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FK Partizani Tirana
Full name	Futboll Klub Partizani Tirana
Nickname(s)	Demat e Kuq (The Red Bulls)
Founded	February 4, 1946
Ground	Selman Stërmasi stadium, Tirana, Albania; (Capacity: 12,500)
Chairman	Albert Xhani
Coach	Skerdi Bejzade
League	Albanian First Division
2009/10	10th
Home colours	Away colours

Futboll Klub (or Klubi Sportiv) Partizani is a Albanian football club, playing in the capital, Tirana, and founded in 1946. Their first participation in the Albanian National Championship was in 1947.

[edit] History

Under the Communist regime, all the sporting clubs were owned by the Albanian state. Partizani was run by the Ministry of Defense, from its foundation until 1990. Its main rivals were Dinamo run by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and 17 Nëntori (present-day SK Tirana) run by the Tirana City Hall. From its foundation Partizani has won 15 Championships, 10 of which during the years 1947-1964.
After the fall of Communist regime, Partizani became the first club to be privatized in Albania. The experience was not a positive one, however—the club became mired in into economic difficulties and a legal dispute over its ownership. While the two opposing sides were settling their dispute in court, the club ended the 1999-2000 season in 14th place, the lowest position in the league, dropping to the second division for the first time in its history. The court finally ruled in favor of Albert Xhani, who also took over the role of team president, a position he still retains. Partizani subsequently went on to win the Albanian Second Division title and regain its position as a contender for the following National Championship titles. Partizani is the only privately owned team in Albania, which also means that they do not have their own stadium, as all stadiums are owned by the respective City Halls. The other teams are mostly owned by the City Halls, but supported by private donors, who usually carry out the role of president. In 1962-63, the club participated in a European Cup competition for the first time. The most memorable matches in the European scene have been the 1-0 win in Tirana against Torino in the Cup Winners Cup on 18 September 1968, the 1-0 win in Tirana against Celtic in the Champions League on 19 September 1979 and the tough elimination against Feyenoord in 1991 with a 0-0 tie at home and an 1-0 loss away with a goal in the 86th minute. In the 2003-04 season, the club finished fourth in the Albanian Premier League. In the 2004-05 season, it participated in the UEFA Cup, but was eliminated in the second qualifying round by Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin FC 6-1 on aggregate.

[edit] Stadium

Partizani, after being relegated to the Albanian First Division, plays at the Selman Stërmasi stadium. Before that, they played at the national stadium Qemal Stafa.

[edit] Rivalries

City rivals SK Tirana, along with Dinamo Tirana, are the biggest rivals of Partizani. However the club has even other rivals throughout Albania. Two other fierce rivals of Partizani are Teuta Durrës and Vllaznia Shkoder.

[edit] The Tirana Derby

Partizani's biggest rival is SK Tirana and the matches between the two teams are the most intense in the Albanian Superliga. The rivalry started since Partizani was founded in 1946 as the two teams were owned by the Ministry of Defence and the Tirane Municipality, thus the rivalry was bigger.

[edit] Achievements

National Championship 15 times

(1947, 1948, 1949, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962-63, 1963-64, 1970-71, 1978-79, 1980-81, 1986-87, 1992-93)

Albanian First Division: 1

(2000-01)

Albanian Cup: 15

(1948, 1949, 1957, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1973, 1980, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2004)

Albanian Supercup: 2

(1993, 2004)

Balkans Cup:

(1970)

[edit] KF Partizani in Europe

As of December, 2008.

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away
1962/63	UEFA European Cup	1R	IFK Norrköping	1-1	0-2
1963/64	UEFA European Cup	1R	Spartak Plovdiv	1-0	1-3
1964/65	UEFA European Cup	1R	1.FC Köln	0-0	0-2
1968/69	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Torino F.C.	1-0	1-3
1970/71	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	QR	Åtvidabergs FF	2-0	1-1
		1R	Tirol Innsbruck	1-2	2-3
1971/72	UEFA European Cup	1R	CSKA Sofia	0-1	0-3
1979/80	UEFA European Cup	1R	Celtic	1-0	1-4
1980/81	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Malmö FF	0-0	0-1
1981/82	UEFA European Cup	1R	Austria Wien	1-0	1-3
1987/88	UEFA European Cup	1R	S.L. Benfica	0-3	0-4
1990/91	UEFA Cup	1R	Universitatea Craiova	0-1	0-1
1991/92	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Feyenoord	0-0	0-1
1993/94	UEFA Champions League	QR	IA Akranes	0-0	0-3
1995/96	UEFA Cup	QR	Fenerbahçe	0-4	0-2
2002/03	UEFA Cup	QR	Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C.	1-4	0-1
2003	UEFA Intertoto Cup	1R	Maccabi Netanya	2-0	1-3
		2R	FC Dacia Chişinău	0-3	0-2
2004/05	UEFA Cup	1QR	Birkirkara F.C.	4-2	1-2
		2QR	Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin	1-3	0-3
2006	UEFA Intertoto Cup	1R	Ethnikos Achnas	2-1	2-4
2008/09	UEFA Cup	1QR	Siroki Brijeg	1-3	0-0