The Loro Boriçi Stadium ( sq, Stadiumi "Loro Boriçi"), previously known as Vojo Kushi Stadium ( sq, Stadiumi Vojo Kushi) is a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shkod ...

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 ...

, which is used mostly for

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 ...

matches and is the home ground of Vllaznia. The stadium has a capacity of around 16,000 seated.

History

On 17 May 1950, the construction of the stadium started and on 1 May 1952, the stadium was inaugurated and was named after

Vojo Kushi Vojo Kushi (, August 3, 1918 – October 10, 1942) was an Albanian and Yugoslav communist guerilla fighter (partisan) and one of the founders of the Communist group based in Shkodër, following the Italian occupation of Albania in April 1939. He wa ...

, who was an Albanian partisan,

hero of Albania The Hero of the People ( sq, Hero i Popullit; Heroinë e Popullit) was the highest title bestowed upon the citizens of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania. Creation Founded on July 9, 1945, the title was awarded by the Presidium of the P ...

. In 1990, during the fall of communism in Albania, the stadium was renamed in honour of football coach and former player

Loro Boriçi Lorenco Boriçi (4 August 1922 – 25 April 1984), commonly known as Loro Boriçi was an Albanian association football forward and is regarded as one of Albania's football legends. He played mostly for Partizan Tirana (won the 1949 and 1954 A ...

(1922–1984). Between 2015 and 2016 the stadium was rebuilt into a modern

all-seater stadium An all-seater stadium is a sports stadium in which every spectator has a seat. This is commonplace in professional association football stadiums in nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. Most association football and Ame ...

with a capacity of 16,022. The stadium is also the second largest stadium in

behind 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. ...

Tirana 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 ...

2015 Reconstruction

The stadium was last renovated in 2001. In October 2014, the

Prime Minister of Albania The Prime Minister of Albania ( sq, Kryeministri i Shqipërisë), officially styled Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania ( sq, Kryeministri i Republikës së Shqipërisë), is the head of government of the Republic of Albania and the mos ...

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 chairm ...

announced the reconstruction of the stadium. On 3 May 2015, the construction work officially started, bringing the stadium to a renewed capacity of 18,100.

International matches

Albania

On 29 March 2003, it hosted a

UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying Qualification for the 2004 UEFA European Championship took place between September 2002 and November 2003. Fifty teams were divided into ten groups, with each team playing the others in their group twice, once at home and once away. The top te ...

match of

against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and finished with a 3–1 win.

Kosovo

After stadiums in Mitrovica and

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

were under renovation and do not meet

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

standards.

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

played the qualifying matches of the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

in Loro Boriçi Stadium. On 6 October 2016, it hosted the first qualifying match of Kosovo against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and finished with a 0–6 biggest defeat.

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

*
Loro Boriçi Stadium
at EU-Football.info Sport in Shkodër Multi-purpose stadiums Multi-purpose stadiums in Albania Buildings and structures in Shkodër Football venues in Albania KF Vllaznia Shkodër {{Albania-sports-venue-stub