History of KF Tirana

[1] In 1925, the association's governing council was elected and its members were Avni Zajmi, Selman Stërmasi, B. Toptani, Irfan Gjinali and Anastas Koja.

The club reached the championship final after winning five games, drawing four and losing just one, to finish joint top with Skënderbeu Korçë, albeit with a slightly better goal difference.

The winning team consisted of: Rudolf Gurashi, Abdullah Shehri, Irfan Gjinali, Xhelal Kashari, Vasil Kajano, Gjon Sabati, Llazar Miha, Mark Gurashi, Bexhet Jolldashi, Shefqet Ndroqi, Isuf Dashi, Adem Karapici, Hysen Kusi, Mustafa Begolli, Hilmi Kosova, Emil Hajnali, Rexhep Maçi, and Selman Stërmasi (as player-manager).

His goal led to mass media coverage, with many Albanian football fans fascinated by the sight of the goalkeeper playing as a forward and scoring.

The 1933 National Championship proved to be less fruitful for the club, as they missed out on a fourth consecutive title, finishing in third place out of six, behind Bashkimi Shkodran and the winners Skënderbeu Korçë.

The following season the club once again won the National Championship, with Vllaznia Shkodër coming in second place, and Riza Lushta being named the top goalscorer, this time with a record 25 goals.

In 1939, following the Italian invasion of Albania, a national football tournament was held featuring eight of the country's best clubs at the time including SK Tirana.

Under the fascist rule of Victor Emmanuel III, king of the Albanian Kingdom, sports activities in the country were revamped to mirror the systems in place in Italy.

Tirana defeated Dragoj Pogradeci in the second leg as well 2–0, winning 9–0 on aggregate and thus reached the semifinals against Skënderbeu Korçë, in a match played on 6 August 1939.

Mark Gurashi scored the opening goal of the game within 10 minutes, as SK Tirana went on to win 3–0 to reach the final against Vllaznia Shkodër on 30 September 1939.

On 31 March they met Elbasani at Shallvare in a game which saw the home side go 3–0 down after goals by Progri, Shefqet Lamçja and Kasapi in the 30th, 48th and 56th minute respectively.

Skender Gjinali scored a conciliation goal for Prizreni in the 76th minute, but they could not equalise, and SK Tirana reached the final against Shkodra on 29 June.

The first championship held was in 1945 and Tirana were placed in Group B along with a short-lived military team under the name of Ylli, Bashkimi Elbasanas, Skënderbeu Korçë, Apolonia Fier, and Shqiponja Gjirokastër.

Following a successful 2006–07 campaign which saw the club win the championship comfortably,[28] Tirana began to struggle and they kicked off the 2007–2008 season with two losses in the Champions League against Slovenian side NK Domžale meaning they were knocked out in the first qualifying round.

In the Albanian Cup they defeated Butrinti Sarandë, Laçi, Kastrioti Krujë and Elbasani to reach the final against Vllaznia Shkodër, which they lost 2–0 as they failed to save their season.

[31][32] The central figure of Tirana's success was striker Migen Memelli,[33] brought on loan from Sweden's GAIS, who scored 22 goals in league and eight in cup play.

However, due to late preparations, that included a delay in signing new players and appointing a head coach, the club failed to reach the second qualifying round as they were knocked out by Slovakian side Spartak Trnava.

The club sold their main striker Bekim Balaj to Sparta Prague ahead of the new season,[37] and they failed to bring in quality players in time for their UEFA Europa League run, which saw them being knocked out by Slovakian side Spartak Trnava in the second qualifying round.

It eventually went to Skënderbeu Korçë for five consecutive times, as Tirana failed to carry on their good form in the closing stages of the season and ultimately finished fourth.

But on 17 October 2015, he was sacked by the club as they failed to win against Bylis Ballsh, Skënderbeu Korçë, Partizani Tirana and Flamurtari Vlorë meaning their title chances were on the brink of slipping away for yet another season.

And as Tirana was preparing to bring in new players such as Elis Bakaj and others to play the rest of season,[61] they faced UEFA's restrictions due to a pending debt.

[62] By end of the third quarter, the team was struggling in the bottom four with three matches left, Tirana needed at least five points to completely elude relegation.

[67] Tirana became the first post- relegation Albanian football club to compete in European competition and at the same time win a major domestic trophy.

Zé Maria's first trophy as Tirana coach would be the Supercup, defeating Kukësi with a last-minute goal by promising talent Erion Hoxhallari.

Fresh from winning the title, Tirana was also successful in Europe, collecting over 1.5 million Euro reward from participation, advancing as far as the play-off stage of Europa League.

With a healthy budget and having already players with a champion trophy and quality in their hands, club had the golden opportunity to start a cycle of domination for years to come.

Despite efforts and better results in the second half of the season and led by an ambitious coach such as Shehi, Tirana ended 5th in the League and failed European participation.

Starting from talented Seferi, an affirmed forward of the previous season and also Xhixha arriving from KF Laçi as a free player at the end of his contract.

It was, nonetheless, a great merit of coach Shehi in managing the group of new arrivals, merging it with the existing lot and making it function perfectly well.

Focused fully in the championship progress, Tirana failed again in the Cup participation and for the second consecutive season were eliminated before even reaching the quarter finals.