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Ervin Bulku

Ervin Bulku
ErvinBulkuu.jpg
Bulku with the Albania national team in 2013.
Personal information
Date of birth (1981-03-03) 3 March 1981 (age 36)
Place of birth Tirana, Albania
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Midfielder / Right Back
Club information
Current team
 Albania (assistant coach)
Youth career
1998 Tirana
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2007 Tirana 201 (14)
2007–2010 Kryvbas 58 (2)
2010–2011 Hajduk Split 15 (0)
2011–2012 AZAL Baku 22 (3)
2012–2014 Sepahan 47 (1)
2014–2016 Tirana 32 (1)
Total 375 (21)
National team
1998–1999 Albania U18 6 (1)
1999–2002 Albania U21 15 (1)
2002–2015 Albania 56 (1)
Teams managed
2015– Albania (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Ervin Bulku (Albanian pronunciation: [ervin bulku], born 3 March 1981) is an Albanian retired footballer and current assistant manager of Albania national team. He was an Utility player and played in many positions such as Central midfielder, Defensive midfielder, Right Midfielder and even Right Defender for the Albania national team in years 2002–2015 and in the club level with Tirana where he started and ended his career after playing for various club outside such as Kryvbas in Ukraine, Hajduk Split in Croatia, AZAL Baku in Azerbaijan and Sepahan in Iran. He is also the younger brother of former KF Tirana's footballer Sokol Bulku.

Bulku started his career as a youngster in the KF 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. 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 promising 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. 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. 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. 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. In his final season with SK Tirana, 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, played in the 2–0 supercup win over KS Elbasani and he also played in 1–0 win over Vllaznia in the final of the Albanian Cup.


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