KF Shkupi ( mk, ФК Шкупи, sq, Klubi Futbollistik Shkupi) is a professional

football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...

based in Čair,

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and List of cities in North Macedonia by population, largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Sk ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

. The club plays in the

Macedonian First Football League The Macedonian First Football League ( mk, Прва македонска фудбалска лига, ''Prva Мakedonska Fudbalska Liga''), also called Macedonian First League, 1. MFL, and Prva Liga, is the highest professional football competitio ...

, which is the top tier of football in the country.

History

After financial issues with main sponsor Jugomagnat, Sloga went through an unstable period. In 2012, Sloga was merged with FC Albarsa to form FK Shkupi. However, the Football Federation of Macedonia does not consider Shkupi to be successors to the original Sloga Jugomagnat for political reasons as the FFM allowed a merging between

Vardar The Vardar (; mk, , , ) or Axios () is the longest river in North Macedonia and the second longest river in Greece, in which it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . Th ...

, the most popular club among

ethnic Macedonians Macedonians ( mk, Македонци, Makedonci) are a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group native to the region of Macedonia in Southeast Europe. They speak Macedonian, a South Slavic language. The large majority of Macedonians identi ...

and Miravci with Vardar avoiding relegation and keeping its previous trophies and accolades. Despite the FFM not recognising Shkupi's track records and honours as Sloga, Sloga's official support firm, previous players and management, recognize Shkupi as its successor. After finishing Macedonian First league in the fourth place in the 2017–18 season, Shkupi played in the Europa League qualifiers for the first time. In the 2021–22 season the club were crowned the champion of country for the first time in its history.

Supporters

The team's supporters are the ''Shvercerat'' which were officially established in 1989 in Čair in Skopje. ''Shvercerat'' is Albanian for "Smugglers". Shvercerat were also the same supporters of the predecessor club Sloga Jugomagnat, before the merger to the current club Shkupi. Similarly to Shkëndija, FK Shkupi is an Albanian oriented club, with the supporters being Albanian and also part of the Tifozat Kuq e Zi, an ultras group that supports

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 l ...

in international football. Nationalist Albanian rhetoric is often a part of the chanting in league games, although comparing in level of popularity, Shkupi has not matched with Shkëndija. On 13 February 2011, a large gathering of

supporters,

Komiti Skopje Komiti Skopje ( mk, Комити Скопје) are a supporters group that follows the Macedonian sports clubs that compete under the Vardar banner, mainly FK Vardar in football and RK Vardar in handball. History The Ultras group KOMITI was not ...

, congregated at the

Skopje Fortress The Skopje Fortress ( mk, Скопско кале, translit=Skopsko kale; ; tr, Üsküp Kalesi), commonly referred to as Kale (from ''kale'', the Turkish word for 'fortress'), is a historic fortress located in the old town of Skopje, the capital ...

to protect a construction site on the grounds of the fortress. A large group of the Shvercerat, who were against the government building on the area of the old fortress, broke through the police line and forced the Komiti out of the

. The construction site was seized by the Shvercerat until police successfully took control and arrested Omer Bunjaku, a leading figure of the Shvecerat. The Shvercerat are known for taking rival team supporter's banner. They have succeeded in taking the ''Kratovo'' banner of Sileks, the ''Vojvodi'' banner of Teteks, ''Komiti Zapad'' banner of Vardar, ''Vinari'' banner of Vardar Negotino, ''Prilep'' banner of Pobeda, ''Green Front'' and ''BFC Hooligans'' banners of Pelister.

Honours

Macedonian First League: *Winners (1): 2021–22 *Runners-up (1): 2020–21 Macedonian Second League: *Winners (1): 2014–15 Macedonian Third League: * Winners (1): 2012-13

Recent seasons

¹The 2019–20 season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North Macedonia.

Players

Current squad

Out on loan

KF Shkupi in European football

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shkupi, FK 2012 establishments in the Republic of Macedonia Association football clubs established in 2012 Football clubs in Skopje Shkupi