Njazi Kuqi (born 25 March 1983) is a Finnish 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. Kuqi started his career with

FC Lahti FC Lahti is a Finnish football club based in the city of Lahti. It currently plays in the Finnish Premier League (''Veikkausliiga'') after placing first in the Finnish First Division (''Ykkönen'') during season 2011. The homeground of FC Lah ...

of the

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkau ...

in 2002, spending three years with the club and scoring twenty goals in all competitions. In January 2005, Kuqi signed for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

, but failed to make any first–team appearances during his 18-month spell with the club. During his time at Birmingham, Kuqi was loaned out for a month to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

in January 2006, making four appearances before returning to his parent club. He was loaned out once again in March 2006, joining

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

until the end of the 2005–06 season. However, he only made one appearance for Peterborough, and returned to Birmingham a month earlier than scheduled. At the end of the campaign, Kuqi was released by Birmingham. Ahead of the 2006–07 season, Kuqi joined Dutch side

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, province of Groningen. Founded on 16 June 1971 as the successor of GVAV, the team compete in the Eredivisie, the highest tier of Dutch football. G ...

on a free transfer. However, he was released just two months after signing for the club, having not made a single appearance for the club. Six months later, in January 2007, Kuqi signed for German outfit

FC Carl Zeiss Jena FC Carl Zeiss Jena is a German football club based in Jena, Thuringia. Formed in 1903 and initially associated with the Carl Zeiss AG factory, they were one of the strongest clubs in East Germany from the 1960s to the 1980s, winning the DDR-Obe ...

, but made just one first–team appearance in twelve months, before signing for

TuS Koblenz TuS Koblenz is a German association football club, located in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Fussball Club Deutschland Neuendorf, which was formed in 1911, is viewed as the foundation of the modern club. History Nazi era (1933–1945) The or ...

in January 2008 on a three–year deal. He spent two and a half seasons with Koblenz, scoring eleven times. In August 2010, Kuqi joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

, but left after playing just one game. Shortly after, in September 2010, Kuqi joined

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

on a one-year deal, but was released a month later when the club went into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

. Kuqi has also played internationally for the Finland national team, earning 12

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s and scoring 5 goals for his country.

Club career

FC Lahti

Kuqi was born in

Vučitrn Vushtrri ( sq-definite, Vushtrria) or Vučitrn ( sr-Cyrl, Вучитрн), is a city and municipality located in the Mitrovica District in northern Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Vushtrri has 26,964 inhabitants, while the muni ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

(present-day

Vushtrri Vushtrri ( sq-definite, Vushtrria) or Vučitrn ( sr-Cyrl, Вучитрн), is a city and municipality located in the Mitrovica District in northern Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Vushtrri has 26,964 inhabitants, while the munic ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

). He began his career with

in 2002, where he was named Finland's Under-21 Player of the Year in 2004. Kuqi spent three seasons with the club, scoring a total of 20 goals in 57 appearances in all competitions.

Birmingham

In January 2005, Kuqi signed for

for a fee of £400,000, but failed to make any first–team appearances for the club during the latter stages of the 2004–05 season, although he was an unused substitute in Birmingham's 2–0 away defeat to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. Kuqi featured regularly for Birmingham's reserve side, but had a number of more experienced strikers in front of him, including

Emile Heskey Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey (born 11 January 1978) is an English former professional footballer who currently serves as head of football development of Leicester City Women. Playing as a striker, he made more than 500 appearances in the Foo ...

and

Mikael Forssell Mikael Kaj Forssell (born 15 March 1981) is a Finnish former football striker. Forssell began his professional career in 1997 for HJK, having progressed through the team's youth teams, but he only remained at the club for a single season, mak ...

, which made it difficult for him to break into the starting eleven. During the second half of the 2005–06 season, Kuqi was sent out on loan to

on a month's loan deal. A day after joining the club, he made his debut in the club's 4–2 win against

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

, coming on as an 81st-minute substitute. Kuqi subsequently started in the club's 3–0 loss away to

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

, and played a total of four times for Blackpool before returning to his parent club. In March 2006, Kuqi was loaned out once more, this time to

until the end of the season. However, Kuqi played just once for the club, starting in Peterborough's 2–2 draw with

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

, before returning to Birmingham a month earlier than expected. At the end of the 2006–07 season, Kuqi was released by Birmingham, having not made a single first–team appearance.

