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FC Dinamo City

Football Club Dinamo City, commonly referred to as Dinamo City and colloquially known as Dinamo, is an Albanian professional football club based in Tirana. They compete in the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. Founded in 1950 during the communist regime, the club was historically affiliated to the Interior Ministry and having won 18 National Championships, it is considered to be the second most decorated club after local rivals KF Tirana.

History
The club was officially founded on 3 March 1950 by the Interior Ministry of Albania during the communist regime under dictator Enver Hoxha. They won four consecutive championships from 1950 to 1953. During this time, Dinamo recorded a hot streak of 25 consecutive wins, a record in Albanian football and 4th longest domestic winning streak in Europe.

In 1967, Dinamo won its 9th championship by leaving Tirana, then 17 Nëntori, one point behind, who was expelled for the tournament three weeks before the end. This championship is not officially recognised by UEFA, however.

In 1989, Dinamo eventually finished third in the league which was won by 17 Nëntori, which made eligible to play in European Cup Winners' Cup for the third time in their history. In the preliminary round of the tournament the team faced Chernomorets Burgas, losing the first leg 1–3 (Demollari scoring the lone goal for Dinamo City) but winning the second 4–0 at home, thus recording its biggest win in a UEFA club competition. The team then was eliminated in the first round by Dinamo București despite winning the first leg in Tirana 1–0. Dinamo București won the second leg 2–0.

In 1995, the team were renamed KS Olimpik Tirana to leave behind the "communist past", but the club returned to their original name two years later. After finishing third in the table in 2005–06 season, Dinamo City named Faruk Sejdini as their new coach. One of Albania's best teachers of footballing fundamentals, he had a spell at the club last term before being dismissed by president Besnik Sulaj. Having returned following a spell at Shkumbini, Sejdini said: "It's nice to be back." On 23 October 2006, he was fired.

At the start of the 2007–08 season, Agim Canaj took over as head coach, replacing Ilir Daja who led Dinamo towards the championship title, after a dramatic win against Partizani 2–1 in the final match, playing for 36 minutes with 9 players. In the summer of 2008, Ilir Daja moved into a position as director in order to make place for Marcelo Javier Zuleta from Argentina. The Argentinian coach also brought with him four Argentinian players; goalkeeper Daniel Bertoya, defender Alejandro Palladino, midfielder Agustín González, and striker Cristian Campozano. Zuleta only lasted for the first Champions League qualification match against Bosnians FK Modriča before he was replaced as coach by Artan Mërgjyshi, for only one match.

Together with Zuleta, the four Argentinian players also left the club. After Mërgjyshi left, Zlatko Dalić, the actual coach of Croatia, was appointed as new coach for Dinamo. He signed a two-year contract with the club. That deal was broken when Dinamo lost its second game in the re-beginning of the 2008–09 season against Partizani. Shkëlqim Muça was then appointed manager of the club five days after of Zlatko Dalić's leave. In the 2009–10 season, Dinamo won the championship again, registering its 18th success.

In 2011–12 season, the club experienced its worst period of all time, finishing last in the league with 13 points from 26 matches, winning only 3 times. They were relegated to the Kategoria e Parë for the first time in their history. Since the 2012–13 season, the club have played in the Kategoria e Parë and have risked relegation to the third tier several times. After spending 9 seasons in the second division, Dinamo clinched the promotion to the Superiore, confirming first place in Group A following a 2–0 win against FK Vora.

On 25 August 2023, it was officially announced by president Bardhi that the club would rebrand to Dinamo City, ahead of the 2023–24 Kategoria Superiore season.

Stadium
Dinamo City has historically played at Selman Stërmasi Stadium which was also known as Dinamo Stadium when it first opened. Dinamo City now plays in Niko Dovana Stadium, Durrës.

Supporters
The "Blue Boys" are an Ultras group for the Albanian football team, Dinamo City. The group were formed in 2008 and have gained 5,000 followers as of 2021. They organise meetings and trips to matches in Tirana and also away matches in Albania and even abroad. They promote Dinamo City to the local public and influence fans of the club in a number of ways.

Domestic
Dinamo are the second most successful and decorated club in Albania, having won (18) league titles Kategoria Superiore .The club also holds the win Albanian Cups (13) and Albanian Supercups (2). The club's most recent trophy was the 2009–10 Kategoria Superiore won on 17 May 2010.

Internationally, they lost a final in the Balkan Cup in 1969 against Beroe Stara Zagora. They won the first leg in Tirana 1–0 with a goal by Bahri Ishka, but in the return match they lost 3–0 by forfeit because during the regime of Enver Hoxha, travel wasn't allowed to Bulgaria.

FC Dinamo City in Europe
Dinamo City have given good performances in Europe among Albanian squads, winning 3 ties in Europe.

Submarine blues In their European path, Dinamo have played against "big guns" such as: Ajax, Austria Wien, etc. Drawn against teams such as Sporting Lisbona, Beşiktaş, Dinamo București, Olympique Marseille, Brøndby, CSKA Sofia, Sheriff Tiraspol, CZ Jena, Aberdeen,etc. Dinamo has passed 3 rounds in the European cups, defeating opponents like Ħamrun Spartans, Chernomorets Burgas and Kaunas.

 * QR = Qualifying Round
 * 1R = 1st Round
 * 2R = 2nd Round
 * Clubs which ultimately won the tournament in that same season are indicated in bold

Europe
Dinamo 0–4 🇧🇪 KSC Lokeren FC Carl Zeiss Jena 4–0 Dinamo (30 September 1981)
 * Biggest ever European home victory: Dinamo 4–0 🇧🇬 PFC Chernomorets Burgas (30 August 1989)
 * Biggest ever European home defeat: Dinamo 0–4 Brøndby IF (7 August 2002)
 * Biggest ever European away victory:🇱🇹 FBK Kaunas 2–3 Dinamo (17 July 2002)
 * Biggest ever European away defeat:🇫🇷 Olympique Marseille 5–1 Dinamo (19 September 1990)
 * Most European appearances: 🇦🇱 Arjan Pisha (24)
 * Most European goals: 🇦🇱 Sulejman Demollari (6)

List of managers

 * 🇦🇱 Zihni Gjinali (1949–1956)
 * 🇦🇱 Zyber Konçi (1959–1961)
 * 🇦🇱 Xhevdet Shaqiri (1960s)
 * 🇦🇱 Skënder Jareci (1966–1973)
 * 🇦🇱 Sabri Peqini (1974–1975)
 * 🇦🇱 Durim Shehu (1975–1977)
 * 🇦🇱 Saimir Dauti (1977–1980)
 * 🇦🇱 Stavri Lubonja (1979–1981)
 * 🇦🇱 Fatmir Frashëri (1985–1986)
 * 🇦🇱 Bejkush Birçe (1987–1991)
 * 🇦🇱 Neptun Bajko (1991)
 * 🇦🇱 Faruk Sejdini (1992–1993)
 * 🇦🇱 Vasillaq Zëri (1994)
 * 🇦🇱 Faruk Sejdini (1994–1997)
 * 🇦🇱 Gani Xhafa (1997)
 * 🇦🇱 Faruk Sejdini (1998–1999)
 * 🇦🇱 Bujar Kasmi (1999–2000)
 * 🇦🇱 Shpëtim Duro (2000)
 * 🇦🇱 Faruk Sejdini (2000–2001)
 * 🇦🇱 Astrit Hafizi (2001)
 * 🇦🇱 Faruk Sejdini (Sep 2001 – Aug 2002)
 * Aurel Țicleanu (2002–03)
 * 🇦🇱 Agim Canaj (May 2003 – Jun 2003)
 * 🇦🇱 Andrea Marko (Aug 2003 – Oct 2003)
 * 🇦🇱 Faruk Sejdini (Jul 2004 – 25 Sep 2004)
 * 🇦🇷 Pedro Pasculli (25 Sep 2004 – 30 Oct 2004)
 * 🇦🇱 Faruk Sejdini (30 Oct 2004 – 15 Jan 2005)
 * 🇦🇷 Pedro Pasculli (15 Jan 2005 – 27 Feb 2005)
 * 🇦🇱 Agim Canaj (27 Feb 2005 – Jun 2005)
 * 🇦🇷 Ramón Cabrero (Jul 2005)
 * Luka Bonačić (Jul 2005 – 29 Aug 2005)
 * 🇦🇱 Vasil Bici (29 Aug 2005 – 15 Nov 2005)
 * Ivan Katalinić (15 Nov 2005 – 15 Feb 2006)
 * 🇦🇱 Vasil Bici (15 Feb 2006 – 15 Mar 2006)
 * 🇦🇱 Sulejman Demollari (15 Mar 2006 – 25 Mar 2006)
 * 🇦🇱 Vasil Bici (25 Mar 2006 – Jun 2006)
 * 🇦🇱 Faruk Sejdini (Jul 2006 – 25 Oct 2006)
 * 🇦🇱 Redi Jupi (25 Oct 2006 – Jun 2007)
 * 🇦🇱 Agim Canaj (Jul 2007 – 24 Feb 2008)
 * 🇦🇱 Ilir Daja (24 Feb 2008 – Jun 2008)
 * 🇦🇷 Marcelo Javier Zuleta (July 2008)
 * Zlatko Dalić (July 2008 – 6 Feb 2009)
 * 🇦🇱 Shkëlqim Muça (06 Feb 2009 – May 2010)
 * 🇦🇷 Luis Manuel Blanco (July 2010 – 31 Dec 2010)
 * 🇦🇱 Ilir Daja (1 Jan 2011 – 7 Feb 2011)
 * 🇦🇱 Artan Mërgjyshi (7 Feb 2011 – Jun 2011)
 * 🇦🇱 Faruk Sejdini (Jul 2011 – 19 Nov 2011)
 * 🇦🇱 Artan Mërgjyshi (19 Nov 2011 – Jun 2012)
 * 🇦🇱 Eduard Zhupa (Jun 2012 - Oct 2012)
 * 🇦🇱 Dritan Mehmeti (Oct 2012 - Jan 2013)
 * 🇦🇱 Edmond Dalipi (Jan 2013 –May 2013)
 * 🇦🇱 Dritan Mehmeti (Jul 2013 - Mar 2015)
 * 🇦🇱 Igli Allmuça (Jun 2015 - Oct 2019)
 * 🇮🇹 Mauro Manzoni (Oct 2019 - Nov 2019)
 * 🇮🇹 Fabrizio Cammarata (Nov 2019– Dec 2020)
 * 🇮🇹 Francesco Moriero (Jan 2021– Mar 2021 )
 * 🇦🇱 Olsi Uku (Mar 2021– May 2021 )
 * 🇦🇱 Bledi Shkëmbi (Jun 2021– Feb 2022)
 * 🇦🇱 Bledar Devolli (Feb 2022– Mar 2022)
 * 🇮🇹 Rodolfo Vanoli (Mar 2022– Apr 2022)
 * 🇦🇱 Nevil Dede (Jun 2022– Feb 2023)
 * 🇦🇱 Dritan Mehmeti (Feb 2023– Jul 2023)
 * 🇮🇹 Luigi di Biagio (Aug 2023– Oct 2023)
 * 🇦🇱 Dritan Mehmeti (Oct 2023– )

