2020–21 Kategoria e Parë

Kategoria e Parë
Season	2020–21
Champions	Egnatia; 2nd title
Promoted	Dinamo Tirana; Egnatia
Relegated	Elbasani; Flamurtari; Oriku; Partizani B; Veleçiku
Matches played	173
Goals scored	433 (2.5 per match)
Top goalscorer	Mikel Canka; (15 goals)
Biggest home win	Pogradeci 5−0 Elbasani; (5 December 2020)
Biggest away win	Partizani B 2−6 Besëlidhja; (7 November 2020); Veleçiku 0−4 Burreli; (6 February 2021); Vora 1−5 Korabi; (15 May 2021)
Highest scoring	Besëlidhja 4−4 Erzeni; (26 May 2021); Partizani B 2−6 Besëlidhja; (7 November 2020)
Longest winning run	5 matches; Dinamo Tirana; Pogradeci
Longest unbeaten run	13 matches; Egnatia
Longest winless run	16 matches; Elbasani
Longest losing run	12 matches; Elbasani
	← 2019–20 2021–22 →

The 2020–21 Kategoria e Parë was the 73rd official season of the Albanian football second-tier since its establishment. The season began on 4 November 2020 and ended on 26 May 2021.^[1] There were 18 teams competing this season, split in 2 groups, each with 9 teams. The 2 winners of each group gained promotion to the 2021-22 Kategoria Superiore, and played the division's final against each other. The runners-up of each group played a play-off match between them. The winners of the play-off played another promotion play-off match against the 8th ranked team of the 2020–21 Kategoria Superiore. Dinamo Tirana and Egnatia were promoted to the 2021–22 Kategoria Superiore. Elbasani, Flamurtari, Oriku, Partizani B and Veleçiku were relegated to the 2021–22 Kategoria e Dytë. Egnatia won their second Kategoria e Parë title on 22 May 2021 after beating Dinamo Tirana in the final match.

Changes from last season

Team changes

From Kategoria e Parë

Promoted to Kategoria Superiore:

Relegated to Kategoria e Dytë:

To Kategoria e Parë

Relegated from Kategoria Superiore:

Promoted from Kategoria e Dytë:

Locations

2020–21 Kategoria e Parë Group A teams.

2020–21 Kategoria e Parë Group B teams.

Stadia by capacity and locations

Group A

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Besëlidhja	Lezhë	Brian Filipi Stadium	5,000
Burreli	Burrel	Liri Ballabani Stadium	2,500
Dinamo Tirana	Tirana	Internacional Complex	1,000
Erzeni	Shijak	Tofik Jashari Stadium	4,000
Korabi	Peshkopi	Korabi Stadium	6,000
Oriku	Orikum	Fusha Sportive Orikum	2,000
Partizani B	Tirana	Internacional Complex	1,000
Veleçiku	Koplik	Reshit Rusi Stadium	1,200
Vora	Vorë	Internacional Complex	1,000

Group B

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Besa	Kavajë	Luz i Vogël Stadium	600
Egnatia	Rrogozhinë	Shkumbini Stadium	9,000
Elbasani	Elbasan	Nexhip Trungu Stadium	6,600
Flamurtari	Vlorë	Flamurtari Stadium	8,500
Luftëtari	Gjirokastër	Gjirokastra Stadium	8,400
Lushnja	Lushnjë	Roza Haxhiu Stadium	8,500
Pogradeci	Pogradec	Gjorgji Kyçyku Stadium	10,700
Tomori	Berat	Tomori Stadium	14,450
Turbina	Cërrik	Nexhip Trungu Stadium	6,600

First phase

Group A

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Burreli	16	10	4	2	26	10	+16	34	Qualification to the Promotion round
2	Korabi	16	10	3	3	17	8	+9	33
3	Dinamo Tirana	16	10	2	4	23	9	+14	32
4	Vora	16	6	3	7	10	18	−8	21
5	Besëlidhja	16	5	5	6	19	17	+2	20	Qualification to the Relegation round
6	Erzeni	16	5	4	7	15	13	+2	19
7	Partizani B	16	3	6	7	14	25	−11	15
8	Oriku	16	4	3	9	7	15	−8	15
9	Veleçiku	16	2	4	10	10	26	−16	10

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) draw. (Head-to-head record is applied for clubs with the same number of points only once all matches between said clubs have been played.)

