Armando Dobra (born 14 April 2001) is a 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 plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for club Chesterfield. Born in England, he represents Albania's youth teams internationally.

Club career

Ipswich Town

Dobra joined the Ipswich Town academy in 2017, progressing through the youth system at

Portman Road Portman Road is a association football, football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C., Ipswich Town since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one E ...

. He signed his first professional contract on 27 February 2019, signing an 18-month deal with the option of a further years extension. He scored on his first-team debut for the club in a 3–1 loss to

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

in an

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

first round tie, on 13 August 2019. His second appearance with the Ipswich Town first-team saw him assist both goals in a 2–1 win against Tottenham Hotspur U21s in the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

group stage on 3 September 2019. The following month he appeared in another group stage match, coming on as a substitute to assist the final goal in a 4–0 win against Gillingham. Dobra made his first league appearance for Ipswich on 20 October 2019, coming on from the bench in a 2–0 loss against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

. On 6 May 2020, Ipswich took up the option to extend Dobra's contract by a further year, keeping him at the club until 2021. He signed a new three-year contract with Ipswich on 20 May 2020, keeping him at the club until 2023 with the option of a further year extension. On 4 July 2022, Dobra left Ipswich by mutual consent.

Colchester United (loan)

Dobra moved to

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

on 31 August 2021 on a season-long loan. He made his club debut on 7 September in Colchester's 1–0 defeat to Gillingham in the EFL Trophy. He scored his first goal for the club in Colchester's 1–0 win against West Ham United Under-21s in the EFL Trophy on 28 September.

Chesterfield

On 5 July 2022, Dobra joined

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

club Chesterfield on a two-year contract. He scored on his debut for the club in a 2–2 draw against

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs ro ...

. Despite missing several games due to injury, Dobra finished his first season at Chesterfield as their top scorer with 12 goals, narrowly missing out on promotion against

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

in the play-off final in which he scored. Following promotion to League Two after the 2023–24 season, Dobra was voted Player of the Year in Chesterfield's first season back in the EFL.

International career

Born in England, Dobra qualifies to play for

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 ...

through his father. He made his debut for the Albania U19 team in a friendly on 24 March 2019, featuring in a 1–1 draw with Macedonia U19 in Korça. He won his second cap in another friendly with Macedonia on 26 March 2019, coming on as a half-time substitute in a 2–1 defeat in

Ohrid Ohrid ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...

. In August 2019, Dobra was called up to the Albania U19s for two friendlies against Bosnia and Herzegovina. He featured in both friendly matches, with the first game ending in a 0–0 draw and the second result a 2–0 loss, winning his fourth and fifth caps respectively for the U19s. On 13 November 2019, Dobra scored his first international goal in a 5–1 loss against Greece U19s in the

2020 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification The 2020 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-19 football competition that was originally to determine the seven teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Northern Ireland in the 2020 UEFA European Un ...

stage. On 11 March 2020, Dobra received his first call up to the Albania U21 national team for a

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

qualifier against Kosovo U21, although the matches were postponed due to the outbreak of the

Coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

. He was called up to the U21 side again in August 2020 for

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021) was the 23rd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (26th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth Association ...

qualifiers in September 2020. He made his debut for the Albania U21s on 4 September in a 5–1 win against Austria U21.

Career statistics

Honours

Chesterfield *

: 2023–24

References

External links

Armando Dobra profile
at the Ipswich Town F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dobra, Armando 2001 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Redbridge Albanian men's footballers English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Ipswich Town F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players English Football League players Albania men's youth international footballers Albania men's under-21 international footballers English people of Albanian descent 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Albanian sportsmen