KS Flamurtari Vlore

Foundation

KS Flamurtari Vlorë were founded on 23 March 1923, as Shoqeria Sportive Vlorë with Milto Korçari as the club's first ever President, while Malo Ismaili held the role of the secretary and Faslli Zoga that of the financier. The club was created to make sports more organized and popular, with a focus on football. Its financial needs were covered by donations from the members or from different activities organized in the city of Vlorë. Shoqeria Sportive played their first football match against Shoqëria Sportive Jeronim de Rada, a local team created from students from Vlorë. The match ended in a 2–2 draw. The goals for Shoqeria Sportive were scored by Adem Gavani and Hazbi Tepelena. During the 1920s the club played several friendlies with other Albanian and foreign teams. Interesting were the matches against Crnogorac Cetinje and the football team of the Livorno Naval Institute which the Red and Black Fleet both won 1–0 and 3–2 respectively. Shoqeria Sportive Vlorë were a founder member of the Albanian Football Association and participated in the first championship. Its first official match was against Skënderbeu Korçë in Vlorë and ended with a 2–0 win. The team's first captain in an official match was Jani Kosta. In the first championship Shoqeria Sportive finished bottom of the table with two wins (vs. Skënderbeu Korçë at home, 2–0, and vs. Urani Elbasan away, 2–1), two draws (vs. Skënderbeu Korçë away, 0–0, and vs. Bashkimi Shkodran at home, 1–1) and six losses.

World War II

In the 1931 championship Shoqeria Sportive played in Group A against Tirana and Bashkimi Shkodran collecting a win at home against Bashkimi Shkodran and three losses, with a negative goal difference of 4–9. Finishing last of the table meant that the team was relegated to the Kategoria e Dyte. Shoqeria Sportive was drawn to play for the next season in Group C of the Kategoria e Dyte against Leka i Madh Permet, Narta and Shqiponja Gjirokastër. The championship ended with success as the team was crowned champions of Group C and thus qualified for the play-off final against the Group B champion, Sportklub Kavajë. The one-legged tie ended 3–1 in favour of Sportklub Kavajë, which meant that Shoqeria Sportive remained for another year in the Second Division. In the next championship Nimet Abazi Delvinë and Vetëtima Himarë entered the competition, while Sportklub Narta withdrew. The season proved once again the superiority of the Red and Black team against their Second Division opponents, by finishing once again top of the Group C and securing promotion. In the two-legged final against Sportklub Elbasan, which determined the winner of the Second Division, Shoqeria Sportive lost 4–3 on aggregate, thus ending the season as runners-up.

The 1934 started with big problems for the team and ended in the worst ways possible, with the Kuqezinjte drawing one and losing the rest of their matches, closing with a −32 goal difference. A total revolution was needed and it came in 1935, when President of the club was chosen Kristaq Strati. He quickly organised the staff and made affiliations with the local amateur teams in Vlore, thus securing young talented players. The team changed the way of playing focusing more on technique and speed and creating its own style of play thanks to the job done by an early activist of the team, Besim Qorri. To complete the revolution on the team, the Board decided to change the team's name from Shoqëria Sportive Vlorë to Shoqata Sportive Ismail Qemali. The next season proved to be more positive and Sh.S. Ismail Qemali finished seventh out of eight teams, but this time with three wins, three draws and eight losses with e goal difference of −21 (GF 14 – GA 35). Even though the team had some great results during the season, the most memorable being the 0–2 away win against Bashkimi Elbasanas, it still didn't avoid a record 11–0 defeat against rivals Tirana. The 1937 championship was almost the same with the previous season with the team finishing 9th out of ten teams, leaving behind only Tomori Berat thanks to a better goal difference.

On 7 April 1939, Albania was invaded by Italy and became an Italian protectorate. However, the invaders were careful to keep football going and thus the 1939 championship started on 1 July 1939. Eight teams were separated in groups of four and played in a knock-out system with two-legged matches to qualify to the semi-finals. Sh.S. Ismail Qemali was drawn to play against Teuta. The first match was played in Kavajë on July 2 and ended in a 1–1 draw. The second was played in the Shallvare Ground in Tiranë on 6 August 1939 and ended 3–2 in favour of Teuta. This match was one of the earliest football matches to be transmitted on Radio Tirana, by Albanian journalist Anton Mazreku. After the end of the game, Sh.S. Ismail Qemali appealed against the result, pretending that the last minutes of the game were played on total darkness and the result was affected by the lack of lighting. The Technical Commission decided that the game would be replayed. On 10 September 1939, once again at the Shallvare Ground the two teams tried to eliminate each other but Teuta was superior and won the match by three to one. This meant Sh.S. Ismail Qemali was knocked out of the tournament.