title: FC Dinamo City


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KF Tirana

Klubi i Futbollit Tirana is an Albanian professional football club based in the country's capital city, Tirana. The men's football club is part of the multi-disciplinary sports club SK Tirana, and is the most successful in Albania, having won 54 recognised major domestic trophies. They are the only football club in Albania with two stars in their crest after winning the 20th championship in 2003, each star corresponds to ten championships. Making them the first and only Albanian club to have achieved such a feat. They play their home games at the Selman Stërmasi Stadium and the Air Albania Stadium in Tirana and they play in the Kategoria Superiore.

The club was founded on 15 August 1920 as Sport Klub Tirana (in English: Sport Club Tirana), but then, they name changed to Shoqata e Futbollit Agimi (in English: Agimi Football Association) and they had since participated in all the top tier national championships ever held in Albania. However, the ninth-place finish in the 2016–17 season relegated the club to the Albanian First Division (second-tier) for the first time in their history.

They have competed under the name of SK Tirana between 1927 and 1947, when the communist regime forcibly renamed the club 17 Nëntori Tirana, Puna Tirana and KS 17 Nëntori. In 1991 KF Tirana retook its pre-1947 name and was divided into two branches, the multi disciplinary SK Tirana and the football branch of KF Tirana.

KF Tirana is the most successful Albanian team in European competitions, having progressed from the first rounds on 14 occasions (once directly by draw, without playing) since making their European debut in the 1965–66 European Cup. They reached Round of 16 in European Competitions four times, three such in the European Cup (now Champions League) alone in 1980s. The club also holds the record of being the highest ever ranking Albanian club according to IFFHS, having been ranked 31st in the world in 1987, following good results in their 1986–87 campaign. In addition, KF Tirana is an ECA member.

1920–1937: Beginnings of Klubi i Futbollit Tirana
Tirana was officially founded on 15 August 1920. The first coach was appointed Palok Nika. The first name of the club was Sportklub Tirona which was later changed into Futboll Klub Tirona. The team played their first official match in October at Shallvare against Juventus Shkodër.

Tirana played their first international match against Yugoslav team Crnogorac Cetinje from Montenegro in 1925. On 16 August 1927, which was the seventh anniversary of the formation of the Agimi Sports Association, the club's name changed into Sportklub Tirana, which would be commonly referred to as SK Tirana. On that day the president of the club was Teki Selenica.

in 1930, Tirana took part in the first officially recognised football competition held in Albania, organised by newly founded Albanian Football Association. The team dominated the tournament, reaching the final after winning five matches, drawing four and losing just one, to finish joint top, along with Skënderbeu Korçë, albeit with a slightly better goal difference. Tirana faced in the championship final Skënderbeu Korçë, who refused to play as a sign of protest against the bias of the competition and the Albanian Football Association towards Tirana. The club was named champion after the games were awarded 2–0.

The following season, the club introduced new players such as goalkeeper Vasfi Samimi, Sabit Çoku, Muhamet Agolli and Halim Begeja. The championship format changed as it divided the teams into two groups. Tirana was placed in Group A and managed to finish 1st after collecting five points from three matches. In the final against Group B winners Teuta Durrës, the team drew 1–1 in the first leg at home but managed a 3–0 win in the second one to retain the championship title.

Tirana continued to dominate the Albanian football even in the next season, despite the fact that the championship format was changed once again. In a group where every club would play each other twice and the winner would be decided by who finished top of the league, Tirana had it easy as they finished the championship unbeaten, winning five matches and drawing three, winning the title for the third consecutive year, which further cemented their place in history as the first club to dominate football in Albania. The club lost the title for the first time in history in 1933, finishing in a disappointing third place out of six, behind Bashkimi Shkodran and the winners Skënderbeu Korçë. It turned out to be a transition period as team bounced back firmly in the 1934 Championship, finishing five points ahead of runners-up Skënderbeu Korçë in a seven team format.

In the next years, Tirana managed to win the 1936 and 1937 championship, guided by ethnic-Albanian forward Riza Lushta who was named top goalscorer in both years. This was the last pre-World War II competition held by the Albanian Football Association as there was no championship held in 1938 and World War II broke out in 1939.

1939–1947: War years
In 1939, Albania was under Italian invasion; Giovanni Giro, a loyal trustee of Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano, was in charge of organising the first football competition under Victor Emmanuel III, which was called Turneja Kombëtare E Footbollit Për Ndeshjet E Trofeut Të Liktorit (National Tour of Football for the Matches of the Lictor Trophy). Tirana participated in the tournament, eliminating 9–0 on aggregate Dragoj Pogradeci in the first round to reach the semi-finals. In the semi-final, the team played Skënderbeu Korçë, beating them 3–0 to reach the final against Vllaznia Shkodër. In the final played at the Shallvare field in the capital on 30 September 1939, Tirana won the trophy by winning 6–5.

A similar tournament was held in the next year by the fascist regime, this time in a group format where teams were divided into two groups based on geography location. Two of Tirana's most important players Kryeziu and Lushta left Albania for Italy to join Bari and Roma respectively. In the first match, Tirana drew 2–2 with Vllaznia Shkodër, and then won 3–0 at home against Elbasani. The rest of the campaign did not prove to be fruitful as Vllaznia finished top of the group ahead of Tirana and reached the championship finals, where they defeated Skënderbeu Korçë 11–1 on aggregate to win their first national championship, to this day unrecognised by the Albanian Federal Association.

The championship was not held in 1941 but returned in the following year, which also had three clubs from Kosovo. These clubs from Kosovo competed in the northern section along with the reigning champions Vllaznia Shkodër and Tirana competed in the new middle section group and the southern clubs competed in their own group. In a bizarre ruling, only players born between 1921 and 1925 were allowed to participate in the competition, meaning that only players between the ages of 17 and 22 were allowed to play. However, this rule was not followed by most clubs and senior players did participate in the competition. Tirana reached the semi-finals after winning 5–1 versus Elbasani and drawing 1–1 against Teuta Durrës. In the semi-final, the team faced Prizreni; the first leg ended in a 2–2 draw while the second one was won by Tirana 2–1. The team thus reached the final once again where they faced Vllaznia Shkodër on 29 June. The regular time ended in a 1–1 draw, leading the Italian referee Michele Carone then asked both sides to play extra time of two 15-minute halves, but Vllaznia declined. Two days after the final had been played the match was awarded 2–0 to Tirana along with the title.

