Flamurtari FC
Full name | Flamurtari Football Club | ||
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Nickname(s) | Kuq e Zinjtë (The Red and Blacks) Flota Kuq e Zi (The Red and Black fleet) | ||
Founded | 23 March 1923 | as Shoqeria Sportive Vlorë||
Ground | Flamurtari Stadium | ||
Capacity | 8,500[1] | ||
Owner | Municipality of Vlorë, Air Albania, TRK | ||
President | Sinan Idrizi | ||
Head coach | Eqerem Memushi | ||
League | Kategoria e Parë | ||
2022–23 | Kategoria e Parë, 3rd | ||
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Active branches of Flamurtari Vlorë | ||
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Flamurtari FC is a professional football club based in Vlorë, Albania. The club plays in the Kategoria e Parë, which is the second tier of football in the country.
Founded in 1923, the club is one of the oldest in Albania, also being one of its most successful clubs, having won one
History
Foundation
KS Flamurtari Vlorë were founded on 23 March 1923, as Shoqeria Sportive Vlorë with Milto Korçari as the club's first ever President, while Malo Ismaili held the role of the secretary and Faslli Zoga that of the financier. The club was created to make sports more organized and popular, with a focus on football. Its financial needs were covered by donations from the members or from different activities organized in the city of
World War II
In the
The
On 7 April 1939, Albania was invaded by
1945–1980
In November 1944, Shoqata Sportive Ismail Qemali was re-opened. The championship began on 16 September 1945 and the club was playing against
Golden years
In the 1980s Flamurtari regained their former status as one of the big names in
In 1985–86, Flamurtari finished second in the championship losing the trophy only by goal difference to
After a perfect season they gained the right to play for the second consecutive year in the
In the second round Flamurtari were drawn against Wismut Aue. In the first game in Aue, Flamurtari lost 0–1 being denied many times by keeper Weisflog, however in the second leg there was nothing to do for Aue as Flamurtari defeated them, 2–0.
In the third round Flamurtari were drawn once again against FC Barcelona. First leg was played at Camp Nou in front of 35,000 spectators on 25 November. Flamurtari scored in the first half and the players went to the first half break with a score Barcelona-Flamurtari 0–1. However, in the second half Barcelona turned the situation in favour and won with scoreline 4–1. Flamurtari narrowly won the second leg, 1–0, which wasn't enough to secure the next round and was therefore eliminated from
In the same season Flamurtari went all the way to win the
The 1990s
After the fall of communism, Flamurtari had difficult moments. Many players left the club and went to play abroad. In the 1991–92 season the club started the championship with −6 points because of financial irregularities. Flamurtari finished the
Supporters
Flamurtari Vlorë fans are considered as the most passionate in Albania. They are, also, the vast majority of all Albania, with at least 20% of all Albanians. This is related with the fact that there has not been other football team in Vlorë. Usually, as mentioned in Petraq Hanxhari's book "Per ty, Flamurtar! (For you, Flamurtar!)" from Monday to Thursday the fans used to talk in every pub about the team's last game and condition of the players. On Thursday, after the team's usual test match with any local side, the fans would talk about the next game. But nowadays, the support for Flamurtari has been going down. Even though the ticket sales and the number of season-ticket holders has increased rapidly since 1999 (the lowest average attendance in the entire Flamurtari's history), there are much fewer in comparison with the Communist era. The two fan clubs supporting Flamurtari are "Dragonjte Kuqezi (Red and Black Dragons)" and "Flota Kuqezi (The Red and Black Fleet)". The latter usually stay in the East Stand, commonly known as "Tribuna C".
Club rivalries
Flamurtari Vlorë's main rival is
Stadium
Before the construction of the stadium, the club played their home games on a field known as Varri i Halimit, which translates to Halimi's Tomb. The field was located near Uji i Ftohtë, which is where the club's training ground is located. The stadium was built in 1961 with an initial capacity of 6,500, and was expanded to 11,000 in 1975 following reconstruction. During the club's golden era the stadium would attract crowds of up to 15,000 spectators and in 1987 when the club faced
Crest and colours
Badges
The club's traditional colours are red and black, after the
Kits
A photograph of the first ever official championship game, taken on 6 April 1930, shows the players wearing a white jersey with a thick black horizontal stripe at the chest, black shorts and black socks. This design was common in England where post office worker and Flamurtari's president, Milto Korcari, ordered them from. Later, in 1937, the team adopted the vertical stripes and started playing in a red jersey with thin vertical black stripes, black shorts and black socks. In the first years of the team's history the kits featured even the team's emblem while later this was replaced with a golden "F" sewn in the middle of the chest.
After World War II, the team started using red kits, white shorts and red socks. In different championships the team used black shorts instead of white, similar to the design of the Albania national football team. The away kit was all white. This proved to be a popular design with the fans because it reminded them of the national team. In the 1960s however the primary kit was changed again and a new one was introduced. The new kit was white with three vertical stripes in the center (Red – Black – Red), black shorts and black socks. The red kit which earlier had been used as a home kit was now used as an away kit for the first team but it remained as a home kit for the youth team. In 1975 the club decided to reverse once again the kits and the red kit with white shorts and red socks became again the home kit. Away the team used its traditional white kit with the three central vertical stripes.
