KF Vllaznia Shkodër

KF Vllaznia Shkodër

Full name	Klubi i futbollit Vllaznia
Nickname(s)	Kuq e Blutë (Red & Blues) Djepi i Futbollit Shqiptar (Cradle of Albanian football)
Founded	16 February 1919 (1919-02-16) as Shoqëria Sportive Vllaznia (Vllaznia Sports Society)
Ground	Loro Boriçi Stadium, Shkodër, Albania
Ground Capacity	16,022[1]
Chairman	Municipality of Shkodër
Manager	Armando Cungu
League	Albanian Superliga
2016–17	Albanian Superliga, 7th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Active branches of Vllaznia Shkodër
Football (Men's)	Football (Women's)	Basketball
Futsal	Volleyball (Men's)	Volleyball (Women's)

Klubi I Futbollit Vllaznia Shkodër, commonly known as Vllaznia is an Albanian football club based in the city of Shkodër. It is the association football branch of the Vllaznia Sports Club, which was founded on 16 February 1919. The club competes have competed in every edition of Albanian Superliga since 1930, which is the top tier of football in Albania.

Vllaznia is one of the most successful football clubs in Albania, having won nine Albanian Superliga titles, six Albanian Cups and two Albanian Supercups. They are also one of only two Albanian clubs to have never been relegated from the Albanian Superliga, along with KF Tirana.

The club's ground has been the Loro Boriçi Stadium since it was built in 1952, which is named after former Vllaznia and Albania national team captain. In 2016, the stadium was rebuilt into modern all-seater at the cost of €17 million, and it now has a capacity of 16,022, making it the largest stadium in Albania and the current home of the national team.

History

Background history

Football was introduced to the city of Shkodër in 1908, when a Maltese priest, Father Gut Ruter, brought a football into the city, which is considered to be the first time football was played in the country. The first football club formed in Albania was Indipendenca Shkodër, which began operating in 1912 under the guidance of founder Palokë Nika, who was also the captain of the team.^[2] The first football game organised in city took place in October 1913 between Indipendenca Shkodër and the occupying Austro-Hungarian Imperial Navy. It was the first time a football team composed of Albanians had played foreigners, making it the first international game to ever take place involving an Albanian team, as well as being the first 90-minute football game to be played with two 45 minute halves in the country. Indipendenca Shkodër lost the game 2–1, with the captain Palokë Nika scoring the only goal for the home side.^[2][3]

Early history

From left to right: Kin Bushati (goalkeeper), Ernest Halepiani, Gjelosh Gjeka, Pjeter Gjoka, Qazim Dervishi (captain), Muhamet Halili, Asim Golemi, Luigj Radoja, Gjon Kiri, Myzafer Pipa, Hile Staka, Luigj Shala (coach)

Following the rise in popularity of football in the city, this prompted Palokë Nika along with other sportspeople in the city to form a club that would cater for many sports including football and on 16 February 1919 the Vllaznia Sports Society was formed. They played games against other Albanian teams, notably playing KF Tirana in their first ever game in October 1920. The club also played international games, the first of which was against the occupying Italian troops on 23 May, who beat Vllaznia 1–0. Later in the year for Albanian Independence Day on 28 November Vllaznia organised another football game against an Italian selection again, this time losing 5–1. The club's first game outside of Albania was played on 31 August 1922 in Montenegro against FK Lovćen Cetinje, a match which they lost 4–0.^[2] The club would continue to play domestic friendly games until the creation of the Albanian Football Association in 1930 and the start of the Kategoria e Parë in the same year.^[3]

Championships of World War II

During the peak of World War II, between the years 1939 and 1942, Albanian Football Association organized three championships, in 1939, 1940 and 1942.^[4] According to all information gathered in years from Albanian and foreign historians, players and veterans who lived these events, clear evidence proves the existence of these championships at that time, as well as the existence of three trophies given from Albanian Football Association officials themselves. One must not forget that 1942 Albanian Superliga had a nationwide participation – the first and the only one so far involving teams from both countries as Albania and Kosovo. KS Vllaznia won one such championship whilst KF Tirana won the other two championships in 1939 & 1942.^[5] This would update the championship trophies won by these clubs to respectively 10 and 26 at the present time.

