Stivi Frashëri (born 29 August 1990) is an
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 ...
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 lea ...
who as a
goalkeeper
In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
for
Liria Prizren in the
Kosovar Superliga.
Club career
Early career
Frashëri joined the youth setup of 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 a 14-year-old, where he remained for two years until 2007, which was when he moved to
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
to sign for
Aris Thessaloniki
Athlitikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis, means Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki (), is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club founded on 25 March 1914 in Thessaloniki.
Nicknamed ''God of War'', Aris was one of the strongest Greek clubs during t ...
. He joined the youth team at Aris Thessaloniki, but he was also invited to train with the first team after impressing in youth games for the club. He spent three years in Greece with Aris before leaving the club in the summer of 2010 with the desire to move back to Albania and play regular first team football for the first time in his career.
Bylis Ballsh
Frashëri joined newly promoted
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 ...
side
Bylis Ballsh
Klubi i Futbollit Bylis is an Albanian professional football club based in Ballsh, part of Mallakastër municipality. They compete in the Abissnet Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. Their home ground is the Adush Muça Stadium.
His ...
after returning to Albania, and he immediately established himself as a first team regular at the age of 20, despite competition from veteran goalkeeper and former
Nigeria international Ndubuisi Egbo. In his debut season in Albania he made 22 league appearances out of a possible 33, as he helped his side finish in a respectable 6th out of 12 teams. The following season he remained the first choice goalkeeper, ahead of Ndubuisi Egbo once again and new signing
Eduard Miço, as he featured in 15 out of 26 league games to help his side finish 6th out of 14 teams. His side struggled in a relegation battle during the 2012–13 season, but he managed to help Bylis Ballsh escape relegation by just a single point. After being knocked out 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 ...
in the quarter finals in two consecutive campaigns, Frashëri helped his side reach the final against
Laçi, which they ultimately lost as Frashëri conceded a goal in 119th minute of the game which had gone into extra time. The 2013–14 season proved to be one of the most difficult of his career, as he struggled to regain his place as first choice goalkeeper, and his side were disqualified from 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 ...
due to an incident involving the club's president and
Albanian Football Association
The Albanian Football Federation (; FSHF) is the governing body of football in Albania. Headquartered in Tirana, it organises the national football leagues of Kategoria Superiore, Kategoria e Parë, Kategoria e Dytë, Kategoria e Tretë, Alba ...
officials that resulted in mass brawl. After the club was disqualified from the Albanian Superliga, Frashëri, much like the rest of the first team squad began looking for new clubs to join the following season.
Tirana
In June 2014
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 ...
were looking for a concrete replacement of
Ilion Lika who left for
Flamurtari and they saw Frashëri as ideal replacement, where he was a
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...
. During the same month
Kukësi, a fellow
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 ...
club, showed interest about him but he definitively was convinced to choose Tirana, where he declared that will sign for the club. He made his debut in the opening match of championship against newbie
Apolonia Fier
Futboll Klub Apolonia Fier is an Albanian football club based in Fier. The club was founded on 17 June 1925 and took its name from the nearby ruins of the ancient city of Apollonia. The club currently competes in Kategoria e Parë, the secon ...
on 24 August, keeping a clean-sheet in a 3–0 win at
Qemal Stafa Stadium
The Qemal Stafa Stadium (), named after Qemal Stafa (1920–1942), a World War II hero, was a national stadium and the largest football stadium in Tirana, Albania. Construction started in 1939 and the stadium was inaugurated in 1946 for the Ba ...
.
In the
Derby match against
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 ...
, Frashëri made a mistake during a shoot and the Partizani Tirana striker
Stevan Račić scored a goal which resulted decisive for the match as Partizani Tirana won the match 1–2. He was criticised too much after the match, where the coach Gugash Magani declared that Frashëri cannot cope with such a pressure match. After that Frashëri was sit on the bench for next match and then in a status update in his
Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
fanpage, Frashëri accused KF Tirana and his teammates for being hardly offended by them. On 17 March 2015, KF Tirana announced to have suspend Frashëri for 3 months due to his accuses against the club. But despite this negative situation, Frashëri made a short declaration where he said that will not leave Tirana.
Then Frashëri returned to participate in 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 ...
match against
Laçi on 8 April 2015, but just on the bench because Tirana gave the starting place
Edvan Bakaj. He returned playing again in the starting line up on 9 May 2015 against
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 ...
where he managed to keep the clean sheet in a goalless draw.
Return to Bylis Ballsh
On 31 January 2016, on the deadline day of that transfer window, Frashëri returned to
Bylis Ballsh
Klubi i Futbollit Bylis is an Albanian professional football club based in Ballsh, part of Mallakastër municipality. They compete in the Abissnet Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. Their home ground is the Adush Muça Stadium.
His ...
by signing a contract until the end of the season. He made his return debut on 6 February by keeping a clean sheet in team's 4–0 home victory against the fellow relegation strugglers
Tërbuni Pukë. In the next match against his former employee Tirana, the players of Tirana refused to shake Frashëri's hand before the start of the match, which led
FSHF
The Albanian Football Federation (; FSHF) is the governing body of football in Albania. Headquartered in Tirana, it organises the national football leagues of Kategoria Superiore, Kategoria e Parë, Kategoria e Dytë, Kategoria e Tretë, Albania ...
to fine the club for its players behaviour. Frashëri played 16 matches until the end of the season, keeping seven clean sheets, which were not enough as Bylis Ballsh was relegated back to
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 ...
after only one season.
Flamurtari Vlorë
On 2 September 2016, Frashëri joined
Flamurtari as a free agent, signing until June 2017, rejoining his former Tirana boss
Gugash Magani
Gugash Magani (born 14 March 1965) is an Albanian Association football, football coach and a former player.
Club career
Magani played the majority of his 22-year professional career with Shkumbini Peqin, while also having stints at other Albania ...
. After appearing in 11 league matches during the season, Frashëri left the team after the end of the season, where Flamurtari narrowly escaped relegation.
Kukësi
On 21 August 2017, Frashëri completed a transfer to fellow top flight side
Kukësi by penning a two-year contract.
He was brought as second choice keeper behind
Enea Koliqi.
After 10 matches on bench, he made his first league appearance of the season on 20 November by starting in the 1–2 home loss to Partizani Tirana.
International career
Youth
;Under-17
Frashëri was part of
Albania under-17 squad in the
qualifiers of
2007 UEFA European Under-17 Championship
The UEFA European Under-17 Championship 2007 Final Tournament was held in Belgium from 2 to 13 May 2007. Top-five teams (two best places from each group plus winner of playoff between third-placed teams) qualified for the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007 ...
. He played in all three matches in
Group 9 Group 9 may refer to:
* Group 9 element
* Group 9 Rugby League
*"Group 9", Australian arts collective, whose members included John Dowie
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