AF ElbasaniAF Elbasani is one of the youngest clubs in Albanian football, but its story is closely connected with the long football tradition of Elbasan. The present-day club was founded in 2021, emerging in the context of the financial and organisational problems surrounding the older KF Elbasani. The two clubs should not be treated as the same legal sporting entity. Football in Elbasan has much older roots, with the historical KF Elbasani tracing its foundation to 1923 and winning two Albanian league titles, in 1983/84 and 2005/06. Modern AF Elbasani draws on that local football heritage while having its own, much shorter history.
The new club made an immediate impact in the lower divisions. In the 2021/22 season, AF Elbasani won Kategoria e Tretë, the fourth level of Albanian football, securing promotion in its first season. The following campaign brought another major step forward. Elbasani finished first in Group B of Kategoria e Dytë and did so without losing a match, recording 18 victories and four draws. The club then faced Vora in the final for the overall Kategoria e Dytë title, but lost 1–2. The result means that AF Elbasani can accurately be described as Group B winners rather than overall champions of that division.
The decisive breakthrough came in 2023/24. AF Elbasani won Kategoria e Parë and earned promotion to the Albanian top flight for the first time. The title was secured before the final round, while the last home match provided an appropriate celebration: Elbasani defeated Bylis 3–2 at Elbasan Arena and received the championship trophy in front of its supporters. It completed three successive promotions or upward steps from the fourth tier to the top division in just three seasons.
The club adapted well to its first season in Kategoria Superiore. In 2024/25, AF Elbasani finished fifth with 50 points from 36 matches. Its record consisted of 11 wins, 17 draws and eight defeats. The result placed the team just outside the leading group of four and represented a strong first campaign at the highest level of Albanian football.
Yellow and blue are the club's traditional colours, while its home ground is Elbasan Arena, one of the best-known football stadiums in Albania. The venue has been closely associated with football in Elbasan for decades and was the setting for the club's 2024 promotion celebrations.
European football arrived for AF Elbasani in 2026. In the first qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League, the Albanian side was drawn against BATE Borisov. The first leg in Elbasan ended 1–1, while the return in Sumqayit finished 0–0 after extra time. BATE eventually won the penalty shoot-out 5–4. AF Elbasani therefore did not reach the next round, but the tie marked the club's first European campaign and gave its modern history an important international chapter.
One of the key figures of the current team is Ivan Gvozdenović, who was in charge during the club's 2026 European campaign. AF Elbasani's history is much shorter than the football tradition of Elbasan itself, but its rise has been remarkable: from the fourth tier in 2021 to the Albanian top flight within three seasons, followed by a European debut in 2026.
