Albanian Women's National Championship

Albanian Women's National Championship

Country	Albania
Confederation	UEFA
Founded	2009
Number of teams	12
Level on pyramid	1
Domestic cup(s)	Albanian Women's Cup
International cup(s)	Champions League
Current champions	Vllaznia Shkodër (2nd title) (2014–15)
Most championships	KF Ada Velipojë (3 titles)
Website	Official website
2015–16 Albanian Women's National Championship

The Albanian National Football Championship for Women (Albanian: Kampionati Kombëtar i Futbollit për Femra), primarily referred to as the Albanian Women's National Championship, is the highest division of women's football in Albania. The league is the female equivalent to the men's Albanian Superliga and is contested by 12 clubs. The Albanian Women's National Championship is one of the least developed women's domestic leagues in Europe, and is currently ranked 46th out of 48 domestic leagues.^[1]

History

Although football is the most popular sport in Albania, women's football has historically been non evident in the country until 2007, when the first ever national tournament was held in Sarandë between the 15th and 18th of August as a promotional event for women's football. The teams who participated were amateur sides made up of a selection of players from Tirana, Shkodra, Korça, and Rubik.^[2] Six more friendly tournaments were held in the following two years in order to raise the profile of the sport and in order to receive the backing of the Albanian Football Association to start an official competition.^[3]

Two years after the first unofficial tournament in Albania, the first official competition was held in the form of a knockout tournament played between the 23rd and 28th of January 2009 at the Selman Stërmasi Stadium in Tiranë and the Albanian Football Association Sports Centre in Kamëz. The tournament featured eight teams which were Tirana AS, FC Tropoja, Juban Danja, Olimpik Tirana, Tirana, KF Rubiku, KF Memaliaj and KF The Door Shkodra. The quarter finals were held on 23 January and the semi finals were held on 28 January with the final being held three days later on 28 January at the Selman Stërmasi Stadium. The final was contested between Tirana AS, coached by Altin Rraklli and Juban Danja and ended in a 4–0 win for Tirana AS following goals from Aurora Seranaj, Ana Baro and two goals from Brisida Zaimaj to crown the club the inaugural champions of Albania.^[4]

2015–16 teams

AAS

Apolonia Fier

Bilisht

Elbasani

Dajti

Juban Danja

Kinostudio

Kukësi

The Door

Shkëndija Durrës

Tirana AS

Vllaznia

Locations of the 2014–15 Albanian Women's National Championship teams

Club	Location
Albanian Ajax School	Shkodër
KF Apolonia Fier	Fier
FC Dajti	Tirana
Juban Danja	Shkodër
FC Kinostudio	Tirana
The Door Albania	Shkodër
Teuta Durrës	Durrës
Tirana AS	Tirana
Skënderbeu Korçë	Korçë
Vllaznia Shkodër	Shkodër

Previous winners

Season	Winner	Runner-up
2009	Tirana AS	Juban Danja
2010–11	KF Ada Velipojë	-
2011–12	KF Ada Velipojë	Tirana AS
2012–13	KF Ada Velipojë	Juban Danja
2013–14	KF Vllaznia Shkodër *	FC Kinostudio[5]
2014–15[6]	KF Vllaznia Shkodër	FK Kukësi

• By end of 2013 KS Ada of Velipojë reorganized and merged with players from Shkodër to play from that moment on in the name of KF Vllaznia. Since Velipojë and Shkodër are two different cities, KS Ada retains the 3 previously won titles and remain the most successful club so far.

By titles

Team	Home city	Championships
Ada Velipojë	Velipojë	3
Vllaznia	Shkodër	2
Tirana AS	Tiranë	1

References

1. UEFA coefficient ranking 2014–15
2. Albania 2007
3. Hapa seriozë të futbollit të femrave Shqiptare
4. Albania 2009
5. "Vllaznia (new name for Ada) wins the 1st title". sport ekspres.com. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
6. "VLLAZNIA PER FEMRA, SHPALLET KAMPIONE E VENDIT" (in Albanian). rozafa.tv. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2015.

See also

• Albanian Women's Cup

External links

• Standings at Federation website
• League at uefa.com