Dorian Kërçiku (born 30 August 1993) is an Albanian

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 lea ...

. He started his career with

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 ...

in 2011, but after only three appearances he moved to Skënderbeu Korçë where he would go on to win the

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 ...

title twice in two years before he moved back to KF Tirana in the summer of 2013 where he has since established himself as an important first team player.

Career

Early career

Kërçiku made his professional debut for

in a

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

second qualifying round game at home against Slovak side

FC Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava () is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Trnava, Slovakia. The club competes in Slovak First Football League, the top flight in the Football in Slovakia#System, Slovak league system, hav ...

on 14 July 2011. Tirana's coach at the time Julián Rubio started Kërçiku in midfield and played him for the entire game, which ended in a goalless draw. He then played in the return fixture the following week in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

where he once again started the game, but he was substituted off in 70th minute for Cameron Hepple in a game that ended in a 3–1 loss for KF Tirana. His next game was the 2011 Albanian Supercup against Skënderbeu Korçë where he started on the bench but was brought on at half time in the 1–0 win for KF Tirana thanks to a

Bekim Balaj Bekim Balaj (born 11 January 1991) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Albanian club Vllaznia Shkodër. Balaj started his football career with his hometown club Vllaznia and made his professional debut at the ag ...

winner.

Skënderbeu

He left KF Tirana and signed for reigning

champions Skënderbeu Korçë in the last few hours of the summer transfer window, and he was seen as the man to play behind striker Daniel Xhafa. He scored his first goal for the club on his first start against

Shkumbini Peqin Klubi i Futbollit Shkumbini Peqin is an Albanian football club based in the town of Peqin. The club's home ground is the Shkumbini Stadium and they compete in the Kategoria e Dytë. History Football was first introduced to the city of Peqin in t ...

on 24 September 2011 in a 3–1 win where he opened the scoring in the 15th minute.

Return to Tirana

Shortly before the start of 2015–16 season, Kërçiku, when everyone thought he was going to leave, extended his contract for another season.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

;Skënderbeu Korçë *

: 2011–12. 2012-13 ;Tirana *

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 ...

: 2017–18 *

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 ...

: 2016–17 *

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 ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

References

1993 births Living people Footballers from Tirana Albanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Albania men's under-21 international footballers Albania men's youth international footballers KF Tirana players KF Skënderbeu Korçë players FC Dinamo City players Kategoria Superiore players Kategoria e Parë players 21st-century Albanian sportsmen {{Albania-footy-midfielder-stub