After years of silence, Albanian Football Association have appointed a dedicated commission with 5 members, which is involved in gathering enough evidence in this regard. And finally, after a significant amount of evidence has been produced, it has been given an official date, when Albanian Football Association intend to officially recognize these 3 championships in their next General Assembly, to be held in February, 2013.^[6]

In 1958 the club was renamed "KS Vllaznia". In the European Cup for Champions 1978/79 they beat Austrian team Austria Wien (who went on to the semifinals) 2–0 at home but lost 3–4 on aggregate. In the Cup Winners Cup of 1987/88 they reached the second round after beating Sliema Wanderes from Malta in both games (aggregate 6–0). In the 2001/2002 UEFA Champions league qualifying they beat KR Reykjavik from Iceland 2–1 in Reykjavik and 1–0 in Tirana with two goals from Klodian Duro. In next round KF Vllaznia were eliminated by the Turkish club Galatasaray 2–0 in Istanbul and 1–4 in Tirana. German Uli Schulze, a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup winner with 1. FC Magdeburg in 1974, was appointed as new coach in summer 2006. He was later replaced by Mirel Josa who is currently at his third spell coaching the team.

2000s

In the 2000s. Vllaznia went through changes, in 2003 the President of Vllaznia, Myftar Cela was shot in Montenegro. The President was loved by every Vllaznia fan, because of his generosity and he loved the team. After Cela died, a group of businessmen gathered to help the team.

In 2006. Albanian businessman, Valter Fushaj, became Vllaznia President. Since then he has been criticized by the fans for corruption and not wanting the best for the team.

In the 2009–2010. Vllaznia went through some rough changes; having to change 3 coaches and also replacing players. Vllaznia went to the bottom of the table, and having been criticized by the fans, Vllaznia went through some bad times.

On 17 April 2010. Vllaznia won 3–2 against Skënderbeu Korçë but the result was changed to a 2–0 loss for Vllaznia. This was because the player Ansi Nika wasn't on the team roster but was picked for the team anyway. This led to protests by the fans, making accusations that the Vllaznia staff and the President Valter Fushaj specifically did it for bribing reasons.

GEA Sport Era

Roberto Nava, the president of GEA Sport SA. Bought 50% of shares of KF Vllaznia^[7] and in July, Nava negotiates with Napoli to loan Sebastián Sosa for one year in Shkodër. After successful negotiations with Napoli, Nava transfers Sebastián Rodríguez and Giorginho Aguirre.^[8]

Stadium

The home ground of the club is called "Loro Borici". The name comes from one of the club's and Albania's greatest footballer to ever play, Loro played with some of the biggest teams at that time, with Roma and Lazio. The striker was known for his goalscoring abilities which he displayed in the Serie A after he left Vllaznia in the 1930s.

Loro Boriçi stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Shkodër, Albania. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Vllaznia Shkodër. The stadium holds about 16,000 spectators and was reconstructed in 2001. It is named in honour of Loro Boriçi, famous player in the 1940s and 1950s. It is also the second largest stadium in Albania behind the Qemal Stafa Stadium in Tirana which seats 19,600.

In October 2014, Edi Rama, prime minister of Albania, promised the reconstruction of the stadium, which was last renovated in 2001.^[9] He said that the stadium will be with a renewed capacity of about 20,000 spectators.^[10]

On 3 May 2015, construction works officially started, bringing the stadium to a renewed capacity of 17,500 seats.^[11]

During the 2015–16 Albanian Superliga season, Loro Boriçi Stadium was under re-construction, therefore Vllaznia used Ismail Xhemali Stadium in Pukë at the beginning of the season and then switched to Reshit Rusi Stadium in Shkodër for much of the season.

Fans

Vllaznit Ultras
Abbreviation	VU
Established	2005
Type	Ultras group
Motto	Një jetë, Dy Ngjyra, Një Skuader
Headquarters	Shkodër,  Albania
Stand	North
Affiliations	Ultras Beveren
Website	https://www.facebook.com/vultras

Vllaznia is one of the most popular and recognised teams amongst Albanian football fans in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia. The Ultras group of Vllaznia are known as 'Vllaznit Ultras' and were the first official ultras fan base in Albania who were created in 2005. They have strong ties with other Albanian Ultra groups such as the Ultras Guerrils who support KF Partizani Tirana and Armata E Veriut of FK Kukësi. It is known that Vllaznit Ultras meet up with opposition fans to greet each other before and after a game. Vllaznit Ultras are not just present in the football scene, they also attend Vllaznia's basketball matches to show their full support and love for Vllaznia at any sporting level. Fans of Vllaznia have always attended matches in high quantities, but in recent years the number of fans attending games has decreased due to the poor management and loss of confidence in the team. They have ties with Ultras Beveren, the supporters of Belgian team Waasland-Beveren

Despite the low number of fans at Vllaznia's football games, they have recently turned up in strong numbers for the clubs basketball team, BC Vllaznia, due to their outstanding form in the past few years, having won the past 3 Albanian Basketball League championships.

