KF Skënderbeu Korçë

Skënderbeu Korçë

Full name	Klubi Futbollistik Skënderbeu Korçë
Nickname(s)	Ujqërit e Dëborës (The Snow Wolves), Bardhekuqtë (The White and Reds), Juglindorët (The Southeasterners)
Founded	15 April 1909 (1909-04-15)
Ground	Skënderbeu Stadium, Korçë, Albania
Ground Capacity	5,724[1]
Owner	Municipality of Korçë
President	Ardian Takaj
Head Coach	Mirel Josa
League	Albanian Superliga
2014–15	Albanian Superliga, 1st
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Active branches of KF Skënderbeu Korçë
Football (Men's)	Football (Reserves)	Football (Women's)
Basketball (Men's)	Basketball (Women's)

Klubi Futbollistik Skënderbeu Korçë (Albanian pronunciation: [skəndɛɾbɛu kɔɾtʃə]) is a professional football club based in Korçë, a city in southeastern Albania. The club currently play in the Albanian Superliga, which is the top tier of football in the country. Originally founded as Vllazëria Korçë in 1909, the club in its current form was founded in 1925 following the merger of several local clubs and they changed the club's name to Skënderbeu Korçë, after Albania's national hero Skanderbeg. The club's home ground has been the Skënderbeu Stadium since it was built in 1957, and it now has a capacity of 12,000.

Skënderbeu Korçë have won 6 league titles, with the first coming in 1933 before going on 78-year run without winning the league. The club won its first league title since then in 2011, and they have won the league every year since. After winning five consecutive league titles they broke the Albanian record held by Dinamo Tirana, who won four consecutive titles in the 1950s.

In 2015 the club became the first Albanian side to reach the play-off round of the UEFA Champions League. They lost the play-off to Dinamo Zagreb and dropped into the UEFA Europa League, the first time an Albanian club has progressed to the group stage of a European competition.

History

The first years

The first football club in the city of Korçë was formed on 15 April 1909 under the name Vllazëria by politician and poet Hilë Mosi.^[2] The rise in the popularity of the sport resulted in a number of clubs being formed between 1920 and 1922, including clubs such as Përparimi and Sport Klub Korça. In 1923 the Albanian National Lyceum formed the Shpresa sports society. Skënderbeu was officially formed in 1925, when a large number of the young men and young men of the city were playing football regularly in local fields. The rise in popularity of the sport led to most neighbourhoods forming their own football teams, such as Zhgaba in 1926 and Leka i Madh, Pirro, Brekverdhit, Zjarri, Tigri and Diamanti in 1927, which competed in the city's first organised football competition held in 1928. However, these teams were local, and would only compete with one another, as the main football club to represent the city was Skënderbeu who managed to overcome several problems at the start, some of which were even political. Skënderbeu was named after 15th century Albanian nobleman and national hero Skanderbeg. The club quickly became the city's main football team, and in 1926 they began to play friendly games against teams from neighbouring countries, starting with Macedonian side Monastir, then part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In two games played Skënderbeu won 5–2 and then drew 2–2. Skënderbeu also played friendlies against Greek teams from Ermioni and Thessaloniki, which is modern day Aris FC. They also played against Kavala, who they beat 2–0 in Albania but lost 1–0 against in Greece.^[3]

1930s championships

The club competed in the first ever national football competition in Albania, which was the 1930 championship. As the only club to represent Korçë nationally, Skënderbeu had hug popular support within the city, with similar support bases seen with the likes of KF Tirana and Vllaznia Shkodër, who all earned a name for themselves in the early stages of Albanian football. During the 1930 championship, Skënderbeu finished runners up to KF Tirana, after forfeiting both championship playoff matches.^[4] The club managed to win its first ever Albanian Championship just 3 years later in 1933, finishing 2 points ahead of Vllaznia.^[5] The championship winning side was: Klani Marjani, Kristaq Bimbli, Andrea Çani, Andon Miti, Lefter Petra, Fori Stasa, Nexhat Dishnica, Tomor Ypi, Thoma Vangjeli, Servet Teufik Agaj, Enver Kulla, Vasil Trebicka, Stavri Kondili, Aristotel Samsuri, with Qemal Omari as their manager. In the same year the club's striker Servet Teufik Agaj was the top goalscorer with 7 league goals, an honour also won by his strike partner Aristotel Samsuri in 1931, also with 7 goals scored. The following year Skënderbeu strongly fought to retain their title, but only managed to finish as runners-up once again to KF Tirana, with Samsuri being the club's top goalscorer that season with 7 goals. In the next 2 championships held before the start of World War II Skënderbeu finished in 4th place in both years under the guidance of manager Qemal Omari. The club ceased operations between 1938 and 1945 due to World War II, as there were no official tournaments held in Albania.

