Denis Lasić has been at the helm of HŠK Zrinjski Mostar for eight years, making him the longest-serving president in the club’s history.
Under his leadership, the “Nobles” have won four BiH Premier League titles (2017, 2018, 2022, 2023) and two Cups (2023, 2024), and have also achieved the long-dreamed goal of reaching the group stage of a UEFA competition.
The end of another exceptionally successful season is the perfect moment for a major interview with the most successful president in Zrinjski’s history.
“In short, we’ve had another very successful season. We would have been proud even if it hadn’t ended with winning the Cup, considering everything we achieved, but this way, we’re even prouder because we definitely deserved the trophy. After winning the double crown, we didn’t want to lower the bar even by a millimeter; in fact, we set it even higher as we said from the start that we wanted to make a breakthrough and reach the long-awaited group stage, which we eventually succeeded in doing,” Lasić said at the beginning of the conversation.
With the achievement of reaching the Conference League group stage and winning the Cup, Zrinjski accomplished two of the three set goals, but is there any regret over the lost title?
“We must not be disappointed by that. It would be absurd for second place to overshadow all the good we’ve done because, as I said at the outset, we are genuinely proud of our results. Besides, it’s important to emphasize that we finished the league with 76 points, which is a tally we would have signed off at the start of the season, as in every season so far, that tally meant winning the championship. This season it wasn’t enough, but to accumulate 76 points in a season where we played 55 matches is a huge achievement. Big congratulations to the players and coaches who are most responsible for this success.”
Eight league titles, three Cups, a constant participant in European competitions, the most successful club in the history of the WWin League BiH, the club with the most European victories… It sounds almost surreal what Zrinjski has achieved in recent history, and perhaps the biggest success is that all this has become “normal”?
“Yes, in a way we’ve become ‘victims’ of all our successful seasons, because even after a season where we won the Cup and played in the Conference League group stage, there’s talk of us not winning the title. On one hand, this is expected when you know that two seasons ago we won titles with 27 and 20 points more than the runner-up, but those of us leading Zrinjski are firmly grounded, aware that good results, trophies, and successes don’t come by themselves, but only as a result of good, quality, and continuous work.”
You have been leading Zrinjski for eight years, but you have been with the club much longer?
“That continuity is what sets us apart from others, if I dare say more successful, because let others judge that. As a member of the Management Board and the inner presidency, I’ve been with Zrinjski for almost twenty years, Ivan Beus as the director just as long, and Danko Šulenta as the executive vice president has been with the club for twelve years. In the last three seasons, we’ve had significant support from Amir Gross Kabiri, who, as the head of our main sponsor, M.T. Abraham Group, also agreed to be part of the core leadership. There are exceptions, but for results, continuity is needed, and Zrinjski has that, both in management structures and the administrative part of the club. I’d say that continuity was crucial in 2021 after not qualifying for Europe, allowing us to bounce back quickly and achieve the greatest successes in the club’s history in the following three seasons.”
When it comes to sponsors, how satisfied are you with the support Zrinjski has from that side?
“Can support be greater is something we’ll leave for another interview, but in any case, we’re sincerely grateful to all sponsors, donors, and club partners, as we greatly value every entrepreneur willing to support the club’s work. This is also their success. We’re also grateful for the support we have from the City and the County, but I’ll be bold enough to say that we earned that support through our successes. In the previous season, we brought seven European clubs to Mostar, which is a big deal.”
Zrinjski achieved record revenues of 14.3 million marks in 2023, but primarily thanks to reaching the group stage. How difficult is it to actually secure the budget needed for stable functioning, or for achieving such high ambitions?
“The term stable functioning doesn’t go hand in hand with BiH football. Revenue of 14.3 million indeed sounds nice, but 60 percent of that amount was secured by reaching the group stage, which is the best indicator of how variable that revenue side actually is. In the previous season, we earned 8.5 million from Europe, but that revenue was zero in 2021. In one of the previous answers, I said we are sincerely grateful to every sponsor, but solely with sponsor revenues, we can’t nearly cover the expenses. This is not just our reality but the reality of all stronger clubs in the region because we all depend on Europe and player sales. Furthermore, when it comes to Europe, it should be noted that it also brings significant expenses. For example, just the travel costs for seven away matches required about two million marks.”
In 2023, revenues from the City of Mostar and the County amounted to 1.7 million marks, which is a 12 percent share of the annual revenue?
“True, but it’s important to emphasize that these revenues were not spent on the club’s current operations but on infrastructure investment because we had to do a lot to ensure we could play group stage matches in Mostar.”
When it comes to infrastructure, fans are most interested in the East Stand project?
“That’s completely understandable because it’s the biggest infrastructural project at the stadium since its construction. This year we finally started the project, and we’re happy about it. It should be noted that it’s a multi-million project, and the financial structure for its complete realization isn’t closed, so it’s ungrateful to talk about deadlines, but we’ve started, and that’s the most important. Zrinjski as a club clearly can’t carry out this project alone, so we expect support from the broader social community, meaning all levels of government, to create conditions that Zrinjski, as an eight-time BiH champion and a constant participant in European competitions, deserves.”
Let’s get back to the WWin League BiH. In the past season, there was much talk about refereeing. What’s Zrinjski’s stance on this?
“Zrinjski as a club never wants to comment on refereeing, so we will refrain from detailed analyses now as well. We leave that to others, and it’s up to them to decide whether those analyses will be objective or not. The biggest problem is that we’ve allowed trust to be lost, which, to be fair, was never great, and time will tell whether and to what extent we will manage to regain that trust.”
The BiH Football Federation has decided to reduce the league to 10 clubs from the 2025/2026 season?
“Definitely a step forward, just like the one made in 2016 when the League of 16 was replaced by the League of 12.”
When you were appointed president of Zrinjski in 2016, the coach was Vinko Marinović, and not counting temporary solutions, Željko Petrović is the ninth coach leading Zrinjski in that period, noting that Blaž Slišković was appointed twice?
“In any case, we’ve never made ad hoc decisions, and we can’t because of the responsibility we have. Decisions about coaching changes were usually made at the end of the season or half-season, after analyzing whether we were heading in the right direction or not. These decisions are generally not easy, but we have to make them. In any case, we are grateful to all the coaches we’ve worked with, whether they stayed shorter or longer on the bench.”
The new season for Zrinjski starts a bit later than in previous years?
“The path to the group stage will be harder, that’s clear to everyone, but no one has the right to forbid us from believing that we can succeed again. Once, our goal in Europe was just to participate, and that satisfied us, but now we’re at a level where that’s no longer enough. Now we have to achieve something.”
Domestic scene?
“Fighting for the double crown. That’s Zrinjski’s goal every season.”
Squad?
“We’re already working on it, of course, but we ask for a bit of patience. Tomislav Kiš has already extended his contract, we’ve signed an extension with Josip Ćorluka with a friendly agreement that he can leave if he gets a really good offer from abroad, and Tarik Ramić has also signed a new contract. There will be more extensions, and as in every transfer window, some players will leave us. We want to be ready for the new season, and we surely will be,” concluded Lasić.
