Klubi i Futbollit Elbasani was 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 ...

n professional

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 the city of

Elbasan Elbasan ( , ; sq-definite, Elbasani, ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in centr ...

, that last competed in the

Kategoria e Dytë Kategoria e Dytë is the third tier of professional football in Albania’s league system. Known as the Second Division since the 2004–05 season, it consists of 23 teams split into two geographically-based groups. The winners of each group secur ...

, the third tier of football in the country.

History

The club was formed in 1929 as Klubi i Futbollit Urani Elbasan, the result of the fusion between two clubs, ''Afërdita Elbasan'' and ''Përparimi 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 its 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. The following season they again finished in penultimate place, this time in 7 team league format. 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. The club changed its 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. 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. 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 below them Ismail Qemali Vlorë played 2 fewer games and finished on the same points tally. 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. The league officially restarted following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1945, where Bashkimi finished 3rd in Group B of the new league format, out of 6 teams. The following season they finished 2nd in Group B, just one point behind runners-up

Flamurtari Vlorë Flamurtari Football Club is an Albanian professional football club based in Vlorë, Albania. The club plays in the Kategoria Superiore, which is the first tier of football in the country. Founded in 1923, the club is one of the oldest in Alba ...

. For the 1947 season, the league changed to a single 9 team competition, where Bashkimi finished in 8th place. The following season the league returned to the 2 group format, where the club again finished second by one point to Flamurtari Vlorë. The club changed names again to ''KS Elbasani'' in 1949 and ''KF Puna Elbasan'' in 1950.

Labinoti Elbasan

Between 1958 and 1991, the club was forcibly named ''KS Labinoti Elbasan'', after a nearby village which had been the center of the first nationwide conference of the

Party of Labour of Albania The Party of Labour of Albania (PLA), also referred to as the Albanian Workers' Party (AWP), was the ruling and sole legal party of Albania during the communist period (1945–1991). It was founded on 8 November 1941 as the Communist Party of ...

during

. In 1984, they won their first and only league title, featuring players like Roland Agalliu, Vladimir Tafani and Muharrem Dosti. The club's first participation in a European competition came in 1984, where they met Danish side

Lyngby Boldklub Lyngby Boldklub () is a professional Football (soccer), football club based in Kongens Lyngby, Lyngby, Denmark, founded in 1921. It is based at Lyngby Stadion. The club play in the Danish Superliga. From 1994 to 2001 the club was known as Lyngby ...

in the first round of the Champions League qualification stage. The first leg was played at the

Ruzhdi Bizhuta Stadium Elbasan Arena (, formerly known as Ruzhdi Bizhuta) is a multi-purpose stadium in Elbasan, Albania. The stadium was completed in 1967 and has been the home ground of KF Elbasani ever since. The stadium was under reconstruction and was officially ...

and KF Elbasani were beaten 3–0 at home, and along with another 3–0 loss in Denmark the aggregate result was 6–0 to Lyngby Boldklub.

KF Elbasani

Following the

fall of communism The revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts of the world. Th ...

, the club changed its name again to KF Elbasani, which they have not changed ever since. During the 2005–06 season, the team of Elbasani dominated 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 ...

and won the second title in their history, finishing the competition with 11 points more than their rivals in

SK Tirana Sport Klub Tirana is an Albanian sports club based in the country's capital Tirana, most notable for its association football department. The club also consists of various other departments including basketball, volleyball, futsal Futsal is a v ...

. In 2006–07, 1st qualifying round for the Champions League they were eliminated by

FK Ekranas Panevėžio Ekranas is a Lithuanian football club, from the city of Panevėžys. It won 7 top-tier champion and 5 national cup titles throughout its existence. History The club was founded in 1964 and for 24 years competed in the top tier of L ...

from

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

(1–3 aggregate). On 24 December 2006, coach

Luan Deliu Luan may refer to: Places * Lu'an, a city in Anhui, China * Luan County, Hebei, China * Luan River, Hebei, China Other uses * Luan (surname), a Chinese surname * Luan (mythology), a legendary bird in Chinese mythology * Trees in the genus ''S ...

was fired and replaced by

Edmond Gezdari Edmond may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Edmond'' (play), a 1982 play by David Mamet ** ''Edmond'' (film), a 2005 film based on the 1982 play * '' E.d.M.O.N.D'', a 2013 EP by Edmond Leung * ''Edmond'', a 2016 play by Alexis Michalik ** ''E ...

. The team now is seized by the Directorate of Taxes in Elbasan.

Stadium

The club plays its home games at the

Elbasan Arena Elbasan Arena (, formerly known as Ruzhdi Bizhuta) is a multi-purpose stadium in Elbasan, Albania. The stadium was completed in 1967 and has been the home ground of KF Elbasani ever since. The stadium was under reconstruction and was official ...

, which was originally built in 1967 and named the Labinot Stadium after the club's name at the time, which was Labinot Elbasan. The stadium was previously called Ruzhdi Bizhuta, after one of the club's most famous players. In January 2014 it was announced that the stadium would take over from the

Qemal Stafa Stadium The Qemal Stafa Stadium (), named after Qemal Stafa (1920–1942), a World War II hero, was a national stadium and the largest football stadium in Tirana, Albania. Construction started in 1939 and the stadium was inaugurated in 1946 for the Ba ...

as the home of the Albania national team until Qemal Stafa is reconstructed. Prime minister

Edi Rama Edi Rama (born Edvin Kristaq Rama; 4 July 1964) is an Albanian politician, artist and writer who has been serving as the 33rd and incumbent prime minister of Albania since 2013 and chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania since 2005. He was M ...

visited the stadium on 28 January 2014 and he confirmed that work on the stadium would begin shortly, in order for Albania to be able to play their home games in the country as no other stadiums met the minimum requirements for

Euro 2016 qualifiers The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro 2 ...