Groningen

In June 2006, Kuqi signed for

on a free transfer, where he was to compete for a place in the team with players such as the former

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

striker

Erik Nevland Erik Nevland (born 10 November 1977) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is currently the sporting director of Viking FK. He played for clubs in Norway, England, Sweden and the Netherlands, and earned eight c ...

. After a range of conflicts, Kuqi was released by Groningen in August 2006, having made no first-team appearances for the club, with the season just two weeks old.

Carl Zeiss Jena

Six months later, he signed an 18-month contract with

after failing to win a contract during a trial at his brother's former club,

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. However, Kuqi struggled to make first-team appearances for the club, and was subsequently featuring regularly in the reserve side, FC Carl Zeis Jena II, in the German

NOFV-Oberliga The NOFV- Oberliga is a division at step 5 of the German football league system. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, it became the successor of the DDR-Oberliga, and functions today as a 5th division in the former territory of East Germany and the ...

TuS Koblenz

In January 2008, he joined

on a three-year contract. During the second half of the club's 2007–08 campaign, Kuqi scored four goals in nine appearances, scoring his first goal for Koblenz in a 1–1 draw away to

FC St. Pauli Fußball-Club St Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St Pauli (), is a German professional football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. The football department is part of a larger sp ...

. He also scored in the club's 3–2 away win against 1. FC Kaiserslautern ten days later. He subsequently started the following season as the club's point of attack, and played a total of 29 games during the season, scoring five times as Koblenz narrowly avoided relegation. Kuqi remained at the club ahead of the 2009–10 season, although his season was disrupted by persistent injuries, only managing to play in 14 games, scoring twice in losses against FC St. Pauli and

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the D ...

respectively. Kuqi played his last game for the club in March 2010, coming on as an 83rd-minute substitute in a 2–0 loss to

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen Rot-Weiß Oberhausen is a German association football club in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was formed as ''Oberhausener SV'' in December 1904 out of the merger of ''Emschertaler SV'' (1902) and the football enthusiasts of ''Oberh ...

. He left the club at the end of the 2009–10 season. Kuqi spent a week on trial at Dutch

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

side

RBC Roosendaal RBC, commonly known under its previous official name RBC Roosendaal, is a football club based in Roosendaal, Netherlands. RBC currently plays in the seventh-tier Tweede Klasse after a bankruptcy in 2011, restarting the club in tenth tier Vijfde Kl ...

in July 2010, scoring in the club's 1–0 friendly win against

Royal Antwerp Royal Antwerp Football Club, often referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp, is a Belgian football club based in the city of Antwerp. Founded around 1880 as ''Antwerp Cricket Club'' by English students residing in Antwerp, 15 years before ...

. However, just three days after his trial at Roosendaal, Kuqi linked up with his brother Shefki once again, having previously played alongside him at Koblenz, as he joined

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 ...

side

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

on trial for two weeks. He featured in a pre–season friendly against

Port Talbot Town Port Talbot Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl Droed Port Talbot) is a Welsh association football, football club from Port Talbot. It was founded in 1901 as Port Talbot Athletic, one of the first clubs in the country. The club plays in the Arda ...

, scoring the winning goal in the 93rd minute. He also netted in another friendly against

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

, scoring the final goal of the game from 25–yards in a 5–1 win. However, he was unsuccessful in his attempt to earn a contract at Swansea, and subsequently requested a trial at

side

in August 2010.

Stevenage

He played in a reserve match for the club against Ipswich Town. Three days later, Kuqi made his debut in the club's 3–1 win against

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

, coming on as a substitute in the 84th minute. He left Stevenage after failing to secure a full-time contract with the club.

Dundee

Shortly after, on 1 September 2010, Kuqi signed for

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

club

on a one-year contract. He made his debut for the club in a 3–1 loss to

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

, and featured in two other games for the club. However, in October 2010, Kuqi was one of nine players released by Dundee after the club went into

. On being released, Kuqi said "My family just moved in two weeks ago. Of course you feel let down. Before I came here they spoke differently. They promised things and then after five weeks you're in administration".

TPS Turku

On 28 March 2011, TPS Turku announced that the club had signed Kuqi on a one-year contract. He made his debut for the club on 6 May 2011, scoring in a 2–0 win over

HJK Helsinki Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi (), commonly known as HJK Helsinki, or simply as HJK, is a professional football club based in Helsinki, Finland. The club competes in the Finnish Veikkausliiga. Founded in 1907, the club has spent most of its history ...

