Ansi Agolli (born 11 October 1982) is an Albanian football manager and former player who is the owner and coach of AB7 Future Soccer Academy.
He began his club career with Tirana, where he won multiple domestic titles, including three Kategoria Superiore championships, two Albanian Cups and three Albanian Supercups. After playing for several clubs abroad, he spent a significant part of his career with Qarabağ in the Azerbaijan Premier League, where he established himself as a long-serving first-team player, winning five consecutive league titles and three Azerbaijan Cups. During his time at the club, he featured regularly in European competition, including multiple appearances in the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Champions League, becoming part of the first Azerbaijani team to reach the Champions League group stage. He was named Qarabağ Player of the Season in 2014–15.
At international level, he earned 73 caps and scored two goals for the Albania national team, serving as team captain in his last years.
He is regarded as the most decorated Albanian footballer, having won a total of 16 trophies, the first being 2003–04 Kategoria Superiore.
Club career Tirana Agolli was born in Tirana and began playing football at age of nine, joining the KF Tirana Academy. After progressing through the club's youth system, he joined the first team in the 2000–01 season and made his debut at the age of 19.
In the following season, he played in the 2001–02 Albanian Cup first round against Laçi, scoring three goals across both legs on 18 and 24 August 2001, as Tirana advanced to the next round with a 6–0 aggregate victory.
Agolli made his continental debut on 15 August 2002 in the 2002–03 UEFA Cup qualifying round against Progresul București.
Agolli was part of the Tirana squad that won the 2002 Albanian Supercup with a 6–0 victory over Dinamo Tirana on 14 September 2002.
He made a total of 10 league appearances for Tirana in his first three seasons before being sent on loan to fellow Kategoria Superiore side Apolonia Fier in January 2003 to help the club in their battle to avoid relegation.
He made 12 appearances and scored one goal for Apolonia Fier, but the side were relegated to the Albanian First Division after losing the relegation playoff.
He then returned to Tirana ahead of the 2003–04 season.
Return and establishment as a starter (2003–2005) Agolli described the 2002–03 Tirana squad as the core of a team that continued into the 2003–04 season, in which he became increasingly involved with the first team following his return from loan.
Agolli began the season by scoring in added time in the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round match against Grazer AK on 6 August 2003. Despite his late goal, Tirana were eliminated following a 2–1 defeat on the night and a 7–2 aggregate loss.
Tirana secured its first trophy of the season by winning the 2003 Albanian Supercup, defeating Dinamo Tirana 3–0 on 16 August 2003, with Agolli scoring the third goal late in the match.
During the 2003–04 Albanian Cup, Agolli scored in Tirana's 5–2 second-round victory away to Cërriku on 1 October 2003.
In domestic league, Agolli established himself as a regular starter, playing the majority of league matches from the beginning. On 24 April 2004, Agolli scored a league goal in a 3–2 win against Shkumbini.
Tirana dominated the 2003–04 Kategoria Superiore season, finishing as champions with 80 points, having won 24, drawn 8 and lost 4 of their 36 league matches, and scoring 90 goals while conceding 36.
At the start of the 2004–05 season, Agolli took part in Tirana's 2004–05 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round tie against Belarusian side Gomel in July 2004, starting in both legs. Tirana won 2–0 away and lost 1–0 at home, progressing to the second qualifying round with a 2–1 aggregate victory.
In the second qualifying round against Ferencváros, Agolli remained an unused substitute in both matches as Tirana were eliminated on away goals following a 3–3 aggregate draw.
Agolli did not feature in the 2004 Albanian Supercup final, which Tirana lost 2–0 to Partizani.
During the 2004–05 Kategoria Superiore season, Tirana finished as champions with 84 points, winning 26 matches, drawing six and losing four, while scoring 82 goals and conceding 32; Agolli participated in 31 matches and contributed with five goals during the campaign, scoring against Dinamo Tirana, Laçi (twice), Lushnja and Partizani.
In the 2004–05 Albanian Cup final, Agolli started for Tirana and was substituted in the 70th minute as the match ended goalless after extra time, with Tirana losing 6–5 on penalties to Teuta on 11 May 2005.
Neuchâtel Xamax After spending two years at Tirana, he was spotted by Swiss club Neuchâtel Xamax which at the time was coached by Miroslav Blažević. Following a trial period, in July 2005 Agolli signed a two-year contract.
He made his debut for Neuchâtel Xamax on 10 July 2005 against Saint-Étienne in the 2005 UEFA Intertoto Cup second round, playing 63 minutes.
Three days later, on 13 July 2005, he made his league debut, scoring a goal in a 3–1 home defeat against BSC Young Boys in the opening round of the 2005–06 Swiss Super League, playing the full 90 minutes. One week later, on 23 July 2005, Agolli scored his second consecutive goal, netting a 90th-minute equaliser in a 1–1 away draw against Schaffhausen, before being sent off after receiving a second yellow card late in the match.
Agolli established himself as a regular starter at Neuchâtel Xamax, frequently playing the full 90 minutes throughout the 2005–06 Swiss Super League season.
On 18 November 2005, in the matchday 15, he scored his third league goal in a 3–2 away victory against Thun.
During the 2005–06 season, Agolli made a total of 29 league appearances, and Neuchâtel Xamax finished the 2005–06 Swiss Super League season in ninth place (second from bottom) and entered the relegation play-off.