Post-war struggles

In 1945 the club began operating once again, much to the delight of supporters who paraded in the streets of Korçë as the club announced the news. The majority of the players who were active in the 1930s were no longer playing football competitively, so the squad was virtually new, except for Klani Marjani, Bellovoda and Saro. But the delight was short lived as the club struggled to match their performances before the war. In 1945 they finished 4th in Group B, consisting of 6 teams, and in the following 1946 season they finished 5th in Group A, just 1 point ahead of bottom place. The manager Tato Bimbli decided to bring in young players in order to revive the squad during the 1947 season, when the club also changed its name to Dinamo Korçë for the Communist Party, Bimbli's decision to bring in young players paid off as the club finished 3rd in the league out of 9 teams. The following season, however, turned out to be a disaster as they finished bottom of Group A with just a single point from 7 games. In 1949 the club changed its name to simply Korça, and they finished in 6th place out of 9 teams in the same year. The manager Tato Bimbli left the club after having a difficult time in charge, and he was replaced by Spiro Koçe in 1950. in 1951 all Albanian teams were ordered by the Communist Party to be named Puna, which literally translates to work. During these years the club remained a notable force, but with no relative success often finishing in mid table in the league. Skënderbeu is also a three time finalist in the Albanian Cup in 1958, 1965 and 1976, in which they lost all three finals. They did however win the Albanian First Division in 1976/77 as well as three other times with the last win in 2008–2009 season where Skënderbeu won the rights to move into the Albanian Superliga where they have never looked back.

Recent dominance

During the winter of 2009–10, the club was bottom of the league and facing the real possibility of relegation from the Albanian Superliga, but there were seismic changes in terms of the ownership and the board, as a new president in the shape of Red Bull Albania CEO Agim Zeqo was appointed. A new 16-member board was also elected, and a host of new donors attached themselves to the club, including some of Albania's most successful businessman, Samir Mane, Irfan Hysenbelliu and Grigor Joti. The journalist Blendi Fevziu was also named as a donor, alongside the Minister of Finance, Ridvan Bode, and the prefect of Korçë, Niko Peleshi. The club's short term goal was to remain in the Albanian Superliga, and they planned to win the league the following season.^[6] In order to escape relegation the club brought in Mirel Josa as the new head coach, along with a host of new players, both from Albania and neighbouring countries. They finished the league in 10th place out of 12 teams, meaning they entered a relegation playoff with the third placed Albanian First Division side KS Kamza, which they won 1–0 through a second minute Klodian Asllani goal to remain in the Albanian Superliga.^[7]

Ahead of the 2010–11 season, the squad was revamped and under the guidance of Shkëlqim Muça as the head coach, new players were brought in, many of whom were Albanian internationals including Orges Shehi, Ditmar Bicaj, Endrit Vrapi, Jetmir Sefa and Bledi Shkëmbi who was named captain following his return to his hometown club. Other quality signings made Skënderbeu the favourites to win the title. They were defeated by KF Tirana in their first ever Albanian Supercup game, and they spent much of the season in second place in the league, behind pacesetters Flamurtari Vlorë. Shkëlqim Muça was replaced by Shpëtim Duro as head coach in February and defeated Flamurtari Vlorë in his first game in charge to move closer to top spot, and he went on to guide the club to 11 wins in his 13 games in charge, to win the Albanian title for the first time since 1933 and to qualify for the UEFA Champions League qualifying round for the first time in their history.^[8] After winning the league for the first time in 78 years, the club's president Agim Zeqo said "It was a great season and it was great to see our city and our fans enjoy this title. This town loves football and deserved this win. Let's do it again next season."^[9]

The club made its Champions League debut against Cypriot side APOEL FC in the second qualifying round on 13 July 2011, and they lost 2–0 at home, before losing 4–0 away as they were knocked out of the competition. They continued a poor start to the season as they lost out to KF Tirana in the Albanian Supercup before the start of the Albanian Superliga season, where they also struggled. After only one win in their opening 4 games the head coach Shpëtim Duro was replaced by Stanislav Levý from the Czech Republic, who became the club's first foreign coach since Qemal Omari in the 1930s, who himself was of Albanian ancestry, making Levý the club's first truly foreign coach. He guided the club to a 14 match unbeaten run to reach the top of the table, and he only lost 2 games in charge as they narrowly beat Teuta Durrës to the title with only a single point between the sides to claim the only Champions League spot once again. In the Albanian Cup, Skënderbeu reached their first final since 1976, but they lost to KF Tirana, as they continued their 100% losing record in Albanian Cup finals, having lost in 1958, 1965 and 1976 before the 2012 final.

