Alban Bushi

Alban Bushi (born 20 August 1973) is an Albanian professional football coach and former player who is the current manager of Albania under-21 and under-20 team. He is nicknamed "Loku".[1]

Alban Bushi
Personal information
Date of birth (1973-08-20) 20 August 1973
Place of birth Tirana, Albania
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Albania U21 (manager)
Youth career
Tirana
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1997 Tirana 27 (24)
1994 → Szegedi (loan) 20 (7)
1994–1995 → Remscheid (loan) ? (?)
1996 → Flamurtari Vlorë (loan) 16 (7)
1997 Apollon Smyrni 13 (3)
1998–1999 Litex Lovech 37 (14)
1999–2000 Adanaspor 29 (10)
2000–2005 İstanbulspor 96 (26)
2001–2003 → Trabzonspor (loan) 12 (0)
2004–2005 Partizani Tirana 14 (5)
2005–2010 Levadiakos 49 (9)
2006–2008 → Apollon Kalamarias (loan) 41 (13)
2010 Tirana 5 (0)
Total 359 (118)
National team
1992–1993 Albania U21 2 (0)
1995–2007 Albania 67 (14)
Teams managed
2015 Albania U16
2017– Albania U21
2017– Albania U20
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

During his playing career he played as a striker. Bushi during his 19-year career has played with 12 different clubs in 6 different countries.[2] He started his career with capital club Tirana where he had an impressive goal-per-game ratio; he also had three short spells on loan with Szegedi in Hungary, Remscheid in Germany and Flamurtari Vlorë in Albania. He then went off to Greece to play for a short time at Apollon Smyrni. Following that he enjoyed a decent time at Litex Lovech before spending the next four years in Turkey by representing Adanaspor, İstanbulspor, and Trabzonspor.

Bushi returned to Albania in summer of 2004 to play for one season with Partizani Tirana before returning to Greece, where he would spend the next five years at Levadiakos. At the end of his career, Bushi returned to Albania once again to represent Tirana, stating that it was a "moral debt" to end his career where it started. He retired from football in November 2010.

Bushi also had a successful international career, being part of Albania national team for 12 years. With 14 goals, he was Albania's all-time leading top scorer from 2004 until Erjon Bogdani overtook him in 2011.[3] He retired from international football in 2007.

Club career

Bushi has enjoyed a long playing career which has seen him play for 12 different clubs in 6 different countries.[2] He started off his career in Albania with Tirana.[2] He made his professional debut for Tirana in the 1992–93 season and after spending two seasons with the club, he then moved to Hungary with Szegedi. Soon after he was transferred in Germany to FC Remscheid.[2] After 2 years abroad, he made a return to Albania, playing for 2 years between Tirana and Flamurtari Vlorë. He then moved to Greece signing for Apollon Smyrni and right after a half season, he headed off to Bulgaria to join Litex Lovech, where he became the first foreigner to captain the team. He spent two seasons in the Bulgarian A Football Group, winning them both.[2]

After his spell in Bulgaria he moved to Turkey to play initially for Adanaspor in the 1999–2000 1.Lig. Then he signed for fellow 1.Lig side Istanbulspor. In his first season 2000–01 he scored 12 goals in 29 matches as İstanbulspor finished 12th. In the next season 2001–02 he played 16 games in where he scored 4 goals in the first-half before moving on loan to another Süper Lig team Trabzonspor with whom he played only 5 matches but unable to score. He was part of Trabzonspor for another half season in 2002–03 playing 7 matches failing once again to score, before returning to Istanbulspor for the second-half in which he played 14 matches managing 4 goals to contribute in team's 9th place. In the 2003–04 season Bushi played 21 games and scored 5 goals to help Istanbulspor avoid relegation with 1 point above 16th place Bursaspor. He was part of the team in the first half of the 2004–05 Süper Lig playing 16 matches scoring once before returning to Albania after many years playing abroad and signed with Partizani Tirana for the second half of the 2004–05 Albanian Superliga; he played 14 games and netted 5 goals. He then went off to Greece again to join AE Levadiakos. In his first season 2005–06 Alpha Ethniki he played 22 matches often as a starter in which he scored 8 goals as Levadiakos however was relegated to Beta Ethniki. After that he moved on loan at Apollon Kalamarias playing in two seasons in the Superleague Greece, 2006–07 and 2007–08. Then, he went back to AE Levadiakos.[2]