The club won two out of the three National Championships that were held during World War II, but in March 2013, Albanian Football Association made a decision by refusing to recognise them, stating that they were not legitimate, since they weren't organised by the AFA, but by the fascist regime.

1944–1957: Postwar period
Following the end of World War II, footballing activities resumed as they had done before the war under the guidance of the Albanian Football Association. In the championship of 1945, Tirana was placed in Group B. The team topped the group easily, collecting 16 points from 10 matches, thus reaching the final where they faced Vllaznia Shkodër once again. They lost both matches 2–1, thus missing the opportunity to win another championship.

Under communist regime led by dictator Enver Hoxha, Tiran would quickly become a victim as in early March 1946 the ruling communist Politburo had instructed the club to change its name to 17 Nëntori ("17 November") in honour of the Liberation of Tirana which took place on 17 November 1944. In the following decade, the club was subject to appalling treatment by the regime, and this was highlighted by the creation of a privilege system for the newly created communist backed teams Partizani Tirana and Dinamo Tirana.

The following decade would unroll in the same suffocating atmosphere, becoming even heavier after the foundation of two system-privileged teams that would follow the experiences of their sisters in the former USSR, former Yugoslavia, and the other eastern European countries: Partizani, the Defense Ministry team and Dinamo, the Internal Affairs Ministry team. Dozens of Tirana's talented players were "convinced", against their will, to play for either Partizani or Dinamo. As a result, "17 Nentori" struggled to stay at the top during the years 1947–57, however the team managed to gain some of the lost ground during the second part of the 1950s after replacing in part some of the first choice players of its line up.

1958–1990: Decline and revival
From 1958 to 1964 Tirana kept on producing some good football and finishing the championship almost always at the third spot. These years were a prelude to what was about to happen later: Tirana reexperienced its pre-war glory spell under the services of the unforgettable coach Myslym Alla. At the end of the 28th national championship Tirana became champions of Albania more than twenty years after their last title.

The team repeated the success the year after, but this was an obvious challenge to Partizani's generals and Dinamo's secret service bosses.

1967 title unjustly denied
It was 24 June 1967. Tirana and Partizani played their derby of the 19th round of 1966–67 Albanian First League. The match was not finished due to a fight breaking out with many Tirana and Partizani players throwing punches on the field. It was not a huge surprise to see the paper headlines the next morning: "Due to direct decision of the AFA, Tirana and Partizani forfeit the match 0:3, are deducted 3 points each and will thereafter lose by default remaining matches!" By forfeiting that match and losing the subsequent 3 remaining matches, Dinamo would automatically gain enough points to overtake Tirana and win the title.

Defiance
After this, Tirana won the championship two years in a row in style, losing only two matches in 1968 and only one during the 1969–70 season.

During the seventies, Tirana struggled hard to stay at the top, the best result being the second place and the worst the thirteenth. Yet the club won the national cup twice. The generation of older players came to the end of their careers and this could only mark the end of a highly successful era. However the unsuccessful spell would not last long this time. Tirana won the championship at the end of the 1981–82 season, and they went on to win the title three other times during the eighties, in 1984–85, 1987–88 and 1988–89 and the Albanian Cup in 1982–83, 1983–84 and 1985–86. The club was also successful in European club competitions, reaching there the round of 16 four times in the 1980s, alone in the European Cup three times. Many of the team's players made up the core of the Albania national football team, such as Agustin Kola, Arben Minga, Shkëlqim Muça and Mirel Josa.

1991–2006: Return to success
In August 1991, less than a year following the fall of communism in Albania, Tirana regained its old name, and likewise the whole Albanian society, went through a period of profound changes. Almost all the best Albanian players left the country and went abroad looking for a richer team who could hire them. But it seems that the club simply could not stand being too long from the leading spots. The team returned to the winning ways by winning the Albanian Cup in the 1993–94 season, defeating 1–0 on aggregate Teuta Durrës. Shortly after, in January 1995, the team won also their first Albanian Supercup trophy, defeating 1–0 Teuta Durrës at Qemal Stafa Stadium. A couple of months later, they clinched their 15th championship by finishing 12 points ahead of the runner-up Teuta Durrës.

This championship was followed by another one in the 1995–96 season, as Tirana won it just one point ahead of Teuta Durrës once again. The team also clinched the cup in that season, completing the domestic double for the second time in history. Another domestic double followed in 1998–99 season. In the following years, Tirana continued to dominate the Albanian football, winning 10 out of the last 18 Albania's championships. The team also dominated in the domestic cups, adding to their trophy cabinet three Albanian Cups and five other Albanian Supercups.

2011–2018: Change in ownership, decline and relegation
Following a successful 2006–07 campaign which saw the club win the Albanian Superliga comfortably, the team begun to struggle for results. They began the season by getting eliminated from the UEFA Champions League by NK Domžale. Despite winning the Albanian Supercup versus Besa Kavajë, Tirana managed only a 6th-place finish their worst finish since 1993. In cup, the team lost the final to Vllaznia Shkodër.

In the following season, Tirana bounced back; inspired by striker Migen Memelli, who went on to score 30 goals, Tirana managed to win the championship for the 24th time in history. In cup they reached another final, only to be defeated again, this time by Flamurtari Vlorë. In the next years, Tirana experiences mixed fortunes, being unable to win the championship but remaining on top in domestic cups, winning the Albanian Cup in 2010–11 and 2011–12, and three other Albanian Supercups in 2009, 2011 and 2012. There was also major controversies off the field between club's chief and president in the 2010–11 season, which led to a delay in paying the players' wages and even some players not receiving their wages.

On 12 October 2011, Municipality of Tirana city council voted through a unanimous decision to change the status of the club from a municipality owned to a shareholder own one, under the name KF Tirana Sh.A, with the municipality of Tirana initially holding a 100% stake in the club but with the possibility of any future private sponsors and donors to own stocks in the club.

Starting from 2013, Tirana entered in a period of disappointments. In the 2013–14 season, the team was seriously in risk of getting relegated for the first time in history. By the end of December 2013 the team was ranked in the last position with only 10 points from 13 matches, 7 points away from the safe zone. However, with Gugash Magani as manager and a strong transfer market, the team bounced back and eventually finished in 6th position, escaping the relegation only in the penultimate match. On 26 June 2014, the Tirana city council approved a proposal to give private donors a 66% stake in the club's assets for the next 18 years, which at the time fell in the hands of Refik Halili and Lulzim Morina, which enabled such donors to invest in players, facilities and youth teams.

Tirana begun the 2014–15 season with high expectations, challenging for the title in the first part of the season. In the second part, however, the team declined and ultimately finished in 5th position. In cup, Tirana was controversially eliminated from Laçi in the semi-final 1–0 on aggregate. Laçi eventually won the final against Kukësi, leaving Tirana without Europa League football once again. The club was relegated during the 2016–17 season. From title contender halfway through the season, Tirana fell continuously to dramatically succumb to relegation for the first time in their history. Ilir Daja was sacked on 1 November following a goalless draw against Vllaznia Shkodër, and was replaced by the returned Mirel Josa. The club also broke the relationship with the fans after allowing with their lifetime rivals Partizani Tirana to play at Selman Stërmasi Stadium; they opposed such an agreement and subsequently abandoned the matches for the entire season as a result. Tirana then endured a 15 winless match streak before winning 2–0 against Korabi Peshkopi. Their relegation was officially confirmed on 27 May following a goalless draw versus fellow relegation strugglers Vllaznia Shkodër. In cup, Tirana did much better, winning their 16th trophy on 31 May after defeating 3–1 Skënderbeu Korçë at Elbasan Arena. This meant the return of Tirana in European competitions after five years.

Tirana retained most of their players ahead of the new season. The club appointed former Brazil international Zé Maria as the new manager. The team eliminated from the UEFA Europa League by Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv In September 2017, Tirana won another trophy, their 11th Albanian Supercup after winning 1–0 against Kukësi. Winning two major domestic trophies and also participating in Europe, Tirana set an astonishing record by becoming the first and only Albanian First Division side to achieve this feat. In the league Tirana dominated with hammering results in either home or away matches. Club's goal of a quick promotion in Superliga was reached with three spare rounds to play. Tirana won their first ever Albanian First Division title on 16 May by winning 2–0 against the Group A winners Kastrioti Krujë.

2019–present: 100th anniversary and return to top-flight as a powerhouse
Tirana won the 25th championship in the 2019–20 season which was also the club's 100th anniversary. It was the first title after 11 years. During the season the team recorded two wins against Partizani, ending the negative record of 18 winless matches against them; the 5–1 win in February 2020 was the biggest since 2005. Ndubuisi Egbo took charge of the team starting in the 13th matchday; he was highly praised for his work and also become the first African coach to win a league title in Europe. In cup, the team managed to reach the final but was defeated 2–0 by Teuta.

