Agron Memedi

Agron Memedi was a North Macedonian footballer and coach from Tetovo, a left-footed defender who spent most of his playing life with the Tetovo-area clubs Shkëndija and Renova, won the Macedonian First League with Renova in 2009-10, earned one cap for the national team in 2010, and later returned to Shkëndija as a youth coach and then as an assistant coach of the first team. Friends and the club knew him as "Goni". He died on 14 November 2026 after collapsing during a Shkëndija training session in Tetovo.

Memedi was born in Tetovo in 1980 into an ethnic Albanian family in what is now North Macedonia. Football databases disagree on the exact day: Transfermarkt and Metafootball list 5 December 1980, while worldfootball.net and Italian Wikipedia list 5 November 1980. He took up football young and grew into a compact left-back, listed at 1.72 m, who could also play on the left side of midfield.

His senior career began at KF Shkëndija, where he played from 2004 to 2007. With Shkëndija he took part in the club's first Macedonian Cup final in 2006, which the Tetovo side lost 3-2 to Makedonija Gjorče Petrov. In July 2007 he moved to FK Renova of Džepčište for a reported fee of 30,000 euros. At Renova he became a regular in defence and was part of the side that won the 2009-10 Macedonian First League, the club's first national title. He also played in European qualifying ties for Renova, including the UEFA Europa League in 2009-10 and the UEFA Champions League in 2010-11.

On 17 November 2010 Memedi made his only appearance for the Macedonian national team, coming off the bench in a goalless friendly against Albania in Korçë. In 2011 he joined Metalurg Skopje, where he spent the 2011-12 season and the start of 2012-13 and again played European qualifiers. He returned to Renova in autumn 2012 and stayed until the end of 2016. In January 2017 he told TV Klan Macedonia that it was time to say goodbye to football, though worldfootball.net records him back in Renova's squad for the second half of 2017. Transfermarkt lists his retirement from 1 January 2018, and he briefly managed Renova in spring 2018.

After his playing days Memedi stayed in the game as a coach. He began in Shkëndija's youth academy, linking the club's young players with the first team, and in February 2024 he was appointed an assistant coach in the senior staff of head coach Jeton Beqiri. Macedonian media described him as a long-serving first assistant at the club. In March 2026 Televizioni Koha Tetovë interviewed him about his work as a football coach.

On Saturday 14 November 2026 Memedi was taking part in Shkëndija's training session when he suddenly felt unwell and collapsed. He died while being taken to the hospital in Tetovo. Shkëndija spokesman Faton Zylbehari confirmed the death, and the club published a farewell message saying it had lost one of its own people, a man who was part of the red and black family first as a footballer and then as a member of the technical staff. "He will always remain part of our family. Rest in peace, Goni!" the club wrote. Reports gave his age as 45, while some outlets said 46, reflecting the different birth dates on record. The official cause of death had not been made public at the time of writing.

Tributes came from across North Macedonian football, including rivals FK Rabotnički, and from Albanian, Serbian and Bosnian media. He is remembered in Tetovo as a loyal club man who gave nearly two decades to football in the city, as a player, a champion with Renova, a national team player, and a coach of the next generation.