2018–19 Kategoria Superiore

Kategoria Superiore
Season	2018–19
Dates	17 August 2018 –; 30 May 2019
Champions	Partizani; 16th title
Relegated	Kastrioti
Champions League	Partizani
Europa League	Kukësi; Laçi; Teuta
Matches played	180
Goals scored	375 (2.08 per match)
Top goalscorer	Reginaldo; (13 goals)
Biggest home win	Laçi 5–0 Teuta; (6 April 2019)
Biggest away win	Kastrioti 0–4 Teuta; (16 December 2018); Luftëtari 1–5 Kastrioti; (27 January 2019)
Highest scoring	Luftëtari 1–5 Kastrioti; (27 January 2019)
Longest winning run	5 matches; Partizani; Skënderbeu
Longest unbeaten run	15 matches; Teuta
Longest winless run	11 matches; Kastrioti
Longest losing run	7 matches; Kastrioti
	← 2017–18 2019–20 → All statistics correct as of 30 May 2019.

The 2018–19 Kategoria Superiore was the 80th official season, or 83rd season of top-tier football in Albania (including three unofficial championships during World War II) and the 19th season under the name Kategoria Superiore. The season began on 17 August 2018 and ended on 30 May 2019. Partizani, won the league title on 12 May 2019 with 3 matches to spare.

The winners of this season's Superiore earned a place in the first qualifying round of the 2019−20 Champions League, with the second and third placed clubs earning a place in the first qualifying round of the 2019−20 Europa League.

Teams

Two clubs earned promotion from the Kategoria e Parë, Kastrioti and Tirana, joined the Superiore this season. Lushnja and Vllaznia were relegated at the conclusion of last season, the latter for the second time in their history.

Locations

Locations of the 2018–19 Kategoria Superiore teams

Team	Home city	Stadium	Capacity	2017–18 season
Flamurtari	Vlorë	Flamurtari Stadium	8,200	6th
Kamza	Kamëz	Kamëz Stadium	5,200	7th
Kastrioti	Krujë	Redi Maloku Stadium	3,000	Runner-up (Kategoria e Parë)
Kukësi	Kukës	Kamëz Stadium	5,500	Runner-up
Laçi	Laç	Laçi Stadium	2,300	4th
Luftëtari	Gjirokastër	Gjirokastra Stadium	8,400	3rd
Partizani	Tirana	Selman Stërmasi Stadium	9,600	5th
Skënderbeu	Korçë	Skënderbeu Stadium	8,724	Champion
Teuta	Durrës	Niko Dovana Stadium	12,400	8th
Tirana	Tirana	Selman Stërmasi Stadium	9,600	Champion (Kategoria e Parë)

(1) Partizani will play their 2018–19 home games at the Selman Stërmasi Stadium in Tirana. The club's former home ground, the Qemal Stafa Stadium, was demolished and their new home ground at the Partizani Complex is currently under construction.
(2) Kastrioti will play their 2018–19 home games at the Redi Maloku Stadium in Fushë-Krujë.
(3) Kukësi will play their 2018–19 home games at the Kamëz Stadium in Kamëz.

Stadiums

Flamurtari	Kamza	Kastrioti	Kukësi	Laçi
Flamurtari Stadium	Kamëz Stadium	Redi Maloku Stadium	Kamëz Stadium	Laçi Stadium
Capacity: 8,200	Capacity: 5,500	Capacity: 3,000	Capacity: 5,500	Capacity: 2,300

Luftëtari	Partizani	Skënderbeu	Teuta	Tirana
Gjirokastra Stadium	Selman Stërmasi Stadium	Skënderbeu Stadium	Niko Dovana Stadium	Selman Stërmasi Stadium
Capacity: 8,400	Capacity: 9,600	Capacity: 12,343	Capacity: 12,040	Capacity: 9,600

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	President	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Flamurtari	Sinan Idrizi	Ilir Daja	Artim Pollozhani	Kappa	−
Kamza	Naim Qarri	Gentian Stojku	Sebino Plaku	Uhlsport	Spital Continental
Kastrioti	Petro Kumi	Bledar Devolli	Emiliano Çela	Uhlsport	Universal
Kukësi	Safet Gjici	Ernest Gjoka	Ylli Shameti	Macron	Kevin Construction
Laçi	Pashk Lasa	Sulejman Starova	Gentian Selmani	Uhlsport	Pavin Caffe
Luftëtari	Grigor Tavo	Julian Ahmataj	Behar Ramadani	Legea	Replay
Partizani	Gazmend Demi	Skënder Gega	Alban Hoxha	Joma	MCN
Skënderbeu	Ardian Takaj	Orges Shehi	Marko Radaš	Puma	Ama Cafè
Teuta	Edmond Hasanbelliu	Bledi Shkëmbi	Tefik Osmani	Kappa	Caffè Pascucci
Tirana	Refik Halili	Ardian Mema	Erando Karabeci	Macron	−