They kicked off the 2012–13 campaign with their first ever Champions League and European win, as they defeated Hungarian side Debreceni VSC 1–0 at home through a Sebino Plaku goal to give them real hope of qualifying for the third qualifying round of the competition. In the away leg however Skënderbeu lost 3–0 and were knocked out after a 3–1 aggregate loss despite winning the first leg of the tie. They once again lost out to KF Tirana in the Albanian Supercup for the second consecutive season, but in the league they lost just once in their opening 20 games and managed to remain in first place for the entire campaign as they went on to win the title for the third time in a row. In the Albanian Cup they were knocked out by Bylis Ballsh in the semi final after a 2–1 aggregate loss over two legs, a result which came as a surprise as Skënderbeu had defeated all 5 teams they had faced during their cup run and were considered the favourites.

They then went on to win the Albanian Supercup for the first time in their history, after defeating KF Laçi. Later, Skënderbeu begun their the 2013–14 campaign with their first ever Champions League tie as they draw 0–0 in the away leg against Neftchi Baku, which gave them a shade of hope in their dream about qualifying for the third qualifying round of the competition. In the home leg, they managed to hold the score to a tie in regular time and went to win 1–0 in the extra-time through a Nurudeen Orelesi goal in the 116th minute, qualifying for the first time in the third qualifying round of Champions League. They were drawn against Kazakh side Shakhter Karagandy and they lost 3–0 at home, before losing 3–2 at home as they were knocked out of the competition. They dropped into the UEFA Europa League play-offs, making their debut in the second most important continental competition with a 0–1 loss to Ukrainian side Chornomorets Odessa in the away leg. At home, they recorded their first ever Europa League win, defeating Chornomorets 1–0 with a Andi Ribaj goal, giving Skënderbeu hopes of becoming the first Albanian team to qualify to the group stage of a European competition by progressing to the Europa League group stages. However, with a 1–1 tie, the match went to extra-time and later penalties, with Skënderbeu losing 6–7. In the championship, they began with a 1–0 victory over Besa Kavajë, then lost important matches against Flamutari and Kukësi, but recovered and claimed a winter lead place. They managed to win their fourth consecutive league title after a 2–1 win over Partizani Tirana.

They then went on to win the Albanian Supercup for the second time in a row, after defeating Flarmutari 1–0 in the final. In the new Champions League season, they had great expectations fed by a 0–0 draw in the second qualifying round against BATE Borisov away, but a 1–1 draw at home ended their hopes as were eliminated on away goals rule. In the league, they win the first two games, before losing to Partizani Tirana and a win against Kukësi was shortly followed by a defeat to Teuta Durrës. Then, they managed to have an unbeaten run, with loses against only KF Tirana and KF Laçi. In the Albanian Cup, they were knocked out by Kukësi in the semi-finals.

The summer transfer window was marked by the signing of the Albanian international Hamdi Salihi, who played at Rapid Wien. However, after a 2–2 draw against KF Laçi, they lost the Albanian Supercup 7–8 on penalties. They kicked off the 2015–16 campaign with their biggest ever Champions League and European win, as they defeated Northern Ireland side Crusaders 4–1. They lost the away match 2–3, but managed to qualify to the third qualifying round for the second time with an aggregate 6–4 score and they faced Milsami Orhei. They beat Milsami 2–0 both home and away to become the only Albanian side to qualify to the UEFA Champions League play-offs, where they met Dinamo Zagreb. They were defeated 1–2 at home and 1–4 away and eliminated from Champions League. They were dropped into the UEFA Europa League group stages, becoming the first Albanian club to progress to the group stage of a European competition. Skënderbeu Korçë were drawn against Beşiktaş, Lokomotiv Moscow and Sporting Lisbon. In matchday 1, their first ever group stage game, the club was defeated at home 0–1 by Beşiktaş after a hard fight between the two sides. In the next matchday, they lost 0–2 to Lokomotiv Moscow in Moscow, Russia. Their worst defeat in the European competition yet came the next matchday, a storming 1–5 loss to Sporting Lisbon in the away leg at Lisbon, Portugal, but also had the Albanian side scoring their first goal in the UEFA Europa League group stages. In the home match, Skënderbeu Korçë recorded a historical 3–0 win to Sporting Lisbon, which was one of the most important victories of a football club in Albania, as Skënderbeu recorded their points in a UEFA Europa League group stage game.

