Klubi i Futbollit Elbasani is an

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 ...

n professional football club based in the city of

Elbasan Elbasan ( ; sq-definite, Elbasani ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in central ...

, that last competed in the

Kategoria e Dytë Kategoria e Dytë is the third professional level of football in 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 locate ...

, the third tier of football in the country.

History

The club was formed in 1913 as Klubi Futbollit Urani Elbasan, the result of the fusion between two clubs, ''Afërdita Elbasan'' and ''Përparimi Elbasan''. Urani translates to uranium in Albanian, and the club was named this due to the city's association with the metal. The club changed its name to ''KS Skampa Elbasan'' briefly before 1930. They first participated in a nationally recognised competition in the first top flight football league in Albania, the 1930 Kategoria e Parë, where the club finished in 5th place, second from bottom, with a record of 3 wins, 1 draw and 6 losses. The following season they again finished in penultimate place, this time in 7 team league format. In the 1932 champion, they finished bottom of the league, gaining no points after 8 straight losses, which meant that Elbasani were relegated for the first time. The club changed its name to ''Bashkimi Elbasanas'' in 1933, when they were playing in the second division, which they won and earned promotion back to the top flight, winning their first trophy in the process. In their first season back in the Kategoria e Parë, they once again finished second form bottom with 2 wins, 2 draws and 8 losses. No competition was held during 1935 and when the league restarted in 1936 Bashkimi finished once again second from bottom, with 3 wins, 2 draws and 9 losses, but the team below them Ismail Qemali Vlorë played 2 fewer games and finished on the same points tally. The 1937 championship proved to be more successful as the club finished in 5th place out of 10 teams, with a record of 7 wins, 3 draws and 8 losses. The league officially restarted following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in 1945, where Bashkimi finished 3rd in Group B of the new league format, out of 6 teams. The following season they finished 2nd in Group B, just one point behind runners-up Flamurtari Vlorë. For the 1947 season, the league changed to a single 9 team competition, where Bashkimi finished in 8th place. The following season the league returned to the 2 group format, where the club again finished second by one point to Flamurtari Vlorë. The club changed names again to ''KS Elbasani'' in 1949 and ''KF Puna Elbasan'' in 1950.

Labinoti Elbasan

Between 1958 and 1991, the club was forcibly named ''KS Labinoti Elbasan'', after a nearby village which had been the center of the first nationwide conference of the

Party of Labour of Albania The Party of Labour of Albania ( sq, Partia e Punës e Shqipërisë, PPSh), sometimes referred to as the Albanian Workers' Party (AWP), was the ruling and sole legal party of Albania during the communist period (1945–1991). It was founded o ...

during

. In 1984, they won their first and only league title, featuring players like Roland Agalliu, Vladimir Tafani and Muharrem Dosti. The club's first participation in a European competition came in 1984, where they met

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

side

Lyngby Boldklub Lyngby Boldklub () is a Danish professional football club founded in 1921. It is based at Lyngby Stadion in Kongens Lyngby, Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, a northern suburb of Copenhagen. From 1994 to 2001 the club was known as Lyngby FC. The club ...

in the first round of the Champions League qualification stage. The first leg was played at the Ruzhdi Bizhuta Stadium and KF Elbasani were beaten 3–0 at home, and along with another 3–0 loss in Denmark the aggregate result was 6–0 to Lyngby Boldklub.

KF Elbasani

Following the

fall of communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...

, the club changed its name again to KF Elbasani, which they have not changed ever since. During the 2005–06 season, the team of Elbasani dominated the Albanian Superliga and won the second title in their history, finishing the competition with 11 points more than their rivals in

SK Tirana Sport Klub Tirana, is an Albanian sports club based in the country's capital Tirana, most notable for its association football department. The club also consists of various other departments including basketball, volleyball, futsal Futsal is a ...

. In 2006–07, 1st qualifying round for the Champions League they were eliminated by

FK Ekranas Panevėžio Ekranas is a Lithuanian football club, from the city of Panevėžys. It won 7 top-tier champion and 5 national cup titles throughout its existence. The club was founded in 1964 and for 44 years competed in the top tier of Lithuanian ...

from Lithuania (1–3 aggregate). On 24 December 2006, coach Luan Deliu was fired and replaced by Edmond Gezdari.

Stadium

The club plays its home games at the

Elbasan Arena Elbasan Arena ( sq, Elbasan Arena, formerly known as Ruzhdi Bizhuta) is a multi-purpose stadium in Elbasan, Albania. The stadium was completed in 1967 and has been the home ground of KF Elbasani ever since. The stadium was under reconstruction a ...

