Klubi i Futbollit Naftëtari, commonly known as ''Naftëtari'', is an

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in Kuçovë. Their home ground is the Bashkim Sulejmani Stadium and they currently compete in the Kategoria e Dytë. Naftëtari means ''Oilmen'', with Kuçovë being the centre of the Albanian oil industry.

History

Founded in 1926, they first participated in the

Albanian Superliga Kategoria Superiore (), also known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsorship reasons with internet service provider, Abissnet, is a professional league for men's association football clubs in Albania. At the top of the Albanian football league syste ...

in 1946 as ''Spartak Kuçovë''. During the

communist era A communist era is a sustained period of national government by a single party following the philosophy of Marxism–Leninism. Many countries have experienced such a period of communist rule. Current communist states China The Chinese Communist ...

they were first known as ''Puna Qyteti Stalin'', then ''Spartaku Qyteti Stalin'' and for most of the time ''Naftëtari Qyteti Stalin''. Naftëtari played their final season in the

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

. In the 1987/88 season, Naftëtari qualified for a promotion/relegation playoff after finishing runners-up to second tier champions Traktori Lushnja. After losing the first match 1–0 away to Albanian giants and Ministry of Interior club

Dinamo Tirana Football Club Dinamo City, commonly referred to as Dinamo City and colloquially known as Dinamo, is an Albanian professional football club based out of Tirana. They compete in the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. Founded i ...

, the second match in Qyteti Stalin on 5 June 1988 ended in riots and burning of the Dinamo team bus partly because the game was led by a referee and assistants from Tirana. Dinamo also won the second leg and the riots led to the suspension of Naftëtari from playing football for a year and demotion to the third tier. Coach Pandi Angjeli and players Meta and Makashi were suspended for life and club manager and former goalkeeper Fatmir Ismaili was dismissed.

Stadium

The stadium of Naftëtari Kuçovë is located in Kuçovë,

. The name of the stadium is Stadiumi Bashkim Sulejmani. It has a capacity of 5,000 spectators.

Supporters

Rivalries

Naftëtari's biggest rivals are Tomori Berat, with

Berat Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and ea ...

only 20 kilometres down the road and with fans of both clubs working together in the textile industry during the 1970s.Përparim Kovaçi, “pantera” e Beratit që u rebelua për një frigorifer
- Panorama

Current squad

(Captain)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naftetari KF Naftëtari Football clubs in Albania Association football clubs established in 1926 1926 establishments in Albania Kuçovë