Tara Murray
After two stints in the coaching hot seat, Kruni Razov is leaving National Premier League side St Albans.
The club announced on social media the departure of Razov having coached the side since the middle of 2016.
Razov said the decision was a mutual one to go their separate ways.
“It was a little bit of everything and it was mutually agreed,” he said of the decision. “There were a lot of highs and lows, a lot more highs.
“It’s been over 10 years in two separate stints and a lot of championships. I’m very happy with what we’ve done there.”
Razov led St Albans to promotion in 2009, although the club was denied a place in the Victorian Premier League after a nine-point deduction.
Twelve months later, the Saints went one better under Razov, taking out the title after starting minus-three and this time were not denied promotion.
When he returned in 2016, he guided them to the NPL2 west championship. The side would go up and come back down, before winning the NPL2 west title again in 2019.
Razov said the performance of the side this year was one of his biggest highs.
“To be able to keep them up [in the top division],” he said of his biggest achievement. “The last couple of season when we’ve gone up, we’ve come back down.
“The club now have the foundations of an NPL1 club. We finished in equal ninth with Melbourne Knights.
“We played four kids, while we also had a lot of injuries. We should have finished a lot higher with another seven or eight points. They’re in a nice place for next season.”
Razov said a break would be nice, but didn’t rule out coaching elsewhere next season.
“A break isn’t a bad thing,” he said. “If the right job ticks all the boxes, I’ll have a look.”
In the club’s announcement of the coaching change, they thanked Razov for what he had down.
“Kruni has been an integral part of our success over the last seven years, guiding the club to two league titles, two Cro Cup titles and two Croatian Tourney flags,” the club’s announcement said.
“Kruni has demonstrated tremendous loyalty and passion for the club and will always be regarded as a club legend holding the lengthiest and most successful coaching tenures at the club.
“We thank Kruni for his dedication to the Dinamo cause and wish him well in his future endeavours.”
