Australian soccer player and manager
Peter Cklamovski (born 16 October 1978) is an Australian football manager. He is currently head coach of J1 League club with FC Tokyo, an Australian born with Macedonian heritage who has a coaching history working alongside Ange Postecoglou for over a 15-year period.[2]
During this time he has worked at FIFA World Cups both at Senior and Youth level. He was a member of the coaching staff that won the 2015 Asian Cup for Australia, which was the first major trophy in Australia’s history. As Asian Champions, Australia then competed at the FIFA Confederations Cup, Russia in 2017. Shortly after the Australian National Team qualified for the 2018 World Cup. In August 2017, Peter was appointed Manager of the Australian U17 National Youth Team qualifying through the AFC qualification stage.
Peter then embarked on a two-year stint with Yokohama F Marinos in 2018 and 2019. In 2019, Yokohama F Marinos became J1 League champions, which was the first time the club had won the league since 2004.
Peter then ventured into a managerial role in 2020 with J1 club, Shimizu S-Pulse. Most recently, Peter was Manager of J2 League club Montedio Yamagata[3] where he saved the club from relegation trouble and was close to promotion in 2022.
Peter contract was terminated in Round 7 of 2023[4] with the same amount of points as the previous season in Round 7 and only 5 points outside of the top 6.
Peter is recognised as the most successful manager in the club's history with the highest win percentage and highest points per game in the club's history. The club have recognized Peter for his legacy of changing the football from traditionally a defensive orientated approach to an attacking minded style of play with a mentality to win.
Early life, playing career and education
Peter played in Australia in the New South Wales Super League with Bonnyrigg White Eagles and Rockdale Ilinden. As a youth player Peter was a Rockdale Ilinden junior and played in NSL youth League competitions with Sydney United and NSW ITC. Peter was set for selection for the U17 National Youth team until a serious car accident caused injuries that rendered this impossible.
Peter’s first coaching job was at The Kings School Grammar, Sydney where he coached U14s and U16s in 2002 & 2003. He also worked at Westfields Sports High School as Head of Performance from 2002 - 2008. During this time, Peter completed Post Graduate degrees in Applied Science, Sports Coaching and Graduate Certificate in Exercise Science. During Peter’s coaching career he completed and Peter also holds highest coaching accreditation, Pro license completed in 2016.
Coaching career
Australia
The 2014 FIFA World Cup, Brazil saw Australia’s group draw with three teams in the top 10 of FIFA rankings. The Socceroos were set to play off against Chile, Holland and Spain. This tournament demonstrated a new way of playing for the Australian national team.
New hope and excitement was created in the way the team played, showcasing a new generation of stars. Following the World Cup, training camps in September, October and November were utilized to develop the team for Asian Cup success. The National team went 10 months without a win and played all games away from Australia.
The 2015 AFC Asian Cup held in Australia resulted in the first major trophy for the Australian Men's National team, winning the Final against South Korea with an extra time goal scored by James Troisi.
As Asian Champions, Australia then competed at the FIFA Confederations Cup, Russia in 2017. The following year, qualification was achieved for the FIFA 2018 World Cup, Russia. It was a grueling qualification campaign finally qualifying beating Honduras 3-0 in Sydney. Ange Postecoglou announced his resignation of Socceroos on 22nd November 2017.
Australia U17
Whilst working with Socceroos, on 5 August 2017 Peter was appointed by the FFA becoming Australian U17 Manager (the Joeys). Peter created a new process across recruitment and talent ID domestically by introducing a strategy called Elite Games. This approach was designed to bring a selected group of players in every state or selected region to play in higher level games mid week. All games were launched online for National Team staff to review and Peter then selected and assembled a squad for the AFC qualification stage. The Joeys qualified through the first stage of AFC qualification undefeated in Mongolia.
Yokohama F Marinos
Peter was then approached by Ange Postecoglou to join Yokohama F Marinos for the 2018 season. YFM is a J1 club 20% owned by City Football Group. In 2018 Yokohama F Marinos became runners up of the Levain Cup losing to Shonan Bellmare 1-0 at Saitama Stadium. The club were in danger of relegation in the J-League season being saved only by goal difference.
In 2019, Yokohama F Marinos won the J1 League in 2019 for the first time in 15 years.
Shimizu S-Pulse
Following success at Yokohama F Marinos winning the J1 competition, Shimizu S-Pulse appointed Peter to rebuild the club from a long history of mediocre seasons over the previous decade. S-Pulse had been recognized for a defensive orientated approach and Peter was brought in to re-build the team and implement an attacking style of play to excite the supporter base.
One week after signing his contract, a new GM was appointed and the club lost attacking goal scoring weapon, Brazilian striker Douglas to Vissel Kobe, who was arguably the best striker in the league.
Following Round 1 covid stopped the season for 4 months and during this time the J-League decided to have no relegation for the 2020 season. The consequence of this was an extremely congested schedule of 33 league games across a 20-week period. S-Pulse were developing a brand of football during the tight schedule but issues with player availability and squad depth impacted on tough period of results. S-Pulse ranked top 5 for play time minutes for players at U21 and U24 level. Peter gave a debut to now Japanese international Yuito Suzuki. He was fired in November 2020.
Montedio Yamagata
Peter is recognized as the greatest manager in the club's history after saving the club from relegation troubles in 2021 and climbing the league table finishing equal 6th on goal difference. To then build a team so close to gaining promotion in 2022.
Peter was the first foreign manager in the club's history. He has the highest win percentage of any manager in the club's history. He also holds the highest points per game rate of any manager in the club's history. Club records were also achieved by his 2021 team with a 12-game unbeaten streak and 7 wins in a row, which is the most consecutive wins in the club's history.
2022 Promotion Play off Series
- Play off game 1: Fagiano Okayama vs Montedio Yamagata (0-3 win)
- Play off game 2: Roasso Kumamoto vs Montedio Yamagata (2-2 draw), which meant Montedio Yamagata were eliminated by a draw.
At the end of 2022 season the club recorded their highest sales and sponsorship made in the club's history. Another club record also achieved in off season was recording the most profit made in transfer sales in clubs history. This resulted in losing many key players from the historic 2022 starting XI team. This changed the dynamics of 2023 and building a new team was required again.
In 2023 his contract was terminated in Round 7 with 6 points on the league table, 5 points away from 6th position.
Honours
Australia (Assistant coach)
Australia U17 (Manager)
- 2017 AFC Qualification (U17)
Yokohama F. Marinos (Assistant Manager)
Montedio Yamagata (Manager)
- J2 manager of the Month: July 2021
Records With Montedio Yamagata
- Longest undefeated streak in club's history
- Longest win streak in club's history
- Highest win percentage of any Manager in club's history
- Highest points per game of any Manager in club's history