1981 marked the start of a new era at the club. Apart from a new promising generation of footballers blooming from the youth setup and great results on the pitch, a new kit was introduced which remains until today, with minor changes, the club's home kit. The kit was similar to the one used in the late 1930s, red with thin vertical black stripes, red shorts and red socks while the away kit was still the same. The kit proved to be popular with the fans, primarily because of the colours, which are the Albanian national colours, but also with the great achievements the team reached in this period.
Over the years the home kit has not had major changes and the design has remained almost the same, with the change being in the primary colour of the team, sometimes red and sometimes black, and in the colour of the shorts and socks which have changed from red to black. The away kit has been for many years the same with the club using an all-white in only five seasons since 1981.
A new third kit was introduced for the first time in 2005 to celebrate the team winning the
For the
Kit evolution
Shirt sponsors
Sponsor Type | Name |
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Main sponsor | Municipality of Vlorë |
Secondary sponsors | Air Albania |
TRK | |
Official clothing provider | Diadora |
Honours
Type | Competition | Titles | Seasons/Years |
---|---|---|---|
Domestic | Albanian Cup | 4 | 1984–85, 1987–88, 2008–09, 2013–14 |
Albanian Supercup | 2 | 1990, 1991 | |
Kategoria Superiore | 1 | 1990–91 | |
Kategoria e Parë | 1 | 2005–06 | |
Kategoria e Dytë | 1 | 2021–22 | |
Minor | Bashkimi Cup of Journal | 3 | 1962, 1963, 1987 |
Trade Unions of Albania Cup | 1 | 1948 | |
Party of Labour of Albania Cup | 1976 | ||
Birra Norga Trophy | 2007 |
Players
Current squad
- As of 19 May 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Personnel
Current technical staff | |
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Position | Name |
Head coach | Eqerem Memushi |
Analysis Coach | Edmond Liçaj |
Assistant coach | Lejdi Liçaj |
Goalkeeping coach | Luan Birçe |
Assistant G Coach | Erion Dinaj |
U19 coach | Fjodor Xhafa |
U17 coach | Bledion Guga |
Physiotherapist | Arsen Voci |
Doctor | Amarildo Prifti |
Board members | |
Office | Name |
President | Sinan Idrizi |
Vice-president | Kreshnik Çipi |
Sport director | Rapo Taho |
Technical director | Alfred Ferko |
Historical list of coaches
Coaches who have coached Flamurtari Vlorë since 1968 are as follows:
- Stavri Lubonja (–1968)
- Hasan Luçi (1968–)
- Bejkush Birçe (1975–1978)
- Agron Sulaj (1979–1983)
- Leonidha Çuri (1983–1988)
- Edmond Liçaj (1990–1994)
- Bejkush Birçe (1994–1996)
- Leonidha Çuri (1996–1997)
- Latif Gjondeda (1997)
- Uran Xhafa (1998)
- Vasil Ruci (1998–1999)
- Edmond Liçaj (1999–2000)
- Sokol Kushta (2000–2001)
- Gjergji Leka (2001)
- Mexhid Haxhiu (2001)
- Nikolay Arabov (2002)
- Petraq Bifsha (2002)
- Leonidha Çuri (2003)
- Petraq Bifsha (2003)
- Alfred Ferko (2003–2004)
- Agim Canaj (2006)
- Eqerem Memushi (2006)
- Vasil Ruci (2006–2007)
- Gerd Haxhiu (2007)
- Eqerem Memushi (2007–2008)
- Slavko Kovačić (2008)
- Edmond Liçaj (2008–2009)
- Eqerem Memushi (2009)
- Gugash Magani (2009–2011)
- Edmond Lutaj (2011)
- Shkëlqim Muça (2011–2012)
- Julián Rubio (2012)
- Ernest Gjoka (2012–2014)
- Ernestino Ramella (2014–2015)
- Stanislav Levý (2015)
- Gentian Mezani (2015–2016)
- Zekirija Ramadani (2016)
- Gugash Magani (2016)
- Gentian Mezani (2016–2017)
- Shpëtim Duro (2017–2018)
- Ardian Behari (2018)
- Ilir Daja (2018–2019)
- Marcello Troisi (2019)
- Gerd Haxhiu (2019)
- Dritan Sadedini (2019)
- Luan Birce (2019)
- Dritan Resuli (2020)
- Marcello Troisi (2020)
- Dritan Resuli (2020 − Sep 2022)
- Marcello Troisi (Sep 2022 – Mar 2023)
- Diego Longo (Mar 2023 – Jun 2023)
- Emiliano Çela (Jun 2023 − 27 Nov 2023)
- Dritan Resuli (28 Nov 2023 − 30 Jan 2024)
- Alfred Ferko (30 Jan 2024 − 2 Feb 2024)
- Eqerem Memushi (3 Feb 2024–)
Recent seasons
- As of 23 May 2018
Season | League | Pos | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Cup |
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2006–07 | Kategoria Superiore | 9th | 33 | 9 | 7 | 17 | 35 | 41 | 34 | R16 |
2007–08 | 8th | 33 | 10 | 14 | 9 | 35 | 37 | 44 | R16 | |
2008–09 | 6th | 33 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 33 | 33 | 42 | W | |
