2020–21 Kategoria Superiore

Kategoria Superiore
Season	2020–21
Dates	4 November 2020 –; 26 May 2021
Champions	Teuta; 2nd title
Relegated	Bylis; Apolonia
Champions League	Teuta
Europa Conference League	Vllaznia; Partizani; Laçi
Matches played	180
Goals scored	378 (2.1 per match)
Top goalscorer	Dejvi Bregu; (16 goals)
Biggest home win	Laçi 6–1 Apolonia; (29 November 2020); Teuta 6–1 Apolonia; (26 May 2021)
Biggest away win	Apolonia 0–6 Vllaznia; (18 April 2021)
Highest scoring	Laçi 6–1 Apolonia; (29 November 2020); Skënderbeu 4–3 Bylis; (30 December 2020); Teuta 6–1 Apolonia; (26 May 2021); Tirana 5–2 Apolonia; (4 April 2021)
Longest winning run	5 matches; Kukësi; Laçi
Longest unbeaten run	12 matches; Teuta
Longest winless run	15 matches; Apolonia
Longest losing run	6 matches; Bylis
	← 2019–20 2021–22 → All statistics correct as of 26 May 2021.

The 2020–21 Kategoria Superiore was the 82nd official season, or 85th season of top-tier football in Albania (including three unofficial championships during World War II) and the 21st season under the name Kategoria Superiore. The season ended on 26 May 2021.^[1] It was initially planned to begin on 12 September 2020 but it was delayed after all participating clubs decided to boycott the competition, until the government would meet their demands. After 2 months of negotiations, the clubs ended the boycott and agreed to begin the season on 4 November 2020. Teuta won the league title on 26 May 2021, on the final matchday.

The winners of this season's Kategoria Superiore earned a place in the first qualifying round of the 2021-22 Champions League, with the second and third placed clubs earning a place in the first qualifying round of the 2021-22 Europa Conference League.

Teams

Two clubs have earned promotion from the Kategoria e Parë, Apolonia^[2] and Kastrioti.^[3] Flamurtari and Luftëtari were relegated to Kategoria e Parë at the conclusion of last season.

Locations

Locations of the 2020–21 Kategoria Superiore teams

Team	Home city	Stadium	Capacity	2019–20 season
Apolonia	Fier	Loni Papuçiu Stadium	6,800	Champion (Kategoria e Parë)
Bylis	Ballsh	Adush Muça Stadium	5,200	7th
Kastrioti	Krujë	Kamëz Stadium^[a]	5,500^[a]	Runner-up (Kategoria e Parë)
Kukësi	Kukës	Elbasan Arena^[b]	12,800^[b]	2nd
Laçi	Laç	Laçi Stadium	2,300	3rd
Partizani	Tirana	Elbasan Arena^[c]	12,800^[c]	6th
Skënderbeu	Korçë	Skënderbeu Stadium	12,343	4th
Teuta	Durrës	Niko Dovana Stadium	12,040	5th
Tirana	Tirana	Selman Stërmasi Stadium	9,500	Champion
Vllaznia	Shkodër	Loro Boriçi Stadium	16,000	8th

Stadiums

Apolonia	Bylis	Kastrioti	Kukësi	Laçi
Loni Papuçiu Stadium	Adush Muça Stadium	Kamëz Stadium	Elbasan Arena UEFA stadium category	Laçi Stadium
Capacity: 6,800	Capacity: 5,200	Capacity: 5,500	Capacity: 12,800	Capacity: 5,300

Partizani	Skënderbeu	Teuta	Tirana	Vllaznia
Elbasan Arena UEFA stadium category	Skënderbeu Stadium	Niko Dovana Stadium	Selman Stërmasi Stadium	Loro Boriçi Stadium UEFA stadium category
Capacity: 12,800	Capacity: 12,343	Capacity: 12,040	Capacity: 9,500	Capacity: 16,000

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
Apolonia	Koço Kokëdhima	Fabrizio Cammarata	Romeo Harizaj	Joma	Abissnet
Bylis	Besnik Kapllanaj	Veljko Dovedan	Franc Ymeralilaj	Uhlsport	−
Kastrioti	Petro Kumi	Ramadan Ndreu	Emiliano Çela	Uhlsport	Qafshtama
Kukësi	Safet Gjici	Mirel Josa	Agim Ibraimi	Joma	Kevin Construction
Laçi	Pashk Laska	Shpëtim Duro	Aleksandar Ignjatović	Uhlsport	Arbëria Palace
Partizani	Gazmend Demi	Ilir Daja	Alban Hoxha	Joma	−
Skënderbeu	Ardian Takaj	Migen Memelli	Jorgo Meksi	Uhlsport	Tona
Teuta	Edmond Hasanbelliu	Edi Martini	Renato Arapi	Macron	Caffè Pascucci
Tirana	Refik Halili	Orges Shehi	Idriz Batha	Uhlsport	−
Vllaznia	Municipality of Shkodër	Thomas Brdarić	Erdenis Gurishta	−	Fujifilm

