Partizani Tirana Partizani Tirana is an Albanian football club founded on 4 February 1946, historically affiliated with the Albanian army. As early as its debut season, in 1947, the team won the Albanian championship, repeating that success in the following two seasons as well. In 1948, the club achieved the first domestic double in the history of Albanian football, triumphing in both the league and the Albanian Cup. In total, between 1947 and 2023, Partizani won 17 championship titles and 15 Albanian Cups, making it one of the country's most decorated clubs.
It was Partizani Tirana that became the first Albanian club to compete in European competition â in the 1962â63 season it made its debut in the European Cup, facing Sweden's Norrköping in the first round and being eliminated over two legs despite a draw away from home. The following year, the team recorded its first-ever European cup victory, defeating Bulgaria's Plovdiv in the first leg thanks to a goal from Kolec Kraja. In the following decades, the club took part in continental competitions regularly, though somewhat sporadically due to the political constraints of communist Albania, reaching, among other rounds, the last 16 of the European Cup in 1981, when it defeated Austria Wien in the return leg at the Qemal Stafa Stadium.
One of the most controversial episodes in the club's history remains its first-round European Cup match in the 1987â88 season against Portugal's Benfica. After Partizani found itself trailing 0â1 at half-time following an own goal, the Albanian side lost its composure in the second half â four Partizani players were sent off with red cards, and the match ended 4â0 in Benfica's favour. UEFA, outraged by the conduct of the match, annulled the result and awarded Benfica a walkover victory.
For decades, Partizani shared the Qemal Stafa Stadium, as well as the Selman Stërmasi Stadium, opened in 1956, with local rivals KF Tirana and Dinamo Tirana. Today, the club plays its home matches at a new venue within the Partizani Complex, while using the Arena Kombëtare for European competition and the capital's major derbies.