, which was originally built in 1967 and named the Labinot Stadium after the club's name at the time, which was Labinot Elbasan. The stadium was previously called Ruzhdi Bizhuta, after one of the club's most famous players. In January 2014 it was announced that the stadium would take over from the

Qemal Stafa Stadium The Qemal Stafa Stadium ( sq, Stadiumi Qemal Stafa), named after Qemal Stafa (1920–1942), a World War II hero, was a national stadium and the largest football stadium in Tirana, Albania. Construction started in 1939 and the stadium was inaugu ...

as the home of the Albania national team until Qemal Stafa is reconstructed. Prime minister

Edi Rama Edi Rama (born Edvin Kristaq Rama, 4 July 1964) is an Albanian politician, painter, writer, former university lecturer, publicist and former basketball player, who has served as the 33rd and current Prime Minister of Albania since 2013 and chair ...

visited the stadium on 28 January 2014 and he confirmed that work on the stadium would begin shortly, in order for Albania to be able to play their home games in the country as no other stadiums met the minimum requirements for Euro 2016 qualifiers. Works on the stadium began in February, and they were completed in time for Albania's opening qualifying fixture against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

in October 2014. The overall reconstruction costs amounted to

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

5.5 million, which included works being completed on everything from the parking lot to the installation of new floodlights, and the stadium now has an official seated capacity of 12,800.Stadiumi ne Elbasan: Rama, per te mos i mbetur hatri Vlores dhe Shkodres

Honours

Kategoria Superiore The Kategoria Superiore, officially known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons, is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Albanian football league system, it is the country's primary football compet ...

**Winners (2): 1983–84, 2005–06 *

Kategoria e Parë Kategoria e Parë is the second level of professional football in Albania, behind the Kategoria Superiore and above the Kategoria e Dytë. Format Kategoria e Parë was founded in 1930. It is made up of 14 teams. The 2 best ranked teams gain prom ...

(Tier 2) **Winners (4): 1933, 1958, 2001–02, 2013–14 **Runners-up (1): 2009–10 * Albanian Cup **Winners (2):

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, 1992 *

Albanian Supercup The Albanian Supercup is a single match usually at the beginning of the season between the winners of the Kategoria Superiore and Albanian Cup. Supercup final was not played in the occasions when the champion team won the Double. However, after ...

**Winners (1): 1992

European competitions record

* 1QR = 1st Qualifying Round * 1R = 1st Round

Balkans Cup

Current squad

Staff

Historical list of coaches

* Sabri Peqini (1957–1960) * Frederik Jorgaqi (1983–1985) * Dashamir Stringa (1990–1995) * Astrit Sejdini (1996–1999) * Luan Deliu (2000) * Petrit Haxhiu (2001–2003) * Artan Bushati (2004–2005) * Ilir Daja (2005–2006) * Luan Deliu (Jul 2006 – 27 Dec 2006) * Edmond Gëzdari (27 Dec 2006 –7 Apr 2007) * Ilirjan File (7 Apr 2007 – Jun 2007) *

Krenar Alimehmeti Krenar Alimehmeti (born 17 August 1966) is an Albanian retired football player and current manager. Many fans know him as ''Krenar Zhubi''. Playing career Club As a player, he represented KF Tirana formerly known as 17 Nëntori Tirana with who ...

(2007–2008) * Mirel Josa (24 Aug 2008 – 6 Feb 2009) * Faruk Sejdini (6 Feb 2009 – 6 Apr 2009) * Ramadan Shehu (6 Apr 2009 – 22 May 2009) * Bujar Gogunja (22 May 2009 – Jun 2009) * Muharrem Dosti (Jul 2009 – 19 Dec 2009) *

(19 Dec 2009 – 24 December 2010) * Esad Karišik (27 December 2010 – 23 February 2011) * Ilirjan File (28 February 2011 – 9 Sep 2014) * Edmond Mustafaraj (Sep 2014) * Muharrem Dosti (Sep 2014 – May 2017) * Eriol Merxha (Jul 2017 – Sep 2018) * Elvis Kotorri (Sep 2018 – Mar 2019) * Marsid Dushku (Mar 2019 – May 2019) * Shkëlqim Lleshanaku (Aug 2019 –)

Recent seasons

References

External links

KF Elbasani at Soccerway.comKF Elbasani at Weltfussball.deKF Elbasani at Football-Lineups.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elbasani KF Elbasani, Association football clubs established in 1923 Football clubs in Albania, Elbasani Sport in Elbasan 1923 establishments in Albania Kategoria e Dytë clubs