, the first game of the

2011 Veikkausliiga The 2011 Veikkausliiga was the 81st season of top-tier football in Finland. It began on 2 May 2011 and ended on 29 October 2011. HJK were the defending champions and successfully defended their title. The pre-season was severely affected by lic ...

season. Kuqi scored eight goals in 23 appearances for the club during the 2011 season.

Panionios

In September 2011, Kuqi joined

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

side

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

. He made his debut for the club in a 1–0 away win against

Panetolikos Panetolikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναιτωλικός), or with its full name Panetolikós Yimnastikós Filekpedeftikós Síllogos ( el, Παναιτωλικός Γυμναστικός Φιλεκπαιδευτικός Σύλλογος'' ...

, scoring the only goal of the game in the eleventh minute. Two weeks later, in his third appearance for the club, Kuqi scored twice in a 3–0 victory away at

Kerkyra Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

Atromitos

In June 2012 it was announced that Kuqi would transfer from Panionios to another Super League club,

Atromitos Atromitos (Greek: Ατρόμητος, "fearless") may refer to: * Atromitos F.C., a football team based in Peristeri, Athens, Greece * Atromitos Piraeus, a football team based in Piraeus, Athens, Greece * Atromitos Yeroskipou, a football team curr ...

, a club which he left after a mutual consent contract termination.

ATK

On 12 September 2017, Kuqi joined

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

franchise ATK for the 2017–18 season. He was released in January 2018, having scored once in six appearances.

Helsinki IFK

On 11 December 2018, Finnish

-side

HIFK Fotboll HIFK Fotboll or IFK Helsingfors is an association football section of HIFK, a sports club based in Helsinki, Finland. The men's football team competes in the highest tier of Finnish football, Veikkausliiga. Their home ground is the Bolt Arena. ...

announced, that they had signed Kuqi for the 2019 season on a one-year deal.

International career

In March 2005, Kuqi was called up to the

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

squad for a friendly against

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. He started the match, and scored the only goal of the game in a 1–0 win. Six days later, he came off the substitute's bench to score twice within the space of five minutes in Finland's 4–1 win against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. In 2005, he got a six-month ban to the national team after leaving the team, after a U21-match against Czech Republic was played, for a birthday night out in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

with a fellow international

Toni Koskela Toni Koskela (born 16 February 1983) is a Finland, Finnish Association football, football coach and a former player. He is currently managing Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi, HJK where he followed Mika Lehkosuo. Before that he was head coach of Rovani ...

. After that, Kuqi was out of the picture and it was thought that he was keen to play for

, but in August 2008 he was called up to the squad once more when

Stuart Baxter Stuart William Baxter (born 16 August 1953) is a British football manager and former player who most recently managed South African Premier Soccer League side Kaizer Chiefs. Born in England of Scottish parentage, and brought up in both countr ...

selected him for a friendly against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, although he was an unused substitute. In September 2008, Kuqi gained his third cap as a 75th-minute substitute in Finland's 2010 World Cup qualifier against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, with the game ending 3–3.

Personal life

He is the younger brother of footballer

Shefki Kuqi Shefki Kuqi (pronounced ; born 10 November 1976) is a Finnish former professional footballer who played predominantly as a striker. He spent most of his career in the English football league system, for clubs including Newcastle United, Shef ...

and older brother of footballer Albert Kuqi. They are of

Kosovo Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-gr ...

descent.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Finland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kuqi goal.''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuqi, Njazi 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Vushtrri Kosovan emigrants to Finland Association football forwards Finnish footballers Finland international footballers Kosovan footballers FC Lahti players Birmingham City F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players FC Groningen players FC Carl Zeiss Jena players TuS Koblenz players Stevenage F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Turun Palloseura footballers Panionios F.C. players Atromitos F.C. players F.C. Pro Vercelli 1892 players Olympiacos Volos F.C. players SG Sonnenhof Großaspach players PK-35 Vantaa (men) players FC Inter Turku players ATK (football club) players HIFK Fotboll players Veikkausliiga players Super League Greece players 2. Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Finnish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Finnish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Finnish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Germany Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Scotland Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Greece Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Expatriate footballers in Italy Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Finnish people of Albanian descent Finnish people of Yugoslav descent