Brian Filipi (11 August 1989 – 19 September 2009) was an

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 football midfielder/striker who spent his short professional career with

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

Club career

Born in

Lezhë Lezhë (, sq-definite, Lezha) is a city in the Republic of Albania and seat of Lezhë County and Lezhë Municipality. One of the main strongholds of the Labeatai, the earliest of the fortification walls of Lezhë are of typical Illyrian cons ...

, Brian Filipi made his first team debut with Ravenna in the 2008–09 season, being protagonist of the club's successful season which almost ended in promotion to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

from

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 1978 ...

, despite the Albanian's young age. Before his professional debut with Ravenna, Filipi had already played at youth international level with his native country of Albania, receiving his first call-up for the Under-19 team in 2007. He later became part of the Under-21 team as well. In January 2009, following his impressive performances with Ravenna, he was optioned by

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

club Palermo; however, in the 2009 summer transfer window Palermo decided not to acquire half of his registration rights, as already agreed with Ravenna, and Filipi stayed with the

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

club instead.

International career

Filipi was part of Albania under-21 squad in the last three qualifying matches of

2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship began on 15 June 2009, and was the 17th UEFA European Under-21 Championship. This was the first tournament after the competition reverted to a two-year format, following the single-year 2006–07 compe ...

. He made his debut on 20 August 2008 in the match against

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

, entering in the 55th minute as the match finished 1–1. He went on to make another appearance as substitute versus

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

, as Albania finished

Group 1 Group 1 may refer to: * Alkali metal, a chemical element classification for Alkali metal * Group 1 (racing), a historic (until 1981) classification for Touring car racing, applied to standard touring cars. Comparable to modern FIA Group N * Group On ...

at 4th position with 12 points. Filipi continued to be part of under-21 side in the opening two matches of next qualifying campaign. He played as substitute in the opening matchday against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

as Albania lost 0–1 at Ruzhdi Bizhuta Stadium.

Death

On 19 September 2009, at around 23:00

CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast En ...

, Brian Filipi was hit by a motorist while he was walking in a street in Cervia together with teammate Stefano Scappini, who suffered a minor strike on his arm in the crash. The car was driven by a 52-year-old woman who also sustained minor injuries in the event. She later travelled further to hit a number of parked vehicles in the same street. Filipi was successfully rushed to hospital, but died soon after due to the severe injuries he had sustained in the accident. Following the events, Ravenna handed a request to delay the game scheduled for the very next day to Foggia, which was immediately accepted by the League committee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Filipi, Brian 1989 births 2009 deaths People from Lezhë Association football midfielders Association football forwards Albanian footballers Albania under-21 international footballers Ravenna F.C. players Albanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Road incident deaths in Italy Pedestrian road incident deaths