Besian Idrizaj

Besian Idrizaj

Born in Baden bei Wien, south of Vienna to Kosovan parents, Besian stormed the Austrian games from a young age, making his debut for Admira Linz as a 15 year old. Impressing so much and from such a young age he was signed by LASK Linz at 16, where he was voted Austria’s Young Player of the Year in the 2004/05 season as well as picking up 12 Austria under-21 caps, including one in an Austrian victory against the England under-21 team. Due to his rapid progress in the Austrian Football Bundesliga, he drew the attention of Liverpool, a team that he supported, and after a trial period, he signed a two year contract in 2005 with the reigning European Champions. 

Although he never impacted the first team, he was a regular in the reserve side, and got his first taste of mens football in the English league by joining Luton Town on loan at the tail end of the 2006/07 season with Luton battling relegation from the Championship, Mike Newell having just left and the club in turmoil. Besian made his debut for Luton against Ipswich in a 2-0 loss at Kenilworth Road on 17th March 2007. He appeared for Luton 7 times in total, with only 1 win during that time, although he notched his sole Luton goal in that win, a 3-1 victory away at Southend United, with a fine finish. Loans to Crystal Palace and Austrian team Wacker Innsbruck followed, before his release by Liverpool. Besian signed a short term agreement with FC Eilenburg in Germany and following his release, he trialled with Swansea City on the 18th August 2009, being offered full terms with the Swans just 4 days later. He was part of the Swansea team that narrowly missed the Championship playoffs during the 2009/10 season, and during the off season suffered a heart attack and passed away in his sleep at the age of 22 in his native Austria. 

His Swansea side achieved a playoff final victory the following season, beating Reading 4-2 at Wembley, and they honoured him by wearing shirts with his photo on them. Swansea also retired the shirt number he played in.