Luka Elsner

Luka Elsner

Elsner with Domžale in 2012
Personal information
Date of birth	(1982-08-02) 2 August 1982 (age 43)
Place of birth	Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, Yugoslavia [1]
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) [1]
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Cracovia (manager)
Youth career
	Cannes
	Nice
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
0000–2002	Nice B
2002–2004	US Cagnes
2004–2009	Domžale	181	(4)
2010	Austria Kärnten	15	(0)
2010	Domžale	4	(0)
2010	Al-Muharraq
2011–2012	Domžale	42	(1)
International career
2002	Slovenia U21	1	(0)
2008	Slovenia	1	(0)
Managerial career
2013–2016	Domžale
2016–2017	Olimpija Ljubljana
2017–2018	Pafos
2018–2019	Union Saint-Gilloise
2019–2020	Amiens
2021	Kortrijk
2021–2022	Standard Liège
2022–2024	Le Havre
2024–2025	Reims
2025–	Cracovia
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Luka Elsner (born 2 August 1982) is a Slovenian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Ekstraklasa club Cracovia.

Club career

Growing up in France, Elsner began his career at Nice, where he was part of the youth set-up and the reserve team. He later played for US Cagnes. In 2004, Elsner joined Domžale. He holds the club record for competitive appearances. ^{[2] [3]} Elsner also later played for Austria Kärnten and Al-Muharraq, before finishing his career at Domžale in 2012. ^[4]

International career

Elsner made his debut for Slovenia on 26 May 2008 in a friendly match against Sweden, replacing Bojan Jokić late in the second half. ^{[5] [6]}

Personal life

Elsner was born into a footballing family. His grandfather, Branko, and his father, Marko, were both footballers. His younger brother, Rok, is also a professional footballer. ^{[7] [8]}

Managerial statistics

As of 15 August 2025^{[ citation needed ]}

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Domžale	21 August 2013	2 September 2016	131	57	36	38	043.51
Olimpija Ljubljana	2 September 2016	9 March 2017	19	13	3	3	068.42
Pafos	30 June 2017	21 January 2018	23	6	6	11	026.09
Union Saint-Gilloise	23 May 2018	19 June 2019	44	22	10	12	050.00
Amiens	19 June 2019	28 September 2020	37	7	14	16	018.92
Kortrijk [a]	31 January 2021	6 October 2021	21	8	4	9	038.10
Standard Liège	7 October 2021	20 April 2022	27	7	8	12	025.93
Le Havre	20 June 2022	25 June 2024	76	29	27	20	038.16
Reims	25 June 2024	3 February 2025	22	6	8	8	027.27
Cracovia	1 July 2025	Present	5	3	1	1	060.00
Total			405	158	117	130	039.01

Honours

Player

Domžale

• Slovenian PrvaLiga: 2006–07, 2007–08
• Slovenian Cup: 2010–11
• Slovenian Super Cup: 2007, 2011

Al-Muharraq

• Bahraini Premier League: 2010–11

Manager

Le Havre

• Ligue 2: 2022–23 ^[11]

Individual

• Ligue 2 Manager of the Year: 2022–23 ^[12]

Notes

1. Though Elsner was officially appointed on 31 January 2021, he was quarantined due to the COVID-19 pandemic protocols and until the end of his quarantine the matches were managed by his assistant Bart Meert. ^{[9] [10]} For statistical purposes, the table includes all Kortrijk games since his official appointment.

References

1. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Luka Elsner". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
2. "Luka Elsner se je vpisal v zgodovino" (in Slovenian). Siol. 8 April 2009. Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2010.
3. "Statistika v 1. slovenski ligi" (in Slovenian). NK Domžale . Retrieved 18 August 2020.
4. T. O. (2 April 2012). "Luka Elsner končal kariero, Leon Horvat pa sezono" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija . Retrieved 2 April 2012.
5. "Slovenci so se dobro upirali Švedom" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 26 May 2008. Archived from the original on 8 March 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
6. "Luka Elsner, international football player". eu-football.info. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
7. "Družina Elsner: Nogomet imajo v genih". Govori.se (in Slovenian). 1 August 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
8. R. K. (18 May 2020). "Umrl velikan slovenskega nogometa Marko Elsner" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija . Retrieved 18 May 2020.
9. Soetaert, Eddy (1 February 2021). "KV Kortrijk zonder Luka Elsner naar Lommel maar wel op zoek naar winst" [KV Kortrijk without Luka Elsner to Lommel, but looking for profit]. Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). Bart Meert zal tot zolang de spelersgroep leiden. [Bart Meert will lead the group for as long. ]
10. Geukens, Marnik (2 February 2021). "KV Kortrijk bekert voort ondanks moeilijke avond op bezoek bij inefficiënt Lommel" [KV Kortrijk continues to cup despite a difficult evening visiting inefficient Lommel]. Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). De opvolger van Yves Vanderhaeghe verbleef nog in quarantaine, T2 Bart Meert stuurde een bijzonder offensieve ploeg het veld in. [The successor to Yves Vanderhaeghe was still in quarantine, T2 Bart Meert sent a particularly offensive team into the field.]
11. "Elsner ponosen na dogodivščino: Le Havre vrnil v francosko elito" (in Slovenian). RTV Slovenija. 3 June 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
12. "Le Havre: Luka Elsner nommé meilleur entraîneur de Ligue 2, Desmas meilleur gardien". ici, par France Bleu et France 3 (in French). 28 May 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2023.

External links

• Luka Elsner club profile at NZS (in Slovene)
• Luka Elsner national team profile at NZS (in Slovene)
• Luka Elsner at WorldFootball.net
• Luka Elsner at National-Football-Teams.com
• Luka Elsner at FBref.com
• Luka Elsner at BDFutbol
• Luka Elsner at kicker (in German)