Eris Tafaj (born September 10, 1980) is an Albanian former

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 ...

who played in the Canadian Professional/Soccer League, and

Albanian Superliga The Kategoria Superiore, officially known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons, is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Albanian football league system, it is the country's primary football compet ...

. He is currently a trainer and coach with Eurostar Football Academy and Elite Development Soccer Academy.

Playing career

Tafaj played at the youth level with Partizani FK, but ultimately settled in Canada at the age of 14. In 2000, he began to play at the college level with the

Oakland Golden Grizzlies The Oakland University Golden Grizzlies are the athletic teams that represent Oakland University (OU) in the Horizon League and Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The school fields 16 teams: baseball, men's and w ...

. In 2001, he transferred to play with the Detroit Titans. In 2003, he played in the Canadian Professional Soccer League with London City. Throughout the 2003 season he helped London secure the Open Canada Cup, where he successfully registered a goal in the penalty shoot-out. At the conclusion of the season he finished as the club's top goalscorer, and team MVP. In 2005, he was selected for the CPSL All-Star team against Glasgow Rangers. After leading London in the scoring charts he was transferred to

KS Shkumbini KF Shkumbini is an Albanian football club based in the city of Peqin. The club's home ground is the Shkumbini Stadium and they compete in the Kategoria e Dytë. History Football was first introduced to the city of Peqin in the early 1920s after a ...

in the

. After a season abroad he returned to London, and was selected for the second time to the CSL All-Star team against

Clyde F.C. Clyde Football Club is a Scottish semi-professional Association football, football club who play in Scottish League One. Formed in 1877 at the River Clyde in Glasgow, the club host their home matches at New Douglas Park, having played at Broad ...

In the middle of the season he departed from the club, but would eventually return for the 2011 season.

Managerial career

After retiring from professional he was recruited by former London City head coach Luka Shaqiri as a staff coach for Eurostar Football Academy. Along with former teammate Isa Bulku he formed Elite Development Soccer Academy.

Honors

London City * Open Canada Cup (1):

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tafaj, Eris 1980 births Living people Albanian men's footballers Men's association football forwards London City Soccer Club players KF Shkumbini Peqin players Kategoria Superiore players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Albanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Oakland Golden Grizzlies men's soccer players Detroit Mercy Titans men's soccer players