When Liverpool face LASK in the Champions League in Austria, the occasion revives the memory of a player who connected both clubs. Besian Idrizaj joined Liverpool from their Austrian opponents in 2005, but he never made a senior competitive appearance for the Reds. He left in 2008 and died two years later at the age of 22 after a cardiac arrest, with Swansea City retiring his No.40 shirt.
From LASK to Liverpool
Idrizaj was spotted by scouts at the European Under-17 Championships in France in 2004, a tournament won by the hosts with standout performances from Karim Benzema, Samir Nasri and Hatem Ben Arfa. He had joined LASK from Admira Linz a year earlier and featured 28 times for the first team in 2004-05. Liverpool invited him for a trial, and he signed a two-year deal with the option of a third.
“I have always been a Liverpool fan and it is a dream come true to play for them,” he said after arriving. “If you get a chance to go to Liverpool on trial then you have to take it. You cannot ignore a trial with the reigning Champions League winners. I would even have swum across the channel just to take part.”
The Wrexham hat-trick
In pre-season friendlies at Wrexham, Idrizaj gave fans a glimpse of his ability. In 2006 he started a 2-0 win alongside Craig Bellamy, and in 2007 he scored a hat-trick in the first 26 minutes of a 3-2 win, all three goals set up by Jermaine Pennant.
His brother Qerim recalled the day in an interview with The Athletic in 2020: “I still remember the day. At the time, the internet was not like now and if we called Besian we had to have a prepaid card. He called home afterwards and he said, ‘Did you check the Liverpool website?’ I said, ‘No. Why? What happened?’ He said, ‘Just check it’. He was really proud.”
Health struggles and death
Idrizaj never broke into Liverpool’s first team. He spent time on loan at Luton, scoring once in a 3-1 win at Southend, and later at Crystal Palace and Wacker Innsbruck. In 2008 he collapsed on the pitch during a game against Sturm Graz, clutching his chest and needing urgent medical help. He dismissed it as a virus.
After a period out of the game, he joined Swansea City in 2009. He wore a heart rate monitor during training, and on May 15, 2010, he suffered a cardiac arrest in Linz. Despite efforts from his brother and ambulance crews, he was pronounced dead in hospital. Swansea held a minute’s silence before their first home game of the 2010-11 season and retired his No.40 shirt. At the end of that campaign, after winning promotion to the Premier League, players lifted the trophy in t-shirts bearing his picture.
