the entire coaching staff. Gocic will collaborate with all coaches at the club, including Stefan Ciric, who remains the head coach of the first team, in developing strategies for coaching work with all players, from the water polo school to the first team.
Gocic played for Partizan from the beginning of his career until 2003 and from 2007 to 2010. After leaving Partizan 15 years ago, he played in Italy and Hungary. Gocic made a strong mark at Szolnok. As captain, he led Szolnok to the Champions League title. Gocic finished his playing career at Szolnok in 2018 and immediately began his coaching career in the same club. As the head coach of Szolnok, he won the Euro Cup and the Hungarian Championship in 2021. He became the first and still the only foreign coach to lead a club to the Hungarian championship title.
In the past three years, he coached Novi Beograd, winning several trophies in the Serbian League and Cup, as well in the Regional League, two silver medals in the Champions League (2023 and 2025), and fourth place in 2024.
“I am very happy to be returning to Partizan, with the goal and task of helping all coaches to implement their ideas and achieve the desired results. I am returning home, although even during the years when I was not at Partizan, I still felt like a part of this club.
I spent the best part of my career at Partizan, and I owe this club a lot of gratitude for everything I achieved, because the years spent at the Banjica pool shaped my entire career. I will do my best to contribute, together with everyone in the club, to Partizan returning to where it belongs,” Gocic said at today’s press conference.
Jovan Lazarevic, the club president, and Filip Filipovic, the vice president and a triple Olympic champion, emphasized the significant progress the club has made in its organizational structure and in financial terms. After overcoming a severe crisis, Partizan has stabilized. The club’s current primary focus is on developing its junior and youth sectors, as well as achieving success with its water polo academy, which has produced many great champions. As Filipovic said, Partizan has regained momentum in this mission. Partizan has the goal of developing future champions from its academy once again.
