KF Laçi
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| Full name | Klubi i Futbollit Laçi | ||
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| Founded | 1960 | ||
| Ground | Laçi Stadium, Albania | ||
| Capacity | 5,000 | ||
| Chairman | Pashk Laska | ||
| Manager | Armando Cungu | ||
| League | Albanian Superliga | ||
| 2014–15 | Albanian Superliga, 5th | ||
| Website | Club home page | ||
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Klubi i Futbollit Laçi is an Albanian football club based in the city of Laç, which is in the northwest of Albania. The club was founded in 1960 and their biggest achievement to date has been winning the 2012–13 Albanian Cup as well as reaching the second qualifying round of the 2014–15 Europa League after defeating Slovenian side Rudar Velenje on aggregate, but ultimately losing to Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk. The club's historical colours have been white and black and their shirts have typically been striped. They have competed in the Albanian Superliga since 2009 and they play their home games at the 5,000 seater Laçi Stadium.
Contents
History
Early history
The club was founded in 1960 under the name Industriali Laç, and they competed in the Albanian Second Division, the third tier, for the majority of their early years. They reached the championship final of the 1974–75 Second Division, but lost to Vetëtima Himarë and were subsequently not promoted to the First Division. The name was changed to KS Laçi in 1991 when the club first participated in the Albanian Superliga, the name was changed for the last time to KF Laçi in 1997. The first trophy won by the club was the 2008–09 Albanian First Division.
Altin Cuko is the KF Laçi player to have won the Albanian Superliga Golden Boot whilst still playing for the club.[1] This was achieved in the 1995–96 season where KF Laçi finished in 12th place, out of 18. Cuko had already scored 5 goals for Tomori Berat before moving to KF Laçi in January 1996, where he netted another 16 times to give him the Golden boot with a total of 21 goals throughout the entire season with both Tomori and Laçi.[2]
Superliga era
The club returned to the top tier, the Albanian Superliga, in 2009 for the first time since 2005 and they brought in new players such as Erjon Vucaj, Arlind Nora, Julian Brahja, Emiliano Çela, Emiliano Veliaj and Ervin Llani. They narrowly lost their first game of the campaign to Skënderbeu Korçë 4–3[3] and they only won one of their first seven games, which was win against Apolonia Fier. After spending the early stages of the season in the relegation zone, the club hit form and managed to finish in fourth place head of more established clubs such as Flamurtari Vlorë and Vllaznia Shkodër, which also meant they qualified for Europe for the first time in the club's history.
Ahead of the 2010–11 season the club brought in new players in order to build upon their fourth-place finish the previous season as well attempt to go through to the next round of the UEFA Europa League. They were drawn against Belarusian side Dnepr Mogilev in the first qualifying round of the 2010–11 Europa League, and they played their first ever European game on 1 July 2010 at the Niko Dovana Stadium due to the Laçi Stadium not meeting the UEFA criteria to host European games. Bledar Marashi opened the scoring just before half time, scoring the club's first ever goal in a European competition, but his goal was cancelled out in added time as the game ended in a 1–1 draw.[4] However, the second leg proved to be a failure as the club was sent crashing out of the competition following a 7–1 loss, with Valdan Nimani scoring the only goal for the club.[5] Following their exit from Europe, the club brought in players such as Elton Doku, Vangjel Mile and Stipe Buljan ahead of the Albanian Superliga campaign in order to build upon their fourth-place finish the previous season.
The club defeated FK Kukësi 2–1 in the 2015 Albanian Cup Final to win the Albanian Cup for a second time, meaning they qualified for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.[6]
Management
The club appointed current manager Stavri Nica on 7 July 2006, ahead of the 2006–07 season in the Albanian First Division. The owner of the club Pashk Laska revealed the new manager at the club's Stadiumi Laçi in front of a considerable number of fans.[7] Nica has guided the club to promotion to the top tier of Albanian football and managed to win the Albanian First Division title in the 2008–09 season. Laçi made their best finish in Superliga in the 2009–10 season; where they finished 4th and qualified for the UEFA Europa League.
