Shallvare was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Tiranë Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. It was home to

KF Tirana Klubi i Futbollit Tirana (KF Tirana) is an Albanian football club based in the country's capital city, Tirana. The men's football club is part of the multi-disciplinary sports club SK Tirana, and is the most successful in Albania, having won 54 ...

from 1920 until 1946, when the club moved to the

Qemal Stafa Stadium The Qemal Stafa Stadium ( sq, Stadiumi Qemal Stafa), named after Qemal Stafa (1920–1942), a Albanian Resistance of World War II, World War II hero, was a national stadium and the largest football (soccer), football stadium in Tirana, Albania. ...

. It was located in the centre of

, nearby the existing Shallvare block. Aside from football, T.Selenica stated that the field served as an amusement centre for the youth of Tiranë to enjoy, and it was a popular gathering place where various games were played during religious holidays.Na ishin njëherë fushat sportive të Tiranës

History

Before its use as a football ground the site was use by the Ottoman garrison as a playground, and in 1916 it served as a runway for the

Austrian-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops The Austro-Hungarian Aviation Troops or Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops (german: Kaiserliche und Königliche Luftfahrtruppen or , hu, Császári és Királyi Légjárócsapatok) were the air force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the ...

. The first football game was played at the ground in 1920 between what would later be known as

and a team made up of the occupying Austrian-Hungarians. In 1925 there were changing rooms built at the ground, and in the early 1930s there was a 4-lane athletics track built around the football pitch. The administrator of the ground was the football referee, Besim Hamdiu (Qorri), who only had one assistant in the maintenance of the ground. The ground did not have a main stand or seating area for spectators, but rather a two storied building that was constructed in 1923 by a member of parliament

Masar Kelliçi Masar may refer to: People * Masar (surname) * Masar Caka (1946–2000), Albanian painter * Masar Ömer (born 1993), Finnish footballer Other * Masar Destination, Urban development project in Mecca, Saudi Arabia * Masar (horse) Masar (fo ...

. The building stood 50 metres away from the football pitch and was located in line with the middle of the pitch, with its balcony facing the field and the

Dajt Dajt is a former municipality in the Tirana County, central Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Tirana. The population at the 2011 census was 20,139. The municipal unit took its name from the Mo ...

mountains. The ground was also used for other sporting events as well as military parades, one of which the president and later king

Ahmet Zogu Zog I ( sq, Naltmadhnija e tij Zogu I, Mbreti i Shqiptarëve, ; 8 October 18959 April 1961), born Ahmed Muhtar bey Zogolli, taking the name Ahmet Zogu in 1922, was the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27, he first served as Albania's y ...

attended in 1927. The Albania national team also used the ground in preparation for their successful

1946 Balkan Cup The 1946 Balkan Cup was the 8th edition of this tournament. The participanting teams were Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania and for the first time ever, Albania, who ended up winning the tournament in their first try. Squads *The four men ...

campaign. Other Albanian athletes trained at Shallvare, including Begeja who finished runner-up in the 100 metres at the

Balkan Games The Balkan Athletics Championships or Balkan Games () is a regional athletics competition held between nations from the Balkans and organized by Balkan Athletics. The first games were held in Athens in 1929, and the most recent were being held in ...

. The facility was destroyed in 1951 and replaced with Soviet-style apartment blocks.

References

{{KF Tirana Football venues in Albania KF Tirana