Born in Croatia in 1947, Milan arrived in Tasmania in 1969 and made a significant contribution to the local game.
Milan Lakoseljac became the most prolific goal scorer in Tasmania since Walter Worsey in the sixties.
Milan won the Golden Boot award constantly in Southern Tasmania during the seventies, taking out the award in 1971, 1973, 1974, 1979 and 1981. This is a phenomenal record when one looks at the high standard of players around him in the seventies.
He was extremely quick and was nicknamed by his teammates “Monaro” after the Holden Monaro car, which in those days was one of the fastest cars on our roads.
He was part of the famous 1970 Croatia Glenorchy side that won the treble – the State Title, Statewide Cup and Southern League Title in that year.
Milan won the Best and Fairest Award in 1971 and again in 1973 while playing for Croatia Glenorchy. He retired from playing in 1981.
He coached junior football at the Glenorchy club for five years. Among his charges was his son Brendan Lakoseljac, who himself became a prolific goalscorer at the club. His grandson Bradley plays to this day with South Hobart.
He went onto coach senior players and in 1991 guided Croatia Glenorchy to a reserve premiership. The following year 1992, he coached the senior team from a distant fourth position in the finals series to a memorable State Championship win over Devonport City.
Sadly, Milan passed away in 1999 aged 52 after a lengthy illness. The Statewide Cup was renamed and relaunched in 2000 as the Milan Lakoseljac Memorial Trophy to honour his memory and continues to be awarded each year.