KF Besa Kavajë

Early years (1925–44)

Klubi Sportiv Besa was founded on 25 October 1925, originally as "Shoqata Kulturore Sportive Adriatiku", which was a multi-disciplinary sports club based in Kavajë, Albania. In 1930, the club changed its name to "Sport Klub Kavajë".That same year the football team played its first ever friendly at Mali i Robit, Golem, against an amateur team formed of students from the Albanian-American Institute of Agriculture. A short time later, SK Kavajë joined the newly formed Albanian Football Federation and participated in the 1930 second tier championship where they would repeat their participation for the next two seasons, before joining the top tier Kategoria e Parë in 1933. In their first top flight championship, SK Kavajë finished last in the 5 team league, losing 7 games and winning just one, a 2–1 victory over local rivals Teuta Durrës.^[1]

In 1935, under the leadership of chairman Irfan Berati, the club became an organized entity. The vice-chairman was Fehmi Kazazi, its secretary was Dervish Cara, and the committee included members Sulejman Karkini and Reshat Asllani. Rasim Sulejmani served as clerk, while Dhori Fora managed the trade of craft. The following year, the club was renamed "Besa Kavajë", also known as "Besa Sport Klub", derived from the name Besa, the Albanian cultural precept meaning "to keep the promise" and "word of honor".

During World War II, many members of the club lost their lives as soldiers, including Mehmet Babamusta, Adil Alushi, Sami Karriqi and Millan Radosalja. The activities of the club became very limited and support came primarily from the local residents of the city. There were no official competitions held in Albania at this time.

Rise (1945–65)

But between 1945 and 1950, the club experienced a revival which was due to young talented players coming through the ranks of the youth teams, including the likes of Qamil Teliti who went on to receive national success. During the 1945–46 season, the club won the unofficial Sports Federation President's Cup.

In 1958, the club achieved a second-place finish in the top tier Albanian Championship, narrowly losing out to Partizani Tirana for the title by one point.^[2] During that same season, they reached the semi-final of the Albanian Cup, again losing out to eventual winners Partizani. The club would go on to reach the finals of the Albanian Cup in 1961, losing to Partizani once again and also the following season in 1962–63, where they lost on penalties to 17 Nëntori. In 1963, Besa won the unofficial cup competition held by the 'Sport' newspaper, and in 1965 it won the 'Bashkimi' newspaper competition.^[3]

Golden generation (1965–75)

The period between 1965 and 1975 has been called the golden generation of football in Kavajë, due to the domestic achievements especially in the Albanian Cup which resulted in the club's first ever European games. In 1971, they finished as runners-up in the Albanian Cup after losing 2–0 in the finals to Dinamo Tirana. They repeated this feat the following year, losing on penalties in the cup final following a 2–2 draw with Vllaznia Shkodër, but as Vllaznia also won the league in that same year, this gave Besa the opportunity to participate in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in the 1972–73 season.

Their first European opponents were Danish side, Fremad Amager, who Besa managed to overcome on away goals following a 1–1 draw away in Copenhagen and a goalless draw at home. In the next round however they were beaten by Scottish side Hibernian, whom they lost to on aggregate 8–2, following a 7–1 away loss and a 1–1 draw at home. The end of the golden generation era was marked with the completion of the club's first purpose-built stadium, Besa Stadium. Construction was completed in 1974 and the new stadium had a capacity to seat 9,000 spectators.

Recent years

Besa confirmed their place in the 2007–08 UEFA Cup after a 3–2 win against neighbours KS Teuta in the 2006–07 Albanian Cup final. They met Bežanija of Serbia in the first qualifying round, drawing 2–2 away and 0–0 at home to progress on away goals. In the second qualifying round, they fell 3–0 in each leg to Bulgarian side Litex Lovech. In 2008, they qualified for the Intertoto Cup due to their third-place finish in the league, drawing Ethnikos Achna 0–0 at home and 1–1 in Cyprus and continued on away goals. In the 2nd round of the Intertoto cup they were eliminated by Grasshopper Zürich from Switzerland.

