KF Elbasani

KF Elbasani

Full name	Klubi i Futbollit Elbasani
Founded	1913
Ground	Ruzhdi Bizhuta Stadium, Elbasan, Albania
Ground Capacity	12,300
Chairman	Arben Laze
Manager	Ilirjan File
League	Albanian First Division
2012-13	Albanian First Division, 10th
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Klubi i Futbollit Elbasani is an Albanian football club based in the city of Elbasan. They currently play in the Albanian First Division.

History

The club was formed in 1913 as Klubi Futbollit Urani Elbasan, the result of the fusion between two club, Aferdita Elbasan and Perparimi 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 it's 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.^[1] The following season they again finished in penultimate place, this time in 7 team league format.^[2] 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.^[3]

The club changed it's 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.^[4] 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.^[5] 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 bellow them Ismail Qemali Vlorë played 2 fewer games and finished on the same points tally.^[6] 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.^[7]

The league officially restarted following World War II in 1945, where Bashkimi finished 3rd in Group B of the new league format, out of 6 teams.^[8] The following season they finished 2nd in Group B, just one point behind runners-up Flamurtari Vlorë.^[9] For the 1947 season, the league changed to a single 9 team competition, where Bashkimi finished in 8th place.^[10] The following season the league returned to the 2 group format, where the club again finished second by one point to Flamurtari Vlorë

KS Elbasani in 1949 and KF Puna Elbasan in 1950. Between 1958 and 1991 the club was called KS Labinoti Elbasan, before once again changing it's name to KF Elbasani, which they have not changed ever since.

The club's first participation in a European competition came in 1984, where they met Danish side Lyngby Boldklub 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,^[11] and along with another 3-0 loss in Denmark the aggregate result was 6-0 to Lyngby Boldklub.^[12][13]

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.

In the 2006-07 1st qualifying round for the Champions League they were eliminated by FK Ekranas from Lithuania (1-3 aggregate). On 24 December 2006 coach Luan Deliu was fired and replaced by Edmond Gezdari.

Stadium

Ruzhdi Bizhuta Stadium

The stadium was built in the 60s and opened in 1967 while KF Elbasani were playing the old Kategoria e parë, which is now the Albanian Superliga.

In January 2014 it was confirmed that the Ruzhdi Bizhuta Stadium would host the home games of the Albanian national team while the demolition and reconstruction of the Qemal Stafa Stadium was taking place. Ruzhdi Bizhuta would host Albania's home games for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying stage, but only after a renovation of the existing stadium is completed. The renovation costs amounted to €1.3 million, €300,000 of which the Albanian Football Association would be paying for and the remaining €1 million would be paid for by the Albanian government. Prime minister Edi Rama visited the stadium on 28 January 2014 as part of his visit to the city of Elbasan, which is where he made the announcement confirming that the Ruzhdi Bizhuta Stadium would replace Qemal Stafa as the national team's home ground temporarily.^[14][15][16]

The renovation of the stadium to meet the requirements of UEFA began in February 2014. There changing rooms for the players and the match officials will be reconstructed, a conference room will be built, emergency vehicle entrance to the ground will be made easier and a new executive seating area will be created, with 400 seats. The stadium lighting will be replaced with new floodlights and new electric scoreboards will be fitted, as well as electronic ticket turnstiles. The pitch will be completely re-turfed and there will be 10,200 plastic seats installed.^[17]

Honours

• Albanian Superliga
  • Winners (2): 1983–84, 2005–06

• Albanian First Division
  • Winners (3): 1933, 1958, 2001–02
  • Runners-up (1): 2009-10

• Albanian Cup
  • Winners (2): 1975, 1992

• Albanian Supercup
  • Winners (1): 1992

European competitions record

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1984/85	European Cup	1R		Lyngby BK	0-3	0-3	0-6
2005/06	UEFA Cup	1QR		FK Vardar	1-1	0-0	1-1
2006/07	UEFA Champions League	1QR		FK Ekranas	1-0	0-3	1-3

• 1QR = 1st Qualifying Round
• 1R = 1st Round

Balkans Cup

Season	Competition	Group	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1973	Balkans Cup	A		Sutjeska Nikšići	1–0	0–1	1–1
				Târgu Mureș	2–0	1–5	3–5
1988-89	Balkans Cup	A		Malatyaspor	3–0	–[lower-alpha 1]	3–0
				OFI Crete	1-1	0–3	1–4

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Elvis Kotorri GK Irakli Toçi GK Alfred Gurra GK Eduart Myftarago DF Elton Basriu (on loan from KF Bylis) DF Marsid Dushku DF Besian Gjini DF Ganiol Kaçuli DF Jurgen Lleshi DF Armando Mehmetaj DF Arjan Pisha DF Xhulian Turhani MF Dorian Bylykbashi MF Hetlem Çapja MF Endri Dalipi

No. Position Player MF Elio Shazivari MF Jurgen Dosti MF Endri Duka MF Orgest Gava MF Ardit Hila MF Albano Isaj MF Xhulio Jaupi MF Egert Kuçi MF Eriol Merxha MF Klevis Roshi MF Mateos Toçi FW Ledio Koçi FW Eri Lamçja FW Ornald Tafani FW Ermir Rezi (on loan from KF Teuta)

Former notable players

Staff

Role	Name
President	Arben Laze
Manager	Ilirjan Filja
Athletic Director	Blendi Hoxholli
Club Doctor	Mehmet Buzmerxhani

References

External links

• KF Elbasani at Soccerway.com
• KF Elbasani at Transfermarkt.de
• KF Elbasani at UEFA.com
• KF Elbasani at EUFO.de
• KF Elbasani at Weltfussball.de
• KF Elbasani at Football-Lineups.com