In the summer of 2020, Tirana reached the play-off of UEFA Europa League, becoming the second Albanian club to achieve this feat after Skënderbeu. They were eliminated by Switzerland's BSC Young Boys. During the domestic season, Tirana failed to defend the title and finished a disappointing 5th place. Coach Egbo was fired and replaced by Orges Shehi halfway through the season. In the next campaign, Tirana dominated the championship and won it for the 26th time in history. Aided by the attacking duo Taulant Seferi and Redon Xhixha, and players such as Ennur Totre, Vesel Limaj, Visar Bekaj, and Ardit Toli, Tirana secured the title with three rounds to spare.

Shallvare (1920–46)
The club's first home ground was the Shallvare, located in the centre of Tirana where today is the existing Shallvare block, acquired by the club prior to their formation in 1920. The also field served as an amusement centre for the youth of Tirana to enjoy, and it was a popular gathering place where various games were played during religious holidays. Before its use as a football ground the site was use by the Ottoman garrison as a playground, and in 1916 it served as a runway for the Austrian-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops. The club played their first game at the Shallvare in 1920 against a team made up of the occupying Austrian-Hungarians. In 1925 there were changing rooms built at the ground, and in the early 1930s there was an athletics track built around the football pitch. The administrator of the ground was the football referee, Besim Hamdiu (Qorri), who only had one assistant in the maintenance of the ground. The ground did not have a main stand or seating area for spectators, but rather a two storied building that was constructed in 1923 by a member of parliament Masar Këlliçi. The building stood 50 metres away from the football pitch and was located in line with the middle of the pitch, with its balcony facing the field and the Dajt mountains. The ground was also used for other sporting events as well as military parades, one of which the president and later king Ahmet Zogu attended in 1927. The ground was destroyed in 1951 and Soviet–style apartment blocks were built onto of it instead.

Qemal Stafa Stadium (1946–2015)
The home ground of KF Tirana is Selman Stërmasi Stadium, which is shared with city rivals Dinamo Tirana and Partizani Tirana. However, most derby and significant matches are played at the national team's Qemal Stafa Stadium; the stadium is also used if the Selman Stërmasi Stadium is unavailable as it is used by three different teams. The club has expressed its desire to rebuild the current Selman Stërmasi Stadium into a modern complex with around 15,000 to 20,000 seats. They want it to be Albania's first modern post-Communism stadium without an athletic track around the field, which they hope will provide more atmosphere and attract more fans. However, it has not yet been decided when this will be built but it is rumoured to be the club's 100th anniversary present in 2020.

Selman Stërmasi Stadium (1956–present)
KF Tirana plays most of its official and friendly games at the Selman Stërmasi Stadium in Tirana. The Selman Stërmasi Stadium was built in 1956 and was previously named the 'Dinamo' Stadium until 1991 when it was permanently given its new name. The Football Association of Albania and the club decided to name the stadium post mortem after the eminent KF Tirana player, coach and president, Selman Stërmasi.

The stadium has a capacity of 12,500 (8,400 seated). In December 2014, another phase of reconstruction was started, involving a new pitch, central main covered stand, central fans stand including two extra rows extension, broken or missing seats replacements/repairs, interior facilities, general lineaments and a shopping center just under central seated. The internal facilities include general repairs, a press conference room, journalists' corner and modern showers. The side fans stands will temporary be shut and covered by advertising boards. It is still unclear when will stadium scoreboard and clock be fitted.

The main parking area is located at the front of the stadium, which leads to the entrance. The whole external part of the stadium is surrounded by a 2.7 M (9 ft) rail fence.

Skënder Halili Complex
The club's training ground is called the Skënder Halili Complex and it is located off Rruga e Kavajës, near the Birra Tirana factory. The training complex was posthumously named after Skënder Halili, who was one of the club's most notable associates, both during his playing career and after. The complex features a full sized natural grass football pitch, as well as a smaller astro turf fan along with dressing rooms used by senior team as well as some of the youth teams. In December 2014 work began on both the Skënder Halili Complex and the Selman Stërmasi Stadium in order to fully renovate these grounds to be used by the club, and at the training ground the training facilities were all improved which included the dressing rooms and even the single stand that holds a small number of spectators for those wishing to attend training sessions and even occasional friendlies that are played at the ground.

Supporters
Tirana is considered to be one of the most supported football clubs in Albania, and its supporters also formed the first Ultras group in the country in 1986 called Ultras Tirona. The group was forced to operate illegally as the communist regime did not allow such organised groups to function. However, despite this, its supporters used games as an outlet to show their dissent against the regime in place and following the fall of communism in Albania they became more organised and attracted more supporters in the late 90s and early 2000s. During the mid-2000s, younger supporters began to emerge on the scene and felt that the older Ultras Tirona did not entirely represent them, which led to the younger supporters forming a new Ultras group called the Tirona Fanatics on 8 January 2006.They are now the best ultras in Albania Tirona Fanatics are widely regarded as a right wing tifo-group, whereas Ultras Guerrils are mostly associated with the left due to their history. The group quickly rose in membership and became the most organised supporters group in Albania, following Tirana home and away, including European games. On 20 May 2015 the majority of the founding members of Tirona Fanatics decided to hand over the management of the group to younger supporters. The group has partnerships withMacedonian group Shvercerat of FK Shkupi. KF Tirana has another Ultras group called "Capital Crew" which offer a spectacular atmosphere when they are in the stadium.

Rivalries
Tirana have three main rivals. Vllaznia Shkodër, the oldest derby in the country, with the matches between them called the All-time Albanian derby. The other rivalries are the Tirana derbies with Dinamo Tirana and Partizani Tirana. However, since 2010s, they have developed a fierce rivalry with Skënderbeu Korçë since the latter side's rise to prominence.

Tirana B
Klubi i Futbollit Tirana B is an Albanian football club based in Tiranë. It was founded in 1932, but was dissolved before it was refounded again on 22 January 2013.

Tirana U-21
KF Tirana U-21 is an Albanian football club based in Tiranë. It was founded in 2019.

Reserves and academy
The KF Tirana Reserves and Academy (Klubi i Futbollit Tirana Rezervat dhe Akademia) are the reserve team of KF Tirana, They play in the North section of the Albanian U-19 Superliga and Albanian U-17 Superliga.

Honours
Tirana are the most successful and decorated club in Albania, having won 26 league titles, a national record. The club's first trophy was also the first Albanian National Championship, held in 1930, which was also the first official football competition in the country. The club also holds the record for the most Albanian Cups (16) and Albanian Supercups (12). The club's most recent trophy was the 2022 Albanian Supercup won on 7 December 2022.

 * Tirana have won two more championships played during seasons 1939 and 1942. However, AFA have not yet officially recognised them.
 * The championship of 1967 has not been recognised by UEFA due to huge irregularities which caused the European governing association to disallow the "fake" champions participating in European Cup.
 * The championship of 1967 has not been recognised by UEFA due to huge irregularities which caused the European governing association to disallow the "fake" champions participating in European Cup.

Domestic
Tirana 11-3 Partizani (1954)  Tirana 11–0 Flamurtari Vlorë (5 July 1936) Tirana 11–0 Besëlidhja Lezhë (6 June 1937) Tirana 11–0 Erzeni (1960) Tirana 0-6 Skënderbeu Korçë (1947) Pogradeci 1–8 Tirana (1953)
 * Biggest ever home league victory:
 * Biggest ever home league defeat: Tirana 0–6 Vllaznia Shkodër (1947)
 * Biggest ever away league victory: Elbasani 2–9 Tirana (12 June 1932)
 * Biggest ever away league defeat: Partizani Tirana 8-0 Tirana (1947)
 * Most league appearances: 🇦🇱 Elvis Sina (392)
 * Most league goals: 🇦🇱 Indrit Fortuzi (152)
 * Most points in a season: 84 (2004–05)
 * Fewest points in a season: 7 (1940)
 * Most wins in a season: 26 (2004–05)
 * Fewest wins in a season: 3 (1931, 1933, 1940, 1942)
 * Most ties in a season: 15 (1974–75), (2016–17)
 * Fewest ties in a season: 0 (1939, 1946)
 * Most losses in a season: 13 (1972–73, 1976–77, 1991–92, 2016–17, 2018–19)
 * Fewest losses in a season: 0 (1932, 1936, 1937, 1939, 1942)
 * Best Goal Differential: +66 (1936)
 * Worst Goal Differential: -5 (1972–73)

Europe
FC Dinamo Tbilisi 0-2 Tirana (19 August 2020)
 * Highest stage reached in Champions League: Round of 16 (1982–83, 1988–89, 1989–90)
 * Highest stage reached in Europa League: Play-Off (2020–21)
 * Highest stage reached in Conference League: 2QR (2022–23), (2023–24)
 * Highest stage reached in Cup Winners' Cup: Round of 16 (1986–87)
 * Highest stage reached in Balkans Cup: Runners-up (1981–83)
 * Biggest ever European home victory: Tirana 5–0 🇲🇹 Sliema Wanderers (Sept 27, 1989)
 * Biggest ever European home defeat:  Tirana 2–6 🇭🇷 NK Croatia Zagreb (24 July 1996)
 * Biggest ever European away victory: 🇧🇾 FC Gomel 0–2 Tirana (14 July 2004)
 * Biggest ever European away defeat: 🇳🇴 Aalesund 5–0 Tirana (26 July 2012)
 * Most European appearances: 🇦🇱 Elvis Sina (31)
 * Most European goals: 🇦🇱 Indrit Fortuzi (10)

Players
Appearances in competitive matches Below is the list with top ten players with most appearances in all competitions for KF Tirana.
 * Most appearances

 * Most goals

List of Kategoria Superiore top scorers (Kategoria Superiore top scorers).
 * Kategoria Superiore Golden Boot

(4 times or more)
 * Most championships won

KF Tirana statistics in Kategoria Superiore
Since the Kategoria Superiore began in 1930, KF Tirana have played 2096 Superliga matches, scored 3438 goals and conceded 1873. The club has collected so far 3132 points, won 1079 games, drawn 543 and lost 474. The club's goal difference is +1565 and the winning difference is +605.

