Alban Tafaj (born 3 December 1971) is an Albanian former professional football manager and retired player. He played for both Albanian city rivals Partizani Tirana and Tirana.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alban Tafaj | ||
| Date of birth | 3 December 1971 | ||
| Place of birth | Tirana, Albania | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1992 | Partizani Tirana | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1992–1997 | Partizani Tirana | 96 | (3) |
| 1997–2006 | Tirana | 182 | (14) |
| Total | 278 | (17) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2009 | Tirana (caretaker) | ||
| 2009–2010 | Tirana (caretaker) | ||
| 2012 | Tirana (caretaker) | ||
| 2012–2013 | Tirana (caretaker) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Playing career edit
Born in Tirana, Albania, Tafaj played for hometown clubs Partizani Tirana and Tirana. He played at Partizani for five years, and at Tirana for nine. He won the Albanian Superliga six times as a player, one of them being with Partizani and the others with Tirana.[1] Tafaj also won the cup and Supercup trophies with the two clubs. He retired in 2006 at the age of 35.
Managerial career edit
Following his retirement from professional football, Tafaj was offered a job in the back room staff at Tirana. He became the club's technical director but has also had to fill in as a caretaker manager when the club changed managers through the season. He guided Tirana to their 24th Albanian Superliga in 2009 after former manager Agustin Kola left the club after narrowly losing out on the Albanian Cup trophy to Flamurtari in March of that year. Tafaj finished the season and kept Tirana at the top of the table to win the championship.[2] Once again he became the caretaker manager after Croatian manager Ilija Lončarević left the club in October 2009 after a series of poor results.[1] He stayed on that position until January 2009.
In October 2012, then still technical director of the club, Tafaj replaced Artur Lekbello as caretaker of Tirana for the fourth time, staying there until February 2013. He had already been caretaker earlier that year after Julián Rubio left the club for Flamurtari in September 2012.[3]
Honours edit
Player edit
Partizani Tirana[4]
Tirana[4]
- Albanian Superliga: 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2003-04, 2004–05, 2005–06
- Albanian Cup: 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02
- Albanian Supercup: 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005
Manager edit
Tirana[4]
References edit
- ^ a b Alban Tafaj: Ja Tirana ime! - Telegraf (in Albanian)
- ^ "Festa bardh e blu e titullit zgjat deri në mëngjes" (in Turkish). TRT. 24 May 2009.
- ^ Lekbello jep dorëheqjen, Alban Tafaj trajner i Tiranës… - Panorama (in Albanian)
- ^ a b c Albania - Championship Winning Teams - RSSSF