Bushi was returned after 13 years to Tirana, the club where his career began, signing on 31 August 2010. He was presented to the media alongside fellow veteran Devi Muka.[4][5] Although having offers from foreign teams, he felt that he had the moral debt to Tirana to end his career where he started it,[6] a decision that earnt Bushi the Swan d'Or from the Albanian Football Association in recognition of his service to Albanian football.[7]

His first game in Albania after over 13 years came on 3 October 2010 in an away game against Skënderbeu Korçë, where he came on as a substitute for Pero Pejic in the 65th minute in a game which ended in a 2–1 loss for Bushi's side.[8][9] He played his first match as a starter on 31 October against Teuta Durrës, contributing in a 2–0 home win.[10] He finished his final spell with Tirana by playing five league matches, three of them as a starter, failing to score.

On 23 November, he officially announced his retirement from football at the age of 37.[1]

International career

Youth

Bushi was part of the Albania national under-21 football team during the 1994 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification playing two games both against Germany U21 on 17 November & 22 December 1992.[11]

Senior

Bushi is a former Albania's all-time top scorer with 14 goals until Erjon Bogdani with his goal against France in 2011 became the new record holder with 15. He made 67 appearances Albania, the tenth highest in the team's history.[12]

Bushi scored on his international debut for Albania on 16 August 1995 against Malta at Ta' Qali National Stadium, netting the temporary equalizer in the 72nd minute in an eventual 1–2 loss.[13] He made his competitive debut on 15 November in the match against Wales for the qualifiers of the UEFA Euro 1996, entering as a second-half substitute in a 1–1 home draw.[14]

Managerial career

On 17 January 2012 Bushi was named as the Albania national football team manager, a role which the Albanian Football Association applied for the first time following suggestion of new arrived coach at Albania Gianni De Biasi.[15]

Bushi was named Albania under-16 coach for their participation in the UEFA Development Tournament 2015 in May 2015.[16] He won the tournament by winning all three matches.[17]

Following naming of Paolo Tramezzani as a National teams director, on 9 December 2016 Bushi was named as the Albania under-21 manager.[18] He won his first game with Albania U21 on 27 March 2017 against Moldova 2–0.[19] In collaboration with the Albanian Football Association, reborned the under-20 side by assigning a friendly versus Georgia on 14 November 2017 at David Petriashvili Stadium, Tbilisi, with Bushi as the coach at the same time along the under-21 national team.[20]

Career statistics

Club
Club statistics[21][22]
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Tirana 1992–93 Albanian Superliga 12800—128
1993–94 8600—86
1995–96 2300—23
1996–97 5700—57
Total 272400—2724
Szegedi (loan) 1993–94 Nemzeti Bajnokság II 20700—207
Remscheid (loan) 1994–95 Oberliga Nordrhein ??00—??
Flamurtari Vlorë (loan) 1995–96 Albanian Superliga 10500—105
1996–97 6200—62
Total 16700—167
Apollon Smyrni 1997–98 Alpha Ethniki 13300—133
Litex Lovech 1997–98 Bulgarian A Football Group 15400—154
1998–99 2210002[lower-alpha 1]02410
Total 371400203914
Adanaspor 1999–2000 Süper Lig 291000—2910
İstanbulspor 2000–01 Süper Lig 291200—2912
2001–02 16400—2410
2002–03 14400—144
2003–04 21500—215
2004–05 16100—161
Total 962600—9626
Trabzonspor (loan) 2001–01 Süper Lig 5000—50
2002–03 7000—70
Total 12000—120
Partizani Tirana 2004–05 Albanian Superliga 14500—145
Levadiakos 2005–06 Superleague Greece 22800—228
2008–09 19110—201
2009–10 8000—80
Total 49910—509
Apollon Kalamarias (loan) 2006–07 Superleague Greece 24911—2510
2007–08 17410—184
Total 411321—4314
Tirana 2010–11 Albanian Superliga 5000—50
Career total 3591183120364119
  1. All appearance(s) in UEFA Cup