. Works on the stadium began in February, and they were completed in time for Albania's opening qualifying fixture against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

in October 2014. The overall reconstruction costs amounted to

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

5.5 million, which included works being completed on everything from the parking lot to the installation of new floodlights, and the stadium now has an official seated capacity of 12,800.Stadiumi ne Elbasan: Rama, per te mos i mbetur hatri Vlores dhe Shkodres

Honours

Kategoria Superiore 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 ...

**Winners (2): 1983–84, 2005–06 *

Kategoria e Parë Kategoria e Parë is the second tier of professional football in 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 Se ...

(Tier 2) **Winners (4): 1933, 1958, 2001–02, 2013–14 **Runners-up (1): 2009–10 *

Albanian Cup The Albanian Cup () is the main "knockout" competition in Albanian football. The competition started in 1939 as Kupa e Mbretit ( English:"The King's Cup"). The cup was suspended for the next eight years as the Second World War started. It start ...

**Winners (2):

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

Albanian Supercup The Albanian Supercup is a single match usually at the beginning of the season between the winners of the Kategoria Superiore and Albanian Cup. Prior to 2000, Supercup final was not played when the champion team won the Double. However, after the ...

**Winners (1):

European competitions record

* 1QR = 1st Qualifying Round * 1R = 1st Round

Balkans Cup

Current squad

Staff

Historical list of coaches

* Sabri Peqini (1957–1960) * Frederik Jorgaqi (1983–1985) * Dashamir Stringa (1990–1995) * Astrit Sejdini (1996–1999) *

(2000) *

Petrit Haxhiu Petrit () is an Albanian language, Albanian masculine given name and can refer to: *Petrit Ago, General Director of Customs of Albania *Petrit Bushati (1948–2014), Albanian ambassador *Petrit Çeku (born 1985), Kosovar classical guitarist *Petri ...

(2001–2003) *

Artan Bushati Artan Bushati (4 October 1963 – 29 August 2013) was an Albanian football coach who is most noted for leading the Albania U21 national team between 2005 and 2011. Managerial career He has also managed KF Elbasani Klubi i Futbollit Elbasa ...

(2004–2005) *

Ilir Daja Ilir Daja (born 20 October 1966) is an Albanian professional football coach and former player. He is the current manager of Dinamo City. He has won the Albanian League as a coach with three clubs: Elbasani, Dinamo Tirana and Skënderbeu. He a ...

(2005–2006) *

(Jul 2006 – 27 Dec 2006) *

Edmond Gëzdari Edmond may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Edmond'' (play), a 1982 play by David Mamet ** ''Edmond'' (film), a 2005 film based on the 1982 play * '' E.d.M.O.N.D'', a 2013 EP by Edmond Leung * ''Edmond'', a 2016 play by Alexis Michalik ** ''E ...

(27 Dec 2006 –7 Apr 2007) *

Ilirjan File File, Ilirjan (born 31 October 1969 in Elbasan) is an Albanian football coach who has been the manager of KF Elbasani twice in the Albanian Superliga. References

1969 births Living people Sportspeople from Elbasan Albanian men's football ...

(7 Apr 2007 – Jun 2007) *

Krenar Alimehmeti Krenar Alimehmeti (born 17 August 1966) is an Albanian retired football player and current manager. Many fans know him as ''Krenar Zhubi''. Playing career Club As a player, he represented KF Tirana formerly known as 17 Nëntori Tirana with who ...

(2007–2008) *

Mirel Josa Mirel Josa (born 1 June 1963) is an Albanian football coach and a former player. As a player, he played in the Greek Alpha Ethniki for Nea Kavala and Aris, as well as making 27 international appearances for the Albania national football team bet ...

(24 Aug 2008 – 6 Feb 2009) * Faruk Sejdini (6 Feb 2009 – 6 Apr 2009) *

Ramadan Shehu Ramadan Shehu (born 14 July 1948) is an Albanian football coach and director, whose last role in football was as the technical director of Kukësi in the Albanian Superliga Kategoria Superiore (), also known as Abissnet Superiore for sponsor ...

(6 Apr 2009 – 22 May 2009) * Bujar Gogunja (22 May 2009 – Jun 2009) * Muharrem Dosti (Jul 2009 – 19 Dec 2009) *

(19 Dec 2009 – 24 December 2010) * Esad Karišik (27 December 2010 – 23 February 2011) * Ilirjan File (28 February 2011 – 9 Sep 2014) * Edmond Mustafaraj (Sep 2014) * Muharrem Dosti (Sep 2014 – May 2017) * Eriol Merxha (Jul 2017 – Sep 2018) *

Elvis Kotorri Elvis Kotorri (born 30 April 1979) is an Albanian retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the goalkeeping coach at AF Elbasani. Playing career First spell with Dinamo Tirana Kotorri joined Dinamo Tirana in the summer of 2007. Duri ...

(Sep 2018 – Mar 2019) * Marsid Dushku (Mar 2019 – May 2019) * Shkëlqim Lleshanaku (Aug 2019 –)