| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ervin Bulku | ||
| Date of birth | 3 March 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | Tirana, Albania | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | AZAL Baku | ||
| Number | 88 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1998 | SK Tirana | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1998–2007 | SK Tirana | 201 | (31) |
| 2007–2010 | Kryvbas | 58 | (2) |
| 2010–2011 | Hajduk Split | 15 | (0) |
| 2011– | AZAL Baku | 8 | (3) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2002– | Albania | 32 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 May 2011. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Ervin Bulku (born 3 March 1981) is an Albanian football player who plays for Azerbaijan Premier League club AZAL Baku and Albanian national team as a midfielder. He is also the younger brother of former SK Tirana and Partizani Tirana player Sokol Bulku.
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Bulku started his playing career as a youngster in the SK Tirana youth teams. At the age of 18 he was put into the first team by coach Sulejman Mema and was given a chance to break into the first team and compete with the likes of Sokol Prenga and Ardian Mema for a spot in the first team. in his first season with the club and in professional football he managed to feature in 13 games during the season.[1] During the 1999–2000 season with Tirana Bulku found it easier to make an impact in the first team with the club's new manager Shkëlqim Muça having faith in the promosing youngster and fellow midfielders Eldorado Merkoçi, Devis Mukaj, Klodian Duro and Sokol Prenga all leaving the club. These departures meant that Bulku would feature more frequently in the first team and he did so making an impressive 21 appearances in his second season in which he won his first trophie of his career, the Albanian Superliga title.[2] After a very good season he tried to repeat it for the 2000–2001 season, this did not happen as both injury and some mediocre displays meant that Bulku spent most of the season on the side lines. He did however manage to win the Albanian Supercup at the start of the season but his side Tirana narrowly lost the race for the title to Vllaznia.[3] During the next few seasons of his career Bulku managed to make a name for himself in the squad and in the league, he was receiving a lot of attention from the media and the fans because he was destined for a successful career. He began to feature in almost every game when fit and became a key member in the squad and a key figure in all the trophy winning sides that the club produced over the next few years. Bulku was also a key player in Tirana's European games and featured against teams such as Dinamo Tbilisi, Ferencváros, CSKA Sofia and Kayserispor.[4] He also played in 6 Albanian Supercup finals during his time with Tirana, winning 5 of them, including the famous 6–0 win over city rivals Dinamo Tirana in which Bulku managed to score in.[5] In his final season with SK Tirana before moving to play in Ukraine Bulku was once again a key member in the team that won the league, the cup and the supercup. He played 30 games and scored one goal in the league,[6] played in the 2–0 supercup win over KS Elbasani[7] and he also played in 1–0 win over Vllaznia in the final of the Albanian Cup.[8]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 February 2011 | Tirana | Slovenia | 1–2 | Loss | Friendly |
| Persondata | ||||||
| Name | Bulku, Ervin | |||||
| Alternative names | ||||||
| Short description | ||||||
| Date of birth | 3 March 1981 | |||||
| Place of birth | Albania | |||||
| Date of death | ||||||
| Place of death | ||||||