Rivalries

Vllaznia's all time rivals are KF Tirana who are the most successful side in Albanian football. Both sides are the only teams not to have been relegated from the top tier of Albanian football. This rivalry is known as the "All-time Albanian derby". The rivalry is mainly in existence because both sides were the first two football teams to be found in Albania, where Vllaznia was found in 1919, whilst KF Tirana was found in 1920. Another reason why this rivalry potentially exists is due to the historic popularity between these two sides. Vllaznia and Tirana are the only sides in Albania to have never been relegated in the Albanian Superliga, they both hold 78 official seasons and 81 unofficial seasons (including three unofficial championships during World War II) in Albanian top flight football going into the 2016-17 Albanian Superliga season.

Both ultra groups, the Vllaznit Ultras and Tirona Fanatics are known for their fierce rivalry in the stands and off the pitch, which was shown in a match played in Loro Boriçi Stadium in Shkodër on 11 September 2014.^[12] During this game there was a lot of tension which began in the second half of the game. The game was interrupted when Tirana's fans started throwing bottles and other objects to show their anger towards the referee's decisions. Late on, Tirana grabbed an equaliser through Ervin Bulku to level 1–1, and this sparked a huge brawl between the fans. Tirana fans ran onto the pitch and seemingly started throwing chairs and bottles at Vllaznia fans. From then on Vllaznia fans started attacking Tirana fans inside and outside of the stadium. Vllaznia's fans gave an official statement on Vllaznia's official Facebook page where they stated that what Tirana fans did was seen as an embarrassment and an insult to people of Shkodra and Albanian football, therefore action was needed. Amongst some of the injured people was Tirana's president, Refik Halili who was hit by a fan of Tirana with a stone. Vllaznia fans were given a 10 match ban from attending home games, whilst Tirana were given 15.^[13]

Vllaznia are also rivals with Flamurtari Vlorë, but fans of both teams have good relations. Other derbies include the North Albanian derbies against Laçi and Kukësi. Laçi fans insist that the North Albanian derby is between Laçi and Vllaznia, whereas fans of Kukësi believe it is between Kukësi and Vllaznia. However history suggests that Besëlidhja Lezhë and Vllaznia were the most popular Northern Albanian sides decades ago.

Honours

Albanian Super League:

• Winners (9): 1945, 1946, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1977–78, 1982–83, 1991–92, 1997–98, 2000–01
• Runners-up (11): 1932, 1933, 1936, 1937, 1947, 1949, 1974–75, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2008–09

Albanian Cup:

• Winners (6): 1964–65, 1971–72, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1986–87, 2007–08
• Runners-up (8): 1938–39, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1985–86, 1998–99, 2005–06, 2009–10

Albanian Supercup:

• Winners (2): 1998, 2001
• Runners-up (2): 1992, 2008

Records

• Biggest ever home league victory: Vllaznia Shkodër 8–0 Flamurtari Vlorë – 6 February 1999
• Biggest ever home league defeat: Vllaznia Shkodër 0–4 Dinamo Tirana – 25 September 2010
• Biggest ever away league victory: KF Laçi 1–7 Vllaznia Shkodër – 18 December 2004 / KF Tirana 0–6 Vllaznia Shkodër - (1947)
• Biggest ever away league defeat: KF Tirana 5–1 Vllaznia Shkodër – 28 February 2004
• Biggest ever European home victory: Vllaznia Shkodër 2–0 Austria Vienna – 13 September 1978/Vllaznia Shkodër 3-1 Dinamo Tbilisi - 29 July 1998
• Biggest ever European home defeat: Vllaznia Shkodër 0–4 Trabzonspor – 14 July 2007
• Biggest ever European away victory: Sliema Wanderers 0–4 Vllaznia Shkodër – 30 September 1987
• Biggest ever European away defeat: Trabzonspor 6–0 Vllaznia Shkodër – 8 July 2007

Albanian records from September 1997

KF Vllaznia in Europe

As of July 22, 2011.