National team players

Since its inception, many of the club's players have gone on to represent the Albania national team at all levels, in international competition. Notably, Qamil Teliti scored the winning goal in the 1946 Balkan Cup final. The depth of talent emerging from Besa's youth system was evident in the 1956 derby between Dinamo and Partizani, which featured seven players deriving from the club's ranks, including legendary goalkeepers Qemal Vogli and Sulejman Maliqati.^[4] Altin Rraklli was the national team's top scorer during the 1990s. Andi Lila and Sokol Cikalleshi represented Albania in its first ever qualification of a major international tournament, the UEFA Euro 2016.

As of October 2015

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1971	Balkans Cup	Group A		Etar Veliko Tarnovo	2–1	0–2	1st
				FK Crvenka	1–0	2–2
		Final		Panionios	1–1	1–2	2–3
1972–73	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	1R		Fremad Amager	0–0	1–1	1–1
		2R		Hibernian	1–1	1–7	2–8
1993–94	Balkans Cup	SF		PAS Giannina	1–3	2–0	3–3
2007–08	UEFA Cup	1QR		Bežanija	0–0	2–2	2–2
		2QR		Litex Lovech	0–3	0–3	0–6
2008–09	UEFA Intertoto Cup	1R		Ethnikos Achna	0–0	1–1	1–1
		2R		Grasshopper Zürich	0–2	1–2	1–4
2010–11	UEFA Europa League	2R		Olympiacos	0–5	1–6	1–11

• 1QR = 1st Qualifying Round
• 2QR = 2nd Qualifying Round
• 1R = 1st round
• 2R = 2nd round
• 3R = 3rd round

As of 1 April 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
17	MF	SEN	Alphousseyni Dabo
18	DF	RSA	Kamohelo Hoala
19	DF	ALB	Joni Nurja
21	FW	KOS	Erzen Hyseni
23	DF	ALB	Ermir Spahiu
24	MF	ALB	Skerdi Puqja
—	GK	ALB	Blendi Vashaku
—	DF	ALB	Mateo Mezini
—	DF	MKD	Harbin Reçica
—	DF	CAN	Oluwatomisin Salako
—	MF	KOS	Erlir Bahtiri
—	MF	KOS	Donat Mehmeti
—	FW	KOS	Olt Zeqiraj

• Kategoria Superiore
  • Runners-up (2): 1958, 2009–10
  • Third place (11): 1936, 1937, 1945, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1966–67, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1978–79, 1992–93, 2007–08
• Kategoria e Parë
  • Winners (4): 1932, 1977–78, 1985–86, 2004–05
  • Runners-up (2): 1999–00, 2001–02
• Albanian Cup
  • Winners (2): 2007, 2010
  • Runners-up (6): 1961, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1982, 1992
• Albanian Supercup
  • Winners (1): 2010

• Biggest Victories: 9–1 vs Ismail Qemali (1937); 12–0 vs Bashkimi Elbasanas (1945); 7–0 vs Shkumbini (17.02.1963); 11–0 vs Apolonia Fier (1965); 8–1 vs Poliçani (28.08.1991); 7–1 vs Tirana (1992)
• Biggest Defeats: 1–9 vs Skënderbeu (16.04.1933); 0–6 vs Partizani (09.02.1975); 1–7 vs Tirana (12.09.2003)
• Most points in a season: 56 (2007–08)
• Fewest points in a season: 1 (1948)
• Most ties in a season: 14 (1973–74, 1976–77, 1989–90)
• Fewest ties in a season: 0 (1933)
• Most losses in a season: 23 (2003–04)
• Fewest losses in a season: 3 (1958)
• Best Goal Differential: +27 (1937)
• Worst Goal Differential: -43 (2003–04)

• Official kit sponsor: Porta Kavalja
• Official Sponsor: Bashkia Kavajë

• Golemi FC
• Luzi United
• FK Egnatia

• Besa at UEFA.COM
• Besa at FIFA.COM