Drilon Shala (born 20 March 1987) is a Finnish former 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 ...

who played as a striker. He is of

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 countr ...

origin.

Club career

Shala progressed through the

Reipas Reipas (July 14, 1948 – September 20, 1971) was a successful Finnish trotter. He was a Finnhorse gelding, and the first Finnish horse to earn over one million marks in one season. Reipas was the best earning trotter in Finland through ...

youth academy. He made his breakthrough as a senior player for

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern ...

, playing for the club from 2006 to 2012. On 17 January 2013, Shala moved to

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig, officially known as Spor Toto 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization of the ...

club Tavşanlı Linyitspor. At the end his first season at the club, his contract was terminated by mutual agreement. He eventually returned to Lahti, signing a two-year contract with his former club on 5 November 2013. There, he won the

Finnish League Cup The Finnish League Cup was a knock-out football competition contested annually during the pre-season in winter by teams from Veikkausliiga. The league cup was abolished after the 2016 tournament and replaced with the Finnish Cup group stage starti ...

in 2016 with a 4–3 victory against SJK in the final; his third League Cup playing for Lahti. He retired from professional football in February 2020, only to return for one more season to play for his childhood club

in the third-tier

Kakkonen Kakkonen or II divisioona is the third level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finnish football teams. The II divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mid-1990s became known as the Kakkonen ( Finnish for 'Number Tw ...

International career

On 27 February 2006, five months after having been granted

Finnish nationality Citizenship of Finland can be obtained on the basis of birth, marriage of parents, adoption, or the place of birth. In addition, it may be acquired by application or by declaration to authorities. Finnish citizenship acquisition is based prima ...

, Shala made his debut for the Finland U19s as a substitute for

Jami Puustinen Jami Petteri Puustinen (born 9 January 1987) is a Finnish football player who plays as a striker for FC Haka. Born in Espoo, Puustinen began his career with FC Kasiysi at the age of eight in 1995, before signing for FC Espoo in 2000. After goin ...

during a 1–0 victory against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Honours

Lahti *

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' ( Finnish for 'Number One'; sv, Ettan) is the second highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga), although it is the highest league managed by the Football Association of Finland. The teams also p ...

: 2011 *

: 2007,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

, 2016

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shala, Drilon 1987 births Living people Footballers from Lahti Finnish people of Albanian descent Finnish men's footballers Finland men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards FC Lahti players FC Hämeenlinna players TKİ Tavşanlı Linyitspor footballers PK-35 Vantaa (men) players Veikkausliiga players Ykkönen players Kakkonen players TFF First League players Finnish expatriate men's footballers Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Shala (tribe)