“My success lies in the fact that I brought more than 20 players under the age of 21 into the national team. I’m a coach who easily gives young players a chance. My style is based on discipline in the game, but there must also be creativity,” says Hadzievski.

There are few people whose long and rich careers you can barely scratch even after an hour-long conversation. One of them is Gjoko Hadzievski — one of Macedonia’s most decorated and longest-active football coaches. It has been 35 years since Hadzievski first stood on the sidelines as a head coach — with Pelister, the very club where he ended his playing career. Since then, he has managed around twenty clubs across ten different countries and has won about a dozen trophies.

“I’m still active. I don’t sit on a chair while working — I lead the training sessions myself. To be a successful coach, you have to be physically strong, but also a great motivator. You have to move the club, the players, the fans, and even the journalists. You need energy for all of that — otherwise, you’ll have a problem. I’ll keep working as long as I have that strength,” says Hadzievski, who currently coaches Najran from Saudi Arabia — the same club he first led 11 years ago, bringing them their greatest successes.

Hadzievski was elected as the first head coach of Macedonia’s national team after the country’s independence, but since he was already coaching CSKA and due to changes within the Football Federation of Macedonia at the time, he didn’t immediately get the chance — and was replaced by Andon Donchevski, who led the team in its early years.

“From an early age, I knew football would be my profession”

His parents wanted him to become an architect, so he enrolled at the Architectural High School in Struga and later at the Faculty of Architecture in Skopje, finishing one year before transferring to the Faculty of Physical Education. From a very young age — thanks mainly to his father, a football coach — he fell in love with the sport and became completely devoted to it.

“I’m from Resen, but I’ve always been split between Resen and Bitola. My father was from Resen, while my mother was from Bitola, where I often stayed with my grandparents. I grew up watching the first team of Prespa, where my father was the coach. After starting high school, I began playing for the youth team of Karaorman, which had a strong squad back then. Even then, I knew football would be my profession. My parents wanted me to be an architect, but I told my father: ‘You want me to be an architect, yet you keep taking me to football. You never gave me a book about architecture to send me in that direction,’” recalls Hadzievski.

Ready to play for Vardar — but called to the army instead

From Prespa, one of the most talented players from Resen joined Vardar at the age of 19. However, he was immediately loaned to Balkan, where he learned a lot from coach Stojan Stojanovski–Kolac, with whom he still keeps in touch. He later played for Teteks, Ljuboten, and Bogdanci before finally signing for Vardar — but again without getting the chance to play for the club’s legendary team.

“In 1982, I signed for Vardar when that famous generation was being formed — Janevski, Setinov, Urošević, Panchev. Višnjevac was the coach at the time. I did great on trial, but I was 27 and had to serve in the army. That’s when I met my wife — we got engaged before I left. By the time I finished my service, my chance at Vardar was gone. Our first daughter, Stefanija, was born, and when I came back, I already had a family. Life in Skopje was hard — no apartment, no stable job — and at Vardar, I’d have to start over again. So I signed for Pelister and moved to Bitola, where my wife is also from. I got a job at the Union for Physical Culture and spent the last two years of my career playing for Pelister in the Second League,” he explains.

Retired early, became a coach immediately

After a 12-year playing career, Hadzievski retired at only 29 and turned to his next ambition — coaching. He first worked with Pelister’s youth team and later with the senior squad. His deep football knowledge and natural teaching ability, inherited from his parents, helped him transition successfully from player to coach.

“I was frustrated that I wasn’t given the place I felt I deserved as a player, and I just said — that’s it. I took 100 kids and in 1984 became the coach of the junior team for ages 10 to 16. From that generation came players like Mitko Stojkovski, Petar Miloševski, and many others. That youth team became champions of the former Yugoslavia. Many of those kids are like sons to me — and I’m like a football father to them. In 1988, I became coach of Pelister’s first team. I was very ambitious, had knowledge of world football, collected VHS tapes, and analyzed constantly. I was soon recognized as one of the most promising young coaches in Yugoslavia,” says Hadzievski.

“I’m a coach who easily gives young players a chance”

After his successful start, Hadzievski became president of the Yugoslav Coaches’ Committee and even led Yugoslavia’s B national team. His next big step came when he moved from Pelister to Vardar — where success followed immediately.

“Vardar took me mid-season, before I joined Vojvodina. For me, Vardar was like Real Madrid. I was the first coach from outside Skopje to lead Vardar — that was back in 1991. When I arrived, I brought the team from the Second to the First Yugoslav League. At the same time, Red Star became European champion, and we beat them in the opening round of the next season — the last before Yugoslavia broke up. In the first independent league of Macedonia, we won the double crown — unbeaten. The following year I went to CSKA Sofia, where I became the first foreign coach in Bulgarian football. I had a very successful season and made lifelong friends there,” says Hadzievski.

In 1996, he finally took over the Macedonian national team. He is known for bringing in a generation of players younger than 21, aiming to refresh the squad — many of whom became the foundation of the team for the next decade.

“I coached Macedonia through two qualifying cycles. Coaching a club and a national team are two very different things. In a national team, you act more as a team manager — you need to have a vision. You don’t train the players — they’re already developed elsewhere — but you have to unite them, create chemistry, and build a positive atmosphere. My success was introducing over 20 players under the age of 21 to the national team. I’m a coach who easily gives young players a chance. My style is disciplined football, but with creativity. I mastered the methodology of work — not just for match days, but also for preparations. I demand concentration and immediate correction of mistakes — otherwise, the opponent punishes you,” Hadzievski concludes, adding that he plans to continue working abroad in Saudi Arabia for at least two more years before returning to Macedonia.