Despite this, there is consensus among critics that he displayed an extraordinary ability throughout his career in spite of his chronic injuries, he is renowned to be the greatest in the Japanese football.

[11] A midfielder and occasional forward, Stojković began his professional playing career with Yugoslav First League and hometown side Radnički Niš.

His full squad debut took place at age seventeen under head coach Dušan Nenković during the 1981-82 season in the form of a substitute league appearance on 4 April 1982 away at FK Vardar.

It was the young player's only full squad appearance of the season and it took place just a few days before Radnički's famous UEFA Cup semifinal tie versus Hamburger SV, the Niš club's greatest success.

In the summer of 1990, twenty-five-year-old Stojković made the much publicized move to Olympique de Marseille for a transfer fee of £5.5 million, joining the star-laden squad bankrolled by French businessman/politician Bernard Tapie.

The expectations were sky-high with a team featuring world-class players such as Jean-Pierre Papin, Éric Cantona, Chris Waddle, Carlos Mozer, Manuel Amoros, Didier Deschamps, Jean Tigana, Abédi Pelé, as well as newly arrived defender Basile Boli and new head coach Franz Beckenbauer fresh off winning the 1990 FIFA World Cup with West Germany.

In the spring of 1994, Stojković signed with Japanese J-League team Nagoya Grampus Eight, joining a squad managed by Gordon Milne and featuring Gary Lineker.

Since then, he has gained huge popularity among Japanese supporters, most notably among Nagoya Grampus fans, due to his skillful display, which followed him even after his retirement.

Stojković made his under-21 debut on 11 October 1983 versus Norway in Pančevo as part of qualifying for the 1984 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

After being part of team in 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000, his final international match was against the country he spent much of his playing career in, Japan, on 4 July 2001.

A quick, opportunistic, and unpredictable player, he was known in particular for his vision, creativity, and passing ability, as well as his excellent technique and dribbling skills, which enabled him to beat several opponents, and earned him the nickname "the Maradona of the Balkans.

Additionally, he also opened the club's doors to various prominent Serbian companies like Delta Holding and Telekom Srbija thus creating a pool of sponsors.

On the other hand, 20-year-old striker Milan Purović and 22-year-old keeper Vladimir Stojković were brought to the club from Budućnost Podgorica and FK Zemun, respectively.

Additionally, by bringing in Ghanaian midfielder Haminu Dramani, president Stojković indicated he was also interested in affordable foreign imports, which would soon become a staple of his transfer policy.

All three new arrivals gelled well with the existing squad (featuring the likes of Nikola Žigić, Boško Janković, Milan Biševac, Dušan Basta, Nenad Kovačević, Aleksandar Luković, and Milan Dudić), as Red Star jumped out to a lead in the league, including a 2–0 home win against the cross-town rivals FK Partizan in mid-October 2005.

Simultaneously, the club also played some inspired football in the UEFA Cup—including a notable 3–1 home win versus A.S. Roma—before being prevented from progressing to the eight-finals stage during the group's last matchday away at RC Strasbourg via a goal by Kevin Gameiro deep into injury time.

Winning the double combined with some fine European outings during the previous season raised the fans' expectations considerably as they now wanted the existing Red Star squad kept intact (especially Nikola Žigić who had reportedly already become a transfer target for some high-profile English Premiership clubs) in order to make a serious run at qualifying for the UEFA Champions League group stage.

Trying to deal with the angry fan reaction, he attempted to explain the move as being necessitated by the club's accumulated debts that had reportedly grown to alarming levels following "years of mismanagement and unpaid commitments of some of the key sponsor pool members".

The transfers out of the club continued with Milan Dudić sold to Red Bull Salzburg, Haminu Dramani to Gençlerbirliği, and Aleksandar Luković to Udinese, however, their departures caused comparatively less angry fan reaction.

Preparing for Champions League qualifying, players brought in by president Stojković were twenty-four-year-old Bulgarian international attacking midfielder Blagoy Georgiev, Brazilian forward Ely Thadeu, and Senegalese defender Ibrahima Gueye.

Red Star easily eliminated Irish champions Cork City at the start of Champions League qualifying, however, getting drawn against Carlo Ancelotti's powerhouse AC Milan featuring Kaká, Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf, Cafu, Gennaro Gattuso, Pippo Inzaghi, Alessandro Costacurta, etc.

Finally, on the last day of the summer 2006 transfer window Stojković brought in the club's most prominent foreign acquisition to date and since, thirty-three-year-old Aílton who had been the Bundesliga top scorer only two years prior.

[26] He added that in total the club had spent almost €50 million during Stojković's two-year presidency; funds obtained either through bank loans or from player sales.

[26] Responding to Kozić's accusations, Nagoya head coach Stojković "rejected them categorically", claiming his physical absence from Serbia is being used as "cover-up for Red Star's bad business results".

[35] The antagonism between Delije and Stojković reignited again in late May 2022, more than 10 years after the initial 2012 cafe incident, when Stojković—now Serbia national team head coach—came to the Marakana to watch the Serbian Cup final.

The rest of his time in charge was characterised by attacking football, with striker Eran Zahavi twice winning the CSL golden boot award.

[49][50] Under his leadership Serbia qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup after 2-1 win over Portugal in the last match with Aleksandar Mitrović scoring in the 90th minute.