Bledi Shkëmbi (born 13 August 1979) is an Albanian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player. who is the current head coach of

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, 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 ov ...

in the

Kategoria Superiore Kategoria Superiore (), also known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons with internet service provider, Abissnet, is a professional league for men's association football clubs in Albania. At the top of the Albanian football league syste ...

. A former Albanian international, he has previously played for

Ethnikos Asteras Ethnikos Asteras F.C. (, the ''National Star'') was a football club based in Kaisariani, Athens, Greece. History The club, originally named ''Ethnikos Astir,'' was founded in 1927 from the merger of Ethnikos and Asteras Kaisariani. They particip ...

in Greece,

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

and Kamen Ingrad in Croatia, Metalurh Zaporizhzhia and

Kryvbas :''Kryvbas'' ''may also refer to the FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih, the football team in Kryvyi Rih. See also Kryvbas (disambiguation)'' Kryvyi Rih Iron Ore Basin (; ), commonly known by the portmanteau Kryvbas (; ), is an important economic and histor ...

in Ukraine as well as

Teuta Durrës Klubi i Futbollit Teuta, commonly referred to as ''Teuta'', is an Albanian professional football club based in Durrës. The club competes in the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. Their home ground is the Niko Dovana Stadiu ...

Partizani Tirana Futboll Klub Partizani 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 home ground is the newly built sta ...

and

Besa Kavajë Besa or BESA may refer to: Arts & entertainment * ''Besa'' (newspaper), a newspaper published in Albania * ''Besa'' (TV series), a Serbian-British television series produced by Adrenalin and Red Planet Pictures * ''The Besa'', a novel by Albanian ...

in Albania.

Club career

Early career

Shkëmbi joined his local side

Skënderbeu Korçë Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanian feudal lord and military commander who led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serb ...

as an 11-year-old and progressed through the youth ranks before eventually being promoted to the senior side ahead of the 1997–98 season. He immediately became a first team player as an 18-year-old, featuring in 31 league games out of a possible 34, and scoring one goal in the process to help his side finish 11th in the league out of 18 teams. The following season was similar for Shkëmbi as he was an important player in the club's midfield as they finished just 2 points above the relegation zone as he played 24 league games and scored twice. He then made 25 appearances out of a possible 26 in the league during the 1999–00 season and scored once in a 7–0 thrashing of Apolonia Fier. He was then allowed to search for a new club and leave on a free transfer. He joined

ahead of the 2000–01 season, and his first game for the club was the

2000 Albanian Supercup The 2000 Albanian Supercup is the seventh edition of the Albanian Supercup since its establishment in 1989. The match was contested between the Albanian Cup 2000 winners KS Teuta and the 1999–2000 Albanian Superliga champions KF Tirana. Match de ...

against

KF Tirana Klubi i Futbollit Tirana is an Albanian professional football club based in the country's capital city, Tirana, that competes in the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. The men's football club is part of the multi-discipli ...

, playing the full 90 minutes in the 1–0 loss. In the league he made 21 appearances and scored once, against

Tomori Berat Futboll Klub Tomori Berat is an Albanian football club based in the city of Berat. The club's home ground is the Tomori Stadium and they currently participate in the Kategoria e Dytë. History The sport of football was introduced to the city of ...

, as his side finished 6th with his former side Skënderbeu Korçë finishing bottom and being relegated to the

Albanian First Division 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 ...

. He was part of the Teuta Durrës side that reached the final of the

Albanian Cup The Albanian Cup () is the main "knockout" competition in Albanian football. The competition started in 1939 as Kupa e Mbretit ( English:"The King's Cup"). The cup was suspended for the next eight years as the Second World War started. It start ...

during the 2000–01 season, as he scored against Naftëtari Kuçovë in the first round, before starting the final against

who beat Teuta Durrës as they had done before the season started in the Albanian Supercup, this time 5–0. He made his European debut with Teuta Durrës on 10 August 2001 in a

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

second qualifying round game against

Rapid Vienna Sportklub Rapid (), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English language, English, is an Football in Austria, Austrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian cham ...

, starting in the 2–0 loss as he was substituted in the 82nd minute for Erion Matraku. He also started the return leg but his side lost 4–0. He then left the club following their short lived UEFA Cup run, as his contract ran out.