Data correct up to the end of the 2022–23 season.

KF Tirana in Europe
In addition to being the leader team in all domestic competitions, KF Tirana have also given the best performances in Europe among Albanian squads winning 14 ties in Europe (including once directly by draw, without playing).

They reached Round of 16 in European Competitions four times, of which three times in the European Cup (now Champions League) alone in 1980s, making it the Albanian team to have progressed farthest in any European competition.

White and blues hold the all-time record for the highest IFFHS ranking of an Albanian football club, being ranked as high as 31st in the world in 1987, as result of good results preceded 1986–87.

In their European path, Tirana have played against "big guns" such as: Ajax, Bayern Munich, etc. Drawn against teams such as Dinamo București, Ferencváros, CSKA Sofia, Young Boys, Utrecht, Dinamo Zagreb, IFK Göteborg, Malmö FF, Standard Liège,Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C., Red Star Belgrade, Besiktas JK etc.

In one of the few team's good performances (the 2004–05 season) after having passed FC Gomel of Belarus in the first round 2:1 on aggregate, KF Tirana played against Ferencváros in the second round. Having lost the first leg 3–2 at home, Tirana led 1–0 in Budapest; however, they were unable to score the one extra goal they needed, having missed a penalty and hit the woodwork twice, and were eliminated on away goals, the tie finishing 3–3 on aggregate.

Another good performance was reaching the play-off stage in Europa League 2020-21. Following a 2–0 away victory against Dinamo Tbilisi in the first round of Champions League, they were eliminated by Red Star in the following round, losing 0–1 in Air Albania Stadium and moving to Europa League third round (lucky draw). Which saw Tirana play in play-off against BSC Young Boys in Bern, where they were defeated 3–0 and failed to qualify for the group stage.

Tirana reached the first qualification in the UEFA Conference League in the first round against the Georgians of FC Dinamo Batumi with a 2-1 victory in Batumi after a 1-1 draw in Tirana with a goal by Regi Lushkja, while in the second round they faced the Turkish giants Beşiktaş J.K. where won both games 3-1 in Istanbul at Beşiktaş Stadium and 2-0 in Tirana at Air Albania Stadium

World and European rankings
(As of 06 June 2024)
 * UEFA club coefficient ranking

(As of 06 June 2024)
 * World club coefficient ranking

Player records

 * Most appearances in UEFA club competitions: 31 appearances:
 * Elvis Sina
 * Top scorer in UEFA club competitions: 10 goals – Indrit Fortuzi

Managerial record
(i) = interim

Kit suppliers
Source:

Presidents
Tirana have had numerous presidents over the course of their history, some of which have been the owners of the club, others have been administrators and honorary presidents such as Bamir Topi and Fatmir Frashëri. The president has historically taken sole charge of the club, except for the period between 2007 and 2008, when was the presidency was formally vacant and numerous donors managed the club. The club have had a total of 13 president and 15 presidencies since 1920, with only Bamir Topi and Refik Halili having held the position on two occasions. The longest serving president is Selman Stërmasi who took charge of the club for 24 years between 1936 and 1960, while the shortest presidency belongs to Fatmir Frashëri, who took charge for one year between 2004 and 2005. Here is a complete list of club president from when Bahri Toptani took over at the club in 1920, until the present day.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: KF Tirana


text:
Royal Palace of Caserta

The Royal Palace of Caserta (Reggia di Caserta, ) is a former royal residence in Caserta, Campania, 35km north of Naples in southern Italy, constructed by the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies as their main residence as kings of Naples. Located 35 km north of the historic center of Naples, Italy, the complex is the largest palace erected in Europe during the 18th century. In 1997, the palace was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site; its nomination described it as "the swan song of the spectacular art of the Baroque, from which it adopted all the features needed to create the illusions of multidirectional space". The Royal Palace of Caserta is the largest former royal residence in the world, over 2 million m3 in volume and covering an area of 47,000 m2 and a floorspace of 138,000 square meters is distributed in the five stories of the building.

History
The construction of the palace began in 1752 for Charles VII of Naples (later Charles III of Spain), who worked closely with his architect, Luigi Vanvitelli. When Charles saw Vanvitelli's grandly scaled model for Caserta, it filled him with emotion "fit to tear his heart from his breast." In the end, Charles never slept a night at the Reggia, as he abdicated in 1759 to become King of Spain. The project was carried to only partial completion for Charles' third son and successor, Ferdinand IV of Naples.

The political and social model for Vanvitelli's palace was Versailles, which, though strikingly different in its variety and disposition, solved similar problems of assembling and providing for the king, court, and government in a massive building with the social structure of a small city, confronting a baroque view of a highly subordinated nature, la nature forcée. This was part of the entire concept of the palace when Mario Gioffredo first proposed it in 1750. According to George L. Hersey, the proposal envisaged a palace "that was a virtual city, housing not just the court and king but all the main political and cultural elites of the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily - university, museum, library, cabinet bureaus, military high commands, and so on."

Noted British art historian, Anthony Blunt, said the palace "became the symbol of the new monarchy, and Vanvitelli's bold design brilliantly expresses this idea. The vastness of the scale. the vistas through open vestibules to the park, and the dramatically planned grand staircase are all evidence that Charles aimed at rivalling Versailles; but not a single element is directly borrowed from Louis XIV's palace, and Caserta has the great advantage over its model of having been planned as a whole by a single architect at a single moment, as opposed to the sometimes untidy agglomeration of elements which makes Versailles more picturesque but less harmonious."

The population of Caserta Vecchia was moved 10 km to provide a workforce closer to the palace. A silk factory at San Leucio was disguised as a pavilion in the immense parkland.

Another of the king's primary objectives was to have a magnificent new royal court and administrative center for the kingdom in a location protected from sea attack and distant from the revolt-prone and congested city of Naples. Troop barracks were housed within the palace to provide the king with suitable protection.

The Royal Palace of Madrid, where Charles had grown up, had been devised by Filippo Juvarra for Charles' father, Philip V of Spain, and Charlottenburg Palace provided models. A spacious octagonal vestibule seems to have been inspired by Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute in Venice, while the palatine chapel is most often compared to the Royal Chapel at Versailles. Vanvitelli died in 1773: the construction was continued by his son Carlo and then by other architects; but the elder Vanvitelli's original project, which included a vast pair of frontal wings similar to Bernini's colonnades at St. Peter's Square, was never finished. In 1861, with the birth of the Kingdom of Italy, Savoyard officials surveyed the contents of the Palace. The bidet was inventoried as follows: "strange object in the shape of a guitar".

From 1923 to 1943, the palace was the location of the Accademia Aeronautica, the Italian Air Force Academy. From 1943, during the allied invasion, the royal palace served as Allied Force Headquarters for the Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean area; Sir Maitland Wilson, and later Sir Harold Alexander. In April 1945, the palace was the site of the signing of the unconditional surrender of German and Italian RSI forces in Italy. The agreement covered between 600,000 and 900,000 soldiers along the Italian Front, including troops in sections of Austria. The first Allied war crimes trial took place in the palace in 1945; German general Anton Dostler was sentenced to death and executed nearby, in Aversa. In the left-hand arc behind the façade, a set of barracks was built. During World War II, the soldiers of the US Fifth Army recovered here in a "rest center." The palace continued as Allied Force Headquarters in 1946 under Britain's Gen. Sir William Duthie Morgan and in 1947 under American Lt. Gen. John C. H. Lee, each serving as Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Theater of Operations, working to secure weapons and ordnance, restore infrastructure throughout the region, return refugees, and feed hundreds of thousands. The Theater was dissolved in September 1947. The palace was damaged by U.S. bombers in 1943, and was virtually emptied of furnishings during the war by looters. The Italian government took great pains to restore the building and return or replace decorations in keeping with the original pieces. Also, during World War II, Nazis occupied Caserta; therefore, the likelihood of them robbing the palace of pieces of its history is high

In 1998, the palace was a filming location for Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace, specifically as the interior of the Theed City Naboo Palace. It was used as a location for four days after it had been closed to visitors. Scenes with explosions were filmed on replica sets in Leavesden Studios to avoid damaging the actual palace. In addition, scenes from Attack of The Clones were also filmed at the palace, specifically in the Upper Vestibule.

