Skënder Hyka

Skënder Hyka
Personal information
Full nameSkënder Hyka
Date of birthSeptember 6, 1944
Place of birthTirana, Albania
Playing positionForward
Youth career
1957-196317 Nëntori Tirana
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1963-197417 Nëntori Tirana?(60)
National team
1967-1968Albania1(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Skender Hyka (born 6 September 1944 in Tirana) is a former Albanian who spent his entire career at his hometown club 17 Nëntori Tirana (present day KF Tirana) as a forward. He also represented the Albanian national team, although he only earned one senior cap at international level. He currently works for Albanian Football Association as an Executive Committee member and since 2009 he has been head of the Competition Commission.

Career

Early career

Hyka was born and raised in Tirana, where he went attended high school as well as university. He studied at the Institute of Physical Culture and Sport and graduated in 1968, whilst still playing professional football. He joined the 17 Nëntori Tirana youth setup at the age of 13 in 1957, where he played for the different age groups before being promoted to the first team in the early 1960s.

17 Nëntori Tirana

Once turning professional Hyka quickly established himself as a key member of the 17 Nëntori Tirana team, helping them win the Kategoria Superiore four times during his career. He scored 60 league goals with 17 Nëntori which at the time of his retirement in 1974 made him the club's all time top goalscorer (5th as of 2012).

International career

Despite a successful club career with 17 Nëntori, Hyka never managed to break through into the Albanian national team. This was due to the high competition for a place in the attacking positions, especially with the likes of Medin Zhega and Panajot Pano playing in the same time period as Hyka, limiting his chances of being able to play international football. His only senior appearance came on 8 April 1967 against West Germany in Dortmund, a game which Albania lost 6-0 thanks to four goals by Gerd Müller and a double by Hannes Löhr. Hyka would not represent Albania again after this game as this was his only international cap.

Albanian FA

In the years 1992 - 1995, has been Secretary of the Athletic Club Zanzibar. In 1997 has been Secretary General of the Albanian FA. From 1992 onwards, a member of the Executive Committee of the Albanian FA.[1]

References