for matches in European competitions and major domestic football derbies in Albania.
The club first competed in an official competition in 1947 where they won the
Beroe Stara Zagora
in the final.
History
Foundation (1945–1946)
FK Partizani Tirana was officially founded on 4 February 1946 soon after the end of
Albanian Partisans
who had fought for the liberation of the country. In the early history of the club they recruited players from the Scanderbeg Military High School and Albanian Military Academy, as well as players from other clubs who were ordered by the ruling Communists to play for Partizani.
On 7 April the club played their first official match under the name Partizani, which was against another team from the same city
1946 National Championship, they instead took a tour of Albania playing friendly games against some of the biggest clubs in the country at the time, and ended their 9 match tour with 26 goals scored and 9 against, and Qamil Teliti
scoring 11 goals to make him the tour's top goalscorer.
Partizani first competed in a national competition in
17 Nentori Tiranë
1–0 in the final.
Partizani finished the
following season, the club finished as runners up to Dinamo in both the league and the cup, but 19 year old striker Refik Resmja
managed to score 59 goals in 23 games for Partizani which gave him a 2.57 goalscoring average, a record that is considered to be the best ever in top flight football.
Panajot Pano is considered one of the best Footballers that played for Partizani Tirana.
Despite finishing level on points and with a greater goal difference than Dinamo during the
1954 which was their first trophy since 1949. The club also finished as runners up in the cup to Dinamo in the 1954 Republic Cup, before going off to compete in the third unofficial Championship of Communist Countries' Army Clubs held in Bulgaria
, where they only managed to win 1 game and lose 3. They then finished as runners up again to Dinamo Tirana for the next 2 seasons, meaning Partizani won just 1 league title in the previous 7 years.
1957 marked the return of Partizani as the most dominant club in Albania, as they won the league and cup double, a feat they repeated once again in 1958 before competing in the first official Spartakiada, the Championship of Communist Countries' Army Clubs in
Stalinist state at the time, during the first leg the 1. FC Köln team was involved in a minor diplomatic incident arose when it was evident that the West Germans had brought their own food and a chef to cook it. 1. Köln's administrator Julius Ukrainczyk eventually negotiated a compromise that saw the food allowed in but the chef sent home.[11]
Rise in opposition (1965–1993)
After winning their 10th league title in 17 years, Partizani struggled to maintain their dominance at the top of Albanian football, as they finished as runners up in 4 of the next 5 seasons, but they did win 3 consecutive
CSKA Sofia. They once again failed to retain their title and struggled the following season, finishing 4th in the league and being knocked out of the cup in the semi-finals, before going on to win the cup during the 1972–73 season as well as finishing as runners up in the league. They finished as runners up the following season in both the league and cup, before failing to reach the final of the cup or finish in the top 2 of the league until 1979 which is when they managed to win their 11th league title ahead of local rivals KF Tirana. They then faced Scottish champions Celtic in the European Cup whom they defeated 1–0 in Tiranë.[12] Once again Albania's communist regime made it difficult for foreign clubs to enter and play in Albania, and it took Celtic over 2 months to acquire visas for their players and staff and they were unable to acquire visas for press and a small number of supporters. The return leg ended in disappointment for Partizani as despite opening the scoring they lost 4–1, meaning they lost the tie 4–2 on aggregate.[13]
Partizani once again failed to challenge for the title the following season, as they could only manage a 4th-place finish, but they won the cup after beating
UEFA Cup in 1990, where they lost to Romanian side Universitatea Craiova, and they also won the cup in 1991 after beating Flamurtari in the final. In the Cup Winners' Cup the following season, they narrowly lost 1–0 to Dutch side Feyenoord, whom they held to a 0–0 draw in Tiranë before losing the tie to a late goal in Rotterdam
.
The 1992–93 campaign proved to be last truly successful one for the club, as they managed to win their 7th double in their history. They won the
Albanian Army
's support along with the communist regime. The fall of communism made it difficult for Partizani to be sustainable as a club, which in turn caused the club problems for the next 20 years.
Post-communist era (1993–2008)
After winning the double in 1993 Partizani began to decline in terms of power, and the club was taken over by businessman Albert Xhani in 1994. Because
Albanian First Division, as they won the division title and earned promotion at the first attempt. During their first season back in the top flight they managed a respectable third-place finish which qualified them for the UEFA Cup, where they were drawn against Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv, whom they lost 5–1 to on aggregate as they failed to progress to the next round.Igli Tare
was one of the best players in the history of Partizani Tirana.