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away
1978–79	UEFA European Cup	1R		Austria Wien	2–0	1–4
1987–88	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R		Sliema Wanderers	2–0	4–0
		2R		RoPS	0–1	0–1
1991–92	UEFA Cup	1R		AEK Athens	0–1	0–2
1998–99	UEFA Champions League	QR		FC Dinamo Tbilisi	3–1	0–3 (awarded)[14]
1999–00	UEFA Cup	QR		Spartak Trnava	1–1	0–2
2000	UEFA Intertoto Cup	1R		Nea Salamis FC	1–2	1–4
2001–02	UEFA Champions League	1QR		KR Reykjavik	1–0	1–2
		2QR		Galatasaray	1–4	0–2
2003–04	UEFA Cup	QR		Dundee FC	0–2	0–4
2004	UEFA Intertoto Cup	1R		Hapoel Beer Sheva	1–2	3–0
		2R		NK Slaven Belupo	1–0	0–2
2007	UEFA Intertoto Cup	1R		NK Zagreb	1–0	1–2
		2R		Trabzonspor	0–4	0–6
2008–09	UEFA Cup	1QR		FC Koper	0–0	2–1
		2QR		S.S.C. Napoli	0–3	0–5
2009–10	UEFA Europa League	1QR		Sligo Rovers	1–1	2–1
		2QR		Rapid Wien	0–3	0–5
2011–12	UEFA Europa League	1QR		Birkirkara F.C.	1–1	1–0
		2QR		FC Thun	0–0	1–2

• QR = Qualifying Round
• 1R = 1st Round
• 2R = 2nd Round

World & European Rankings

(As of 01 June 2016)^[15]

UEFA club coefficient ranking

Rank	Team	Points
399	Bohemian	1.840
401	Jelgava	1.825
402	Mika	1.825
403	Teuta Durrës	1.825
404	KF Vllaznia	1.825
405	FC Lahti	1.730
406	SJK	1.730
407	Mariehamn	1.730
408	Lincoln	1.700

Current squad

As of 10 August 2017^[16]

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

No. Position Player 3 DF Antonio Marku 4 DF Landry Mulemo 5 DF Denis Pjeshka 6 MF Ardit Krymi 7 MF Florind Bardulla 8 MF Denis Dyca 9 FW Arenc Dibra 10 MF Gilman Lika 11 FW Eraldo Çinari 12 GK Jasmin Agović 14 FW Arsid Kruja 15 DF Ditmar Bicaj

No. Position Player 16 MF Edon Hasani 19 MF Arlind Kalaja 21 DF Olsi Gocaj 31 GK Alen Sherri 40 MF Alsid Tafili 44 DF Endri Vrapi 59 DF Stefan Cicmil — FW Arsen Hajdari — FW Bekim Erkoceviç — FW Brunild Pepa — FW Gjorgj Kushi — MF Nurudeen Orelesi

Managers

Name	Period	Trophies
Ibrahim Dizdari	1945	National Championship
Ernest Halepiani	1946	National Championship
Xhevdet Shaqiri	1971–1978	3 National Championships
Medin Zhega	1980-1982
Ramazan Rragami	1982–1983	National Championship
Astrit Hafizi	1991–1992	National Championship
Hysen Dedja	1997–1998	Albanian Superliga
Derviš Hadžiosmanović	2000–2006	Albanian Superliga
Ulrich Schulze	2006
Mirel Josa	2006–2008
Derviš Hadžiosmanović	2008
Agim Canaj	2008–2009	Albanian Cup
Hasan Lika	2009
Derviš Hadžiosmanović	2009
Roland Luçi	2009
Edi Martini	2009–2010
Mojaš Radonjić	2010
Mirel Josa	2010–2011
Elvis Plori	2011
Rudi Vata	2011–2012
Armir Grimaj	2012
Shpëtim Duro	2012–2013
Artan Bushati	2013
Agim Canaj	2013–2014
Samuel Nikaj	2014
Derviš Hadžiosmanović	2014
Baldo Raineri	2014–2015
Luan Zmijani	2015–2016
Armando Cungu	2016-

Notable former youth players

Women's team

A women's team was created in 2013. When three time Albanian champion KF Ada Velipojë disestablished their women's team, the whole team moved to Vllaznia and formed a new women's section.^[17] The team then won the 2013–14 Albanian women's football championship and competed in the 2014–15 UEFA Women's Champions League. Vllaznia was the first Albanian team draw or win a match when they beat Faroes side KI 2–1. UEFA considers them as a successor team and credits Ada's results to them.^[18]

References

External links

• Official website
• Fan website
• Unofficial website