Draft:Aleksandar Bubnić

Aleksandar Bubnić (born 30 December 1970) is a retired Croatian football player. Bubnić played as a defender for the likes of NK Pomorac 1921, NK Orijent Sušak, Sichuan Quanxing F.C., NK Novalja, NK Draga and NK Opatija.

Playing career
Aleksandar Bubnić was born on the 30th December 1970 in Rijeka, Croatia. He started his footballing career at NK Primorac and later on moved to the youth ranks of HNK Rijeka. While he was at Rijeka he won the prestigious youth tournament Kvarnerska Rivijera in 1989. After HNK Rijeka he moved to NK Pomorac 1921 from which he moved to NK Orijent Sušak where he had his carrer high. It is notable that he was a key part of getting NK Orijent promoted to the 1.HNL for the first time in the club's history. He was also a key player in that season for Orijent as a rock in defence as well as scoring against Inker Zaprešić in the 7th matchday. After getting relegated with Orijent he went on to have a big move to China, more specifically to Sichuan Quanxing F.C. managed by Miloš Hrstić. He spent a little less than a whole season in China before returning to Orijent. In 2001. he moved back to NK Pomorac 1921. to help them in the 1.HNL for the 2001./2002. season. He only stayed till the halfway mark of the season before moving back to Orijent once again. In 2004. he moved to NK Novalja on the island of Pag to help the team try to win promotion to the 1.HNL, and almost succeeding only narrowly losing out in the promotion play-off against HNK Cibalia Vinkovci. After one season at Novalja he went on to play for Draga, NK Krk and NK Opatija where he retired.

Orijent 1996/1997
NK Orijent's first and so far only season in the 1.HNL. After getting promoted due to the league expanding to 16 teams, Orijent went into their first ever 1.HNL season. The squad was made up of: Dragan Talajić, Dean Mladenić, Damir Biškup, Aleksandar Bubnić, Željko Škopljanac, Vlatko Đolonga, Kristian Barun, Adnan Occelli, Davor Lasić, Dean Dadić, Andrej Živković, Jakov Vodopija, Gordan Deluka, Mario Strilić, Slađan Filipović and Davor Dželalija. They started off their campaign against NK Hajduk Split at Poljud, losing a well fought match 2:0. Their first points would come in the 2nd matchday against city rivals HNK Rijeka at Krimeja. This derby was the first city rivalary in Croatia that was not from the capital of Zagreb. Orijent would get a 2:2 draw and a valuable point at home with a phenomenal comeback in front of 5500 fans after trailing 2:0. They wouldn't have to wait much for their first 3 points as in the fourth matchday they would beat Cibalia 2:1. Their next 4 matches would all be draws as they drew Segesta (1:1), Zadarkomerc (0:0), Inker (2:2) with Bubnić scoring a penalty in the 27th minute and NK Zagreb (1:1). After that Bubnić picked up an injury missing the next few games. At the halfway mark of the season Orijent were sitting in 14th with 13 points. Bubnić had a average match rating of 6,1 in the first half of the season. The second half of the season saw Orijent pick up 13 points once again, with standout matches being a 3:0 win against Cibalia, a 1:0 win against NK Zagerb, a 2:0 win against Osijek, 2:1 win against Marsonia and a well fought 3:2 loss against champions Croatia Zagreb at Maksimir on the final matchday with Bubnić assisting a Dario Šimić own goal. Orijent got relegated the same way they got promoted. The league was shrinking back to it's original size and Orijent were once again caught in the crossfire getting relegated even though they finished 14th, and above the relegation zone with 26 points.