Besian Idrizaj (12 October 1987 – 15 May 2010) was an Austrian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He also played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

and

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

both whilst on loan from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

for whom he did not make a League appearance. He also played for

LASK Linz Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as Linzer ASK () or simply LASK, is an Austrian professional football club, from the Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and plays in the Austrian Football ...

Wacker Innsbruck FC Wacker Innsbruck was an Austrian association football club from Innsbruck, Tyrol. History The ''Fußball-Club Wacker'' ("Valiant") ''Innsbruck'' was established in 1915 by Jakob Hanspeter, Benedikt Hosp, Josef Leitner, Josef Albrecht and ...

and

FC Eilenburg FC Eilenburg is a German association football club from the city of Eilenburg, Saxony. History The association was created 1 January 1994 as the successor side to ''Sportverein Mörtitz''. The new club joined the Landesliga Sachsen (V) on the ...

. He died of a heart attack on 15 May 2010 at the age of 22. He was of

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

n descent.

Career

Beginnings

Idrizaj started his career with Admira Linz and

. He was Austria's young player of the year in the 2004–05 season.

Liverpool

He signed for

from LASK in the summer of 2005 on a two-year contract, following a trial spell. At the time, he declared "I have always been a Liverpool fan and it is a dream come true to play for them. If you get a chance to go to Liverpool on trial then you have to take it. You cannot ignore a trial with the reigning Champions League winners. I would even have swum across the channel just to take part." His 2005–06 season was interrupted by injuries. However, Idrizaj was expected to be a regular member of Gary Ablett and Hughie McAuley's reserve squad for the 2006–07 season. He made his debut for the first team in a pre-season friendly against

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

on 15 July 2006, playing for the first 45 minutes upfront as a striker, alongside fellow debutant

Craig Bellamy Craig Douglas Bellamy (born 13 July 1979) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward and is current assistant manager at EFL Championship side Burnley. Born in Cardiff, Bellamy began his senior playing career with Norw ...

. After going on loan to

in 2007 he returned to Liverpool for the close season. On 7 July 2007, Idrizaj scored a hat trick in a friendly for the Reds against Wrexham in a period of 26 minutes. All three goals were set up by

Jermaine Pennant Jermaine Lloyd Pennant (born 15 January 1983) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder#Winger, winger. Pennant made over 350 league appearances for 15 clubs, and scored 25 league goals. Born ...

Luton Town

On 16 March 2007, Idrizaj went on loan to

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

team

, until the end of the 2006–07 season. He made his English league debut with them the day after, but was substituted after 49 minutes. He went on to play six more times for the club, scoring one goal against

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

Crystal Palace

On 30 August 2007 he signed for

on a 12-month loan deal. Idrizaj made his debut for Crystal Palace against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

on 1 September 2007 in the South London derby as a 72nd-minute replacement for

Clinton Morrison Clinton Hubert Morrison (''né'' Chambers; born 14 May 1979) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Since his retirement from playing he works as a pundit. Morrison began his career at local side Crystal Palace in 1998, f ...

. However, Idrizaj failed to establish himself at Crystal Palace and in January 2008 Manager

Neil Warnock Neil Warnock (born 1 December 1948) is an English former football manager and player. He is also a television and radio pundit. In a managerial career spanning five decades, Warnock has managed sixteen different clubs from the Premier League to ...

demanded that Liverpool take him back during the January transfer window as he would see no further action during his remaining time on loan with Crystal Palace. On 31 January 2008, Idrizaj of his own accord agreed to a loan move to

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

for the remainder of the 2007–08 season after cancelling the remainder of the loan deal at Palace. However, after interference from his agent Idrizaj backtracked on the deal and decided not to join The Latics.

Return to Austria

On 31 January 2008 he signed for Austrian club

on loan, from Liverpool, until the end of the 2007–08 football season, when his contract at Liverpool was terminated. While at Innsbruck, he collapsed on the pitch during a game against

Sturm Graz Sportklub Sturm Graz is an Austrian association football club, based in Graz, Styria, playing in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1909. Its colours are black and white. In its history, Sturm Graz has won the Austrian f ...

. However, after undergoing medical tests, he was cleared to resume his football career after the tests indicated the collapse was a result of a virus rather than a heart problem.

FC Eilenburg

Idrizaj played five games in the German

NOFV-Oberliga Süd The NOFV-Oberliga Süd is the fifth tier of the German football league system in the southern states of the former East Germany. It covers the German states of Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Saxony and southern Brandenburg. It is one of fourteen Oberl ...

for

and received a red card in his second game.

Swansea City

Swansea City took Idrizaj on trial on 18 August 2009 and he signed for the club on 22 August 2009. He was hailed by "Swans" manager

Paulo Sousa Paulo Manuel Carvalho de Sousa, CavIH (; born 30 August 1970) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. Starting his career at Benfica, he also represented Sporting CP in his countr ...

"He's not quite a striker but he is an attacking player, I know a lot about him and he is the sort of player that could fit into our squad." He signed after impressing "The Swans" boss in training. He was given permission to train on field during the

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

games. It was reported he was offered the contract during the Coventry City game on 22 August. He accepted the contract at half time. He played three games for the "Swans" that season as they narrowly missed out on the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

play-offs and the chance of

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

football.

Death

Idrizaj died on 15 May 2010 at the age of 22, barely two weeks after the end of the Championship campaign. Reports suggest he suffered a heart attack in his sleep. It was also reported that Idrizaj had previously collapsed on two separate occasions while playing football: once during a trial with his former club LASK Linz in November 2008 and also during a match for Wacker Innsbruck in February 2008.

Tribute

As a mark of respect following Swansea City's 4–2 Championship play-off

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

win over Reading on 30 May 2011, the Swansea players all wore T-shirts with Idrizaj's photo and name on them. Swansea also decided to retire his number 40 shirt.

Statistics

References

External links

Besian Idrizaj at holmesdale.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Idrizaj, Besian 1987 births 2010 deaths Sportspeople from Baden bei Wien Austrian people of Albanian descent Austrian footballers Austria youth international footballers LASK players Crystal Palace F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players FC Wacker Innsbruck players Austrian Football Bundesliga players English Football League players Swansea City A.F.C. players Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Wales Austrian expatriate sportspeople in England Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Austrian expatriate sportspeople in Wales Association football forwards Austrian expatriate footballers Footballers from Lower Austria