In the 2005–06 Swiss Cup, Agolli scored in a 4–0 away win against Bex.
Luzern After one season at Neuchâtel Xamax, on 29 July 2006, Agolli signed a one-year contract with Luzern, with an option to extend the deal.
Agolli made his debut on 5 August 2006, starting in a 2–1 home victory against Aarau in matchday 4 of the 2006–07 Swiss Super League.
Following his debut, Agolli established himself as a regular starter, playing the full 90 minutes in the next two league matches, both of which ended without a victory for Luzern. Afterwards, Agolli lost his place in the starting lineup and was used only as a substitute, making only brief appearances from the bench. By the end of 2006, he had made a total of eight league appearances for the club.
During the winter transfer window of 2007, Agolli left Luzern as part of the club's squad changes ahead of the second half of the season.
Vaasan Palloseura In January 2007, Agolli moved to Finland to join Vaasan Palloseura (VPS), competing in the Veikkausliiga, the top division of Finnish football.
In the 2007 Veikkausliiga season, he made 18 league appearances.
Agolli remained with Vaasan Palloseura into the 2008 season.
During the first half of the 2008 Veikkausliiga season, Agolli featured regularly in the league, being nearly ever-present, starting all available matches and missing only five minutes of playing time.
He scored one goal on 26 August 2008 in matchday 9 against Honka in a 2–1 away victory.
Overall, Agolli made a total of 33 league appearances for Vaasan Palloseura, scoring one goal.
Return to Tirana as loan Despite having a contract with Vaasan Palloseura until the end of the 2009 season, Agolli returned to Albania for family reasons in July 2008 and joined his former club Tirana on loan until 30 April 2009.
Following his loan move to Tirana, Agolli featured regularly in the team's defence during the early part of the 2008–09 Kategoria Superiore, as the club made a strong start to the campaign, conceding only two goals in its first six league matches.
In December 2008, Blaž Slišković left Tirana following a run of poor results and was subsequently replaced as head coach by Agustin Kola during the 2008–09 season.
Agolli scored his first goal of the season on 31 January 2009, netting in a 4–2 away victory against Dinamo Tirana, which made Tirana remaining closely involved in the title race, sitting just one point behind Vllaznia.
He scored again in the following round, netting Tirana's second goal in a 2–0 home win over Shkumbini on 5 February 2009.
Agolli scored for a third consecutive match on 15 February 2009, finding the net in a 3–1 away victory over Besa.
Towards the end of the season, Agolli contributed decisively as Tirana held a narrow lead in the title race, providing the assist for a late winning goal against Partizani that helped establish a one-point advantage at the top of the table.
He scored his fourth league goal of the season on 25 April 2009, netting late in a 4–1 home win against Teuta.
In April 2009, Agolli returned as planned to Vaasan Palloseura.
However, Agolli's registration was acquired from VPS and he played in the 2009 Albanian Cup final on 6 May 2009 against Flamurtari, where Tirana lost 2–1; following the defeat, Tirana's coach Agustin Kola resigned and was replaced by technical director Alban Tafaj.
He scored his fifth and final league goal of the season on 16 May 2009 in a 3–2 away win against Dinamo.
Tirana secured the Kategoria Superiore title on the final matchday with a 2–1 home victory over Vllaznia.
Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih In July 2009, Agolli transferred to Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih in the Ukrainian Premier League for a reported fee of €30,000. Agolli rejoined teammates from the Albania national team, Ervin Bulku, Isli Hidi and Dorian Bylykbashi.
Agolli made his debut on 18 July 2009, in the 2009–10 Ukrainian Premier League opening campaign, starting and playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 away loss against Shakhtar Donetsk.
During the campaign, Agolli spoke about adapting to the higher level of competition in the Ukrainian league compared to Albania, noting that the professional environment demanded a different level of play.
After his debut in July 2009, Agolli was primarily used as a substitute, making five consecutive second-half appearances as Kryvbas recorded four defeats and one goalless draw. He returned to the starting lineup in early December remaining even after the winter break, playing nearly every minute in five league matches, but Kryvbas suffered five consecutive league defeats during that period.
Agolli made a total of 13 appearances until the end of the season.
Qarabağ
In July 2010, Agolli moved on loan to Qarabağ in the Azerbaijan Premier League until the end of December 2011.
Agolli immediately featured for Qarabağ in the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League qualifying, starting from the first round, playing six full matches out of eight as Qarabağ progressed through three rounds before being eliminated by Borussia Dortmund in the play-off round.
Agolli played 31 league matches in the 2010–11 Azerbaijan Premier League as Qarabağ finished in third place.
Agolli featured in the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League qualifying and scored his first goal for Qarabağ in a 3–0 victory against Banga Gargždai in the first qualifying round. He played every minute of the qualifying campaign, as Qarabağ reached the third qualifying round before being eliminated by Club Brugge.
Agolli scored his first league goal for Qarabağ on 30 September 2011 in a 3–1 home victory against Turan Tovuz on matchday eight of the 2011–12 Azerbaijan Premier League.
In January 2012, the loan move was made permanent for a reported fee of £30,000.
Agolli finished the season with a total of 31 league appearances as Qarabağ placed fourth in the league.
In December 2012, German Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt were reported to have shown interest in signing Agolli ahead of the following season; however, no transfer ultimately materialised.