Marko Elsner


Marko Elsner was a Slovenian footballer who played as a defender.

Club career

Born in Ljubljana, capital of SR Slovenia, back then within Yugoslavia, Elsner played in Austrian FC Wacker Innsbruck youth team before returning to Ljubljana where he played with ND Slovan before joining Olimpija Ljubljana in 1977. In 1983, he was brought by Red Star Belgrade and played with them four seasons. In this period he became national team player, he was part of the Yugoslav team at the 1984 Olympics, and has won one Yugoslav championship and one Cup during his spell with Red Star.
In 1987, he left Belgrade and moved abroad by signing with French Ligue 1 side OGC Nice. He played with Nice until 1993, except one season, 1990–91, which he played in Austrian Bundesliga side Admira Wacker.

International career

He played 14 games for the Yugoslav national team between 1984 and 1988. After the independence of Slovenia, he made his debut for the Slovenian national team against Cyprus on 18 November 1992. His last match was against Estonia, a friendly on 7 April 1993, and the two games were his two appearances for Slovenia.

Honours

Red Star Belgrade

Elsner's father, Branko Elsner, was a football coach. His sons Luka and Rok are also former professional footballers.
Elsner died on 18 May 2020 at the age of 60 due to illness.