Vllaznia Shkoder

Background history

Football was introduced to the city of Shkodër in 1908, when a Maltese priest, Father Gut Ruter, brought a football into the city, which is considered to be the first time football was played in the country. The first football club formed in Albania was Indipendenca Shkodër, which began operating in 1912 under the guidance of founder Palokë Nika, who was also the captain of the team. The first football game organised in city took place in October 1913 between Indipendenca Shkodër and the occupying Austro-Hungarian Imperial Navy. It was the first time a football team composed of Albanians had played foreigners, making it the first international game to ever take place involving an Albanian team, as well as being the first 90-minute football game to be played with two 45 minute halves in the country. Indipendenca Shkodër lost the game 2–1, with the captain Palokë Nika scoring the only goal for the home side.

Early history

Following the rise in popularity of football in the city, this prompted Palokë Nika along with other sportspeople in the city to form a club that would cater for many sports including football and on 16 February 1919 the Vllaznia Sports Society was formed. Vllaznia is a concept in Albanian culture often translated as "brotherhood;" it refers to loyalty to one's (clan, tribe). They played games against other Albanian teams, notably playing KF Tirana in their first ever game in October 1920. The club also played international games, the first of which was against the occupying Italian troops on 23 May, who beat Vllaznia 1–0. Later in the year for Albanian Independence Day on 28 November Vllaznia organised another football game against an Italian selection again, this time losing 5–1. The club's first game outside of Albania was played on 31 August 1922 in Montenegro against FK Lovćen Cetinje, a match which they lost 4–0. The club would continue to play domestic friendly games until the creation of the Albanian Football Association in 1930 and the start of the Kategoria e Parë in the same year.

Championships of World War II

During the peak of World War II, between the years 1939 and 1942, Albanian Football Association organized three championships, in 1939, 1940 and 1942. According to all information gathered in years from Albanian and foreign historians, players and veterans who lived these events, clear evidence proves the existence of these championships at that time, as well as the existence of three trophies given from Albanian Football Association officials themselves. One must not forget that 1942 Albanian Superliga had a nationwide participation – the first and the only one so far involving teams from both countries as Albania and Kosovo. KS Vllaznia won one such championship whilst KF Tirana won the other two championships in 1939 & 1942. This would update the championship trophies won by these clubs to respectively 10 and 26 at the present time.

After years of silence, Albanian Football Association have appointed a dedicated commission with 5 members, which is involved in gathering enough evidence in this regard. And finally, after a significant amount of evidence has been produced, it has been given an official date, when Albanian Football Association intend to officially recognize these 3 championships in their next General Assembly, to be held in February 2013.

In 1958 the club was renamed "KS Vllaznia". In the European Cup for Champions 1978/79 they beat Austrian team Austria Wien (who went on to the semifinals) 2–0 at home but lost 3–4 on aggregate. In the Cup Winners Cup of 1987/88 they reached the Round of 16 after beating Sliema Wanderes from Malta in both games (aggregate 6–0). In the 2001/2002 UEFA Champions league qualifying they beat KR Reykjavik from Iceland 2–1 in Reykjavik and 1–0 in Tirana with two goals from Klodian Duro. In next round KF Vllaznia were eliminated by the Turkish club Galatasaray 2–0 in Istanbul and 1–4 in Tirana. German Uli Schulze, a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup winner with 1. FC Magdeburg in 1974, was appointed as new coach in summer 2006. He was later replaced by Mirel Josa who is currently at his third spell coaching the team.

2000s

In the 2000s, Vllaznia went through changes. In 2003 the President of Vllaznia, Myftar Cela, was shot in Montenegro. The President was loved by every Vllaznia fan due to his generosity and his love for the team. After Cela died, a group of businessmen gathered to help the team.

In 2006, an Albanian businessman, Valter Fushaj, became Vllaznia President. Since then he has been criticized by the fans for corruption and not wanting the best for the team.

In the 2009–2010 season Vllaznia went through some rough changes; having to change 3 coaches and also replace players. Vllaznia dropped to the bottom of the table, and having been criticized by the fans, Vllaznia went through some bad times.

On 17 April 2010, Vllaznia won 3–2 against Skënderbeu Korçë but the result was changed to a 2–0 loss for Vllaznia. This was because the player Ansi Nika wasn't on the team roster but was picked for the team anyway. This led to protests by the fans, making accusations that the Vllaznia staff and the President Valter Fushaj specifically did it for bribing reasons.

GEA Sport Era

Roberto Nava, the president of GEA Sport SA, bought 50% of KF Vllaznia and in July, Nava negotiated with Napoli to loan Sebastián Sosa on a one year term in Shkodër. After successful negotiations with Napoli, Nava went on to buy Sebastián Rodríguez from Almería and Giorginho Aguirre from Corona Brasov.

Vllaznia were relegated from the Albanian Superliga in the 2017/18 season, a club that suffered their last demotion almost six decades ago in the early 1960s.

However, during the 2018/19 season, the team managed to gain promotion to the Superliga while also being crowned champions of the Albanian First Division (the second tier of Albanian Football), beating second-placed Erzeni to the title by a whopping 12 points.

In the 2019/20 season, Vllaznia finished eighth in the Superliga. They were then placed in the relegation play-off final against KF Besëlidhja Lezhë, but won 3-1 to secure their status as a top-flight club for another season.

The 2020/21 season saw Vllaznia jump up the table and have a very successful season, finishing on an impressive 66 points and securing a second-place finish that booked them a spot in the Europa Conference League Qualifiers. Teuta, the team that won the league, beat Vllaznia on goal difference.

Vllaznia also secured European football in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons. In the 2023/24 Europa Conference League Qualifiers, they played the highly successful Northern Irish club Linfield F.C., but lost 3-2 on aggregate.