Idriz 'Idi' Refik Batha (born 28 March 1992) 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 plays as a

central 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

Kategoria e parë Kategoria e Parë is the second tier of professional football in 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 Se ...

club

Flamurtari Vlorë Flamurtari Football Club is an Albanian professional football club based in Vlorë, Albania. The club plays in the Kategoria Superiore, which is the first tier of football in the country. Founded in 1923, the club is one of the oldest in Alba ...

Club career

Early career

Born in the southern city of

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in Southern Albania, southern Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë moun ...

, Batha moved to the capital

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 ...

as a child where he joined the Partizani academy before moving to the academy of local rivals

in 2005. He would remain at Tirana's academy until 2011, which is when he moved back to Partizani and signed his first professional contract at the age of 19. Partizani had been relegated to

Kategoria e Dytë Kategoria e Dytë is the third tier of professional football in Albania’s league system. Known as the Second Division since the 2004–05 season, it consists of 23 teams split into two geographically-based groups. The winners of each group secur ...

, the third-tier of Albanian football which is where Batha made his senior debut on 2 October 2011 in a 1–0 over

Bilisht Sport Klubi Sportiv Devolli is an Albanian football club based in the town of Bilisht. History Bilisht Sport ''Klubi Sportiv Devolli'' was founded in 1927 and played under the name ''Devolli Bilisht''. They were renamed to just ''Bilishti'' between 19 ...

. He scored his first senior goals on 18 March 2012 against

Albpetrol Albpetrol is an Albanian upstream petroleum production and marketing company, which also monitors state petroleum agreements in Albania. Its stock is owned by the Albanian state. The company is headquartered in Patos and has a representative offi ...

, scoring twice in the first half in the 2–0 win. Batha helped Partizani finish top of the Kategoria e Dytë Group B table and achieve promotion back to

Kategoria e Parë Kategoria e Parë is the second tier of professional football in 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 Se ...

, before losing 3–1 to Group A winners Tërbuni in the Championship Final.

Besa

Following an impressive season with Partizani in the third tier, Batha joined newly promoted

Kategoria Superiore 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 Besa in the summer of 2012, where he made his top-flight debut in the opening game against Laçi, playing the full 90 minutes in the 1–1 draw. He scored his first top-flight goal on 10 March 2013 in a 2–1 win over

, scoring in injury time to win the game for Besa.

Teuta

While at Besa in January 2014 Batha went to

Teuta Teuta ( Illyrian: ''*Teutana'', 'mistress of the people, queen'; ; ) was the queen regent of the Ardiaei tribe in Illyria, who reigned approximately from 231 BC to 228/227 BC. Following the death of her spouse Agron in 231 BC, she assumed ...

on a short-term loan as Besa were struggling

Partizani

In the summer of 2O14 Batha agreed to return to Partizani on a free. On 11 November 2015, Batha extended his contract with Partizani Tirana for another three seasons, keeping him at the club until 2018.

Flamurtari

He ran down his contract with Partizani but hadn't found a club yet so Partizani gave him a special 9-extra-day contract to find a club. He joined Flamurtari

Tirana

On 18 June 2019, Batha was unveiled as the new player of

KF Tirana Klubi i Futbollit Tirana is an Albanian professional football club based in the country's capital city, Tirana, that competes in the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. The men's football club is part of the multi-discipli ...

, signing a one-year contract with an option of a further one, worth €5,000 a month. On 27 October, during the 3–0 win at Luftëtari Gjirokastër, Batha missed his first career penalty; his attempt was saved by Panagiotis Paiteris. During the match against title rivals Kukësi at

Arena Kombëtare Arena Kombëtare () is an All-seater stadium, all-seater, multi-purpose stadium, multi-purpose Association football, football stadium located in the Albanian capital city of Tirana which was built on the ground of the former Qemal Stafa Stadium. ...

, Batha scored a free-kick in the 85th minute that served as a temporarily equalizer in an eventual 2–1 win, sending Tirana top of the table for the first time this season. The following week, Batha scored two penalties against his ex team Partizani in a 5–1 home win, helping Tirana record their biggest win over their city rivals since 2005. He was instrumental for his side in midfield during the 2019–20 Albanian Superliga season, scoring 10 goals in 33 appearances, a personal best, as Tirana won the championship title for the 25th time in their 100th anniversary. In

2019–20 Albanian Cup 2019–20 Albanian Cup () is the sixty-eighth season of Albania's annual cup competition. Kukësi are the defending champions. Teuta won the cup for the fourth time in their history. Format Ties are played in a two-legged format similar to those ...

, where Tirana reached the final, Batha scored once in five appearances, collecting in total 38 appearances and 11 goals. On 8 August 2020, Tirana announced to have signed Batha on a new one-year contract. Batha took squad number 10 ahead of the 2020–21 season, which was last worn by Edon Hasani who departed the club. On 19 August, he captained Tirana for the first time in their

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

first qualifying round match against

Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi is a sports club from Tbilisi, Georgia (country), Georgia. It was founded in 1925. Among its highest honors, is the European trophy earned by its Association football, football team which won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1981, beating ...

, which ended in a 2–0 away win.

UTA Arad

Batha joined

UTA Arad Asociația Fotbal Club UTA Arad (), commonly known as UTA Arad or simply UTA (''Uzina Textilă Arad''; ), is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Arad, Arad County that competes in the Liga I. The team was founded in 1945 ...

of Romania in the summer of 2021 and due to UTA Arad's Albanian shareholders former

teammate Erjon Hoxhallari joined him a year later. Both Batha and Hoxhallari left in the summer of 2023

Al-Najma

On 9 July 2023, Batha joined Saudi Arabian club Al-Najma.

Career statistics

Honours

Clubs

;KF Tirana *

: 2019–20 *

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 ...

runner-up: 2019–20 *

Albanian Supercup The Albanian Supercup is a single match usually at the beginning of the season between the winners of the Kategoria Superiore and Albanian Cup. Prior to 2000, Supercup final was not played when the champion team won the Double. However, after the ...

runner-up:

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Batha, Idriz 1992 births Living people Footballers from Gjirokastër Albania men's under-21 international footballers Albanian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Kategoria Superiore players Kategoria e Dytë players FK Partizani Tirana players KF Besa Kavajë players KF Teuta players Flamurtari FC players KF Tirana players Liga I players FC UTA Arad players Saudi First Division League players Al-Najma SC (Saudi Arabia) players Albanian expatriate men's footballers Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia 21st-century Albanian sportsmen