Andi Thanoj

Andi Thanoj (born 19 December 1992) is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Conference National side Alfreton Town.
A product of the Grimsby Town youth setup, he debuted for the club in 2011 and went on to play 72 times in the league, scoring 4 goals. During his time with the club he was called up for the Albania U21 side and later went on to join Alfreton Town following his departure from Grimsby in 2014.
Club career
Grimsby Town
Thanoj joined the youth setup at Grimsby Town in 2008 and was added to the clubs first team squad during the 2009-10 season. The Mariners were eventually relegated from the Football League without Thanoj making an appearance. On 22 March 2011, following the recent appointments of Paul Hurst and Rob Scott he was handed his professional first team debut in the 2-2 Conference Premier draw at home with Gateshead. After impressing he went on to feature in the remaining six fixtures of the season. He had to wait a whole year before registering his first senior goal, when his 84th-minute strike against Wrexham on 14 April 2012 secured a 2-2 draw and effectively ended Wrexham's automatic promotion chase.
Thanoj's performances began to earn plaudits from the Grimsby fanbase who in turn thought the player deserved an International call-up having heard of the players desire for a call up to the Albania national football team. One of the clubs fanzine website's started an Internet campaign to get Thanoj recognised by his countries international setup, the campaign was called #AndiForAlbania. The campaign seemed to pay off and in October 2012 he received news that he had been selected for the Albania U21. During the 2012-13 season he went on to net goals against Woking, Gateshead and Newport County and was part of the Town side that lost on a penalty shootout to Wrexham at Wembley Stadium in the FA Trophy final. He also played a part in the Conference play-offs but The Mariners were beaten by Newport over two legs in the semi-finals but was awarded the Supporters Young Player of the Season.
In the 2013-14 season, Thanoj made 24 appearances and was in and out of the team as the club also were defeated in the Conference play-off semi finals.For the second season running, Thanoj was awarded the supporters young player of the season.
Alfreton Town
On 22 May 2014 it was announced that Thanoj had rejected Grimsby's new contract offer in order to pursue football closer to his national home, it was also said that the player was frustrated at the lack of first team appearances during his final season. Despite looking for an international move, Thanoj returned to the Conference by signing for Alfreton Town on a one-year deal,
International career
On 1 October 2012 Thanoj was called up for the Albania U21 to face England C side, who featured his Grimsby team mate Aswad Thomas.
Despite his call-up, Thanoj didn't make his debut until the following February where he appeared in a 0-0 draw against Macedonia, in which he suffered a broken nose.
Personal life
Although born in Albania, Thanoj was raised in England having moved to the country as a child.<ref name="grimsbytelegraph.co.uk"/>

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