Shpëtim Babaj

Shpëtim Babaj
Personal information
Full name Shpëtim Babaj
Date of birth (1981-12-09) 9 December 1981
Place of birth Pristina, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Trepça (manager)
Youth career
1988–1998 Cibalia
1998–1999 Cagliese
1999–2001 Olimpija Ljubljana
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2001–2003 Rudar Velenje 33 (4)
2003–2004 Šmartno 28 (4)
2004–2005 Besiana 34 (12)
2005–2007 Besa Kavajë 64 (2)
2007–2008 Elbasani 17 (1)
2008 Zorya Luhansk 31 (0)
2008–2009 Shakhter Karagandy 16 (2)
2009–2010 Gramozi 32 (2)
2010–2011 Tirana 7 (0)
2011–2014 Trepça 156 (36)
2014 Trepça'89 17 (2)
2014–2016 Hajvalia 65 (12)
2016–2017 Ferizaj 16 (1)
Total 516 (78)
Managerial career
2018–2019 Fortuna Oslo (youth)
2020–2021 Lillestrøm SK (youth)
2022 Korsvoll IL (youth)
2022–2024 Oppsal IF II
2025 Prishtina e Re
2026– Trepça
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Shpëtim Babaj (Croatian: Špetim Babaj; born 9 December 1981) is a Kosovan professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of Kosovo First League club Trepça.

A former midfielder, Babaj began his youth career with Cibalia in Croatia, where he acquired Croatian citizenship, before continuing his development with Cagliese in Italy and Olimpija Ljubljana in Slovenia. He began his senior career with Rudar Velenje in 2001 and later played for Šmartno, Besiana, Besa Kavajë, Elbasani, Zorya Luhansk, Shakhter Karagandy, Gramozi, Tirana, Trepça, Trepça '89, Hajvalia, and Ferizaj.

Following his retirement from professional football, Babaj moved into coaching in Norway, working in youth football with Fortuna Oslo, Lillestrøm SK and Korsvoll IL. He later managed Oppsal IF II between 2022 and 2024 before returning to Kosovo, where he first served as sporting director and later as manager of Prishtina e Re in 2025. In 2026, he was appointed manager of Trepça.

Managerial career

In September, 2025, Babaj became the manager of Prishtina e Re of the Football Superleague of Kosovo.

On 1 May 2026, Babaj was appointed as the head coach of Trepça of the First Football League of Kosovo.[1]

References

  1. ↑ "Zyrtare: Shpëtim Babaj, trajner i ri i Trepçës". gazetablic.com (in Albanian). 1 May 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.