Stadium

The club has played its home games at the Skënderbeu Stadium since it was originally built in 1957. The stadium was fully renovated in 2010 in order to gain accreditation from UEFA to host European games at the ground. The stadium has a capacity of 12,000, making it one of the largest in Albania.

Supporters

Skenderbeu is considered to be one of the best supported clubs in Albania, with the majority of fans live in the Korçë District, which has a population of just under 140,000. The main supporters' group for the club is called Ujqërit e Deborës, which literally translates to snow wolves. The group was formed in 2008 and quickly became considered the club's main supporters' group. They are present at every home game at the Skënderbeu Stadium and they also organise trips to every away game of the season, also attending Albanian national team games alongside other teams' supporters' groups.^[10] It is compulsory for every member to wear either the group's or Skënderbeu's clothing during games to distinguish between other fans. The group also has factions in different cities around the world where there are Albanian diaspora, including Toronto, Canada. Yearly membership to be an official member of the group costs 1000 lek (€7,14 or £5.86 as of 1 February 2014).

They have a fierce rivalry with KF Tirana's supports groups Tirona Fanatics, with both sets of fans being involved in hooligan activities since Skënderbeu's rise to prominence overtaking KF Tirana around 2010. In September 2013 prior to an away game in Tiranë the Ujqërit e Deborës group called upon Tirona Fanatics members to reduce the tensions between the two sets of fans.^[11]

In November 2013 Skënderbeu was forced to play Flamurtari Vlorë behind closed doors due to the behaviour of Ujqërit e Deborës against Partizani Tirana in a 3–0 win on 2 November. The game against Partizani Tirana was seen by attended by 5500 and there were no altercations between rival fans or any offensive chanting but the Albanian Football Association deemed the choreography of the Ujqërit e Deborës to be worthy of a one match ban on supporters.^[12]

Honours and achievements

Domestic

Albanian Superliga

• Champions (6): 1933, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15
• Runners-up (3): 1930, 1934, 1976–77

Albanian First Division

• Winners (3): 1975–76, 2004–05, 2006–07
• Runners-up (3): 1989–90, 1994–95, 2004–05

Albanian Cup

• Runners-up (4): 1958, 1964–65, 1975–76, 2011–12

Albanian Supercup

• Winners (2): 2013, 2014
• Runners-up (2): 2011, 2012

SuperSport Trophy

• Winners (1): 2011

Seasons top scorers

Season	Player	Goals
1931	Aristotel Samsuri	7
1933	Servet Teufik Agaj	7
2010–11	Alfredo Rafael Sosa	13
2011–12	Daniel Xhafaj	11
2012–13	Pero Pejić	12
2013–14	Pero Pejić	20
2014–15	Dhiego Martins	7

Records

• Biggest ever European home victory: Skënderbeu Korçë 4–1 Crusaders (14 July 2015) Skënderbeu Korçë 3-0 Sporting Clube de Portugal (5 November 2015)
• Biggest ever European home defeat: Skënderbeu Korçë 0–2 APOEL (13 July 2011)
• Biggest ever European away victory: Milsami Orhei 0–2 Skënderbeu Korçë (28 July 2015)
• Biggest ever European away defeat: Sporting Clube de Portugal 5–1 Skënderbeu Korçë (22 October 2015)

European competitions record

By competition

As of 10 December 2015

Matches

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2011–12	UEFA Champions League	2Q	APOEL	0–2	0–4	0–6
2012–13	UEFA Champions League	2Q	Debrecen	1–0	0–3	1–3
2013–14	UEFA Champions League	2Q	Neftchi Baku	1–0 (aet)	0–0	1–0
		3Q	Shakhter Karagandy	3–2	0–3	3–5
	UEFA Europa League	PO	Chornomorets Odesa	1–0 (aet)	0–1	1–1 (6–7p)
2014–15	UEFA Champions League	2Q	BATE Borisov	1–1	0–0	1–1
2015–16	UEFA Champions League	2Q	Crusaders	4–1	2–3	6–4
		3Q	Milsami Orhei	2–0	2–0	4–0
		PO	Dinamo Zagreb	1–2	1–4	2–6
	UEFA Europa League	Group H	Beşiktaş	0–1	0–2	4th
			Lokomotiv Moscow	0–3	0–2
			Sporting CP	3–0	1–5