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Kamza	Julian Ahmataj	Mutual consent	25 May 2018	Pre-season	Bledar Devolli	9 July 2018
Kastrioti	Samuel Nikaj	Mutual consent	28 May 2018		Elvis Plori	28 May 2018
Laçi	Gentian Mezani	Resigned	1 June 2018		Artan Mërgjyshi	7 August 2018
Luftëtari	Hasan Lika	Resigned	1 June 2018		Miloš Kostić	5 June 2018
Teuta	Gentian Begeja	Mutual consent	4 June 2018		Bledi Shkëmbi	4 June 2018
Partizani	Klevis Dalipi	Mutual consent	16 June 2018		Skënder Gega	18 June 2018
Skënderbeu	Ilir Daja	Resigned	19 June 2018		Orges Shehi	5 July 2018
Flamurtari	Ardian Behari	End of caretaker spell	13 July 2018		Ilir Daja	13 July 2018
Kamza	Bledar Devolli	Sacked	2 September 2018	7th	Klodian Duro	4 September 2018
Luftëtari	Miloš Kostić	Mutual consent	20 September 2018	10th	Gentian Mezani	20 September 2018
Tirana	Zé Maria	Mutual consent	11 October 2018	7th	Ardian Mema	12 October 2018
Kastrioti	Elvis Plori	Resigned	21 October 2018	10th	Stavri Nica	22 October 2018
Laçi	Artan Mërgjyshi	Resigned	30 October 2018	4th	Migen Memelli	31 October 2018
Kamza	Klodian Duro	Mutual decision	8 November 2018	9th	Ernest Gjoka	15 November 2018
Laçi	Migen Memelli	End of caretaker spell	14 December 2018	5th	Besnik Prenga	14 December 2018
Kastrioti	Stavri Nica	Resigned	23 December 2018	10th	Bledar Devolli	7 January 2019
Luftëtari	Gentian Mezani	Sacked	28 January 2019	8th	Julian Ahmataj	29 January 2019
Kamza	Ernest Gjoka	Resigned	17 February 2019	10th	Gentian Stojku	19 February 2019
Laçi	Besnik Prenga	Resigned	15 March 2019	4th	Sulejman Starova	15 March 2019
Kukësi	Armando Cungu	Mutual consent	19 March 2019	2nd	Ramadan Ndreu	19 March 2019
Kukësi	Ramadan Ndreu	End of caretaker spell	6 April 2019	2nd	Ernest Gjoka	6 April 2019

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Partizani (C)	36	20	10	6	45	22	+23	70	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Kukësi	36	17	8	11	42	29	+13	59	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round^[a]
3	Teuta	36	15	12	9	43	36	+7	57
4	Skënderbeu^[b]	36	17	4	15	45	30	+15	55
5	Flamurtari^[c]	36	15	9	12	35	32	+3	54
6	Laçi	36	12	13	11	33	30	+3	49	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round^[a]
7	Tirana	36	12	11	13	44	35	+9	47
8	Luftëtari	36	13	8	15	37	39	−2	47
9	Kastrioti (R)	36	12	6	18	35	53	−18	42	Relegation to the 2019–20 Kategoria e Parë
10	Kamza^[d] (R, D)	36	4	5	27	13	66	−53	17	Excluded from the league

Source: Albanian Football Association, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Draw.^[3]
(C) Champions; (D) Disqualified; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ ^a ^b Since the winners of the 2018–19 Albanian Cup, Kukësi, qualified for European competition based on league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners was passed down to the sixth-placed team, Laçi, since the fourth-placed team and the fifth-placed team failed to obtain a UEFA license.
^ In March 2018, Skënderbeu was handed a 10-year ban from UEFA club competitions over match fixing.^[1]
^ Flamurtari failed to obtain a UEFA license.
^ Kamza was excluded from the league and relegated to the Kategoria e Dytë for the next season, after a violent incident during a match against Laçi in the 24th round.^[2]

