Labinot Haliti (born 26 October 1985) is an Australian former 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 played as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

or winger.

Early life

Haliti's was born in

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

, and fled his home country at the age of 14 with his family, arriving in Australia in 1999, where they settled in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Club career

Since arriving in Sydney, Haliti stamped himself as a potential superstar of the game with impressive stints at Sydney Olympic and Sydney United in the defunct NSL. Haliti's talent was spotted by the legendary

Frank Arok Ferenc "Frank" Arok ( hu, Árok Ferenc; 20 January 1932 – 12 January 2021) was a Yugoslavian-Australian ethnic Hungarian association football player and coach. Career Arok played for FK Jedinstvo in Yugoslavia during the 1950s before coach ...

, a former Yugoslav player and coach. It was at Sydney Olympic where Haliti played alongside former

Socceroos The Australia men's national soccer team represents Australia in international men's soccer. Officially nicknamed the Socceroos, the team is controlled by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is affiliated with ...

striker and close friend

Ante Milicic Ante Milicic ( ; hr, Ante Miličić ; (born 4 April 1974) is an Australian soccer manager and former professional player. Personal life The son of Croatian immigrants, Milicic grew up in Strathfield, a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney. Mi ...

, who proved influential in bringing the attacking midfielder to the

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

in the newly formed

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

Newcastle Jets

Haliti's impressive first season with the Jets led to much speculation about his international future, with the Albania national team and Australia U23 national team courting his services. A change in manager in his second season at Newcastle saw his opportunities decrease, and Haliti returned to

Sydney United Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but ...

in the

NSW Premier League The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, the organising body in New South Wales (the other being the National Premier Leagues Northern ...

. In June 2007, he signed for Croatian

Prva HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, it was called Prva H ...

team

NK Slaven Belupo Nogometni klub Slaven Belupo ( en, Slaven Belupo Football Club), often referred to as NK Slaven Belupo, Slaven Belupo or simply Slaven, and known internationally as NK Slaven Koprivnica, is a Croatian professional football club based in the city ...

, however, he failed to make an appearance for the club after signing for

KS Teuta Durrës KS and variants may refer to: Businesses and organizations * , a German postwar commando frogman force * , a Norwegian type of company * Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities * PenAir, Peninsula Airways, Anchorage, Alaska, US (IAT ...

in the Albanian first division a month later. After a string of appearances and 3 goals, he signed for Polish

Orange Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

team Łódzki KS, where he established himself as a first team squad member. On 26 August 2009, he was signed to a short-term deal for the

as an injury replacement for

Marko Jesic Marko Jesic (born 7 August 1989 in Fairfield, New South Wales) is an Australian football player of Serbian descent who plays for Marconi Stallions FC. Club career Jesic grew up on the streets of Bossley Park in Sydney's south west and was pr ...

. On 2 October 2009, Haliti extended his contract with the Jets to a two-year deal. On 3 September 2009, Haliti was included in the squad against

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

after a late clearance from his Polish side

ŁKS Łódź ŁKS Łódź (''Łódzki Klub Sportowy Łódź''; ) is a Polish sports club based in Łódź. They are best known for their football club but are represented in many sports such as basketball, volleyball, tennis, athletics and in the past ice ...

and the

Polish Football Association The Polish Football Association ( pl, Polski Związek Piłki Nożnej; PZPN) is the governing body of association football in Poland. It organizes the Polish football leagues (without the Ekstraklasa), the Polish Cup and the Polish national footb ...

. He scored with a header in the 87th minute to secure a 1–1 draw for the Jets. During the

2011–12 A-League The 2011–12 A-League was the 35th season of top-flight soccer in Australia, and the seventh season of the Australian A-League soccer competition since its establishment in 2004. At the end of the previous season, the North Queensland Fury wer ...

season, Labinot continued to be an integral part of the Newcastle Jets team and was a fans favourite.

Western Sydney Wanderers

On 2 July 2012, Haliti joined A-League expansion club

Western Sydney Wanderers FC Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premie ...

on a free transfer. Haliti played his first game for the new club on 6 October 2012 and it was Western Sydney Wanderers's first competitive match of any kind against reigning A-League Premiers

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...

in the first round of the league. On 2 February, Haliti scored a historic goal against Central Coast Mariners in a top of the table clash in front of a packed house at

Central Coast Stadium Central Coast Stadium (known originally as Grahame Park), known commercially as Industree Group Stadium is a sports venue in Gosford, on the Central Coast, New South Wales, Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. The stadium is home to ...

. Wanderers went on to claim the Premiership Plate. During the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

campaign, Haliti was a key member of the squad playing all 14 games to the Final and ultimately winning the

2014 AFC Champions League The 2014 AFC Champions League was the 33rd edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 12th under the current AFC Champions League title. Guangzhou Evergrande were the defe ...

trophy against Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia. They became the first Australian team to be crowned Asian Champions, an achievement they reached in only their first attempt in the Asian tournament. Haliti is also the first Albanian to ever win the ACL. In the

2014 FIFA Club World Cup The 2014 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2014 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was the 11th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament between ...

in Morocco, Haliti captained his side Wanderers for the first time against

ES Sétif Entente Sportive Sétifienne ( ar, الوفاق الرياضي السطايفي), known as Entente de Sétif, commonly referred to as ES Sétif or ESS for short, is an Algerian professional football club based in Sétif. The club was founded in ...

Return to Newcastle Jets

On 22 July 2015, Haliti signed a two-year deal with Newcastle Jets, back to the club where he started his A-League career. On 21 October 2015 It was confirmed that Haliti would miss the remainder of the season after suffering an ACL injury in the defeat to

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

International career

Haliti holds

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

and

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

passports, making him eligible to represent Albania and Australia.

Coaching career

While still recovering Haliti announced that he had begun studying for his coaching badges. Haliti retired at the end of the 2017–18 A-League season, having already taken up a position as Assistant Coach of the Newcastle Jets FC Reserves, serving under Jets CEO and head youth coach

Lawrie McKinna Lawrie McKinna (born 8 July 1961) is a Scottish-Australian former football player, coach, and former Mayor of Gosford City Council. In 2012, McKinna stood for election as an independent for City of Gosford. Lawrie was successful in gaining a sea ...

. On 8 May 2019, it was announced that Haliti signed with the

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

as an assistant coach ahead of the

2019–20 A-League The 2019–20 A-League, also known as the 2019–20 Hyundai A-League for sponsorship reasons, was the 43rd season of national level soccer in Australia, and the 15th since the establishment of the A-League in 2004. The regular season commenced o ...

season. In 2022 Haliti was appointed head coach of

Sydney Olympic FC Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club, based in Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The Club was founded as Pan-Hellenic Soccer Club in 1957 by Greek immigrant ...

for NPL NSW 2023 season.

References

External links

Western Sydney Wanderers profile
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haliti, Labinot 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Pristina Kosovo Albanians Serbian emigrants to Australia Australian people of Albanian descent Association football forwards Albanian footballers Australian soccer players Sydney Olympic FC players Sydney United 58 FC players Newcastle Jets FC players KF Teuta Durrës players ŁKS Łódź players Western Sydney Wanderers FC players A-League Men players National Soccer League (Australia) players Ekstraklasa players Albanian expatriate footballers Australian expatriate soccer players Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate footballers in Poland