The following season they once again finished third and they also reached the quarter-finals of the Albanian Cup, as they qualified for the
Dinamo Tirana
, but they were unable to win the league and they eventually finished 5 points away from Dinamo as they finished as runners up for the 19th time.
Downfall and revival (2008–present)
After a strong season, Partizani qualified the UEFA Cup and faced
Tërbuni Pukë on 17 May 2012, which ended in a 3–1 loss for Partizani.[20] The club's return to the First Division would prove to be a successful one as they finished as runners up behind KF Lushnja to achieve back to back promotion, in a season that saw the club change ownership as Gazment Demi bought out 50% of the club's shares in January 2013, making him and Lulëzim Sallaku co-owners and co-financiers of the club.[21] The club achieved promotion back into the Kategoria Superiore following a four-year absence and Demi took over as president following the departure of Sallaku from the post.[22][23]
After 5 seasons of winning nothing in the Kategoria Superiore, Partizani won its first title in 26 years, under coach Skënder Gega, and return to UEFA Champions League after 3 years of absence.
Stadium
Arena Kombëtare serves as the home ground of the team
Main articles:
Partizani Complex
During the club's early history they played their home games at Albania's main stadium, the
Tiranë in 1956, which was the Selman Stërmasi Stadium, and this stadium was also shared by the three main Tiranë clubs. The club stopped sharing the Selman Stërmasi Stadium in 2014 when they were promoted back to the Kategoria Superiore, and in the summer of 2016 the process of demolishing the Qemal Stafa Stadium will begin, in order to facilitate the proposed 22,500-seater Arena Kombëtare
.
On 9 March 2016, the Albanian government agreed to a 99-year, €1 lease of the 37,000-square-metre (400,000 sq ft) Military Base 4030, located on Myslym Keta Road on the outskirts of Tiranë, which is where Partizani will build their new training complex as well as their proposed 4,500 seater stadium.[24][25][26]
Tirana's mayor, in a meeting with FK Partizani and FK Tirana, granted Partizani the right to play in Tirana's stadium until "Qemal Stafa Stadium" is finished building.[27]
In 2019, Partizani moved to the newly built Arena Kombëtare. On 13 December 2019, they played first match at the new stadium against rivals KF Tirana, which also plays some matches at the stadium. They lost the match 2–1 with a Winful Cobbinah goal at the last minute of the match, which was the first loss for the club in the derbies after 5 years and 8 months and after 18 games.
Partizani Tirana's current supporters group and hooligans firm is called Ultras Guerrils 08–09, who were founded following the merger of two other supports groups, Brigada e Kuqe 08 and Komandos Ultras. They are one of the most numerous and consistent supporters in Albania, attending the team's
have a historical advantage of 25 wins ahead of KF Tirana in the League with 67 wins. Also the team recorded the best ever result in the match which still remains as 8-0 from 1947. The other main rivalry in the city is with Dinamo Tirana.
Note 2:Skënderbeu would have qualified for the Champions League second qualifying round as the champions of the 2015–16 Kategoria Superiore, but were excluded from participating in the 2016–17 European competitions by UEFA for match-fixing.[29][30] They appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and UEFA agreed to suspend the exclusion and Skënderbeu were included in the second qualifying round draw.[31] The final decision to exclude Skënderbeu was made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 6 July 2016, before the second qualifying round was played.[32][33] As a result, the berth was given to the runners-up Partizani.[34]
Players
Current squad
As of 1 February 2024
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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.JPG)
Albania
Nderim Nexhipi
Stevan Račić 14
Caleb Ekuban 17
Stênio Júnior 12
2 (1999–2000, 2008–09)
2 (
, 1970–71, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1986–87, 1992–93, 2018–19, 2022–23
Marko Matijević
Sllave Llambi (1946–1949)
Nikolay Lyukshinov (1956–1957)[35]
Nikolay Arabov (2001)
Tiziano Gori (2002)
Márcio Sampaio (10 Feb 2014 – 6 May 2014)
Zoran Zekić (Jun 2023 – Oct 2023)
Franco Lerda
