Selman Stërmasi (9 May 1908 – 9 October 1976) was an Albanian

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 ...

player and coach who was an instrumental figure in the early history of

KF Tirana Klubi i Futbollit Tirana is an Albanian professional football club based in the country's capital city, Tirana, that competes in the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. The men's football club is part of the multi-discipli ...

. He is generally considered to be one of the club's greatest figures and KF Tirana along with the

Albanian Football Association The Albanian Football Federation (; FSHF) is the governing body of football in Albania. Headquartered in Tirana, it organises the national football leagues of Kategoria Superiore, Kategoria e Parë, Kategoria e Dytë, Kategoria e Tretë, Alba ...

honoured him in 1990 by renaming the Dinamo Stadium to the Selman Stërmasi Stadium. In 1934 he won the record of jumping ().

Club career

Stërmasi was born in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

on 9 May 1908 to a wealthy family of traditional Albanian patriots, where he grew up surrounded by patriotic sentiment and sport. At the age of just 17 in 1925 he became an executive committee member of the Agimi Sports Society, and two years later he would initiate the renaming of the club to Sportklub Tirana. In 1928 he moved to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

to study at the Fascist Male Academy of Physical Education, before returning to Tirana in 1930 to participate in the first Albanian National Championship, where he was player-manager in the title winning team. In 1939, he negotiated the sales of SK Tirana players Riza Lushta and Naim Kryeziu to Italian clubs

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

and Roma respectively, and despite the Italian clubs offering Stërmasi 60% of the transfer fees he waived these fees in order to give it all to the players themselves in order to set up their new lives in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. He was married to Nazihe Stërmasi until he passed in 1976.

Honours

Sportklub Tirana * Albanian Superliga (6):

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

Albania - Championship Winning Teams
- RSSSF

References

1908 births 1976 deaths Footballers from Tirana Albanian men's footballers Men's association football players not categorized by position KF Tirana players KF Besa Kavajë players Kategoria Superiore players Albanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Albanian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Albanian football managers KF Tirana managers 20th-century Albanian sportsmen {{Albania-footy-bio-stub