AF Elbasani (), is an Albanian professional football club based in Elbasan. The club competes in the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. Their home ground is Elbasan Arena.
History In 2021, the club was formed by the Elbasan Municipality after the disagreements with businessman Arben Laze who was the owner of the first football club KF Elbasani. Due to financial bankruptcy, Elbasani was seized by the Directorate of Taxes in Elbasan. So with the initiative of the fans they found the way and with the cooperation of Elbasan Municipality, AF Elbasani was created.
In the 2021–22 season, they competed in the fourth tier of Albanian football, Kategoria e Tretë. In their first season, they achieved first place, gaining promotion to Kategoria e Dytë.
In the 2022–23 season, AF Elbasani finished first in the Group B of the Kategoria e Dytë, which gained them promotion for the first time to the Kategoria e Parë. In their first season, they finished in 1st place, and were crowned champions and were promoted to the Kategoria Superiore.
In the 2024–25 season, they narrowly missed out on qualifying to the final four, by finishing 5th on 50 points, 3 points behind Partizani.
Honours Kategoria Superiore Runners-up (1): 2025–26 Kategoria e Parë Champions (1): 2023–24 Kategoria e Dytë Runners-up (1): 2022–23 Kategoria e Tretë Champions (1): 2021–22
Recent seasons Season Division Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Cup Supercup Europe Top Scorer 2021–22 Kategoria e Tretë 1st 14 13 1 0 84 4 40 — — — — Denis Mici (29) 2022–23 Kategoria e Dytë 2nd 22 18 4 0 64 12 58 — — — — Arsen Lleshi (14) 2023–24 Kategoria e Parë 1st 33 24 7 2 76 32 79 R16 — — — Bedri Greca (18) 2024–25 Kategoria Superiore 5th 36 11 17 8 40 38 50 QF — — — Arsen Lleshi Emiljano Musta(7) 2025–26 Kategoria Superiore 2nd 39 19 11 9 53 42 68 SF — — — Blaise Tsague (11) 2026–27 Kategoria Superiore —UCL 1Q
European competitions record Competition Played Won Drawn Lost GF GA GD UEFA competitions 2 0 2 0 1 1 0
Season Competition Round Country Club Home Away Aggregate 2026–27 UEFA Conference League 1QR BATE Borisov1–10–0 (a.e.t)1–1
Stadium
The club plays its home games at the Elbasan Arena, which was originally built in 1967 and named the Labinot Stadium, after the club Labinot Elbasan. The stadium was previously called Ruzhdi Bizhuta, after one of the club's most famous players.Rama: Elbasani pret kombëtaren The stadium has an official seated capacity of 12,800.Stadiumi ne Elbasan: Rama, per te mos i mbetur hatri Vlores dhe Shkodres
Players Current squad
Out on loan
Retired numbers
Staff + Name Position Ivan Gvozdenović Head coach Orgest Gava Assistant coach Elvis Kotorri Goalkeeping coach Andrea Vezzu Fitness coach Mirko Panico Video Analyst Denis Asllani Video analyst Orland Kastrati Physio Geris Lahi Physio Mark Doçi Physio Amarildo Hoxha Doctor Elton Guranjaku Sports director Armand Memetaj Team manager
List of coaches
Gentian Stojku (2 August 2021 – 11 April 2023) Eriol Merxha (12 April – 6 June 2023) Nevil Dede (7 June 2023 – 1 July 2024) Roberto Bordin (8 July – 5 December 2024) Ivan Gvozdenović (5 December 2024 – )
References