Rocky Lekaj

Rocky Rexhep Lekaj (born 12 October 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or left winger for Gjøvik-Lyn. Born in Kosovo, he has represented Norway at an international youth level and formerly played for Sheffield Wednesday.[3]

Rocky Lekaj
Personal information
Full name Rocky Rexhep Lekaj[1]
Date of birth (1989-10-12) 12 October 1989
Place of birth Peć, Kosovo
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder, left winger
Team information
Current team
 Gjøvik-Lyn
Number 7
Youth career
0000–2006 Grei
2006–2007 Sheffield Wednesday
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2010 Sheffield Wednesday 4 (0)
2009 → Sandefjord (loan) 3 (0)
2010 Lyn 7 (1)
2010–2011 Romsås 3 (0)
2011–2013 Grorud 38 (15)
2013–2016 Raufoss 79 (69)
2016–2017 Kristiansund 12 (2)
2017–2018 Fredrikstad 34 (6)
2019– Gjøvik-Lyn 75 (55)
International career
2007 Norway U18 5 (0)
2007 Norway U19 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 August 2023

Career

Lekaj hails from Ammerud in Oslo,[4] and was inspired by footballer Dagfinn Enerly, who was his school teacher in the early years.[5] He started his career in SF Grei.[6] He was signed by Sheffield Wednesday in the summer of 2006. He first appeared for the first team on 13 March 2007 at Hillsborough,[4] entering the game as an 86th-minute substitute for striker Steve MacLean in a 2–0 league victory against Colchester United. Lekaj became the youngest Norwegian player who has ever played in the professional English league system. He played one more game in the 2006–07 season.[7]

Lekaj did not play first-team football in the 2007–08 season, but made his first appearance of the 2008–09 season against Rotherham United in the League Cup.[7] He came on as a substitute for Jimmy Smith and showed signs of promise, despite not playing in his favoured left wing position. He also played two games in the Football League Championship and one game in the FA Cup.[7] Following the close of the 2008–09 season, Lekaj was reported to be a transfer target for Grimsby Town, this was quashed by Mariners manager Mike Newell, mentioning that Lekaj's agent had approached Newell while he was scouting at a Wednesday Reserves game. Newell commented that Lekaj was not the sort of player he was looking for.[8] In 2009, Lekaj scored fourteen goals in ten appearances for the reserve team and was recommended by the manager a loan move. Lekaj ended up in Sandefjord, but an ankle injury kept him out of the football. When he returned to Sheffield Wednesday, manager Brian Laws was replaced. Lekaj then left Wednesday after his contract was cancelled in March 2010, having made six appearances for the Owls.[9]

He ended up in Lyn and played for them until the club went bankrupt in the summer of 2010.[10] He then signed for the Norwegian Fourth Division team Romsås to help them win promotion.[11] In 2011, he played for Grorud IL in their promotion campaign to the Second Division.[12]

Rocky left Fredrikstad FK at the end of the 2018 season.[13] He moved back to Raufoss with his wife and children and signed for Gjøvik-Lyn.[14]

Personal life

Rocky also has a younger brother, Leon Lekaj, who also played for the Owls under-17s.

References
  1. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 1 January 2010 and 31 January 2010" (PDF). The Football Association. Retrieved 7 February 2010.
  2. Rocky Lekaj at ESPN FC
  3. "Rocky ny SF-spiller". Sandefjords Blad (in Norwegian). sb.no. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
  4. Thorsen, Kay Grue (17 March 2007). "Knalldebut for Rocky". Akers Avis Groruddalen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 5 May 2009.
  5. Mellingsæter, Hanne (23 June 2004). "Rocky (14) er Greis nye landslagsspiller". Akers Avis Groruddalen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 5 May 2009.
  6. Thorsen, Kay Grue (2 May 2009). "Hjem på lånt tid". Akers Avis Groruddalen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 5 May 2009.
  7. Rocky Lekaj at Soccerbase
  8. "Latest Grimsby Sport news | Grimsby Telegraph". Sportgrimsby.co.uk. 23 March 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  9. Archived 22 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Jeg er arbeidsledig for første gang i mitt liv" (in Norwegian). Aftenposten.no. 8 August 2010. Archived from the original on 19 October 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  11. "Tap mot et bedre lag" (in Norwegian). Oppegård IL. 8 September 2010. Retrieved 24 September 2010.
  12. Thorsen, Kay Grue (24 October 2011). "Rocky er blitt voksen". Akers Avis Groruddalen (in Norwegian). Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  13. Overganger i 2.divisjon vinter 2019, sportshjornet.com, 9 January 2019
  14. Gullord, Tommy (6 March 2019). "Rocky er klar til å fyre løs". Oppland Arbeiderblad (in Norwegian).
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