Stadium
The club currently play their home games at the Stadiumi Laçi which has a capacity of around 11,000 people. Following a very impressive 2009–10 campaign the club's directors turned to reconstructing the current stadium in hope of gaining the UEFA licence to stage their Europa League games at their home ground. The club installed 4,500 plastic seats into the "Karshi" stand.[8]
European football
Laçi have only ever competed in Europe just once in 2010 in the Europa League, they achieved this through their very good 2009–10 campaign in which they finished 4th and earned a place in Europe for the first time. The club's first ever European game was played on 1 July 2010 at the Stadiumi Niko Dovana in Durres. They played Dnepr Mogilev of Belarus in the Europa League 1st qualifying round and their first ever match finished 1–1. Although Laçi had the lesser of the chances and only had 2 goal attempts in the match, they still managed to lead for much of the second half through a goal by youngster Bledar Marashi in injury time in the first half. However Dnepro equalised in the 92nd minute through Dmitri Turlin which ruined a dream European debut for Laçi.[9]
Laçi in European football
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  Dnepr Mogilev |
1–1 | 1–7 | 2–8 |
| 2013–14 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  Differdange 03 |
0–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 |
| 2014–15 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  Rudar Velenje |
1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 (pens.) |
| 2Q |  Zorya Luhansk |
0–3 | 1–2 | 1–5 | ||
| 2015–16 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  Inter Baku |
1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
- Notes
- 1Q: First qualifying round
- 2Q: Second qualifying round
Honours
- Winners (2): 2003–04, 2008–09
- Runners-up (1): 1974–75
Records
- Biggest ever home league victory: KF Laçi 7–0 Albpetrol Patos – Sept 27, 1997
- Biggest ever home league defeat: KF Laçi 1–7 Vllaznia Shkodër – Dec 18, 2004
- Biggest ever away league victory: Shkumbini Peqin 2–5 KF Laçi – March 11, 2011
- Biggest ever away league defeat: Vllaznia Shkodër 5–1 KF Laçi – March 5, 2005
- Biggest ever European away defeat: Dnepr Mogilev 7–1 KF Laçi – July 8, 2010
Albanian records from September 1997
Current squad
- As of 9 November 2015
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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International players
Staff
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| President |  Pashk Laska |
| Manager | Armando Cungu |
| Goalkeeping coach | Kastriot Rama |
Records
Below is the list with top ten playes with most appearances in all competitions for KF Laçi.
| Player | Apps | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Stipe Buljan | 182 |
| 2 | |
Taulant Sefgjinaj | 180 |
| 3 | |
Erjon Vuçaj | 161 |
| 4 | |
Valdan Nimani | 153 |
| 5 | |
Alfred Zefi | 141 |
| 6 | |
Saimir Kastrati | 139 |
| 7 | |
Emiljano Veliaj | 114 |
| 8 | |
Elton Doku | 110 |
| 9 | |
Emiliano Çela | 108 |
| 10 | |
Edvan Bakaj | 73 |
Managers
- Luigj Doda (2003–04)
- Edi Martini (Sept 26, 2008 – June 30, 2009)
- Stavri Nica (July 1, 2009 – July 28, 2010)
- Nevil Dede (July 4, 2011 – June 30, 2012)
- Përparim Daiu (July 1, 2012 – Aug 29, 2012)
- Stavri Nica (Aug 30, 2012 – Sept 29, 2012)
- Ylber Zani (Sept 30, 2012 – Oct 17, 2012)
- Ramadan Shehu (Oct 18, 2012 – Dec 31, 2012)
- Stavri Nica (Jan 1, 2013–)
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Skënderbeu 4–3 Laçi
- ↑ Laç 1–1 Dnepr
- ↑ Dnepr 7–1 Laçi
- ↑ Kukësi 1–2 Laçi
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
