Kategoria superiore

The Albanian Superliga, the highest level of association football in Albania, was founded in 1930 under the name Kategoria e Parë (First Division).

At its inception, six teams competed for the league title. In the 1998–1999 season it became the 'Kategoria superiore' with sixteen teams participating; in 1999–2000 that number was reduced to 14. Since the 2006–2007 season, 14 teams play in the Superliga.

History
The First Division in Albanian football was founded in 1930. Like many countries though, a Premier Division (Superliga) has been founded since then and First Division is now the second level in Albanian football. This became the case in 1998. The league has been dominated by clubs from Albania's capital city, Tirana, with only fourteen titles going elsewhere in the country. Nine of those fourteen titles have gone to Vllaznia Shkodër.

Competition format
There are 12 clubs in the Superior League. During the course of the season (from August to May) each club plays the others twice (a double round robin system), once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 24 games. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then head-to-head record, then goal difference, and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points are crowned champions. If points are equal, the head-to head record and then goal difference determine the winner. The two lowest placed teams are relegated to the Albanian First Division and the top two teams from the Albanian First Division, together with the winner of play-offs involving the third and fourth Albanian First Division clubs, are promoted in their place.

Qualification for European competitions
As of the start of the 2010–11 Albanian Superliga season qualification for European competitions is as follows: champions qualify for the 2nd round of the Champions League, second and third place qualifies for the 1st qualifying round of the Europa League.


 * 42 RedDownArrow.svg (41) 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein Football Cup (4.000)
 * 43 Green-Up-Arrow.svg (47) 🇲🇪 Montenegrin First League (3.875)
 * 44 Disc Plain yellow dark.svg (44) 🇦🇱 Albanian Superliga (3.874)
 * 45 RedDownArrow.svg (43) 🇪🇪 Meistriliiga (3.791)
 * 46 Disc Plain yellow dark.svg (46) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Welsh Premier League (2.790)

The Golden Star
In 1958, based on an idea of Umberto Agnelli, the honor of Golden Star for Sports Excellence ("Stella d’Oro al Merito Sportivo" in Italian) was introduced to recognize sides that have won multiple championships or other honours by the display of gold stars on their team crests and jerseys. However, the Golden Star is not officially awarded by the FSHF and is voluntarily added to team jerseys by the respective team. In Albania, the practice is to award one star for ten titles. The first team to adopt a star was Partizani Tirana in Albania, who added a star above their crest in 1958 to represent their tenth Kategoria Superiore title. In 2000, KF Tirana received their second golden star for having won their 20th league title.

The current officially-sanctioned Serie A stars are:
 * KF Tirana, received in 1968 and 2000.
 * Partizani Tirana, received in 1963.
 * Dinamo Tirana, received in 1973.

Competition format
The Albanian Superliga consists of twelve teams. Each team plays each of the other sides three times for a total of 33 games. A draw at the start of the season determines the fixtures and who gets the advantage over an opponent by playing two home games against them. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference, and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points has won the championship. The first three teams earn the right to compete in European competitions, with the champion entering UEFA Champions League at the Second Qualifying Round and the other two teams entering UEFA Europa League, at the First Qualifying Round. Teams that finish in the bottom two places at the end of the season are relegated to First Division and are replaced by two other clubs from that division for the following season.

Teams for the 2011–12 season

 * Albanian Superliga