Dritan "Tani" Stafsula (born 16 July 1981) is an

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 ...

n-born Finnish retired footballer, who finished his career at Finnish team Haukiputaan Pallo. He played the majority of his career however for

AC Oulu AC Oulu is a Finnish professional football club based in Oulu, currently playing in Finland's premier division, ''Veikkausliiga''. Formed in 2002, the club have played six seasons in Finland's highest football league Veikkausliiga and 16 seasons ...

Club career

Stafsula started his senior career with

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

-based club Tervarit in 1999 in Finnish third-tier

Kakkonen Kakkonen or II divisioona is the fourth level in the league system of Finnish football and comprises 36 Finnish football teams. Until the end of 2023, ''Kakkonen'' was the third-highest level in Finland, but after the creation of new second-t ...

. The club were promoted and Stafsula played with Tervarit in

Ykkönen ''Ykkönen'' (Finnish language, Finnish for 'Number One'; , previously I divisioona) is the third highest level of the Finnish football league system (after the Veikkausliiga and Ykkösliiga), managed by the Football Association of Finland. Until ...

until 2002, and for the 2003 season he joined newly formatted

which inherited Tervarit's league spot in Ykkönen. Next year he moved to

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga () is a professional association football league in Finland and the highest level of the Finnish football league system. The league comprises the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agenc ...

club

AC Allianssi AC Vantaan Allianssi (or AC Allianssi) was a Finnish football club, based in the town of Vantaa. History Allianssi were a club in decline, following an 8–0 defeat at fellow Finnish club FC Haka. The match was believed to have been fixed by a B ...

. In 2006, Stafsula moved to Norway and signed with Bodø/Glimt in Norwegian

1. divisjon The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon () and OBOS-ligaen (due to sponsoring ties with OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are promo ...

. In his first season he made 20 appearances and scored one goal for his club, but he returned to AC Oulu on a loan deal for the 2007 Veikkausliiga season. He would make 20 appearances and scored two goals for ACO in his third season in the Finnish top level. He terminated his contract with Bodø/Glimt in 2008 and joined

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League (, ''Qazaqstan Premier Ligasy''), commonly referred to as the Kazakh Premier League or simply the Premier League, is a professional association football league in Kazakhstan and the highest level of the ...

club Zhenis for the remainder of the season. In 2009, he signed with

DAC Dunajská Streda DAC may refer to: Businesses and organisations * DacEasy, originally Dac Software, Inc. * Danish Architecture Centre, an international cultural attraction * Defense Ammunition Center (United States), of the United States Department of Defense * ...

Slovak First League The Slovak First Football League (), officially known as Niké liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Slovakia and the highest level of the Slovak football league system. It was formed in 1993 following th ...

. Later in 2009 he returned to Oulu to FC OPA in Kakkonen. Besides a loan stint to Bodens in Sweden in 2010, Stafsula stayed in Oulu, playing five seasons with his former club AC Oulu in Ykkönen and making 122 league appearances and scoring 36 goals. In 2016, he joined Haukiputaan Pallo in fourth-tier

Kolmonen Kolmonen or III divisioona is the fifth level in the Finnish football league system, league system of Finnish football and comprises 108 Finland, Finnish football (soccer), football teams. The III divisioona was introduced in 1973 and in the mi ...

. During five seasons with HauPa, Stafsula played 31 matches and scored 26 goals. In 2020, he played eight matches and scored a goal for OTP in Kolmonen. Stafsula is considered an AC Oulu club legend. He is the all-time top goal scorer in the club's history, having recorded 54 goals in 184 official appearances.

Futsal

Stafsula also played futsal for Oulun side FC Tervarit.

Personal life

Born in

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 ...

, Albania, he moved to Finland in the late 1990s. He holds dual citizenship of Albania and Finland.

Career statistics

Dritan Stafsula

Football Association of Finland The Football Association of Finland (, SPL; ) is the governing body of football (soccer), football and futsal in Finland. It was founded in Helsinki on 19 May 1907. The SPL organises the Finland national football team, men's and Finland women's ...

Notes

1981 births Living people Footballers from Tirana Albanian men's footballers Finnish people of Albanian descent Men's association football wingers Finnish men's footballers Finnish men's futsal players AC Oulu players AC Allianssi players Tampere United players FK Bodø/Glimt players FC Jenis players FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda players Bodens BK players Haukiputaan Pallo players Veikkausliiga players Norwegian First Division players Slovak First Football League players Finnish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Finnish expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Tervarit players Kazakhstan Premier League players Ettan Fotboll players Oulun Työväen Palloilijat players Albanian emigrants to Finland Naturalized citizens of Finland 21st-century Albanian sportsmen 21st-century Finnish sportsmen {{Finland-footy-forward-stub