The Football Superleague of Kosovo (), also known as the ALBI MALL Superleague of Kosovo () for sponsorship reasons with Albi Mall, is the top level of the
Kosovar football league system. The Superleague is organized by the
Football Federation of Kosovo
The Football Federation of Kosovo (; FFK) is the governing body of football in Kosovo, with headquarters in Pristina. The Football Federation of Kosovo was established in 1946 as a branch of the Football Association of Yugoslavia, it has since be ...
and the division currently has a 10-team format. The clubs play each other four times during the season for a 36-match schedule. At the end of the season, the bottom two teams in the division are relegated to the second tier,
First Football League of Kosovo
The First Football League of Kosovo () is the second tier of the Kosovar football league system. The First League is organized by the Football Federation of Kosovo and the division currently has 2 groups of 10-teams format. At the end of the seas ...
.
The Superleague ran outside
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
and
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
until
Kosovo
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
was admitted to both organizations, on 3 May 2016.
History
Prior to
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 ...
, within
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...
, Kosovan clubs competed in the provincial leagues of the
Belgrade Football Subassociation The Belgrade Football Subassociation, commonly known by its initials, BLP ( Serbo-Croato-Slovenian: ''Beogradski loptački podsavez'' / Београдски лоптачки подсавез - БЛП) was one of the regional football governing bodie ...
. During World War II, between 1941 and 1944, when most of the region became part of the
Albanian Kingdom, numerous Kosovan clubs played in the Albanian league system. In 1945, Kosovo was reincorporated to Serbia, and subsequently, into the
SFR Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...
. The league has its origins in 1945 when it became one of the subdivisions of the 5th level in the
Yugoslav football league system
The Yugoslav football league system refers to the system of interconnected leagues in association football which was in place during the existence of Yugoslavia and organized by the Football Association of Yugoslavia (FSJ).
The exact formats an ...
. It gathered the best clubs from the
SAP Kosovo
The Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Socijalistička Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo, Социјалистичка Аутономна Покрајина Косово, separator=" / "; ; . Also abbreviated as SAP Kosovo. referre ...
except for those clubs competing in higher levels. In 1991, an unrecognised parallel league gathering ethnic Albanian pro-independence clubs was set, and was run till 1999. Some phantom clubs like
FK Crvena Zvezda Gnjilane
Sport Club Gjilani (), commonly known as Gjilani, is a professional Football team, football club based in Gjilan, Kosovo. The club play in the Football Superleague of Kosovo, which is the top tier of football in the country.
SC Gjilani is the clu ...
,
Trepča,
Priština
Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district.
In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdom. The heritage of th ...
or FK Kosovo Polje, which were formed by Serbs in 1992 as a result of the cultural oppression of the ethnic Albanian population
, continued to play in the leagues of
FR Yugoslavia
The State Union of Serbia and Montenegro or simply Serbia and Montenegro, known until 2003 as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commonly referred to as FR Yugoslavia (FRY) or simply Yugoslavia, was a country in Southeast Europe locate ...
. On the contrary side the Albanian clubs like
Gjilani,
Trepça Trepca ( / ''Trepča'', ) may refer to:
* Trepça Mines, an industrial complex in Mitrovica, Kosovo
* KB Trepça, a basketball club in Mitrovica founded in 1947
* KF Trepça, a football club in Mitrovica founded in 1932
* KH Trepça, a handball clu ...
,
Prishtina
Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district.
In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdom. The heritage of th ...
or
Fushë Kosova
Kosovo Polje ( sr-Cyrl, Косово Поље, "Kosovo Field") or Fushë Kosova (Albanian language, Albanian definiteness, indefinite Albanian morphology#Nouns (declension), form: ''Fushë Kosovë''), is a List of cities in Kosovo, town and Munic ...
played in the Independent League of Kosovo as successors of the Yugoslav clubs. In 1999, after the
Kosovo War
The Kosovo War (; sr-Cyrl-Latn, Косовски рат, Kosovski rat) was an armed conflict in Kosovo that lasted from 28 February 1998 until 11 June 1999. It ...
, a separate Kosovar league system was formed and the majority of the Serbian phantom clubs were dissolved. The Kosovar league system included most clubs from Kosovo except those from Serbian-dominated
North Kosovo
North Kosovo (, ); also known as the Ibar Kolašin (, or ''Kollashini i Ibrit''); earlier Old Kolašin, (, or ''Kollashini i Vjetër'') and colloquially known as the North (, ) is a region in the northern part of Kosovo, generally understood ...
which remained in the
Serbian football league system
The Serbian football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in Serbia. The system has a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation between leagues at different levels.
Format
The number of teams ...
. Since 2000, the competition has been running continuously, and by 2017, after Kosovo gained membership in
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
and
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
, began acting as the national league of Kosovo, providing clubs for international tournaments.
Names
Previous winners
This is a list of winners of Football Superleague of Kosovo since 1945.
Clubs (2024–25)
The leаgue consisted of ten teams – the top eight teаms from the previous season and two teams promoted from the
2023–24 Kosovo First League.
The two directly promoted teаms were
Suhareka
Suva Reka ( sr-Cyrl, Сува Река) or Suharekë () or Therandë () is a List of cities in Kosovo, town and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality located in the District of Prizren, Prizren district of central-southern Kosovo. According to ...
and
Ferizaj
Ferizaj or Uroševac,, or Uroševac sr-Cyrl, Урошевац, . Also formerly known as Ferizovići (). is a city and a municipality in Kosovo. It is the third largest city in Kosovo by population and also the seat of Ferizaj Municipality and ...
, winners of the 2023–24 Kosovo First League groups A and B, respectively.
They replaced the
2023–24 Kosovo Superleague bottom two teams,
Liria Prizren and
Fushë Kosova
Kosovo Polje ( sr-Cyrl, Косово Поље, "Kosovo Field") or Fushë Kosova (Albanian language, Albanian definiteness, indefinite Albanian morphology#Nouns (declension), form: ''Fushë Kosovë''), is a List of cities in Kosovo, town and Munic ...
.
Seasons in Football Superleague of Kosovo
There are 37 teams that have taken part in the Football Superleague of Kosovo since 1999.
Prishtina
Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district.
In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdom. The heritage of th ...
is the only team that has played in every season since 1999. As of 2024/25 season; teams in bold are part of current season.
Titles by club
Number of titles since Independent League of Kosovo became the first tier of Kosovar league system.
Kosovo football clubs in European competitions
Notes and references
Notes
References
External links
*
League summary– Soccerway
{{UEFA leagues
1
Kosovo
Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
Sports leagues established in 1945
1945 establishments in Kosovo