The Royal Palace of Caserta has also been the site of other notable movies, such as The Great, Mission: Impossible III, Angels & Demons, Ferdinando and Carolina, among others.

Layout of the palace
"The palace has five floors; 1,200 rooms, including two dozen state apartments; 1,742 windows; 34 staircases; 1,026 fireplaces; a large library; and a theatre modelled after the Teatro San Carlo of Naples. A monumental avenue running 20 kilometers between the palace and Naples was planned but never realized."

The palace has a rectangular plan, measuring 247 × 184 m, and the four sides are connected by two orthogonal arms, forming four inner courts.

Even without the surface area of the internal courtyards, Caserta is by far the largest royal palace resulting from a single original project in the world in terms of volume, with more than 2 e6m3. The floor space is 138,000 square meters. Behind the façades of its matching segmental ranges of outbuildings that flank the giant forecourt, a jumble of buildings arose to facilitate daily business. The palace encloses four courts that feature what scholars describe as a well-proportioned interior that evokes a monotonous dignity unique in its time.

Of all the royal residences inspired by the Palace of Versailles, the Reggia of Caserta is the one that bears the greatest resemblance to the original model: the unbroken balustraded skyline and the slight break provided by pavilions within the long, somewhat monotonous façade. As at Versailles, a large aqueduct was required to bring water for the prodigious water displays. Like its French predecessor, the palace was intended to display the power and grandeur of an absolute Bourbon monarchy. A solecism at Caserta is that above the piano reale, the King's floor, is another floor of equal magnificence. The enfilades of Late Baroque saloni were the heart and seat of government, as well as displays of national wealth. Caserta provided a royal refuge from the dust and factions of the capital, just as Versailles had freed Louis XIV from Paris. The royal palace has more than 40 monumental rooms completely decorated with frescoes when, in comparison, Versailles counts only 22 monumental rooms.

The park
The garden, a typical example of the Baroque extension of formal vistas, stretches for 120 hectares, partly on hilly terrain. Its construction started in 1753, and it is also inspired by the park of Versailles. The park starts from the back façade of the palace, flanking a long alley with artificial fountains and cascades. There is a botanical garden called "The English Garden" in the upper part designed in the 1780s by Carlo Vanvitelli and the German-born botanist, nurseryman, and plantsman-designer, John Graefer, who was trained in London and recommended to Sir William Hamilton by Sir Joseph Banks. It is an early Continental example of an English garden in the svelte naturalistic taste of Capability Brown.

The fountains and cascades, each filling a vasca (basin), with architecture and hydraulics by Luigi Vanvitelli at intervals along a wide straight canal that runs to the horizon, rivalled those at Peterhoff Palace outside St. Petersburg. These include:
 * The Fountain of Diana and Actaeon (sculptures by Paolo Persico, Angelo Maria Brunelli, and Tommaso Solari);
 * The Fountain of Venus and Adonis (1770–80);
 * The Fountain of the Dolphins (1773–80);
 * The Fountain of Aeolus;
 * The Fountain of Ceres.

Many figures from classical Antiquity were modelled by Gaetano Salomone for the gardens of the Reggia and were executed by large workshops.

Contemporary observers noted that the Caserta surpassed all other European royal palaces, including its models, in one particular aspect: the combination of completeness and stateliness. This is attributed to the spacious oval piazza in front of the edifice's south side.

UNESCO World Heritage Site
The palace was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. According to the rationale, the palace, "whilst cast in the same mould as other 18th-century royal establishments, is exceptional for the broad sweep of its design, incorporating not only an imposing palace and park but also much of the surrounding natural landscape and an ambitious new town laid out according to the urban planning precepts of its time."

title: Royal Palace of Caserta


text:
FCI Levadia Tallinn

Football Club Infonet Levadia Tallinn, commonly known as FCI Levadia, or simply as Levadia, is an Estonian professional football club based in Tallinn that competes in the Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football. The club's home ground is Lilleküla Stadium.

Founded in 1998 in Maardu, the club moved to Tallinn in 2004. Levadia has played in the Meistriliiga since the 1999 season and have never been relegated from the Estonian top division. Levadia have won 10 Meistriliiga titles, a record 11 Estonian Cups and 8 Estonian Supercups. In 2017, Levadia's first team merged with FCI Tallinn, and became FCI Levadia.

Early history
Levadia was founded on 22 October 1998, when Viktor Levada's Levadia Group OÜ became the official sponsor of Maardu based Esiliiga club Olümp, which subsequently changed its name to Levadia. The club won the 1998 Esiliiga and were promoted to the Meistriliiga. In January 1999, Sergei Ratnikov was appointed as manager. Levadia immediately made a mark during their first season in top flight football in 1999, becoming the first team to win the Meistriliiga, the Estonian Cup and the Estonian Supercup in the same year.

After the turn of the century, Levadia moved their home matches from Maardu to the Kadriorg Stadium and managed to repeat their success by winning another treble during the 2000 season. In the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League, Levadia defeated The New Saints 6–2 on aggregate in the first qualifying round, but lost to Shakhtar Donetsk 2–9 on aggregate in the second qualifying round. Following the loss to Shakhtar Donetsk, Ratnikov was sacked. In 2001, Valeri Bondarenko was appointed as a manager. Levadia failed to defend their title, finishing the 2001 season in third place and in November 2001, Bondarenko was replaced by Pasi Rautiainen. Under Rautiainen, Levadia finished the 2002 Meistriliiga as runners-up, only two points behind champions Flora. After the season, Rautiainen resigned and was replaced by Franco Pancheri in January 2003. Pancheri coached Levadia for just 9 Meistriliiga matches, before he was sacked in June 2003. He was replaced by Tarmo Rüütli and Levadia finished the 2003 season in third place.

Relocation to Tallinn
In 2004, Levadia officially moved to Tallinn and the club was renamed from Levadia Maardu to Levadia Tallinn, although the team had already been playing at the Kadriorg Stadium since 2000. The club's previously Tallinn-based reserve team changed its name to Levadia II. Under Rüütli, Levadia won the league in the 2004 season, but failed to defend the title in 2005, finishing as runners-up. In the 2006–07 UEFA Cup qualifying rounds, Levadia defeated Haka and Twente, but lost to Newcastle United 1–3 on aggregate in the first round. In the process, they became the first Estonian club to reach the first round of the UEFA Cup. Levadia won two more Meistriliiga titles in 2006 and 2007. In March 2008, Rüütli was hired by the Estonian Football Association to coach the Estonia national team and his assistant Igor Prins took over as manager. Under Prins, Levadia won two consecutive Meistriliiga titles in 2008 and 2009 and an Estonian Cup in 2010. In August 2010, Prins was sacked due to disagreements with the board and replaced by Levadia II manager Aleksandr Puštov. Levadia finished the 2010 season as runners-up. In July 2011, Puštov was sacked after disappointing results in the Meistriliiga and the Champions League and replaced by Sergei Hohlov-Simson. Levadia finished the 2011 season in fourth place, their lowest ever league placing since the club was promoted to the Meistriliiga. In December 2011, Marko Kristal was appointed as manager. The club won the 2011–12 Estonian Cup and finished the 2012 season as runners-up. Levadia won the Meistriliiga title in the 2013 season. The team defended their title in 2014, but finished the 2015 season as runners-up. In November 2015, it was announced that Sergei Ratnikov will return to Levadia after 15 years and replace Kristal as manager. Ratnikov's second tenure as Levadia's manager lasted until July 2016, when he was sacked following a 0–1 loss to Pärnu Linnameeskond. He was replaced by another returning manager, Igor Prins. Levadia finished the 2016 season as runners-up.

Merger with FC Infonet
Following another second-place finish in the 2017 season, Levadia announced they will merge with FC Infonet Tallinn, the Estonian champions of 2016. The two clubs merged their first teams, becoming FCI Levadia, with FCI Tallinn's Aleksandar Rogić taking over as manager. FCI Levadia finished the 2018 season as runners-up, but won the Estonian Cup, beating rivals FC Flora 1–0 in the final. In 2019, Levadia moved to Estonia's largest football stadium A. Le Coq Arena. On 15 September 2019, Rogić was sacked after disappointing results, with assistant coach Vladimir Vassiljev taking over as caretaker manager. In November 2019, former Estonia head coach and record cap holder Martin Reim was appointed as manager. However, after a disappointing start to the season, Martin Reim decided to resign in July 2020 and Vladimir Vassiljev took over the role.

