Shefki Kuqi[a] (pronounced [ˈʃɛfki ˈkuci]; born 10 November 1976) is a Kosovan-born Finnish professional football manager and former player who played predominantly as a striker.

He spent most of his career in the English football league system, for clubs including Newcastle United, Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich Town, Blackburn Rovers, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Swansea City and Oldham Athletic.

Many Wednesday fans were bemused though at then manager Chris Turner's decision to let Kuqi leave for Ipswich for free after a strained relationship between the two.

He scored 20 goals in the Championship for Ipswich in the 2004–05 season, which made him the club's leading top scorer, along with Darren Bent.

[14] Kuqi scored seven Premier League goals for Blackburn in the 2005–06 season, but couldn't replicate his form from his time at Ipswich Town.

During the following season Kuqi struggled to break into the first team and made only one appearance, coming on as a substitute in a 3–0 loss against Portsmouth.

[16] On his move, Kuqi admits he was surprised by Blackburn when he was sold to Crystal Palace[17] and made his debut for the club in a 1–1 draw against Luton Town.

[18] Kuqi was placed on the transfer list and fined two weeks wages by Neil Warnock after signalling an offensive gesture to Palace fans when they cheered as he was substituted following a particularly poor performance in the 2–0 defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 23 February 2008.

[19][20] Other reasons behind him being transfer listed were due to his weight gain and lack of fitness and Warnock told Kuqi there will be no way back for him[21] In March 2008, Kuqi returned to Ipswich on loan until the end of the season[22] to fill in for the injured Jonathan Walters but failed to reproduce his form at Ipswich Town.

He began the 2008–09 campaign with his first team prospects seemingly irretrievable but Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock named (and used) him as a substitute for the away draw at Ipswich Town and home victory over Charlton in September and on 4 October he scored the second goal of Palace's 2–0 victory at Nottingham Forest.

[27] Despite scoring seven goals in 16 starts, after less than nine months at Swansea, Kuqi joined fellow Championship side Derby County on a three-month emergency loan deal on 13 September 2010.

After latching onto a sloppy stray backpass from former-Derby defender Claude Davis to complete the rout with a goal Kuqi joked that the strike was "the worst of the five!

[32] He was given the number 42 shirt[33] and made his debut against former club Blackburn Rovers on 12 February 2011 coming on in the 90th minute in a goalless draw.

Kuqi added another two goals to his tally after scoring twice against Crewe Alexandra in the quarter-finals of the Football League Trophy to help Oldham progress to the semi-final of the tournament with a 3–1 victory, with Luca Scapuzzi also getting on the scoresheet.

[45] In August 2012, Kuqi signed a one-year deal with Scottish Premier League (SPL) team Hibernian, with a further option.

Kuqi jumps forward with both arms out, in what could be described as an attempt to glide like a bird, before crashing to the ground; the movement bears some resemblance to a bellyflop and has been referred to as a "Flying Finn".

[2] An older brother of Kuqi was due to begin national service, which prompted his family to emigrate to Finland, where they were granted asylum.