The Story So Far: Edon Pruti

An in-depth look into our first signing of the summer, Edon Pruti…

Born and raised in Ladbroke Grove in Chelsea, England to a Kosovan mother and a Bosnian father, Edon Pruti’s footballing journey began when he was spotted playing Sunday League Football.

Starting out at local parks with his friends in and around where he grew up, the centre back joined the Stevenage academy before continuing his development with Premier League side Burnley, making the brave decision to move up north and away from his home and family at the age of 16.

In what proved to be his first full time opportunity in football, Pruti enjoyed being able to train every day and put full focus on his football, moving through his scholarship in Lancashire and enjoying a learning curve in non-league, with a loan move to North West Counties League First Division South side Abbey Hey. He even received international recognition for the first time, being invited to a Kosovo Under-19 training camp in April 2019 and a Bosnia & Herzegovina Under-18 training camp the following year, before switching his allegiance to Albania with whom he was capped at both Under-18 and Under-19 level, making his debut in an international friendly against Macedonia.

Despite his early successes at international level, Edon’s Burnley contract was set to expire and led to him departing the Clarets during the COVID-19 pandemic, having not turned professional at Turf Moor. While a clear setback, Edon showed persistence and determination to make it as a professional football player, returning to the capital with a decision to make. While some may choose to trial with as many clubs as they can, Edon opted for the unpopular route of dropping into non-league, and in his case, this was as far as the eighth tier of English football, with a move to Hanwell Town.

This decision proved to be the masterstroke though, with Edon becoming a part of the club’s Middlesex Senior Cup-winning squad as he played, scored and was named Man of the Match in a 1–0 victory over Harefield United in the final. This later led to a trial with Brentford’s academy, establishing his first acquaintance with the Bees.

Edon has credited his trial at the Gtech Community Stadium as something which helped him progress, and subsequently earned him a move into the National League South with Slough Town the next step for the young defender. Having continued to grow in maturity with every game playing against men rather than boys, he learned how to cope physically during the remainder of his time at Hanwell and during a brief stint at Loughborough University, and allowed him to level up with another learning curve as he arrived in the sixth tier.

Pruti ended up playing regularly for the Rebels, making 19 appearances during his maiden campaign at Arbour Park as he helped the club achieve a 13^th place finish, and he soon established himself as an aggressive but composed left-sided defender who enjoys the physicality and is comfortable in the air, while looking to defend his box first and foremost. His good work soon earned him the opportunity to finally call Brentford his home, signing permanently for the Bees’ academy in the summer of 2022.

The chance to once again play full time football for the first time since he left Burnley certainly benefited the defender, going on to play 14 times for the club, as well as scoring his first goal in his final appearance for the side against Peterborough United in the Premier League Cup.

A highly rated figure in the Bees’ youth system, Pruti was described by B Team Head Coach, Neil MacFarlane as being “an amazing character, brilliant for the culture and the group and has a lot of good attributes to go and do well in the league”, and having discussed securing a move to the Football League for the young defender, he soon sealed a switch to struggling League Two side Hartlepool United.

At the time of his arrival, the Pools sat 23rd in the fourth tier having picked up 19 points from their 24 games, giving Pruti a completely different challenge at his disposal. Nonetheless, this is something he took in his stride, and went on to become an ever-present in County Durham.

He made 21 appearances during the remainder of the 2022/23 campaign although he was unable to help prevent the Pools’ relegation to the National League, but was still rewarded for his good performances with a return to the international scene when he was selected by the Albania Under-21 squad for friendly matches against Poland and Azerbaijan. However, he opted to stay with his club and contribute to their survival challenge, showing the sort of commitment that resulted in Hartlepool extending his contract at the end of the season despite their slide into the fifth tier.

He did soon return to international action though, making his Under-21 debut with a substitute appearance in a 3–1 friendly defeat to Bulgaria, before returning to Victoria Park intending to play a key role as the Pools looked to mount an instant return to the EFL under John Askey. However, Edon appeared just twice for the club in the National League and, evidently not considered part of the plans by Askey, re-joined the National League South with a loan move to Farnborough.

A popular member of the squad during his stint in Hampshire, the defender made 27 Boro appearances during his temporary spell, scoring twice in victories over Bath City and Aveley, with his form earning further Albania call-ups for 2025 European Under-21 Championship qualifiers in October and November 2023. He later made the move back to the south permanent following the expiry of his Hartlepool contract, and made a further 25 appearances for the club during the first half of the season as the Yellows looked to mount a challenge on the play-offs.

Despite this, Pruti saw his contract cancelled by the club midway through the campaign as manager Spencer Day looked to balance the books, and led to him making the move to a fellow National League South side with a return to former club Slough. He subsequently played 16 times in his second spell as the Rebels finished 16^th, bringing his total tally for the club to 38 appearances, including three goals from defence.