Herolind Shala

Herolind Shala

Shala with Albania U21 in March 2014
Personal information
Date of birth	(1992-02-01) 1 February 1992 (age 32)
Place of birth	Porsgrunn, Norway
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Start
Number	25
Youth career
0000–2007	Tollnes
2007–2011	Notodden
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2011	Notodden	50	(30)
2011–2014	Odd	90	(20)
2015–2017	Sparta Prague	3	(0)
2015–2016	→ Slovan Liberec (loan)	24	(6)
2016–2017	→ Kasımpaşa (loan)	10	(1)
2017–2018	Lyngby	20	(2)
2018	Start	14	(3)
2019–2020	Vålerenga	48	(8)
2021	Stabæk	11	(0)
2021–2024	Erzurumspor FK	60	(1)
2024–	Start	4	(0)
International career‡
2009	Norway U17	2	(0)
2012	Norway U21	1	(0)
2013–2014	Albania U21	7	(2)
2014–2016	Albania	6	(0)
2016–2021	Kosovo	27	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 November 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 November 2021

Herolind Shala (born 1 February 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Norwegian club Start. Born in Norway, he plays for the Kosovo national team. He previously represented Norway at youth and Albania at under-21 and senior international level.

Club career

Sparta Prague

On 11 January 2015, Shala joined Czech First League side Sparta Prague. ^[1] On 23 February 2015, he made his debut in a 4–1 home win against Příbram after being named in the starting line-up.

Lyngby

On 30 August 2017, Shala joined Danish Superliga side Lyngby. ^{[2] [3]} On 19 November 2017, he made his debut in a 3–1 home defeat against Randers after coming on as a substitute at 69th minute in place of Martin Ørnskov.

Start

On 4 August 2018, Shala joined with the newly promoted team of Eliteserien side Start, on a season-long contract. ^[4] On 6 August 2018, he made his debut in a 4–1 away defeat against Brann after coming on as a substitute at 70th minute in place of Tobias Christensen.

Vålerenga

On 11 February 2019, Shala joined Eliteserien side Vålerenga, on a two-year contract. ^[5] On 30 March 2019, he made his debut in a 2–0 home win against Mjøndalen after being named in the starting line-up. ^[6]

Stabæk

On 5 March 2021, Shala joined Eliteserien side Stabæk. ^[7] On 19 May 2021, he made his debut against his former club Odd after being named in the starting line-up and assists in his side's two goals during a 2–2 home draw. ^[8]

Erzurumspor FK

On 9 September 2021, Stabæk announced the transfer of Shala to TFF First League club Erzurumspor FK. ^[9] That same day, the club confirmed that Shala's transfer was permanent. ^[10]

International career

Norway

From 2009, until 2012, Shala has been part of Norway at youth international level, respectively has been part of the U17 and U21 teams and he with these teams played three matches, which were friendly matches.

Albania

Under-21

In May 2013. When he was called up for both the Norwegian and the Albanian under-21 team, he withdrew from the Norwegian squad as he wanted to represent Albania instead. ^[11] On 11 July 2013, he made his debut for the Albanian U-21 team against Bosnia and Herzegovina U21 by playing full 90-minutes. ^[12]

On 5 March 2014, he was called up for the closing match of the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 qualification against Austria. ^[13] He played as a starter and scored the last goal for his side in the 57th minute, where the match finished in an away 1–3 victory with other goals scored by Enis Gavazaj and Vasil Shkurti. ^{[14] [15]}

Senior

On 7 September 2014, Shala received his first senior national team call-up by the Albania national football team coach Gianni De Biasi for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match against Portugal. ^[16] On 14 November 2014, he made his debut for senior team in the "Group I" Friendly Match against the Euro 2016 hosts, France, by coming on as a substitute in the 76th minute. ^[17] In the other match against Italy, he played once again as a substitute at this time in the 71st minute. ^[18]

Kosovo

On 30 August 2016, Shala received a call-up from Kosovo for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Finland. ^[19] On 6 October 2016, he made his debut with Kosovo in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Croatia after coming on as a substitute at 77th minute in place of Arbër Zeneli.

Personal life

Shala was born in Porsgrunn, Norway to Kosovo Albanian parents from Drenas. ^[20] His family belong to the Shala tribe. He and his family speak Albanian in the Gheg dialect of the language.

