Franc Veliu (born 11 November 1988 in

Vlorë Vlorë ( , ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the third most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surrounded by the foothi ...

) 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 mainly as a defender for Kosovan club Gjilani and the Albania national team. His natural position is

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

but he has also played as a left midfielder and even as a central defender. He only played for one club team at professional level between 2006 and 2015, before joining Kukësi in 2015. He has only ever won two trophies in his career so far, two times

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 ...

in 2009 and 2014 after winning in the final against

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 ...

and against current club Kukësi in 2009 and 2014 respectively.

Club career

Flamurtari Vlorë

He made his debut for

Flamurtari Vlorë Flamurtari FC is a professional football club based in Vlorë, Albania. The club plays in the Kategoria e Parë, which is the second tier of football in the country. Founded in 1923, the club is one of the oldest in Albania, and it is also one ...

in 2006 and since then has cemented his place in his hometown club's first team. He has spent most of his career in the left back position but he has also played as a left midfielder and most recently as a central defender as well. On 29 October 2008, he scored his first hat-trick, an unusual achievement for a defender, in a 1–6 away win against Naftëtari Kuçovë valid for the first leg of the first round of

2008–09 Albanian Cup 2008–09 Albanian Cup () was the fifty-seventh season of Albania's annual cup competition. It began on September 24, 2008 with the First Preliminary Round and ended on May 6, 2009 with the Final. The winners of the competition qualified for the se ...

. He was voted Flamurtari's player of the year for 2014 by the club's fans, beating

Bruno Telushi Bruno Telushi (born 14 November 1990 in Vlorë) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for AF Elbasani. Telushi begun his career with his local club Flamurtari, making his debut in 2011 after spending four ye ...

and

Ardit Shehaj Ardit Shehaj (born 23 September 1990) is an Albanian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), striker for Kosovan club KF Flamurtari, Flamurtari Pristina in the Football Superleague of Kosovo. ...

who came second and third respectively.

Kukësi

After making 263 appearances for Flamurtari between 2006 and 2015, Veliu left to join fellow

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 ...

club Kukësi.

Partizani Tirana

On 1 February 2016, Veliu joined

Partizani Tirana Futboll Klub Partizani, or FK Partizani for short, is an Albanian professional football club based in Tirana, that competes in the Kategoria Superiore. Founded in 1946, the club was historically affiliated to the Albanian army. Partizani's curren ...

where he signed a contract until the end of the season with an option to extend it for a further year. After some matches in bench, Veliu made his first appearance with ''Red Bulls'' on 20 March by playing in the last 13 minutes of a 0–2 win at

Teuta Durrës Teuta ( Illyrian: *''Teutana'', 'mistress of the people, queen'; grc, Τεύτα; lat, Teuta) was the queen regent of the Ardiaei tribe in Illyria, who reigned approximately from 231 BC to 228/227 BC. Following the death of her spouse Agro ...

. He played his first match as starter later on 17 April in the 3–0 home win over Vllaznia Shkodër; he was however replace at the end of first half. Veliu left the club following the end of the season after making only three appearances, collecting only 80 minutes as the team finished runner-up in the championship.

Return to Flamurtari Vlorë

On 22 July 2016, Veliu officially returned to

by joining as a free agent. He was allocated his old squad number 11, and made his return debut on 7 September in the opening league match of the season, a 2–1 away defeat to

Skënderbeu Korçë , reign = 28 November 1443 – 17 January 1468 , predecessor = Gjon Kastrioti , successor = Gjon Kastrioti II , spouse = Donika Arianiti , issue = Gjon Kastrioti II , royal house = Kastrioti , father ...

. On 27 May, in the final matchday, Veliu scored his first goal of the season after an individual effort in a 3–0 win over

Korabi Peshkopi KS Korabi is an Albanian football club based in Peshkopi, named after the nearby Mount Korab, which is the tallest mountain in Albania and North Macedonia. The club's home ground is the Korabi Stadium. History Early history The club was founded ...

, as Flamurtari avoided the relegation by just one point. In June, following the departure of team captain

in Croatia, Veliu was renamed the new captain, three years after losing the status. He suffered a major injury during the summer preparation phase which forced him to miss the entire first half of 2017–18 season. On 22 July 2017, Veliu signed a contract running until July 2018. He returned on action in the first days of January 2018 where he played in a friendly against the under-19 side.

Gjilani

In summer 2019, Veliu moved abroad to play for

Football Superleague of Kosovo The Football Superleague of Kosovo ( sq, Superliga e Futbollit të Kosovës), also known as the ALBI MALL Superleague of Kosovo ( sq, ALBI MALL Superliga e Kosovës) for sponsorship reasons with Albi Mall, is the top level of the Kosovar football ...

side Gjilani.

International career

Veliu was selected by

Josip Kuže Josip Kuže (13 November 1952 – 16 June 2013) was a Croatian football manager and footballer. He was a player and later a manager of Dinamo Zagreb where he played for 10 years, making a total of 384 appearances and scoring 14 goals. Playing c ...

for a friendly against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on 20 June 2011. He was in the starting line up on his debut in a game which ended in a 4–0 loss.

Personal life

Veliu was arrested on 25 October 2015 for drunk driving. His vehicle was confiscated, and Veliu was jailed for one month.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

;Flamurtari Vlorë *

: 2008–09, 2013–14

Individual

Albanian Superliga Player of the Month The Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best Kategoria Superiore player each month of the season. It is presented by association "Sporti Na Bashkon". This award was established in the 2010–11 season. Winne ...

: November 2010

References

External links

*
Profile
- FSHF

at Football Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Veliu, Franc 1988 births Living people Footballers from Vlorë Albanian footballers Association football fullbacks Albania international footballers Albania under-21 international footballers Flamurtari FC players FK Kukësi players FK Partizani Tirana players SC Gjilani players Kategoria Superiore players Football Superleague of Kosovo players Albanian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Kosovo Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Kosovo