1945–1980

In November 1944, Shoqata Sportive Ismail Qemali was re-opened. The championship began on 16 September 1945 and the club was playing against Vllaznia. SH.S. Ismail Qemali lost 1–0. The 1945 season saw the team end in fourth place in a 6 team league. The next championship would be better for The Fleet. On 22 June 1946, the club renamed itself Klubi Sportiv Flamurtari Vlorë. The 1946 season saw Flamurtari going to the championship final after winning First Division Group B. The final was played in two legs, one in Vlorë and one in Shkodër. Flamurtari lost both matches with an aggregated score of 5–0. In 1948, Flamurtari played once again in the final, still losing to Partizani Tirana, 6–2 in Qemal Stafa. In 1951 the club changed its name to Puna Vlorë, but in 1958 the club used once again the name Flamurtari. In 1954 Flamurtari participated in the Spartak Cup and won the competition after beating Vllaznia 6–0 and KS Teuta and Ylli i Kuq Pogradec 2–0. After reaching twice the championship final, in 1960 made it to the Albanian Cup final. In the first round playing against Ylli i Kuq Pogradec and beating them both at home and away matches. In the second round Flamurtari would play against Besa Kavajë. The teams drew both matches and had to go on extra time. After 90 minutes played in Kavaje and 135 minutes played in Vlorë the two teams were still equal. Flamurtari passed the second round thanks to the corners rule: the team that had more corners would qualify. These were 8 to 5 for Flamurtari. In the third round Flamurtari played against Skënderbeu Korçë. The first match in Vlorë ended in a 3–0 win for the home side. In Korce, in the 2nd leg match, Skënderbeu Korçë were leading 3–0 in half-time. In the second half Flamurtari made one of the greatest comebacks in the history of Albanian football winning 4–3 in the end of the 90 minutes. In the final the team played against Dinamo Tirana and they lost 1–0 after a hard-fought match. The next years were almost same for the team, placed always in mid-table.

Golden years

In the 1980s Flamurtari regained their former status as one of the big names in Albanian football. Flamurtari finished in 8th place in the 1980–81 season, but in the following season rose to second, runners-up to SK Tirana. During the season Flamurtari remained unbeaten in all matches at home in all competitions. In 1981 Flamurtari would participate for the first time in an international cup, the Balkans Cup. They played AEK Athens but they lost 3–2 in the Olympic Stadium of Athens. They finished second in their group with two wins and two losses, achieving 7–8 goals in the process. In 1983–84 Flamurtari once again reached the Albanian Cup final but lost to Tirana. In the season after, Flamurtari won the Albanian Cup. They defeated KF Partizani and thus claimed their first ever professional trophy.

In 1985–86, Flamurtari finished second in the championship losing the trophy only by goal difference to Dinamo Tirana. Finishing second in the championship, Flamurtari would play in the UEFA Cup. They were drawn against FC Barcelona. Flamurtari was eliminated after two draws (1–1 in Vlorë, 0–0 in Barcelona) thanks to the away goal rule. Flamurtari showed their strength by drawing the first match in Barcelona and taking the lead in the 26th minute in Vlorë, but FC Barcelona scored a late away goal to deny the Fleet's triumph. In that season Flamurtari managed once again to finish in 2nd place and to reach the Albanian Cup final losing on aggregate, 4–3, to Vllaznia.

After a perfect season they gained the right to play for the second consecutive year in the UEFA Cup. In the first round they had to play against Partizan Belgrade. After a 2–0 win in Vlorë, a result of a great Rrapo Taho and an own goal, Flamurtari were playing at Narodna Armija Stadium on 30 September 1987. Partizan were leading 2–0 until the 76th minute when Sokol Kushta scored the goal that took Flamurtari in the next round.

In the second round Flamurtari were drawn against Wismut Aue. In the first game in Aue, Flamurtari lost 0–1 being denied many times by keeper Weisflog, however in the second leg there was nothing to do for Aue as Flamurtari defeated them, 2–0.

In the third round Flamurtari were drawn once again against FC Barcelona. First leg was played at Camp Nou in front of 35,000 spectators on 25 November. Flamurtari scored in the first half and the players went to the first half break with a score Barcelona-Flamurtari 0–1. However, in the second half Barcelona turned the situation in favour and won with scoreline 4–1. Flamurtari narrowly won the second leg, 1–0, which wasn't enough to secure the next round and was therefore eliminated from UEFA Cup after six played matches.

In the same season Flamurtari went all the way to win the Albanian Cup, after beating KF Partizani, 1–0, and securing their second cup title. In 1989 Flamurtari played in the Cup Winners Cup against Lech Poznań. After two games Flamurtari was eliminated by losing both home and away matches, 4–2 on aggregate. In the Kategoria Superiore the team finished in the third place. Just a year after Flamurtari lifted for the first time in their history the Kategoria Superiore title. After some stunning results during the season (including beating runners-up Partizani 3–0 and third-place Vllaznia 5–2), they won the championship with a six-point lead. In the same year they would win also the Albanian Supercup.

The 1990s

After the fall of communism, Flamurtari had difficult moments. Many players left the club and went to play abroad. In the 1991–92 season the club started the championship with −6 points because of financial irregularities. Flamurtari finished the Kategoria e Pare in sixth place. In the next season the club faced a huge crisis finishing the season 13th out of 16 teams. But the team improved a lot and many new players from the Youth Academy were brought in. The 1993–94 season saw Flamurtari finishing 2nd and making Stadiumi Flamurtari a fortress, winning nine and drawing four out of 13 matches played home, but away from home the team had some horrible results culminating with a 5–0 away defeat to KF Laçi. The next two seasons Flamurtari would finish in fourth place. The 1996–97 would be the best season for Flamurtari after the fall of communism. The team had a great start in the season with eight wins in the first nine games. Finishing the 1st phase of the championship in the first place, Flamurtari started the second phase while Albania was suffering the 1997 riots. Flamurtari was leading until the week the championship was suspended and the Albanian Football Association decided to play all games after in Tirana, something Flamurtari could not afford because of the danger. So, after the games were played KF Tirana ended up winning the Championship, while Flamurtari finished in third place. The next seasons would be the worst for the team in the last 30 years with the team having its best placement in the 1998–99 season finishing 11th in a 16 team league.