2009–10 | 5th | 33 | 13 | 8 | 2 | 42 | 39 | 47 | R16 | |
2010–11 | 2nd | 33 | 22 | 3 | 8 | 62 | 27 | 66−3 | R16 | |
2011–12 | 4th | 26 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 42 | 20 | 46 | SF | |
2012–13 | 4th | 26 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 49 | 33 | 46 | QF | |
2013–14 | 7th | 33 | 14 | 9 | 10 | 45 | 40 | 48−3 | W | |
2014–15 | 6th | 36 | 10 | 8 | 18 | 29 | 37 | 38 | QF | |
2015–16 | 8th | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 34 | 44 | 35−3 | SF | |
2016–17 | 8th | 36 | 12 | 10 | 14 | 42 | 34 | 40−6 | QF | |
2017–18 | 6th | 36 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 37 | 37 | 46 | SF | |
2018–19 | 5th | 36 | 15 | 9 | 12 | 35 | 32 | 54 | SR | |
2019–20 | 9th | 36 | 2 | 9 | 25 | 32 | 72 | 15 | SR | |
2020–21 | Kategoria e Parë | 7th | 20 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 14 | 30 | 14 | SR |
2021–22 | Kategoria e Dytë | 1st | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 57 | 7 | 58 | QF |
2022–23 | Kategoria e Parë | 3rd | 26 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 48 | 23 | 46 | R16 |
2023–24 |
European Record
At an international level, Flamurtari are best known for a series of good results obtained in the late 1980s, being one of the most successful Albanian teams in the history of European Competitions. In the 1986–87 UEFA Cup season, they played against Barcelona, who eliminated them with a 1–1 scorline in Vlorë and a 0–0 draw in Barcelona. In the next season, Flamurtari managed to knock out Partizan as 2–0 in Vlorë and 1–2 in Belgrade and Wismut Aue as 0–1 in Aue and 2–0 in Vlorë before losing again to Barcelona as 1–4 in Barcelona and 1–0 in Vlorë. In the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League campaign, they faced Motherwell from the Scottish Premier League. The team put in a strong performance despite playing against technically gifted opponents to record a 1–0 home victory. However, despite going to Scotland with confidence boosted, they were beaten 8–1.
Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away |
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1985–86
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UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | 1R | HJK Helsinki | 1–2 | 2–3 |
1986–87 | UEFA Cup
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Barcelona | 1–1 | 0–0 | |
1987–88 | Partizan | 2–0 | 1–2 | ||
2R | Wismut Aue | 2–0 | 0–1 | ||
1/16 | Barcelona | 1–0 | 1–4 | ||
1988–89 | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | 1R | Lech Poznan
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2–3 | 0–1 |
1990–91 | Olympiacos | 0–2 | 1–3 | ||
1991–92 | UEFA European Cup
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IFK Göteborg | 1–1 | 0–0 | |
1996–97 | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | QR | Humenné | 0–2 | 0–1 |
2009–10 | UEFA Europa League | 2QR | Motherwell | 1–0 | 1–8 |
2011–12 | 1QR | Buducnost Podgorica
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1–2 | 3–1 | |
2QR | Baumit Jablonec | 0–2 | 1–5 | ||
2012–13 | 1QR | Budapest Honvéd | 0–1 | 0–2 | |
2014–15 | 1QR | Sioni Bolnisi | 1–2 | 3–2 | |
2QR | Petrolul Ploiești | 1–3 | 0–2 |
Notable European Campaigns
Season | Achievement | Notes | |
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UEFA Europa League | |||
1986–87 | First Round | eliminated by FC Barcelona 1–1 on aggregate* | |
1987–88 | Round of 16 | eliminated by FC Barcelona 5–1 on aggregate |
Season | Achievement | Notes | |
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UEFA Champions League | |||
1991–92 | First Round | eliminated by IFK Göteborg 1–1 on aggregate* |
*Using away goals rule
References
- ^ "World Stadiums". Archived from the original on 2017-07-25. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
- ^ "Flamurtari ndryshon stemen" [Flamurtari changes the crest] (in Albanian). Sport Ekspres. 3 August 2015.
- ^ "Tifozëve nuk iu pëlqen logo e re e Flamurtarit" [Fans do not like Flamurtari's new logo] (in Albanian). Bota Sot. 4 August 2015.
- ^ "Flamurtari ndërron logon, Bashkia: E jashtëligjshme" [Flamurtari switches the logo, Municipality: Outlaw] (in Albanian). Panorama Sport. 5 August 2015.
External links
- Official website
- Flamurtari Vlorë at Football-Lineups.com
- Flamurtari Vlorë at EUFO.DE
- Flamurtari Vlorë at UEFA