Albanian Basketball League

Albanian Basketball League (ABL)

Current season, competition or edition: 2014–15 Albanian Basketball League season
200px The FSHB logo
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1946
CEO	Avni Ponari
Divisions	Superliga and First Division
No. of teams	12
Country	Albania
Continent	FIBA Europe (Europe)
Most recent champion(s)	BC Vllaznia (8th title)
Most titles	BC Partizani Tirana (33 titles)
TV partner(s)	TVSH and Supersport (highlights)
Related competitions	Albanian Cup Albanian Supercup
Level on pyramid	1st and 2nd
Official website	www.FSHB.com

The Albanian Basketball League is the men's professional basketball league in Albania. It was founded in 1946 shortly after the formation of the Albanian Basketball Association and is now divided into two divisions, the Superliga and First Division, consisting of 12 teams each. The team with the most championships is BC Partizani Tirana who have won 33 championships in total, but none since 1996.

History

The Albanian Basketball League is the one of the oldest continuing basketball competitions in the region of the Balkans, having started in 1946. The league was formed less than two years after the Communist Party of Albania gained control of the country, and the sport gradually grew in popularity over the years before experiencing a rapid rise in popularity in the 1970s, leading to most cities and towns in Albania forming their own basketball clubs and building basketball grounds. Following the fall of communism in 1991 many basketball clubs were forced to fold due to lack of any investment, which led to the decline in the popularity of the sport as a whole in the country. However, since 1993 there has been some re-establishment of the folded teams as private investment along with some state funded has allowed teams to continue functioning.

Competition

The Albanian Basketball League consists of 12 teams, grouped evenly into two divisions, the Superliga and First Division. As each group contains 6 teams, they play each other four times in two separate phases during the regular season, once at home and once away in each phase. This means each team plays 20 games each during the regular season. A win in the regular season is worth two points and a loss is worth one point. At the end of the regular season the bottom two sides miss out on the play-offs, while the bottom club gets relegated from the Superliga to the First Division, the fifth placed side has to compete for a place in the Superliga against the second ranked team in the First Division.

Following the end of the regular season, the top four teams qualify for he play-offs, where the team which finished first plays the team which finished fourth while the second and third ranked teams play against each other. A winner is decided in the play-offs once a team has reached two victories, and they take it in turns to play at home until the two victories are reached. The finals is played between the two winners of the Superliga play-offs, with each team taking it in turns to play at home until one side has reached three victories.

Current teams

Albanian Basketball League
Team	City	Arena	Founded	Colours	Head coach
BC Apolonia	Fier	Fier Sports Palace	1925		Astrit Greva
PBC Flamurtari	Vlorë	Vlorë Sports Palace	1924		Viron Toska
BC Kamza Basket	Kamëz	Bathorë Sports Hall	1962		Adem Muhametaj
BC Partizani Tirana	Tiranë	Asllan Rusi Sports Palace	1945		Arben Fagu
PBC Tirana	Tiranë	Asllan Rusi Sports Palace	1982		Bujar Shehu
BC Vllaznia	Shkodër	Qazim Dërvishi Sports Palace	1919		Bledar Gjeçaj

Winners

Key

(*)	The team wins it 10th title
(**)	The team wins it 20th title
(***)	The team wins it 30th title

Season	Champion
1946	17 Nëntori
1947	Ylli Kuq Durrës
1948	17 Nëntori
1949	17 Nëntori
1950	17 Nëntori
1951	Partizani Tirana
1952	Partizani Tirana
1953	Partizani Tirana
1954	Partizani Tirana
1955	BC Durrës
1956	Partizani Tirana
1957	PBC Tirana
1958	Partizani Tirana
1959	Partizani Tirana

Season	Champion
1960	Partizani Tirana
1961	17 Nëntori
1962	17 Nëntori
1963	17 Nëntori
1964	Partizani Tirana
1965	17 Nëntori
1967	BC Vllaznia
1968	Partizani Tirana(*)
1969	Partizani Tirana
1970	Partizani Tirana
1971	17 Nëntori(*)
1972	Partizani Tirana
1973	Partizani Tirana
1974	Partizani Tirana

Season	Champion
1975	Partizani Tirana
1976	Partizani Tirana
1977	Partizani Tirana
1978	Partizani Tirana
1979	Partizani Tirana(**)
1980	Partizani Tirana
1981	Partizani Tirana
1982	Partizani Tirana
1983	Partizani Tirana
1984	Partizani Tirana
1985	Partizani Tirana
1986	Partizani Tirana
1987	Partizani Tirana
1988	Partizani Tirana

Season	Champion
1989	Partizani Tirana(***)
1990	BC Vllaznia
1991	Partizani Tirana
1992	Partizani Tirana
1993	BC Vllaznia
1994	BC Adelin Pogradec
1995	BC Dinamo Tirana
1996	Partizani Tirana
1997	BC Vllaznia
1998	BC Vllaznia
1999	PBC Tirana
2000	BC Vllaznia
2001	PBC Tirana
2002	PBC Tirana

Season	Champion	Runner-up	Score
2003	BC Valbona	PBC Tirana	3–0
2004	BC Valbona
2005	BC Valbona
2006	BC Valbona	BC Vllaznia	3–0
2007	BC Valbona	PBC Tirana	3–2
2008	PBC Tirana
2009	PBC Tirana
2010	PBC Tirana	Studenti	3–2
2011	PBC Tirana	U.A.T.	3–0
2012	PBC Tirana	BC Kamza Basket	3–0
2013	BC Kamza Basket	BC Vllaznia	3–0
2014	BC Vllaznia	PBC Tirana	3–0
2015	BC Vllaznia	PBC Tirana	2–0

All–time champions

Team	Titles	Years Won
BC Partizani Tirana	33	1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1996
PBC Tirana	18	1946, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1971, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
BC Vllaznia	8	1967, 1990, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2014, 2015
BC Kamza Basket*	6	2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2013
BC Durrës	2	1947, 1955
BC Adelin Pogradec	1	1994
BC Dinamo Tirana	1	1995

• BC Kamza Basket won the title 5 times between 2003-2007 as BC Valbona.

See also

• Albanian Basketball Cup
• Albanian Basketball Supercup