Ervin Bulku
 Bulku with Sepahan in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 3 March 1981 | ||
| Place of birth | Tirana, Albania | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder / Right Back | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Sepahan | ||
| Number | 38 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1998 | SK Tirana | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1998–2007 | SK Tirana | 201 | (14) |
| 2007–2010 | Kryvbas | 58 | (2) |
| 2010–2011 | Hajduk Split | 15 | (0) |
| 2011–2012 | AZAL Baku | 22 | (3) |
| 2012– | Sepahan | 43 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1999–2000 | Albania U18 | 1 | (0) |
| 2001 | Albania U21 | 1 | (0) |
| 2002– | Albania | 55 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 31 January 2014. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Ervin Bulku (born 3 March 1981) is an Albanian football player who will play for Sepahan club in Iran Pro League and Albanian national team as a midfielder.
He is a Utility player and is able to play in many positions such as Central midfielder, Defensive midfielder, Right Midfielder and even Right Defender. Currently, he plays for Sepahan as the Right Midfielder. He is also the younger brother of former SK Tirana's footballer Sokol Bulku.
Club career
Bulku started his 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]
He played together with him compatriots Dorian Bylykbashi, Isli Hidi and also Ansi Agolli who joined club two years later.
At the end of June 2011 Bulku signed with AZAL of the Azerbaijan Premier League.[9] Bulku made his debut for AZAL on 7 August 2011 against Simurq,[10] going on to score his first goal for the club 3 games later against Neftchi Baku on 27 August 2011.[11] In total Bulku made 22 league appearances for the club scoring three goals.[12]
Club career statistics
| Club performance | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Albania | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
| 1998–99 | Tirana | Albanian Superliga | 13 | 0 | - | - | 13 | 0 | ||
| 1999–00 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 1 | ||||
| 2000–01 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 13 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 1 | ||
| 2002–03 | 22 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 2 | ||
| 2003–04 | 24 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 2 | ||||
| 2004–05 | 33 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 38 | 7 | ||
| 2005–06 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 29 | 1 | ||
| 2006–07 | 30 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 36 | 1 | ||
| Ukraine | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
| 2007–08 | Kryvbas | Ukrainian Premier League | 19 | 0 | - | - | 19 | 0 | ||
| 2008–09 | 25 | 2 | - | - | 25 | 2 | ||||
| 2009–10 | 14 | 0 | - | - | 14 | 0 | ||||
| Croatia | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
| 2010–11 | Hajduk Split | Prva HNL | 19 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 0 | ||
| Azerbaijan | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
| 2011–12[12] | AZAL | Azerbaijan Premier League | 22 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 24 | 3 |
| Iran | League | Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
| 2012–13 | Sepahan | Iran Pro League | 21 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 31 | 2 |
| 2013–14 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 341 | 19 | 13 | 2 | 29 | 1 | 376 | 22 | ||
International career
Bulku is part of Albania national football team since 2002.
International goals
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 February 2011 | Tirana |  Slovenia | 1–2 | Loss | Friendly |
Honours
Club
- KF Tirana
- Albanian Superliga (6): 1998–1999, 1999–2000, 2002–2003, 2003–2004, 2004–2005, 2006–2007
- Albanian Cup (4): 1999, 2001, 2002, 2006
- Albanian Supercup (6): 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007
- Sepahan
References
- ↑ "1998–99". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ↑ "1999-00". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ↑ "2000–01". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ↑ "Ligue des Champions&lieu=Europe&datedebut=0&datefin=0&type=0 Champions League encounters". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ↑ "Albanian Supercup encounters". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ↑ "Albanian Superliga 2006–2007". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ↑ "Matches List". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ↑ "Albanian Cup 2006". Rsssf.com. 25 August 2006. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ↑ "Marin Ljubicic goes to the Ukrainian Tavra and Ervin Bulka in Baku!" (in Croatian). http://www.dalmacijanews.com/. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ↑ "Simurq 0-3 AZAL". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ↑ "AZAL 3-1 Neftchi". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "2011/12 Stats". http://www.pfl.az/. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ↑ Ervin Bulku at National-Football-Teams.com
- ↑ Ervin Bulku career data
- ↑ "E. BULKU". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
External links
- Ervin Bulku at nogometni-magazin (Croatian)
- Ervin Bulku at National-Football-Teams.com
- Ervin Bulku at FFU website
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