Niko Bespalla (1938 – 28 March 2017) was an Albanian

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 ...

. Famous for his fierce shooting, he played for Lokomotiva Durrës,

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 ...

Dinamo Tirana Football Club Dinamo City, commonly referred to as Dinamo City and colloquially known as Dinamo, is an Albanian professional football club based out of Tirana. They compete in the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. Founded i ...

and Erzeni Shijak in his career.

Club career

He grew up in

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the List of cities and towns in Albania#List, second most populous city of the Albania, Republic of Albania and county seat, seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest ...

along with parents and his two sisters, which is where he began playing football with the youth team of Puna Durrës. He captained the Durrës under-19 side to the national championship before being promoted to the senior team by then coach

Adem Karapici Adem Karapici (1912–1972) was an Albanian football player and coach who played for Sportklub Tiranë in the 1930s where he won six National Championships. Managerial career As a coach, he was in charge of Albania national team for five games ...

in 1957 at the age of 19. In 1957, he was summoned to fulfil his military service and subsequently joined army club

with whom he won two league titles.

Personal life

Bespalla was born in

in 1938 into a Russian family who had moved to Albania in the 1920s, first living in

Tiranë 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 ...

before settling in

. His father, Spiridon Bespalov, married his mother Varvara in

Podgorica Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

, and then changed their last name from Bespalov to Bespalla. He was jailed for 7 years by the

Communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

in 1967 after allegedly stealing tin . He was married to Flora and his only surviving child Justin Bespalla was also a footballer who played for Teuta Durrës and Erzeni Shijak amongst others. He died on 28 March 2017, aged 79.

Honours

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 ...

: 2 ::

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

Albania - Championship Winning Teams
– RSSSF

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bespalla, Niko 1938 births 2017 deaths People from Shijak Footballers from Durrës County Footballers from Durrës Albanian men's footballers Men's association football forwards KF Teuta players FK Partizani Tirana players FC Dinamo City players KF Erzeni Shijak players Kategoria Superiore players 20th-century Albanian sportsmen