KF Lushnja is an Albanian football club based in the city of Lushnjë in the County of Fier. Their home ground is the Abdurrahman Roza Haxhiu Stadium and they currently compete in the Kategoria e Parë.

KF Lushnja
Full nameKlubi Sportiv Lushnja
Nickname(s)Delegatët
Lagunarët
Traktori
Founded27 July 1930; 94 years ago (1930-07-27) as Kongresi i Lushnjës
GroundRoza Haxhiu Stadium
Capacity8,000
PresidentEriselda Sefa
ManagerErjon Xhafa
LeagueKategoria e Parë
2023−24Kategoria e Parë, 9th

History

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Early years

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The club was originally formed in 1930 and the first football game held in the city of Lushnjë was played shortly after. This was a friendly game against Tomori Berat and the team consisted of young men from Lushnjë. The club was named Kongresi i Lushnjës following a proposal from a member of parliament and signatory of the Albanian Declaration of Independence Ferit Vokopola to name the club after the Congress of Lushnjë, which was where Vokopola himself was elected secretary. In 1927, a young man named Ali Funga returned from his studies in Austria and joined the club as a player and the head coach. He returned to Albania from Austria with shirts that would be used by the club, and they had green vertical stripes which were used to symbolise the fields of Myzeqe. Although the club was formed on 21 January 1927 it was not "officially" formed until 27 July 1930 shortly after the formation of the Albanian Football Association a month earlier. It was known then as the Kongresi i Lushnjës (English: Congress of Lushnjë) literacy-artistic society, in reference to the important political meeting of 1920. The club's first official jerseys were green, and the first sports chief of the club was Ali Funga, who had been a key member of the club's pre formation years.

Traktori Lushnja

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In 1945, they changed their name to KS Traktori Lushnja followed by a further name change in 1950 to SK Lushnja. In 1951, it was changed to Puna Lushnja, before they returned to KS Traktori Lushnja in 1958. Following the fall of communism in 1991, the club was named KS Lushnja. Argentinian World Cup-winning forward Mario Kempes made his full-time coaching debut in Albania with a brief spell at the club in 1997.[1]

Modern day

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The team has had good reputation in the start of 1991 when the communism regime collapsed and before it. The team was in the Albanian Superliga for many times and came in and out many times. The most Notable Manager known as Mario Kempes in 1997. Since the start of the team they never were in a European Championship. In 2017 the team has been losing many of its games in the 2017-18 Albanian Superliga causing a lot of fans to leave and the team having a bad reputation with the most losses in the group.

Supporters

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Ultras Delegatët
EstablishedJanuary 21, 2012
TypeSupporters' group
ClubKS Lushnja
MottoPertej rezultatit
Headquarterslushnjë,   Albania
AffiliationsTifozat Kuq e Zi

The club's main supporters' group is called the Ultras Delegatët, which was formed on 21 January 2012, on the 85th anniversary of the club. Delegatët took over as the club's main supporters' group from the previous group which was called the Lushnja Warrios. There are other small ultras like Ultras Stan Karbunarë and Ultras Karbunarë.

Groups

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  • Ultras Delegatët
  • Ultras Stan Karbunarë
  • Ultras Karbunarë
  • Lushnja Warrios
  • Tifoza e Lushnjes

Stadium

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Stadiumi A.Roza Haxhiu

Abdurrahman Roza Haxhiu Stadium is Home to the team known as KS Lushnja. This is an 8,000 seater but it has a capacity of 12,000 people. The stadium is made in communism era at the year of 1961. The stadium is named after a famous soccer player known as Abdurrahman Roza Haxhiu who died during a match. Since the stadium was created in communism era of Albania the stadium was solid and had a big capacity to sit and to stand up. Other village teams around Lushnje play some championships and friendlies. There has been an international game with Albania national under-19 football team vs Kazakhstan national under-19 football team. The latest it was renovated was 2017 to enter the Albanian Superliga with seats in the VIP area.[2]

Renovations

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Abdurrahman Roza Haxhiu stadium has been renovated a couple of times the latest renovation was for the 2017-18 Albanian Superliga, as they were qualified they needed to renovate the stadium. The stadium had fresh paint and the fixing with plastic seats at the Vip Area. Including the field.

Sponsors

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Sponsor Type Name
Main Sponsors Municipality of Lushnje
Secondary Sponsors Lufra, Kond
Official clothing provider Legea

Honours

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Current squad

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As of 31 January 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   ALB Saugli Alimucaj
2 DF   ALB Paolo Kasmollari
3 MF   ALB Ledion Ruço
4 DF   ALB Ronald Disha
6 DF   ALB Dejan Andoni
8 FW   ALB Damiano Arapi
9 FW   ALB Kristian Preknicaj
10 FW   ALB Mikel Canka (captain)
11 MF   ALB Henri Sulovari
14 DF   ALB Adriatik Basha
15 FW   ALB Serxhio Tabaku
19 MF   NGA James Ayinde (on loan from Egnatia)
20 MF   ALB Altin Kananaj
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 FW   ALB Anxhelo Duka
22 GK   ALB Oltjan Haremi
25 MF   ALB Endrien Magani
26 MF   FRA Mathieu Leroux
27 FW   ALB Ervis Gjyla
34 DF   ENG Granit Islami
70 FW   ALB Erjon Dragoj
77 DF   ALB Ylber Muca
MF   BRA Henrique Quadros
FW   ALB Orjel Murati
FW   CIV Ibrahim Romeo Olola
FW   LBR Jerryson Faithboy Willie

Out on loan

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
FW   ALB Ledion Sadiku (at Labëria until 30 June 2024)

List of managers

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References

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  1. ^ Historia 88 vjeçare, kur Lushnja mburrej me… “Traktorin” - Panorama (in Albanian)
  2. ^ "Stadiumi i Lushnjes drejt përfundimit – RTSH-Radio Televizioni Shqiptar". www.rtsh.al. Archived from the original on 2018-03-31.
  3. ^ Mario Kempes, aventura shqiptare e yllit argjentinas
  4. ^ New year, old problem in Albania