AF Elbasani (Albanian: Akademia e Futbollit Elbasani), is an Albanian professional football club based in Elbasan. The club competes in Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. Their home ground is Elbasan Arena.
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| Full name | Akademia e Futbollit Elbasani | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Tigrat | ||
| Founded | 2 August 2021 | ||
| Stadium | Elbasan Arena | ||
| Capacity | 12,800 | ||
| Owner | Bashkia Elbasan | ||
| President | Kujtim Llupa | ||
| Manager | Ivan Gvozdenović | ||
| League | Kategoria Superiore | ||
| 2025–26 | Kategoria Superiore, 2nd | ||
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History
editIn 2021, the club was formed by the Elbasan Municipality after the disagreements with businessman Arben Laze who was the owner of the first football club KF Elbasani. Due to financial bankruptcy, Elbasani was seized by the Directorate of Taxes in Elbasan. So with the initiative of the fans they found the way and with the cooperation of Elbasan Municipality, AF Elbasani was created.[1]
In the 2021–22 season, they competed in the fourth tier of Albanian football, Kategoria e Tretë. In their first season, they achieved first place, gaining promotion to Kategoria e Dytë.[2]
In the 2022–23 season, AF Elbasani finished first in the Group B of the Kategoria e Dytë, which gained them promotion for the first time to the Kategoria e Parë.[3] In their first season, they finished in 1st place, and were crowned champions and were promoted to the Kategoria Superiore.[4]
In the 2024–25 season, they narrowly missed out on qualifying to the final four, by finishing 5th on 50 points, 3 points behind Partizani.
Honours
edit- Kategoria Superiore
- Runners-up (1): 2025–26
- Kategoria e Parë
- Champions (1): 2023–24
- Kategoria e Dytë
- Runners-up (1): 2022–23
- Kategoria e Tretë
- Champions (1): 2021–22
Recent seasons
edit| Season | Division | Pos. | Pl. | W | D | L | GS | GA | P | Cup | Supercup | Europe | Top Scorer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 | Kategoria e Tretë | 1st | 14 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 84 | 4 | 40 | — | — | — | — |  Denis Mici 29 |
| 2022–23 | Kategoria e Dytë | 2nd | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 64 | 12 | 58 | — | — | — | — | Arsen Lleshi 14 |
| 2023–24 | Kategoria e Parë | 1st | 33 | 24 | 7 | 2 | 76 | 32 | 79 | R16 | — | — | — | Bedri Greca 18 |
| 2024–25 | Kategoria Superiore | 5th | 36 | 11 | 17 | 8 | 40 | 38 | 50 | QF | — | — | — | Arsen Lleshi 7 Emiljano Musta 7 |
| 2025–26 | Kategoria Superiore | 2nd | 39 | 19 | 11 | 9 | 53 | 42 | 68 | SF | — | — | — |  Blaise Tsague 11 |
| 2026–27 | Kategoria Superiore | — | ||||||||||||
European competitions record
edit| Competition | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA competitions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Season | Competition | Round | Country | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026–27 | UEFA Conference League | 1QR |
Stadium
edit
The club plays its home games at the Elbasan Arena, which was originally built in 1967 and named the Labinot Stadium after the club's name at the time, which was Labinot Elbasan. The stadium was previously called Ruzhdi Bizhuta, after one of the club's most famous players. In January 2014 it was announced that the stadium would take over from the Qemal Stafa Stadium as the home of the Albania national team until Qemal Stafa is reconstructed. Prime minister Edi Rama visited the stadium on 28 January 2014 and he confirmed that work on the stadium would begin shortly, in order for Albania to be able to play their home games in the country as no other stadiums met the minimum requirements for Euro 2016 qualifiers.[5][6][7] Works on the stadium began in February, and they were completed in time for Albania's opening qualifying fixture against Denmark in October 2014.[8] The overall reconstruction costs amounted to €5.5 million, which included works being completed on everything from the parking lot to the installation of new floodlights, and the stadium now has an official seated capacity of 12,800.[9][10][11]
Players
editCurrent squad
edit- As of 31 January 2026
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
editNote: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Retired numbers
editNote: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Staff
edit| Name | Position |
|---|---|
 Ivan Gvozdenović | Head coach |
| Orgest Gava | Assistant Coach |
| Elvis Kotorri | Goalkeeping Coach |
 Andrea Vezzu | Fitness coach |
| Mirko Panico | Video Analyst |
| Denis Asllani | Video Analyst |
| Orland Kastrati | Physio |
| Geris Lahi | Physio |
| Mark Doçi | Physio |
| Amarildo Hoxha | Doctor |
| Elton Guranjaku | Sports Director |
| Marenglen Çoku | Administrator |
| Armand Memetaj | Team Manager |
| Kristo Kristo | Marketing Director |
List of managers
edit- Gentian Stojku (2 Aug 2021–11 Apr 2023)
- Eriol Merxha (12 Apr 2023 – 6 Jun 2023)
- Nevil Dede (7 Jun 2023– 1 Jul 2024)
- Roberto Bordin (8 Jul 2024– 5 Dec 2024)
- Ivan Gvozdenović (5 Dec 2024– )
References
edit- ↑ "AF Elbasani, historia e re e futbollit në qytetin traditë! Drejtori i klubit: Tifozët na mirëpritën" [AF Elbasani, a new football history in the city of tradition! The Director of the club: The fans welcomed us] (in Albanian). Shqiptarja. 29 July 2021.
- ↑ "AF Elbasani shpallet kampion i Kategorisë së Tretë" [AF Elbasani become champions of Kategoria e Tretë] (in Albanian). FSHF.org. 6 May 2022.
- ↑ Kodra, Fatjon (2023-05-11). "Vora mposht AF Elbasanin në finale & shpallet fituese e Kategorisë së Dytë 2022/2023!". FSHF (in Albanian). Retrieved 2024-06-20.
- ↑ Sinani, Renaldo (2024-05-09). "AF Elbasani kurorëzohet ekipi kampion i Kategorisë së Parë për sezonin 2023-2024!". FSHF (in Albanian). Retrieved 2024-06-20.
- ↑ Rama: Elbasani pret kombëtaren Archived 2014-02-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "- Bota Sot". botasot.info. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ↑ "Lajmet e fundit - KOHA.net". KOHA.net. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ↑ "Sot përballja I në Elbasan Arena Shqipëri-Danimarkë, në 20:45". shqiptarja.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ↑ Cite error: The named reference
Asport1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ↑ ""Ruzhdi Bizhuta", plani për ta kthyer stadium ndërkombëtar". ikub.al. Archived from the original on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
- ↑ Stadiumi ne Elbasan: Rama, per te mos i mbetur hatri Vlores dhe Shkodres Archived 2014-10-11 at the Wayback Machine