KF Luftëtari, also known as Luftëtari FC or simply Luftëtari is an Albanian football club based in Gjirokastër southern Albania. The club was founded on 1926 as Shqiponja Gjirokastër and has played at its home ground, the Gjirokastra Stadium, since 1973. They currently compete in the Kategoria e Parë, the second tier of football in the country.
History
Early history
The club was founded in 1926 under the name Shqiponja Gjirokastër. It underwent many subsequent name changes over the years: Gjirokastër, Puna Gjirokastër, Luftëtari Gjirokastër, Shqiponja Gjirokastër and to its current name Luftëtari Gjirokastër in 2002. During the Communist Albania Luftetari was deemed to have a good football academy, which provided for several national team players, such as Theodhori Kalluci, Sefedin Braho, Lefter Millo, Arjan Xhumba, Arjan Bellaj, Altin Haxhi, and Gjergji Kalluci. Luftëtari finished as the league runner-up in the 1977–78 season, their highest achievement to date.
Recent history
On 2 July 2015 Mustafa Hysi was appointed as the club's head coach Gentian Nora as general sport director of the 2015–16 Albanian Superliga season, with the aim of achieving promotion back to the Albanian Superliga. Luftëtari were promoted back to Albanian Superliga after a three-year absence as they defeated Apolonia Fier on the last matchday of the regular season in Group B of the Albanian First Division. They then faced Group A winners Korabi Peshkopi in the championship final at the Qemal Stafa Stadium on 19 May 2016, where they clinched their 8th First Division title as they won 11–10 in a penalty shootout that saw 24 penalties being taken following a goalless draw and extra time. Making a surprise performance in 2016-2017 season Luftetari finished in 4th Position after more than 20 years with Mladen Milinkovic as Head coach and Gentian Nora as General and Sport Director By finishing third in the Albanian Superliga 2017–18 season with Hasan Lika as Head coach and Gentian Nora as Sport Director, they will make its debut in the 2018-19 UEFA Europa League season.
Stadium
The club plays its home games at the Gjirokastra Stadium, which was built in 1973 and is located near the centre of Gjirokastër and holds 8,400 spectators. Following Luftëtari's promotion back to the Albanian Superliga in 2016, the stadium required a complete renovation in order to meet the necessary requirements to host home games in the top flight. Work on the stadium began in August 2016 and the surface was to be replaced and plastic seats were to be installed throughout the stadium. The first stage of the reconstruction was completed in November 2016, which meant that the stadium was able to host Albanian Superliga games once again. The first stage consisted of replacing the playing surface, the installation of 300 plastic seats in the main stand, the installation of CCTV as well as the refurbishment of the changing room for both players and officials. The cost of the work carried out totalled 15,000,000 Albanian lek, around €110,000 at the time, and it was a joint investment by the Municipality of Gjirokastër, the Albanian Football Association as well as the club's owner Grigor Tavo. The first game of the 2016–17 season to take place at the stadium came against Partizani which ended 1–1 with around 7,000 fans in attendance.
Ventspils