KF Partizani Tirana

Football club infobox
clubname = FK Partizani Tirana


fullname = Futboll Klub Partizani Tirana
nickname =
founded = February 4, 1946
ground = Qemal Stafa stadium, Tirana, Albania
capacity = 19,200
chairman = flagicon|Albania Albert Xhani
manager = flagicon|Albania Hasan Lika
league = Albanian Superliga
season = 2007/08
position = 2nd
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pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FF0000|socks2=FFFFFF

Futboll Klub (or Klubi Sportiv) Partizani is a legendary Albanian football club, playing in the capital, Tirana, and founded in 1946. Their first participation in the Albanian National Championship was in 1947.

History

Under the Communist regime, all the sporting clubs were owned by the Albanian state. Partizani was run by the Ministry of Defense, from its foundation until 1990. Its main rivals were Dinamo run by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and 17 Nëntori (present-day SK Tirana) run by the Tirana City Hall.

KF Partizani became the first club to be privatized in Albania. The experience was not a positive one, however—the club became mired in into economic difficulties and a legal dispute over its ownership. While the two opposing sides were settling their dispute in court, the club ended the 1999-2000 season in 14th place, the lowest position in the league, dropping to the second division for the first time in its history. The court finally ruled in favor of Albert Xhani, who also took over the role of team president, a position he still retains. Partizani subsequently went on to win the Albanian Second Division title and regain its position as a contender for the following National Championship titles. Partizani is the only privately owned team in Albania, which also means that they do not have their own stadium, as all stadiums are owned by the respective City Halls. The other teams are mostly owned by the City Halls, but supported by private donors, who usually carry out the role of president.

Partizani plays at the Selman Stërmasi stadium (which is home stadium to SK Tirana) and national stadium Qemal Stafa which have a capacity of 12,000 and 19,200 respectively.

In 1962-63, the club participated in a European Cup competition for the first time. The most memorable matches in the European scene have been the 1-0 win in Tirana against Torino in the Cup Winners Cup on September 181968, the 1-0 win in Tirana against Celtic in the Champions League on September 191979 and the tough elimination against Feyenoord in 1991 with a 0-0 tie at home and an 1-0 loss away with a goal in the 86th minute. In the 2003-04 season, the club finished fourth in the Albanian Premier League. In the 2004-05 season, it participated in the UEFA Cup, but was eliminated in the second qualifying round by Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin FC 6-1 on aggregate.

There are plans for the team to be sold to an American Sports Management Group wanting to invest in football in Europe. There are also plans for a new 14,000 all-seated modern stadium.

Sponsors

Kit Sponsor-LegeaShirt Sponsor-AKK Cyprus buildings and construction

Achievements

*National Championship 15 times(1947, 1948, 1949, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962-63, 1963-64, 1970-71, 1978-79, 1980-81,1986-87, 1992-93)

* Albanian First Division: 1 (2000-01)

* Albanian Cup: 15(1948, 1949, 1957, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1973, 1980, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2004)

* Albanian Supercup: 2(1993, 2004)

* Balkan Champion Clubs Cup (1970)

KF Partizani in Europe

* QR = Qualifying Round
* R1 = 1st Round
* R2 = 2nd Round

Current squad

"As of July, 2008."

Transfers 2008/2009

In

Out

Former notable players

Starting lineup 2008/2009

The 4-4-1-1 lineup. Partizani Tirana's Starting Lineup in The Kategoria superiore.

External links

* [http://www.fkpartizani.al/ Official Site]
* [http://www.partizani.net/ Fan Site]
* [http://www.partizani.net/english.htm Partizani in English]
* [http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/club=52876/domestic.html Partizani at UEFA.COM]
* [http://www.eufo.de/football/alb/partrana.htm Partizani at EUFO.DE]
* [http://www.weltfussball.de/teams/fk-partizani/ Partizani at Weltfussball.de]
* [http://www.playerhistory.com/Default.aspx?page=club_details&clubID=902 Partizani at Playerhistory.com]
* [http://www.transfermarkt.de/de/verein/4040/partizanitirana/uebersicht/startseite.html Partizani at Transfermarkt.de]
* [http://www.soccerpedia.net/db/index.php/Partizani_Tiran%C3%AB Soccerpedia schedule for Partizani]
* [http://www.freewebs.com/albsoccer/ Albanian Soccer News]
* [http://www.albania-sport.com Albania Sport]