International
As of 17 November 2007 [21][23]
Albania national team
YearAppsGoals
199521
199610
199760
199883
199972
200051
200171
200220
200393
200472
200541
200610
200780
Total6714

Managerial
As of 14 November 2017
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
PWDLWin %
Albania U16 27 April 2015 5 May 2015 3 3 0 0 100.0
Albania U21[24] 9 December 2016 Present 8 2 4 2 025.0
Albania U20 24 October 2017 Present 1 0 0 1 000.0
Total 12 5 4 3 041.7

Honours

Player
Tirana[21]
  • Albanian Superliga: 1996–97
Litex Lovech[21]

Manager
Albania U16[17]
  • UEFA Development Tournament: 2015

References
  1. "Profil/ Alban Bushi lë futbollin, kush është "Loku" i 14 golave kuqezi" [Profile/ Alban Bushi leaves football, who is "Loku" of 14 red&black goals] (in Albanian). Ikub.al. 23 November 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  2. "Gola dhe spektakël, shiko si shkëlqente Alban Bushi dikur/VIDEO" (in Albanian). Syri.net. 17 March 2016. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  3. "Bogdani parakalon Alban Bushin" [Bogdani overtakes Alban Bushi] (in Albanian). Sport.albeu.com. 7 September 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  4. "Tirana, firmosin Bushi dhe Muka" (in Albanian). Arkiva Lajmeve. 1 September 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  5. "Zyrtare Bushi te Tirana rikthehet edhe Devi Muka" (in Albanian). Arkiva Lajmeve. 1 September 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  6. "Zyrtare: Alban Bushi te Tirana" (in Albanian). Arkiva Lajmeve. 1 September 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  7. Erion Saliu (1 September 2010). "Muka dhe Bushi, Tiranës i kthehen dy "ikona"" (in Albanian). Sporti Shqiptar. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  8. Leonard Trebicka (4 October 2010). "Soza nuk e beson as vetë golin, një Korçë e tërë feston fitoren me Tiranën" (in Albanian). Sporti Shqiptar. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  9. Oltian Ruçi (3 October 2010). "Skënderbeu Korçë 2–1 KF Tirana". Football Database. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  10. "Tirana vs. Teuta Durrës 2 – 0". Soccerway. 31 October 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  11. Alban Bushi Football Player Statistics 11v11
  12. "Appearances for Albania National Team". RSSSF.com. 19 March 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  13. "Football MATCH: 16.08.1995 Malta v Albania". EU-Football.info. 16 August 1995. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  14. "Football MATCH: 15.11.1995 Albania v Wales". EU-Football.info. 15 November 1995. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  15. "Kombetarja/ Alban Bushi menaxheri i kombetares Shqipetare" [National team/ Alban Bushi the manager of Albania national team] (in Albanian). AlbaniaSoccer. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  16. ""UEFA Development 2015" ne qytetin e Durresit" ["UEFA Development 2015" in the city of Durres] (in Albanian). FSHF.org. 27 April 2015. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  17. "Kombetarja U-16 fiton "UEFA Development 2015"" [The national U-16 team wins the "UEFA Development 2015"] (in Albanian). FSHF.org. 5 May 2015. Archived from the original on 27 September 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  18. Prezantohen trajnerët e ekipeve kombëtare U-21 dhe U-19 Archived 2 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine FSHF.org
  19. Bindin Shpresat, mposhtin 2-0 Moldavinë Archived 1 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine SuperSport Albania
  20. "NDESHJET E NËNTORIT PËR U-21 DHE U-20" (in Albanian). FSHF. 24 October 2017. Archived from the original on 25 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017. Sektori i Ekipeve kombëtare në FSHF ka tashmë zyrtare edhe daten për ndeshjen miqësore të skuadrës kombëtare U-20, që përfshin lojtarë të datëlindjes U-20, përkatësisht me Gjeorgjinë.
  21. "Alban Bushi". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  22. Alban Bushi at Soccerway. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  23. Alban Bushi - national football team player EU-football.info
  24. "Albania - Albania Under 21 - Results and fixtures". int.soccerway.com. Soccerway. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
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