Besa Kavajë

In January 2010, Shkembi signed with

on an 18 months contract with an option to renew for another year after the expiration of it. During the second part of 2009–10 season, he played 12 matches, scoring twice in the process. He left the club after the end of the season, he and Alban Dragusha were excluded by the coach

Shpëtim Duro Shpëtim Duro (born 24 December 1959) is an Albanian professional football coach. Managerial career Duro won his first major title as coach of KF Besa Kavajë when his team beat KF Vllaznia in the 2010 Albanian Cup final. He won the 2010–11 ...

ahead of the European clash against

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

Skënderbeu Korçë

In July 2010, he and Alban Dragusha were signed by

. His return was strongly required by the club's fans. At the end of 2011–12 season, in which Shkëmbi contributed with 36 appearances and 10 goals in all competitions, he was presented Fair Play Award. On 19 August 2015, in the first leg of play-off round of

2015–16 UEFA Champions League The 2015–16 UEFA Champions League was the 61st season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 24th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona were th ...

against

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

Elbasan Arena Elbasan Arena (, formerly known as Ruzhdi Bizhuta) is a multi-purpose stadium in Elbasan, Albania. The stadium was completed in 1967 and has been the home ground of KF Elbasani ever since. The stadium was under reconstruction and was official ...

, Shkëmbi scored the opener in the 37th minute with a free kick, but it was not enough as Dinamo Zagreb reacted and won the match 2–1. On 18 May, Shkëmbi officially retired from professional football at the age of 36, ending his nineteen-year career by lifting the club's six consecutive league title.

International career

He has been a former international player of

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

from 2001 to 2006, during which he collected 14 matches without scoring a goal. He was called by the coach of that time Sulejman Demollari to participate at Tournament Bahrain where he made 3 appearances, all of them as a substitute.

Managerial career

Liria

On 16 June 2017, Shkëmbi begun his managerial career as he was appointed manager of

Football Superleague of Kosovo The Football Superleague of Kosovo (), also known as the ALBI MALL Superleague of Kosovo () for sponsorship reasons with Albi Mall, is the top level of the Football in Kosovo#Men's, Kosovar football league system. The Superleague is organized by t ...

outfit Liria. He signed a contract for the 2017–18 season. Later on 2 March 2018, he handed a resignation request due to presidency change in the club. Following the 1–0 win over Feronikeli that day, Shkëmbi stated that the club is in financial crisis and the presidency seek to put hands on the lineup. Shkëmbi eventually resigned on 19 May after guiding the team to a 5th-place finish.

Teuta

On 3 June 2018, Shkëmbi was announced as the new manager of

for the 2018–19 season.

Tirana

On 5 June 2024, Tirana announced to have signed Shkëmbi as their new coach for the upcoming 2024–25 season, replacing Erbim Fagu in the process.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Besa Kavajë *

: 2009–10 Skënderbeu Korçë *

Albanian Superliga Kategoria Superiore (), also known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons with internet service provider, Abissnet, is a professional league for men's association football clubs in Albania. At the top of the Albanian football league syste ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16 *

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. Prior to 2000, Supercup final was not played when the champion team won the Double. However, after the ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Individual *

Albanian Superliga Fair Play Award The Kategoria Superiore Fair Play Award is an annual award in Albania given to the most fair play player of the Kategoria Superiore Kategoria Superiore (), also known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons with internet service provider, A ...

: 2011–12 * Albanian Superliga Player of the Month: December 2013

References

External links

* *
Profile and Stats
at WhoScored.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shkembi, Bledi 1979 births Living people Footballers from Korçë Albanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Albania men's international footballers Albania men's under-21 international footballers Albania men's youth international footballers KF Skënderbeu Korçë players KF Teuta players Ethnikos Asteras F.C. players HNK Rijeka players NK Kamen Ingrad players FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia players FC Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih players FK Partizani Tirana players KF Besa Kavajë players Kategoria Superiore players Croatian Football League players Ukrainian Premier League players Albanian expatriate men's footballers Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine KF Liria Prizren managers KF Teuta managers FC Ballkani managers FC Dinamo City managers Kategoria Superiore managers Albanian expatriate football managers Expatriate football managers in Kosovo Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Kosovo