Career statistics

Club

As of 4 April 2024 ^[21]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Europe [a]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Odd	2011	Tippeligaen	4	0	0	0	—		4	0
	2012		26	3	3	0	—		29	3
	2013		30	8	3	0	—		33	8
	2014		30	9	6	5	—		36	14
	Total		90	20	12	5	—		102	25
Sparta Prague	2014–15	Czech First League	3	0	1	0	—		4	0
Slovan Liberec (loan)	2015–16	Czech First League	24	6	4	0	9	1	36	7
Kasımpaşa (loan)	2016–17	Süper Lig	10	1	7	2	—		17	3
Lyngby	2017–18	Danish Superliga	15	2	1	0	—		16	2
Start	2018	Eliteserien	14	3	1	1	—		15	4
Vålerenga	2019	Eliteserien	21	6	1	0	—		22	6
	2020		24	2	0	0	—		24	2
	Total		45	8	1	0	—		46	8
Stabæk	2021	Eliteserien	11	0	2	0	—		13	0
Erzurumspor F.K.	2021–22	TFF First League	24	1	1	0	—		25	1
	2022–23		28	0	0	0	—		28	0
	2023–24		9	0	1	0	—		10	0
Career total			211	40	29	8	9	1	248	50

1. Including continental competitions, such as UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League

International

As of 14 November 2021 ^{[22] [23]}

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Albania
	2014	2	0
	2015	2	0
	2016	2	0
Total		6	0
Kosovo
	2016	3	0
	2017	1	0
	2018	9	0
	2019	3	0
	2020	7	0
	2021	4	0
Total		33	0

Honours

Odd

• Norwegian Cup runner-up: 2014

References

1. "Zyrtare: Shala firmos me Spartën e Pragës". aSport (in Albanian). 11 January 2015. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
2. "Herolind Shala til Lyngby Boldklub – Lyngby Boldklub". Archived from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
3. "Záložník Shala přestoupil ze Sparty do dánského Lyngby". Blesk (in Czech). 30 August 2017.
4. "Shala klar for Start" [Shala ready for Start] (in Norwegian). IK Start. 4 August 2018.
5. "Shala klar for Vålerenga" [Herolind Shala ready for Vålerenga] (in Norwegian). Vålerenga Fotball. 11 February 2019.
6. "Vålerenga vs. Mjøndalen 2–0". Soccerway. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
7. "Shala valgte Stabæk" [Shala chose Stabæk] (in Norwegian). Stabæk Fotball. 5 March 2021.
8. "Herolind Shala e nis në mënyrën më të mirë aventurën me Stabaekun" [Herolind Shala starts the adventure with Stabaek in the best way] (in Albanian). Telegrafi. 19 May 2021.
9. "Shala solgt til tyrkisk klubb" [Shala sold to Turkish club] (in Norwegian). Stabæk Fotball. 9 September 2021.
10. Erzurumspor F.K. [@Erzurumspor] (9 September 2021). "Erzurumspor'umuza Hoş Geldin Herolind Shala!" [Welcome to Erzurumspor, Herolind Shala!] (Tweet) (in Turkish) – via Twitter.
11. "Shala vraket Norge". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 23 May 2013. Archived from the original on 26 June 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
12. Bosnia-Herzegovina U21 vs. Albania U21 - 11 June 2013 - Soccerway
13. Gega shpall listën për ndeshjen e fundit në eliminatore Archived 27 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine aSport.al
14. Austria U21 vs. Albania U21 - 5 March 2014 Soccerway
15. "Season ends in Norway, Herolind Shala in the lineup of the year". Oculus News.
16. De Biazi flet për ndeshjen me Portugalinë Archived 13 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine - FSHF.org "Në fund trajneri i Kombëtares së Shqipërisë publikoi edhe listën me 24 lojtarë të grumbulluar për këtë takim. Ata janë: 24. Herolind Shala"
17. France vs. Albania - 14 November 2014 - Soccerway
18. Italy football team defeated Albania 1:0, 18 November 2014 EU-football.info
19. "Bunjaki publikoi listën e lojtarëve për ndeshjen me Finlandën" (in Albanian). Football Federation of Kosovo. 30 August 2016.
20. "Ekskluzive, Herolind Shala rrëfen largimin nga Shqipëria për te Kosova" [Exclusive, Herolind Shala tells the story of leaving Albania for Kosovo] (in Albanian). Telegrafi. 18 August 2016.
21. Herolind Shala at Soccerway
22. Herolind Shala at National-Football-Teams.com
23. "Herolind Shala". eu-football.info. 14 November 2021.

External links

• Herolind Shala at Soccerway
• Herolind Shala at National-Football-Teams.com
• Herolind Shala at Fortunaliga.cz