Arbnor Fejzullahu (born 8 April 1993) is an Albanian 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 most recently played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for Swiss club

FC Freienbach FC Freienbach is a Swiss football team currently playing in Liga 1., the fourth tier in the Swiss football pyramid Group 3. Based in Freienbach, the club was formed in 1965. They finished 2020/2021 season in 1st position (2. Liga interregiona ...

Club career

Early career

Fejzullahu was born in the town

Vranje Vranje ( sr-Cyrl, Врање, ) is a city in Southern Serbia and the administrative center of the Pčinja District. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population of 55,214 while the city administrative area has 74,381 inhabitan ...

in southern

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

FR Yugoslavia The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...

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 ...

parents. He played for the local ethnic Albanian team Tërnoci from the town of

Veliki Trnovac Veliki Trnovac (; ) is a village in the municipality of Bujanovac, Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the village had a population of 11,762. Of these, 11,730 (99,52%) were ethnic Albanians, 1 (0,01%) Bulgarian, 1 (0,01%) Bosniak, and 12 (0,17% ...

. He was an important first team member in the heart of the midfield at the age of just 17 in the Serbian 5th tier of the football level.

Besa Kavajë

Fejzullahu moved to Albania in the summer of 2011 to join

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 ...

who had just been 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 ...

. Following his arrival prompted positive feedback by both the manager of Besa,

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 ...

and the club's directors who all believed Fejzullahu would play a big role in the club's ambitions to return to 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 ...

Partizani Tirana

Following Besa's relegation to the

, Fejzullahu was given permission by the club to leave, and after interest from several Albanian sides he decided to join

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 ...

. He officially signed on 27 May alongside Idriz Batha and the new manager

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 ...

. Fejzullahu debuted in team's opening match of 2014–15 season against Laçi, starting and playing full-90 minutes in a 1–1 away draw. Later, on 19 November 2014, he scored his first goal for the club against Lushnja, valid for the second round of

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 ...

, scoring the equaliser in the 25th minute, in an eventual 4–1 home win. Following the end of 2015–16, Fejzullahu handed a transfer request in order to move abroad. He was willing to pay the clausole which was €50,000. Aside moving abroad, he was strongly linked with a move to

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 ...

, participating in a training session with them. Partizani did not allow the player to leave the club due his contract until June 2017, which led the played to send the case to the Room of Conflict Resolution, where the club was victorious. In the end, the player decided to stay at Partizani for the new season. On 30 September 2016, Fejzullahu agreed a contract extension, signing a contract until June 2018.

International career

Interest was shown in Fejzullahu by the Serbia U-18 side in January 2011, but he declined the request to represent Serbia, stating that he would like to play for Albania. In August 2011 he was invited by the

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 ...

to participate in a training camp held in

Kamëz Kamëz ( sq-definite, Kamza) is a municipality in Tirana County, Albania. It was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Kamëz and Paskuqan, that became municipal units. The seat of the municipalit ...

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 ...

following the recommendation by a member of the Albanian supporters' association

Tifozat Kuq e Zi Tifozat Kuq e Zi (, also known as the ''Albania National Football Team Supporters Club'') is a non-profit football supporters' association for the Albania national football team and various national team sportive activities. It was founded on Dec ...

, Jetmir Salihu. The training camp was held for ethnic Albanian footballers playing abroad. He shone amongst the 30 participants which meant the Albanian Football Association quickly began the procedure to equip the player with Albanian citizsenhip.

Albania senior team

Fejzullahu received his first call up to the senior Albania national team by Gianni De Biasi on 8 June 2015 for a friendly game against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

on 13 June and was used in the last minutes of the match, marking thus his debut.

Career statistics

Club

International

Arbnor Fejzullahu - national football team player
EU-Football.info

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fejzullahu, Arbnor 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Vranje Footballers from Pčinja District Albanians in Serbia Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders Albanian men's footballers Albanian sportsmen Albania men's youth international footballers Albania men's under-21 international footballers Albania men's international footballers KF Tërnoci players KF Besa Kavajë players FK Partizani Tirana players FC Rapperswil-Jona players Kategoria e Parë players Kategoria Superiore players Swiss Super League players Swiss Promotion League players Swiss 1. Liga (football) players Albanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland 21st-century Albanian sportsmen