In August 2020, Levadia's former assistant coach Marko Savić returned to the club and became joint managers with Vassiljev. In the following 2021 season, Levadia ended their 7-year Premium Liiga title drought, becoming Estonian champions in the last day of the season, after drawing 2–2 with rivals FC Flora in the title-deciding final match. FCI Levadia also lifted the Estonian Cup in 2021 and Estonian Supercup in February 2022, again beating Flora in both of the finals. In July 2022, Marko Savić and Vladimir Vassiljev announced they will be stepping down as head coaches of the club, with the main driver for the resignation being the disappointing 6–1 loss against Víkingur Reykjavík in the UEFA Champions League preliminary round. The remainder of the 2022 season was widely described by Estonian media outlets as turbulent, with Levadia changing head coaches multiple times in a short period of time and sporting director Tarmo Kink and CEO Sergei Hohlov-Simson also leaving the club. FCI Levadia finished the 2022 season as runners-up. In November 2022, Levadia announced the appointment of former Spanish international Curro Torres as manager. The club finished the 2023 season as runners-up, before winning the 2023–24 Estonian Cup by defeating Paide Linnameeskond 4–2 in the final.

Lilleküla Stadium
The club's home ground is the 14,336-seat Lilleküla Stadium (commonly known as A. Le Coq Arena for sponsorship reasons). Opened in 2001 and expanded from 2016 to 2018, it is the largest football stadium in Estonia. The stadium is also home to Levadia's rival FC Flora and the Estonian national team. Lilleküla Stadium is located at Jalgpalli 21, Kesklinn, Tallinn.

Levadia uses Sportland Arena artificial turf stadium for training and home matches during winter and early spring months. Levadia's training in summer and autumn takes place in their Maarjamäe training complex.

Kadriorg Stadium
From 2000 to 2018, Levadia played at the Kadriorg Stadium. Built from 1922 to 1926 and renovated from 2000 to 2001, it is one of the oldest football stadiums in Estonia and used to be the home ground of the Estonia national team until the completion of Lilleküla Stadium in 2001.

The Tallinn Derby
Levadia's deepest rivalry is with FC Flora and the fixture between the two clubs is known as the Tallinn Derby (Tallinna derbi). Levadia and Flora are the two biggest and most successful clubs in Estonian football. The rivalry began in 1999, when Levadia entered Meistriliiga and immediately challenged the reigning champions Flora for the title, winning the treble in their first year in top-flight football. In the early 2000s, language and nationality was also one of the separating factors between the two clubs, as Levadia was seen as the club of choice for the Russian speaking population of the city and Flora for the Estonian speaking. However, that image of Levadia has since then faded away. From 2019, the two clubs also share their home ground A. Le Coq Arena. The attendance record of 3,510 was set on 28 June 2023.

Out on loan
For season transfers, see transfers summer 2024.

League

 * Meistriliiga
 * Winners (10): 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2021
 * Esiliiga
 * Winners (1): 1998

Cups

 * Estonian Cup
 * Winners (11): 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2017–18, 2020–21, 2023–24
 * Estonian Supercup
 * Winners (8): 1999, 2000, 2001, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2022

title: FCI Levadia Tallinn


text:
Talk:Sub pop

I've never heard of this genre, I have sincere doubts as to whether or not it actually exists. Anyone else care to weigh in? Alex

 * Me neither. Even "twee pop" I've only heard of in articles.  I've never heard anyone actually say it.  James

I have never heard of this genre. I am familiar with twee-pop though and I suspect that sub-pop came about because someone at the NME heard one band who had a slightly different take on twee-pop than everybody else did. Ive heard of twee-pop being referred to as shambling and cuddlecore as well!Motown Junkie 20:00, 20 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Never ever heard of it. And I consider myself fairly with it. Kinda shocked "sub pop" didn't immediately lead to the record label, if not a disambig since it would be what any normal person would be looking for under that search term. Can someone kill this page and patch it to the record label? - Randomj

On June 6, 2005, the article which was on this page was nominated for deletion. The VFD debate concluded that this page should be converted to a redirect to Sub Pop. Sjakkalle (Check!)  10:07, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)

title: Talk:Sub pop


text:
Kwame Kwei-Armah

Kwame Kwei-Armah (born Ian Roberts; 24 March 1967 in Hillingdon, London) is a British actor, playwright, director and broadcaster. In 2005, Kwei-Armah became the second black Briton to have a play staged in the West End of London when his award-winning piece Elmina's Kitchen transferred to the Garrick Theatre. He was the first black Briton to head a major British national theater, when he took the directorship of the Young Vic in 2018. Kwei-Armah was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to drama.

Brought up in Southall, West London, he changed his name at the age of 19, after tracing his family history, through the slave trade back to his ancestral African roots in Ghana. His parents were born in Grenada. He has four children.

As an actor, Kwei-Armah is probably best known for playing paramedic Finlay Newton in the BBC medical drama Casualty from 1999 until 2004. He served as the chancellor of the University of the Arts London from 2011 to 2015. and was the artistic director of Baltimore's Center Stage Theater in the United States from 2011 to 2018. From 2018, he was artistic director of the Young Vic theatre in London, announcing his departure in February 2024.

Early life
Kwei-Armah was born at Hillingdon Hospital in West London, and named Ian Roberts. He changed his name when he was aged 19 after tracing his family history (in which he first became interested as a child after watching the TV series Roots), through the slave trade back to his ancestral African roots in Ghana, descendant of Coromantins. His parents were born in Grenada, then a British colony. His maternal grandmother moved to Trinidad, where she died, leaving her five children including Kwei-Armah's mother as orphans in Grenada. Kwei-Armah's mother moved to Britain in 1962. His father, Eric, moved to Britain in 1960, at a time when there was high unemployment in Grenada, and found work in London at the local Quaker Oats factory.

When he was one year old, Kwei-Armah's family moved to a two-storey terraced house in Southall where they let two rooms to help to pay for the mortgage. Kwei-Armah started at his first primary school as a five-year-old, and after a teacher disciplined him by kicking him in the back, his mother took on three jobs to pay for him and his two siblings to go to a private stage school, the Barbara Speake Stage School in London – working as a child minder, as a night nurse at Hillingdon Hospital, and doing some hairdressing work. He also attended The Salvation Army, and received musical training there. At the age of about 35, his mother had a stroke leading to left-sided weakness, from which she slowly recovered.

Kwei-Armah grew up in West London's Southall in the 1970s at a time when Asian families were moving in and white families were moving out, and he perceived animosity from the Asian community towards the Afro-Caribbean community. One day, at the time of Friday 3 July 1981Southall riots, his father came home after the evening work-shift and took him out to see the Hambrough Tavern on fire. Kwei-Armah saw a police van arrive, and when the police started to charge at the crowd using batons and shields he ran home frightened. He claims to have seen from the upstairs front room the police chasing black and Asian boys along the street followed by skinheads, who also had batons and shields, chasing behind the police. The event shocked him making him feel that he was living in an alien environment, and reinforced his resolve to do well in his education. He later wrote about the event in his first play, A Bitter Herb.

Appearances on stage, television and radio
As Ian Roberts, Kwei-Armah portrayed Duke, who was one of The Latchkey Children in the eponymous London Weekend Television series that was written by Eric Allen and aired in 1980.

Kwei-Armah appeared in the original London production of Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens, which played at the Criterion Theatre in 1993.

Kwei-Armah first achieved fame playing the paramedic Finlay Newton in the BBC drama series Casualty from 1999 to 2004. His other television credits include appearances in episodes of Casualty′s sister series Holby City, the BBC's Afternoon Play, Between the Lines and The Bill. In 2003 he appeared as a contestant on the Reality TV programme Comic Relief does Fame Academy and subsequently released an album, Kwame. In 2007, he starred as E. R. Braithwaite in the two-part BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Braithwaite's novel To Sir, with Love.

Kwei-Armah was seen in the episode "Who Shot the Sheriff?" in the 2006 BBC One revival of Robin Hood, as an ambitious town planner in Lewis, and in the feature film Fade to Black opposite Danny Huston, Christopher Walken and Diego Luna. He is also a regular on TheatreVoice.

He presented the 15 February 2009 episode of the Channel 4 documentary Christianity: A History, during which he spoke about his own Christian faith and African identity, in addition to the African origins of Christianity in Ethiopia.

In the summer of 2009, he presented the Channel 4 series On Tour with the Queen, which looked at the impact of Queen Elizabeth II's tour of the Commonwealth that took place between November 1953 and May 1954. He also met with King George Tupou V of Tonga, Sitiveni Rabuka and Queen Elizabeth II herself on the trip. In March 2010, Kwei-Armah appeared in the penultimate and final episodes of the fourth series of Skins.

