Idriz 'Idi' Refik Batha (born 28 March 1992) is 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 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 ...

who plays as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Romanian club

UTA Arad Uta or UTA may refer to: Universities *University of Texas at Arlington, in the United States * University of Tarapacá, in Chile *University of Tampere, in Finland Sports * FC UTA Arad, a Romanian football club based in the town of Arad * A ...

Club career

Early career

Born in the southern city of

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea le ...

, Batha moved to the capital

Tiranë Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

as a child where he joined the Partizani academy before moving to the academy of local rivals

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

in 2005. He would remain at Tirana's academy until 2011, which is when he moved back to Partizani and signed his first professional contract at the age of 19. Partizani had been relegated to

Kategoria e Dytë Kategoria e Dytë is the third professional level of football in Albania. It was called the ''Second Division'' until 2003. Kategoria e Dytë has two groups, A and B. which are divided geographically. It is made up of 23 teams. The winners of each ...

, the third-tier of Albanian football which is where Batha made his senior debut on 2 October 2011 in a 1–0 over Bilisht Sport. He scored his first senior goals on 18 March 2012 against

Albpetrol Albpetrol is an Albanian upstream petroleum production and marketing company, which also monitors state petroleum agreements in Albania. Its stock is owned by the Albanian state. The company is headquartered in Patos and has a representative offic ...

, scoring twice in the first half in the 2–0 win. Batha helped Partizani finish top of the Kategoria e Dytë Group B table and achieve promotion back to

Kategoria e Parë Kategoria e Parë is the second level of professional football in Albania, behind the Kategoria Superiore and above the Kategoria e Dytë. Format Kategoria e Parë was founded in 1930. It is made up of 14 teams. The 2 best ranked teams gain prom ...

, before losing 3–1 to Group A winners Tërbuni in the Championship Final.

Besa

Following an impressive season with Partizani in the third tier, Batha joined newly-promoted

Kategoria Superiore 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 ...

side Besa in the summer of 2012, where he made his top-flight debut in the opening game against Laçi, playing the full 90 minutes in the 1–1 draw. He scored his first top-flight goal on 10 March 2013 in a 2–1 win over

, scoring in injury time to win the game for Besa.

Partizani

On 11 November 2015, Batha extended his contract with Partizani Tirana for another three seasons, keeping him at the club until 2018.

Tirana

On 18 June 2019, Batha was unveiled as the new player of

KF Tirana Klubi i Futbollit Tirana (KF Tirana) is an Albanian football club based in the country's capital city, Tirana. The men's football club is part of the multi-disciplinary sports club SK Tirana, and is the most successful in Albania, having won 54 ...

, signing a one-year contract with an option of a further one, worth €5,000 a month. On 27 October, during the 3–0 win at Luftëtari Gjirokastër, Batha missed his first career penalty; his attempt was saved by Panagiotis Paiteris. During the match against title rivals Kukësi at

Arena Kombëtare Arena Kombëtare (; known for sponsorship reasons as the Air Albania Stadium) is an all-seater, multi-purpose football stadium located in the capital city of Tirana which was built on the ground of the former Qemal Stafa Stadium. The stadium ha ...

, Batha scored a free-kick in the 85th minute that served as a temporarily equalizer in a eventual 2–1 win, sending Tirana top of the table for the first time this season. The following week, Batha scored two penalties against his ex team Partizani in a 5–1 home win, helping Tirana record their biggest win over their city rivals since 2005. He was instrumental for his side in midfield during the 2019–20 Albanian Superliga season, scoring 10 goals in 33 appearances, a personal best, as Tirana won the championship title for the 25th time in their 100th anniversary. In 2019–20 Albanian Cup, where Tirana reached the final, Batha scored once in five appearances, collecting in total 38 appearances and 11 goals. On 8 August 2020, Tirana announced to have signed Batha on a new one-year contract. Batha took squad number 10 ahead of the 2020–21 season, which was last worn by

Edon Hasani Edon Hasani (born 9 January 1992) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. Club career Vllaznia Shkodër Hasani made his professional debut for Vllaznia Shkodër on 17 April 2009 against Skënderbeu Korçë, replacing ...

who departed the club. On 19 August, he captained Tirana for the first time in their

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

first qualifying round match against

Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi is a sports club from Tbilisi, Georgia. It was founded in 1925. Among its highest honors, is the European trophy earned by its football team which won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1981, beating FC Carl Zeiss Jena of East Germany 2–1 i ...

, which ended in a 2–0 away win.

Career statistics

Honours

Clubs

;KF Tirana *

: 2019–20 *

Albanian Cup The Albanian Cup ( sq, Kupa e Shqipërisë) is the main "knockout" competition in Albanian football. The competition started in 1939 as Kupa e Mbretit (English:"The King's Cup"). Just after a year the cup was suspended as the Second World War st ...

runner-up: 2019–20 *

Albanian Supercup The Albanian Supercup is a single match usually at the beginning of the season between the winners of the Kategoria Superiore and Albanian Cup. Supercup final was not played in the occasions when the champion team won the Double (association foot ...

runner-up:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Batha, Idriz 1992 births Living people Footballers from Gjirokastër Albania under-21 international footballers Albanian footballers Association football midfielders Kategoria Superiore players Kategoria e Dytë players FK Partizani Tirana players Besa Kavajë players KF Teuta Durrës players Flamurtari Vlorë players KF Tirana players Liga I players FC UTA Arad players Albanian expatriate footballers Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate footballers in Romania