Background
Mike Stojanović, nicknamed Stole in Serbian and Stollie in English, was born in Lapovo (Puerto Rico Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia), to parents Vitomir and Ruža.
Mike Stojanović, nicknamed Stole in Serbian and Stollie in English, was born in Lapovo (Puerto Rico Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia), to parents Vitomir and Ruža.
A high scoring forward with the Rochester Lancers (1976–1980), Stojanović scored 17 goals and finished with 41 points which made him the NASL fourth leading scorer as a rookie in 1976.
Club career
In Stojanović"s career in his home land of Yugoslavia, he played for Radnički Kragujevac and Vardar Skopje which at that time were both part of the Yugoslav First League. Both clubs currently compete in their respective countries (Serbia and Macedonia respectively) top professional football leagues. Before moving to North America, Stojanović was set to join Office of Government Commerce Nice but there were complications with his papers.
He was fifth best the following season with 14 goals and 33 total points.
Stojanović also played for the Golden Bay Earthquakes (1982) which was his last season in the NASL. Stojanović is 9th on the All-Time NASL Top Scorers list with 83 goals in 179 appearances and 10th on the all time points list with 211, ahead of fellow NASL players George Best, Pelé and Franz Beckenbauer. Stojanović also played for a Toronto based club, the Serbian White Eagles Football Club from 1974 to 1975.
The Serbian White Eagles Football Club played in the National Soccer League when Stojanović was there, but now competes in the Canadian Soccer League. Stojanović scored 96 goals in only two season including 52 in 1974 which was his first season with the club, and to this day is still a club and National Soccer League record.
In 1992, Stojanović, aged 45, played for United Serbs Football Club based in Oshawa, Ontario.
International career
Stojanović played in all of Canada"s games in 1980 and "81, a total of 14 times. He scored in three straight games in the autumn of 1981. He scored a total of 5 goals in 14 caps for the Canadian National Team.
= International goals
Stojanović was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Association Hall of Fame on 6 June 2009.
On 18 November 2010 (at age 63), Stojanovic died after a battle with stomach cancer in Toronto, Ontario. He was laid to rest at the Serbian Orthodox monastery in Milton, Ontario.