Positions by round

Team ╲ Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36
Team ╲ Round
Partizani	9	5	3	2	3	2	1	1	1	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
Kukësi	5	8	6	4	2	1	4	4	4	3	3	5	5	5	4	3	3	2	2	2	2	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
Teuta	6	7	5	7	8	6	7	6	6	5	5	4	3	3	3	4	2	3	3	3	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	4	3
Skënderbeu^[a]	1	1	1	1	1	3	2	2	2	1	1	2	2	2	2	2	4	5	5	5	4	5	5	5	5	6	6	6	5	6	5	6	6	6	5	4
Flamurtari^[b]	7	3	2	3	5	5	5	5	5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	5	3	3	3	3	3	5	4	3	5
Laçi^[c]	4	2	4	5	4	4	3	3	3	4	4	3	4	4	5	5	5	4	4	4	5	4	4	4	4	5	4	5	6	5	6	5	4	5	6	6
Tirana	10	9	9	8	7	8	6	7	7	7	7	7	8	8	8	7	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	8	8	8	7
Luftëtari	8	10	10	10	10	10	8	9	9	8	8	8	7	7	7	8	7	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	8	7	7	7	7	7	7	8	7	7	7	8
Kastrioti	3	4	8	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	10	10	10	10	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9	9
Kamza^[d]	2	6	7	6	6	7	9	8	8	9	9	9	9	9	10	9	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10

	Leader and UEFA Champions League first qualifying round
	UEFA Europa League first qualifying round
	UEFA Europa League first qualifying round
	2019–20 Kategoria e Parë

^ In March 2018, Skënderbeu was handed a 10-year ban from UEFA club competitions over match fixing.^[4]
^ Flamurtari failed to obtain a UEFA license.
^ Since the winners of the 2018–19 Albanian Cup, Kukësi, qualified for European competition based on league position, the spot awarded to the cup winners was passed down to the sixth-placed team, Laçi, since the fourth-placed team and the fifth-placed team failed to obtain a UEFA license.
^ Kamza was excluded from the league and relegated to the Kategoria e Dytë for the next season, after a violent incident during a match against Laçi in the 24th round.^[5]

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Results

Clubs will play each other four times for a total of 36 matches each.^[3]

First half of season

Home \ Away	FLA	KAM	KAS	KUK	LAÇ	LUF	PAR	SKË	TEU	TIR
Flamurtari	—	1–0	4–0	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	0–2	1–1	1–0
Kamza	2–2	—	2–0	0–2	0–1	1–0	0–1	1–0	1–3	1–1
Kastrioti	1–0	3–0	—	1–2	1–1	0–2	1–2	0–3	0–4	2–3
Kukësi	1–2	1–0	2–0	—	1–1	1–0	0–1	1–0	1–1	3–1
Laçi	1–0	0–0	2–1	0–1	—	2–1	0–0	2–0	0–3	2–1
Luftëtari	0–1	1–0	0–1	0–1	0–1	—	1–1	0–2	3–1	2–1
Partizani	2–0	1–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	2–1	—	0–2	3–0	2–1
Skënderbeu	1–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	2–3	1–0	—	0–1	1–1
Teuta	0–0	1–0	2–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	2–0	—	2–1
Tirana	1–0	0–1	4–0	0–0	0–1	3–1	0–1	1–1	0–0	—

Source: Albanian Football Association
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season

Home \ Away	FLA	KAM	KAS	KUK	LAÇ	LUF	PAR	SKË	TEU	TIR
Flamurtari	—	3–0¹	1–1	1–2	1–0	1–1	0–3	2–0	3–1	1–0
Kamza	0–3¹	—	0–1	0–3¹	1–1	0–3¹	0–1	0–3¹	0–3¹	0–3¹
Kastrioti	2–0	3–0¹	—	2–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–0
Kukësi	1–2	3–2	3–1	—	0–0	3–0	1–1	0–3	0–0	0–1
Laçi	0–0	3–0¹	1–1	0–1	—	0–2	1–0	1–0	5–0	1–3
Luftëtari	0–0	3–0¹	1–5	3–2	1–0	—	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–1
Partizani	3–1	3–0¹	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–3	—	2–0	3–0	2–1
Skënderbeu	2–0	3–0¹	4–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	0–1	—	0–2	1–2
Teuta	1–1	0–0	1–0	2–1	2–0	0–0	2–0	2–2	—	1–3
Tirana	3–0	4–1	0–0	0–2	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–1	—