For a number of years Kwei-Armah has appeared as a panellist on the arts discussion show Newsnight Review. He also appeared on Question Time on two occasions and reported for The Culture Show.

On 15 May 2011 he was the stranded person on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. His musical selections included the political power-rap of Chuck D and his band Public Enemy, Marvin Gaye, Bob Marley and Lord Kitchener. Kwei-Armah said living with his parents was like existing with two very different types of theatre in the family home: he would be serving rum to his father and his pals, while his mother was hosting church meetings in the living-room.

In 2011 Kwei-Armah chose Marcus Garvey as his subject for the BBC Radio 4 series Great Lives.

Work as a playwright
Kwei-Armah's first play, Bitter Herb (1998), won him a Peggy Ramsay award, and was subsequently put on by the Bristol Old Vic, where he also became writer-in-residence. His Blues Brother, Soul Sister was produced at the Theatre Royal, Bristol, in 1999, and Big Nose was performed in 1999 at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry.

Kwei-Armah's fifth play, Elmina's Kitchen, premiered in May 2003 at the National Theatre, and was shortlisted in the "Best New Play" category at the 2004 Laurence Olivier Awards. That same year, Kwei-Armah received the Evening Standard Award for the Most Promising New Playwright of 2003. In 2005, he was nominated for a BAFTA award for the television version of Elmina's Kitchen.

Walter's War, a drama written by Kwei-Armah and based on the wartime experiences of footballer Walter Tull's life, was made by UK TV channel BBC Four and screened on 9 November 2008 as part of the BBC's "Ninety Years of Remembrance" season in November 2008. Kwei-Armah also had a cameo role in the film.

Kwei-Armah is a member of the board of the National Theatre and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Open University in 2008, and in 2009 was a judge for the BBC World Service's International Radio Playwriting Competition. On 28 February 2011, he was named as the new artistic director at Baltimore's Center Stage theatre, replacing Irene Lewis, who had served in the position for 19 years. Kwei-Armah's play Elmina's Kitchen had been staged in 2005, followed by Let There Be Love in 2010, and in 2007 he directed Naomi Wallace's Things of Dry Hours.

Kwei-Armah was involved in the Bush Theatre's 2011 project Sixty-Six Books, for which he wrote a piece based on a chapter of the King James Bible.

He is also a patron of the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres.

Kwei-Armah wrote and directed the world premiere of Marley, a musical based on the life and music of Bob Marley which ran at Center Stage, Baltimore in May and June 2015. In March and April 2017 the musical made its UK premiere in a new production (rewritten by Kwei Armah) at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre under a new title One Love: The Bob Marley Musical.

In October 2016 Kwei-Armah directed the European premiere of One Night in Miami by the award-winning, black, US playwright Kemp Powers. One Night in Miami ran from 6 October to 3 December 2016 at the Donmar Warehouse in London's West End. The all-black cast portrays the friendship between four of the most celebrated black icons in American history at a pivotal moment in their lives: 22-year-old boxing champion Cassius Clay, on the brink of becoming Muhammad Ali, celebrates his world heavyweight championship title with controversial civil rights activist Malcolm X, along with singer songwriter Sam Cooke and NFL champion footballer Jim Brown. The action takes place in a Miami hotel room, watched over by Nation of Islam security.

Kwei-Armah collaborated with Idris Elba on the musical Tree, which premiered at the Manchester International Festival in 2019.

Kwei-Armah was a credited lyricist on the ArrDee and Cat Burns single "Home for My Heart", which was released on 9 March 2023. The single debuted at number 35 on the UK Singles Chart.

Controversy surrounding Tree
On 2 July 2019, The Guardian published a story describing how Tori Allen-Martin and Sarah Henley claimed they had been removed from the production of Tree. In 2015, Elba had asked them to develop and workshop his idea for a musical based on his album Idris Elba Presents mi Mandela, on which Allen-Martin had also collaborated. Allen-Martin and Henley said they had worked on the project for four years. In 2018, the show was commissioned by Manchester International Festival for their 2019 festival and Kwei-Armah was asked to join the project by Elba and Manchester International Festival as writer and director of the show. Tree was later billed as "created by Idris Elba and Kwame Kwei-Armah". Allen-Martin and Henley claim that their creative input had included research, script-writing as well as the play's title, and that they were threatened with legal action if they went public with the story. The co-producers of Tree released a statement refuting their claims. Kwei-Armah and Elba both published personal responses to Allen-Martin and Henley's claims on Twitter. Elba said it was his "contractual right as beholder of the original idea, the album" to take the show in a different creative direction. The producers state that the two versions of Tree are "different projects....Any similarities between the 2019 production of Tree, and Tori and Sarah’s 2016 workshopped script can be attributed to the fact that both were based upon the same original concept created by Idris Elba."

Personal life
Kwei-Armah has three children from his first marriage to Fyna Dowe and one from his second. His son Kwame Jr, professionally known as KZ, contributed production and vocals to Wretch 32 and Avelino's 2015 mixtape Young Fire, Old Flame, and Wretch 32's third studio album, Growing Over Life, released in September 2016.

Films

 * The Lorax – Mtambo (voice)

Plays

 * A Bitter Herb (1998, Bristol Old Vic)
 * Big Nose (1999, Belgrade Theatre)
 * Blues Brother Soul Sister (1999)
 * Elmina's Kitchen (2003)
 * Fix Up (2004, Cottesloe Theatre, National Theatre)
 * Statement of Regret (2007, Cottesloe Theatre, National Theatre)
 * First performed at the National Theatre in 2007, this play was broadcast as The Saturday Play on BBC Radio 4, on 18 July 2009, with Don Warrington and Colin McFarlane reprising the principal roles of Kwaku and Michael.
 * Seize the Day (2009)
 * Let There Be Love (2010)
 * Beneatha's Place (2013) (Part of The Raisin Cycle)
 * One Love: The Bob Marley Musical (previously Marley) (2015)
 * Tree (2019)
 * Hold On
 * Twelfth Night
 * The Visitor

TV drama

 * Casualty (1999–2004)
 * Walter's War (2008)
 * Robin Hood (2006)

title: Kwame Kwei-Armah


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Wikipedia talk:WikiGnome

In creating Wikipedia
Can you help me with Wikipedia? I have a problem احمد علي الأحمد (talk) 14:49, 14 November 2023 (UTC)

title: Wikipedia talk:WikiGnome


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Talk:Erik The Phantom of the Opera

''Archived deletion debate from WP:VFD:

Pointless, badly-named, orphan. Maybe merge into The Phantom of the Opera or The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical), but I don't see it having any future as an article in its own right. --Paul A 09:28, 16 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * Remove the character analysis cruft and what's left could be merged with The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical). I say rework and merge, then delete.  --Ardonik 10:30, Jul 16, 2004 (UTC)
 * Seems like they're revealing a superhero's secret identity. ("There are those who call me.....Tim.") Delete, not much to merge back. Geogre 13:10, 16 Jul 2004 (UTC)

End archived discussion

title: Talk:Erik The Phantom of the Opera


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Tob

Tob was the name of a place in ancient Israel, mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.

Hebrew Bible
Jephthah flees from his brothers to the "land of Tob". In Tob, Jephtha gatheres some men until his brothers want him back to fight against the Ammonites. The place may be the same as the one mentioned in, named Ishtob (cf. Hebrew ish Tov). Some believe it should be translated "men of Tob", rather than "Ishtob".

Identification
There is a place named as Ṭby or Ṭubu in second millennium BCE sources, mentioned among the cities in Bashan. This led Benjamin Mazar and Martin Noth to identify it with the region near "Taiyibeh", to the east of biblical Edrei (today's Daraa in southern Syria), where today there is a Syrian village by this name (coordinates: 32°33'45 N, 36°14'38 E). Conder gave for his choice of Tob/Taibeh the coordinates "32° 35' N., 35° 42' E.", a place described in Brown–Driver–Briggs as 12 miles southeast of the Sea of Galilee, corresponding to modern-day Taibah nar Irbid in northern Jordan.

It has been suggested that the "land of Tob" was back country, used by outlaws as a place of refuge.

Amarna letters
Tob is also a town referred to in the Amarna letters, circa 1350 BCE. Among the c. 382 letters (EA 1 through EA 382) there is only one mention of the town, by the name TuBu, and in this small group of letters, the leader of the town of Tubu is only referred to as the "Man" of the town, i.e. "the mayor" or "governor". Man was one of many common designations. He would have been a prince-type local leader - the chief of a tribe, clan, city, region, etc. EA letter 205 is the letter from the "Man of Tubu" and is one of 6 letters written by the same scribe.

See als

 * Umm el-Marra

title: Tob