Notes

• 1Q: First qualifying round
• 2Q: Second qualifying round
• 3Q: Third qualifying round
• PO: Play-off round

Balkans Cup

Matches

Season	Competition	Group	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1978	Balkans Cup	B		Aris Thessaloniki	2–0	0–2	2–2
				HNK Rijeka	1–0	0–6	1–6

Ranking

UEFA club coefficient ranking

(As of 9 November 2015)^[13]

Rank	Team	Points
190	FC Aktobe	8.075
191	ADO Den Haag	8.045
192	AEK Athens FC	7.940
193	FK Vojvodina	7.925
194	Skënderbeu	7.825
195	Strømsgodset IF	7.750
196	Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona FC	7.725
197	İstanbul Başakşehir	7.680
198	Eskisehirspor	7.680

Players

Current squad

As of 1 February 2016

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Orges Shehi (vice-captain) 3 DF Renato Arapi 4 DF Bruno Lulaj 5 DF Bajram Jashanica 6 MF Bekim Dema 7 MF Gerhard Progni 8 MF Bakary Nimaga 9 FW Sebino Plaku 10 MF Bledi Shkëmbi (captain) 11 MF Leonit Abazi 12 GK Erjon Llapanji 14 FW Hamdi Salihi 19 DF Tefik Osmani

No. Position Player 21 FW Arbër Abilaliaj 23 MF Valmir Nafiu 27 MF Liridon Latifi 30 MF Esquerdinha 32 DF Kristi Vangjeli 33 DF Marko Radaš 34 FW Renatinho 78 FW James Adeniyi 88 MF Sabjen Lilaj 88 MF Nurudeen Orelesi 93 GK Deniz Troshupa — MF Valdrin Rashica — FW Ángel Orué

On loan

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

No. Position Player 20 DF Ademir (at KF Laçi until 30 June 2016) – DF Albi Alla (at Bylis Ballsh until 30 June 2016)

No. Position Player – FW Mario Kame (at Adriatiku Mamurras until 30 June 2016)

Current youth players with first-team experience

As of 23 November 2015^[A]

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

No. Position Player 4 DF Gentian Selimi 6 DF Aleksander Make 11 DF Vangjel Gjergo 17 DF Kristi Menko 23 MF Erli Çupi 27 FW Kristo Lika

No. Position Player 1 GK Kostandino Dramolli 11 MF Kevin Pino 20 DF Foti Tona 33 MF Johan Becka 99 FW David Kaçaj – MF Uerdi Mara

Current staff

Position	Staff
President	Ardian Takaj
Vice-president	Arlind Boshku
Head Coach	Mirel Josa
Assistant Coach	Arben Asllani
Goalkeeping Coach	Ilir Bozhiqi
Athletics Coach	Iris Selimi
Physiotherapist	Jorgo Pantazi
Masseur	Gezim Qyli

Managers

Name	Period	Trophies
Qemal Omari	1932–1938	Albanian National Championship
Tato Bimbli	1945–1950
Spiro Koçe	1950–1957
S.Qirinxhiu	1957–1961
M.Prodani	1961–1966
Ilia Shuke	1966–1975
Aleko Pilika	1975–1982	Albanian First Division
Kosta Koça	1982–1984
Jani Kaçi	1987–1996
Kosta Koça	1989–1990?
Jani Kaçi	2002–2004
Gjergj Ballço	2004–2005	Albanian First Division
Jani Kaçi	2006–2007	Albanian First Division
Gerd Haxhiu	2009–2010
Andrea Marko	2010
Mirel Josa	2009–2010
Shkëlqim Muça	2010–2011
Shpëtim Duro	2011	Albanian Superliga
Stanislav Levy	2011–2012	Albanian Superliga
Mirel Josa	2012–	3 Albanian Superligas, 2 Albanian Supercups

Sponsorship

Companies that KF Skënderbeu Korçë currently has sponsorship deals with include:

References

External links

• Official Website (Albanian)
• Albanian Football Association Official Website (Albanian) (English)
• KF Skënderbeu at UEFA.com (English)