| Nicola Kuleski | |
| Fullname: | Nicola Kuleski |
| Birth Date: | 1996 5, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Sydney, Australia |
| Height: | 183 cm |
| Position: | Midfielder |
| Currentclub: | Blacktown Spartans |
| Clubnumber: | 11 |
| Youthclubs1: | Marconi Stallions |
| Youthclubs2: | Blacktown City |
| Youthclubs3: | Sydney FC |
| Years1: | 2015 |
| Caps1: | 14 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Clubs1: | Manly United |
| Years2: | 2015–2017 |
| Caps2: | 47 |
| Goals2: | 5 |
| Clubs2: | Sydney FC NPL |
| Years3: | 2017 |
| Caps3: | 1 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Clubs3: | Sydney FC |
| Years4: | 2018–2021 |
| Caps4: | 71 |
| Goals4: | 5 |
| Clubs4: | Sydney Olympic |
| Years5: | 2022–2023 |
| Caps5: | 37 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Clubs5: | Rockdale Ilinden |
| Years6: | 2024- |
| Caps6: | 2 |
| Goals6: | 0 |
| Clubs6: | Blacktown Spartans |
| Nationalyears1: | 2015–2017 |
| Nationalteam1: | Macedonia U21 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 5 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 13 May 2024 |
| Nationalteam-Update: | 17 November 2017 |
Nicola Kuleski (Macedonian: Никола Кулески; born 7 May 1996) is a professional footballer who currently plays as central midfielder for Blacktown Spartans in NSW League One. Born in Australia, he has represented North Macedonia at youth level.
Being born to a father who was a professional football player himself, Nicola started playing football at a very young age (when he was only 4 years old), and he first started training by the local club Marconi Stallions at the age of 7.[1]
He primarily plays as a central midfielder, but he is also comfortable playing attacking or defensive midfield. His great ball skills and vision of the game make him a valuable asset to any team.
In 2015 Kuleski joined Sydney FC where he started off by playing for the youth team, where he also served as co captain in the 2016–17 season. On 8 April 2017 he also made his debut for the first team of Sydney, arriving in the 80th minute as a substitute for Aaron Calver, in the A-League encounter against Wellington Phoenix which finished 1–1.[2]
On 11 October 2017, it was announced that Kuleski would be leaving Sydney FC to join NPL1 team Sydney Olympic for their upcoming 2018 season.[3]
Being born in Australia to Macedonian parents, Nicola was originally eligible to play for both - the Australian and Macedonian national team on international level, and he made his decision at the time to represent Macedonia. He started playing for Macedonia's U17 and U19 national teams. He is still eligible to represent both Australia and Macedonia at senior level.
On 5 September 2015, Kuleski made his debut for Macedonia U21 in a friendly against Australia U23 which Macedonia won with 3:1. Nicola played the game as a starter and played a solid game against his home country, he got substituted in the 81' minute.[4]
Nicola was born to a Macedonian father - Blagoja Kuleski who was A professional football player, having played the former Yugloslav First League and for several Australian NSL football clubs throughout his 20-year football career.
Aside from playing football, Nicola is also a part-time student at the Macquarie University doing a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology.