Gudelj was one of Hajduk’s finest players during the 1980s, as well as a Yugoslavia international and captain. At just 25 years of age and at the peak of his career, he was forced to retire from playing after contracting hepatitis B. Nevertheless, he went on to devote a large part of his life in football to working with young players.

Ivan Gudelj was born on 21 April 1960 in Imotski and grew up in Zmijavci. He began playing football for Mračaj Runović before joining Hajduk as a boy. He arrived at the Split club in 1975 on the recommendation of the legendary Andrija Anković, and it quickly became clear that Hajduk had acquired an exceptional player. Although he is most often remembered as a defensive midfielder or defender, Gudelj was far more than a traditional ball-winner. He was strong, quick and technically gifted, and equally important to Hajduk both in defence and attack.

Gudelj made 362 appearances and scored 93 goals for Hajduk. With the “Whites”, he won the Yugoslav league title in 1979 and lifted the cup twice. He was one of the key members of the generation that competed on equal terms with Europe’s biggest clubs in the early 1980s.

The 1983/84 season remains particularly memorable, when Hajduk reached the UEFA Cup semi-finals. In the first leg against Tottenham Hotspur at Poljud, Gudelj scored in a 2–1 victory. However, the English side won the return leg in London 1–0 and advanced under the away-goals rule in force at the time.

Gudelj played an equally important role at international level. In 1979, he captained the former Yugoslavia youth national team to the European title and was named the tournament’s best player. He made his senior international debut in 1980 and went on to earn 33 caps and score three goals.

He represented Yugoslavia at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain and UEFA Euro 1984 in France. His performances at the World Cup in Spain were so impressive that French newspaper L’Équipe named him in its team of the tournament. That same year, in a match against Bulgaria in Sofia, he became the youngest-ever captain of the Yugoslavia senior national team.

After his playing career came to an end, Gudelj graduated from the Faculty of Kinesiology and worked as a coach and instructor. He managed Primorac Stobreč, Zadar, Dubrovnik, Uskok and Austrian club Vorwärts Steyr, while he also briefly took charge of Hajduk’s first team during the 2005/06 season.

Within the Croatian Football Federation, he served as head coach of Croatia’s youth national teams and was a member of the coaching staff when the Croatian under-17 national team won the bronze medal at the 2001 European Championship. In recent years, he held the position of instructor at the Split Regional Football Centre.

A commemoration for Ivan Gudelj will be held on Friday at 11:00 at the cinema hall at Poljud Stadium.

The Croatian Football Federation extends its deepest condolences to his family following this irreplaceable loss.