Results

Home \ Away	BSË	BUR	DIN	ERZ	KOR	ORI	PAR	VEL	VOR
Besëlidhja	—	0–0	4–3	1–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	3–0	3–1
Burreli	1–0	—	0–0	1–0	3–0	2–0	2–1	5–2	1–0
Dinamo Tirana	2–0	2–0	—	1–2	1–0	2–0	3–0	1–0	3–0
Erzeni	0–0	2–2	0–2	—	0–1	2–0	0–1	2–0	2–0
Korabi	2–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	—	1–0	1–1	2–1	4–0
Oriku	2–0	1–1	0–1	1–0	1–0	—	0–2	1–0	1–2
Partizani B	2–6	1–3	1–2	0–3	1–1	0–0	—	1–1	1–1
Veleçiku	1–1	0–4	0–0	2–2	0–1	1–0	1–2	—	1–0
Vora	2–1	0–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	—

Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Group B

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Egnatia	14	9	4	1	25	5	+20	31	Qualification to the Promotion round
2	Tomori	14	9	2	3	23	11	+12	29
3	Pogradeci	14	9	1	4	24	14	+10	28
4	Besa	14	6	3	5	19	13	+6	21
5	Lushnja	14	5	4	5	16	20	−4	19	Qualification to the Relegation round
6	Turbina	14	4	6	4	14	16	−2	18
7	Flamurtari	14	3	1	10	7	20	−13	10
8	Elbasani	14	0	1	13	5	34	−29	1
9	Luftëtari	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Dissolved

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) draw. (Head-to-head record is applied for clubs with the same number of points only once all matches between said clubs have been played.)

Results

Home \ Away	BES	EGN	ELB	FLA	LUS	POG	TOM	TUR
Besa	—	0–0	4–0	2–0	1–1	2–1	0–2	2–0
Egnatia	3–1	—	3–0	3–0	1–1	0–0	2–0	4–1
Elbasani	1–2	0–3	—	0–1	0–1	1–2	1–3	0–0
Flamurtari	0–3	1–2	1–0	—	0–1	0–1	3–0	0–0
Lushnja	2–1	0–3	3–1	1–0	—	0–3	1–1	2–2
Pogradeci	2–1	0–1	5–0	2–1	3–2	—	1–0	2–0
Tomori	1–0	1–0	4–0	4–0	2–0	2–1	—	1–1
Turbina	0–0	0–0	2–1	1–0	2–1	4–1	1–2	—

Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Second phase

Promotion round

Group A

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Dinamo Tirana (P)	22	15	2	5	32	13	+19	47	Promotion to 2021–22 Kategoria Superiore
2	Burreli	22	13	5	4	35	15	+20	44	Play-off promotion to 2021–22 Kategoria Superiore
3	Korabi	22	13	4	5	28	14	+14	43
4	Vora	22	6	3	13	14	36	−22	21

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) draw. (Head-to-head record is applied for clubs with the same number of points only once all matches between said clubs have been played.)
(P) Promoted

Results

Home \ Away	BUR	DIN	KOR	VOR
Burreli	—	2–1	0–1	3–1
Dinamo Tirana	1–0	—	1–0	2–1
Korabi	1–1	1–2	—	3–1
Vora	0–3	0–2	1–5	—

Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Group B

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Egnatia (C, P)	20	14	4	2	36	10	+26	46	Promotion to 2021–22 Kategoria Superiore
2	Tomori	20	12	4	4	36	20	+16	40	Play-off promotion to 2021–22 Kategoria Superiore
3	Pogradeci	20	10	3	7	32	26	+6	33
4	Besa	20	7	3	10	26	26	0	24

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) draw. (Head-to-head record is applied for clubs with the same number of points only once all matches between said clubs have been played.)
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Results

Home \ Away	BES	EGN	POG	TOM
Besa	—	0–2	1–2	2–4
Egnatia	1–0	—	4–2	2–1
Pogradeci	1–3	0–1	—	2–2
Tomori	3–1	2–1	1–1	—

Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Relegation round

Group A

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Relegation
5	Besëlidhja	24	10	6	8	32	26	+6	36
6	Erzeni	24	9	7	8	29	22	+7	34
7	Oriku (R)	24	9	4	11	18	21	−3	31	Play-out relegation to 2021–22 Kategoria e Dytë
8	Partizani B^[a] (D)	24	6	6	12	26	38	−12	24	Dissolved after the season
9	Veleçiku (R)	24	2	5	17	17	46	−29	11	Relegation to 2021–22 Kategoria e Dytë

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) draw. (Head-to-head record is applied for clubs with the same number of points only once all matches between said clubs have been played.)
(D) Dissolved after the season; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ Partizani B was dissolved after the season due to the foundation of the U21 Albanian Championship.

Results

Home \ Away	BSË	ERZ	PAR	ORI	VEL
Besëlidhja	—	4–4	3–1	1–0	2–1
Erzeni	2–0	—	2–1	0–0	2–2
Partizani B	0–1	1–2	—	0–1	4–2
Oriku	1–0	1–0	2–3	—	3–0
Veleçiku	0–2	0–2	0–2	2–3	—

Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Group B

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Relegation
5	Lushnja	20	7	7	6	21	25	−4	28
6	Turbina	20	6	7	7	23	24	−1	25
7	Flamurtari^[a] (R)	20	5	2	13	14	30	−16	14	Play-out relegation to 2021–22 Kategoria e Dytë
8	Elbasani (R)	20	3	2	15	13	40	−27	11	Relegation to 2021–22 Kategoria e Dytë

Source: Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) draw. (Head-to-head record is applied for clubs with the same number of points only once all matches between said clubs have been played.)
(R) Relegated
Notes:

^ Flamurtari were deducted 3 points for failing to fulfill financial obligations.

Results

Home \ Away	ELB	FLA	LUS	TUR
Elbasani	—	2–0	0–1	4–3
Flamurtari	0–1	—	2–0	3–1
Lushnja	1–1	2–2	—	1–0
Turbina	1–0	4–0	0–0	—

Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Final

22 May 2021

17:00

Dinamo Tirana	0−1	Egnatia
		Shtubina 90+3'

Elbasan Arena, Elbasan

Referee: Blerim Ziri

Promotion play-off

26 May 2021

16:00

Burreli	1−2	Tomori
Raboshta 66' (pen.)		Canka 32' Barjamaj 55'

Elbasan Arena, Elbasan

Tomori qualified to the final play-off match.

Relegation play-offs

5 June 2021

16:00

Oriku	0−1	Butrinti
		Gurma 22'

Selman Stërmasi Stadium, Tirana

Referee: Albano Stolaj

Butrinti was promoted to the Kategoria e Parë, while Oriku was relegated to the Kategoria e Dytë.

6 June 2021

16:00

Flamurtari	0−0 (a.e.t.)	Tërbuni

Penalties
Diamanti Balilaj Kreshpa Moçka Ribaj	4−5	Miloti Zagani Metani Keko Mezini

Elbasan Arena, Elbasan

Referee: Olsi Sokoli

Tërbuni was promoted to the Kategoria e Parë, while Flamurtari was relegated to the Kategoria e Dytë.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Mikel Canka	Tomori	15
2	Xhuliano Skuka	Korabi	14
3	Artur Magani	Egnatia	11
4	Ndriçim Shtubina	Egnatia	10
5	Maranhão	Dinamo Tirana	9
5	Moustapha Djidjiwa	Dinamo Tirana	9
7	Brunild Pepa	Tomori	8
	Gersi Diamanti	Flamurtari
	Odeon Bërdufi	Partizani B

References

^ "Komiteti Ekzekutiv përcakton datat e sezonit 2020-2021". 20 August 2020.

[table_note_PAR0.69688418214064-2] Partizani B was dissolved after the season due to the foundation of the U21 Albanian Championship.

[table_note_FLA0.78326924135129-3] Flamurtari were deducted 3 points for failing to fulfill financial obligations.

[1] "Komiteti Ekzekutiv përcakton datat e sezonit 2020-2021". 20 August 2020.

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