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Kukësi	Orges Shehi	Mutual consent	30 July 2020	Pre-season	Skënder Gega	30 July 2020
Partizani	Renaldo Kalari	End of caretaker spell	10 August 2020		Ilir Daja	10 August 2020
Vllaznia	Hysen Dedja	End of contract	10 August 2020		Thomas Brdarić	10 August 2020
Skënderbeu	Ilir Daja	Signed for Partizani	10 August 2020		Julian Ahmataj	19 August 2020
Apolonia	Artan Mërgjyshi	Mutual consent	31 August 2020		Giovanni Colella	1 September 2020
Tirana	Emmanuel Egbo	Sacked	12 November 2020	5th	Nevil Dede	13 November 2020
Laçi	Armando Cungu	Mutual consent	26 November 2020	8th	Stavri Nica	26 November 2020
Apolonia	Giovanni Colella	Resigned	30 November 2020	10th	Nikolin Çoçlli	30 November 2020
Laçi	Stavri Nica	Caretaker replaced	5 December 2020	6th	Klevis Hima	5 December 2020
Laçi	Klevis Hima	End of caretaker spell	12 December 2020	7th	Shpëtim Duro	12 December 2020
Apolonia	Nikolin Çoçlli	Sacked	17 December 2020	9th	Bledar Borova	17 December 2020
Kukësi	Skënder Gega	Resigned	27 December 2020	4th	Rrahman Hallaçi	27 December 2020
Apolonia	Bledar Borova	End of caretaker spell	2 January 2021	10th	Fabrizio Cammarata	2 January 2021
Kukësi	Rrahman Hallaçi	End of caretaker spell	25 January 2021	5th	Mirel Josa	25 January 2021
Tirana	Nevil Dede	Mutual consent	25 January 2021	6th	Orges Shehi	27 January 2021
Skënderbeu	Julian Ahmataj	Mutual consent	31 January 2021	9th	Migen Memelli	3 February 2021

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Teuta (C)	36	17	15	4	42	16	+26	66	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Vllaznia	36	19	9	8	44	22	+22	66	Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round^[a]
3	Partizani	36	17	14	5	53	23	+30	65
4	Laçi	36	16	13	7	41	26	+15	61
5	Tirana	36	15	13	8	41	26	+15	58
6	Kukësi	36	13	6	17	47	48	−1	45
7	Skënderbeu	36	9	10	17	34	55	−21	37
8	Kastrioti (O)	36	8	11	17	26	44	−18	35	Qualification for the relegation play-off
9	Bylis (R)	36	7	10	19	28	51	−23	31	Relegation to the 2021–22 Kategoria e Parë
10	Apolonia (R)	36	4	9	23	22	67	−45	21	Relegation to the 2021–22 Kategoria e Parë

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.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ Vllaznia, the winners of the 2020–21 Albanian Cup, already qualified for European competition based on league position. Therefore, the Europa Conference League berth awarded to the Albanian Cup winners transfers to the fourth-placed team.

Results

Clubs will play each other four times for a total of 36 matches each.

First half of season

Home \ Away	APO	BYL	KAS	KUK	LAÇ	PAR	SKË	TEU	TIR	VLL
Apolonia	—	2–2	2–1	1–3	1–0	0–3	1–0	0–1	0–1	0–1
Bylis	3–1	—	2–1	0–3	1–1	1–2	0–2	0–0	0–0	0–1
Kastrioti	1–1	1–0	—	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–2	0–1	1–1	0–3
Kukësi	1–0	2–1	0–1	—	1–0	0–2	3–1	0–3	0–0	0–1
Laçi	6–1	2–0	1–1	3–2	—	3–2	1–1	1–0	0–1	1–0
Partizani	1–1	0–0	2–0	4–1	0–0	—	4–0	0–0	1–0	0–0
Skënderbeu	1–1	4–3	1–2	0–4	1–1	1–2	—	1–3	1–1	0–2
Teuta	1–0	2–0	1–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	—	1–1	0–0
Tirana	3–0	0–0	2–1	2–0	0–1	0–0	2–0	0–1	—	1–1
Vllaznia	2–0	1–0	0–0	2–4	1–2	1–0	5–1	1–0	3–2	—

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

Second half of season

Home \ Away	APO	BYL	KAS	KUK	LAÇ	PAR	SKË	TEU	TIR	VLL
Apolonia	—	0–1	2–1	0–3	0–1	1–1	1–2	0–2	1–1	0–6
Bylis	1–0	—	1–1	2–1	0–1	2–4	1–0	1–1	0–0	0–1
Kastrioti	0–0	1–1	—	0–3	0–0	0–3	0–2	1–2	1–2	0–1
Kukësi	1–1	2–1	1–2	—	1–2	1–2	0–1	0–2	2–2	3–1
Laçi	1–1	2–1	1–0	2–0	—	2–2	0–0	0–0	1–2	0–0
Partizani	1–0	3–0	3–1	4–0	1–1	—	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–1
Skënderbeu	2–0	2–1	0–1	2–1	0–2	1–1	—	0–1	0–0	1–1
Teuta	6–1	4–0	0–0	2–2	1–0	0–1	2–0	—	0–2	1–0
Tirana	5–2	2–0	1–0	0–2	0–1	1–2	3–1	0–1	—	1–0
Vllaznia	1–0	1–2	1–0	0–0	2–0	0–0	2–1	0–0	1–2	—

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

Relegation play-off

30 May 2021

16:00

Kastrioti	2−1	Tomori
Mehmeti 45' Rezi 62'		Qato 90+3'

Kamëz Stadium, Kamëz

Referee: Kridens Meta

Both clubs remained in their respective leagues.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals^[4]
1	Dejvi Bregu	Teuta	16
2	Agim Ibraimi	Kukësi	15
2	Patrick Friday Eze	Kukësi	15
4	Ardit Hoxhaj	Vllaznia	12
5	Haris Dilaver	Vllaznia	11
6	Beji Anthony	Bylis	10
	Devid	Kastrioti
	Lorenco Vila	Teuta

Discipline

Player

Most yellow cards: 15
- Indrit Prodani (Kastrioti)

Most red cards: 2
- Kyrian Nwabueze (Laçi)

Awards

Annual awards

Award	Winner	Club
Manager of the Season	Thomas Brdarić	Vllaznia
Player of the Season	Dejvi Bregu	Teuta
Young Player of the Season	Marsel Ismailgeci	Tirana

Team of the Year
Goalkeeper	Visar Bekaj (Tirana)
Defenders	Erdenis Gurishta (Vllaznia)	Mevlan Adili (Vllaznia)		Egzon Belica (Partizani)		Erion Hoxhallari (Tirana)
Midfielders	Juljan Shehu (Laçi)		Regi Lushkja (Laçi)		Albano Aleksi (Teuta)
Forwards	Jasir Asani (Partizani)		Dejvi Bregu (Teuta)		Agim Ibraimi (Kukësi)

Source:^[5]

Notes and references

Notes

^
Kastrioti played their 2020–21 home games at the Kamëz Stadium in Kamëz, since their venue, Kastrioti Stadium, is not suitable for Kategoria Superiore matches.
^
Kukësi played their 2020–21 home games at the Elbasan Arena in Elbasan, due to the reconstruction of the Zeqir Ymeri Stadium in Kukës.
^
Partizani played their 2020–21 home games at the Elbasan Arena in Elbasan. Their new home ground, Partizani Complex, is currently under construction.

References

^ "Komiteti Ekzekutiv përcakton datat e sezonit 2020-2021". 20 August 2020.
^ "FK Apolonia shpallet fituese e Grupit B në Kategorinë e Parë" [FK Apolonia is declared the winner of Group B in the First Category] (in Albanian). Football Association of Albania. 18 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
^ "KS Kastrioti shpallet fitues i Grupit A në Kategorinë e Parë" [KS Kastrioti is declared the winner of Group A in the First Category] (in Albanian). Football Association of Albania. 18 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
^ "2020-21 top scorers". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
^ "Më të mirët e sezonit! FSHF dhe RTSH shpallin kampionët e futbollit". 30 December 2021.

External links

Official website (in Albanian)
Kategoria Superiore at uefa.com

[table_note_res_ECL1Q0.98643962758893-4] Vllaznia, the winners of the 2020–21 Albanian Cup, already qualified for European competition based on league position. Therefore, the Europa Conference League berth awarded to the Albanian Cup winners transfers to the fourth-placed team.

[cnote_a] 
Kastrioti played their 2020–21 home games at the Kamëz Stadium in Kamëz, since their venue, Kastrioti Stadium, is not suitable for Kategoria Superiore matches.

[cnote_b] 
Kukësi played their 2020–21 home games at the Elbasan Arena in Elbasan, due to the reconstruction of the Zeqir Ymeri Stadium in Kukës.

[cnote_c] 
Partizani played their 2020–21 home games at the Elbasan Arena in Elbasan. Their new home ground, Partizani Complex, is currently under construction.

[1] "Komiteti Ekzekutiv përcakton datat e sezonit 2020-2021". 20 August 2020.

[2] "FK Apolonia shpallet fituese e Grupit B në Kategorinë e Parë" [FK Apolonia is declared the winner of Group B in the First Category] (in Albanian). Football Association of Albania. 18 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.

[3] "KS Kastrioti shpallet fitues i Grupit A në Kategorinë e Parë" [KS Kastrioti is declared the winner of Group A in the First Category] (in Albanian). Football Association of Albania. 18 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.

[topscorer-5] "2020-21 top scorers". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 November 2020.

[6] "Më të mirët e sezonit! FSHF dhe RTSH shpallin kampionët e futbollit". 30 December 2021.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[a]

[b]

[c]

[a]

[4]

[5]