KF Shkëndija

For the Albanian football club, see KF Shkëndija Tiranë.

Shkëndija

Full name	Klubi i Futbollit Shkëndija Фудбалски Клуб Шкендија
Nickname(s)	Ballistët (The Ballists)
Founded	27 August 1979; 45 years ago (1979-08-27)
Ground	Ecolog Arena
Capacity	15,000
Chairman	Zamir Dika
Manager	Ardian Nuhiu
League	Macedonian First League
2023–24	2nd of 12
Website	kfshkendija.com
Home colours Away colours

Klubi i Futbollit Shkëndija (Macedonian: Фудбалски Клуб Шкендија, lit. 'Football Club Spark'), commonly known as Shkëndija, is a professional football club based in Tetovo, North Macedonia. Their home stadium is Ecolog Arena and they currently play in the Macedonian First League. In the 2010–11 season of the Macedonian First Football League, the club won its first major championship.

History

Establishment

KF Shkëndija was formed on 27 August 1979 by Macedonian Albanians from Tetovo.[1][2] Starting at the lowest division, the Municipal League, KF Shkëndija played their first match against FK Kosmos, winning 4–0.[3]

Re-establishment

In the 2010–11 season of the Macedonian First Football League the club won its first major championship with an unbeaten run of 16 games.[4] On 20 May 2012, Shkëndija handed FK Vardar its first loss of the season with a 1–0 victory.[5]

The Ecolog era

City Stadium in 2008 prior to 2015-2017 renovations

During the 2012–13 season, Shkëndija was embroiled in financial difficulties and as a result, many of its players left the club earlier in the summer. The Shkëndija supporters, the Ballistët, began a social media campaign requesting Ecolog to take over Shkëndija.[6] Albanian international, Lorik Cana and Swiss international, Xherdan Shaqiri also joined the campaign with the supporters.[6] On 31 July 2013, Lazim Destani, father of Ecolog founder and chairman, Nazif Destani, announced Ecolog International will take charge of Shkëndija.[6][7]Shpëtim Duro was named the manager Shkëndija shortly after Jovanovski was fired. He was first hired as a temporary caretaker manager for the club's the remaining 3 games before the long winter break, but signed a contract with the club to be the manager for the remainder of the 2013–14 season.[8][9]

Supporters

Main article: Ballistët

Supporters of the club are called the Ballistët.

Players

Current squad

As of 30 January 2025.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  ALB Aleksandër Trumçi 3 DF  ALB Almir Rexhepi 4 MF  MKD Reshat Ramadani (on loan from Dynamo Kyiv) 5 DF  ALB Klisman Cake 6 MF  NGA Adamu Alhassan 7 FW  MKD Besart Ibraimi (captain) 8 MF  MKD Florent Ramadani 9 FW  MKD Fiton Ademi 11 MF  JAM Ronaldo Webster 16 FW  CIV Daouda Bamba 17 MF  KOS Adenis Shala 19 MF  MKD Vane Krstevski 20 DF  MKD Stefan Kocev

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 DF  MKD Zija Merxhani 23 MF  MKD Arbin Kurti 24 GK  MKD Risto Jankov 25 GK  MKD Astrit Amzai 26 DF  MKD Anes Meliqi 27 MF  MKD Lorik Kaba Jakupi 28 MF  ALB Kamer Qaka 29 FW  SEN Fabrice Tamba 30 GK  MKD Ferat Ramani 38 MF  MKD Amir Nuhija 77 FW  ALB Liridon Latifi 85 DF  MKD Mevlan Adili

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 55 MF  MKD Oktaj Rakipi (at Besa 1976 until 31 December 2024)

Personnel

Current technical staff

As of 26 December 2023

Position	Name
Manager	Ardian Nuhiu
Assistant manager	Muharem Bajrami
Goalkeeping coach	Salajdin Mustafi
Fitness coach	Ivan Jovanovski
Conditioning coach	Andi Kulli
Juniors coach U19	Bekim Osmani
Cadets coach U18	Taxhedin Kasami
Pioneers U17	Agron Memedi
Youth Pioneers U16	Ismail Ismaili
Coordinator	Festim Ademi

Management

Position	Staff
Owner	Lazim Destani
President	Zamir Dika
Administration Director	Lulzim Imeri
Operations Director	Dritan Musliu
Sporting Director	Ardian Cuculi
Secretary	Erblir Luma

Honours

League

• Macedonian First League:
  • Champions (4): 2010–11, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21
  • Runners-up: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2023–24,
• Macedonian Second League:
  • Winners (3): 1995–96, 1999–2000, 2009–10
• Macedonian Third League:
  • Winners (1): 1993–94

Cups

• Macedonian Football Cup:
  • Winners (2): 2016, 2018
  • Runners-up: 2005–06, 2012–13, 2016–17
• Macedonian Football Supercup:
  • Winners (1): 2011[10]

Recent seasons

Season	League									Cup	European competitions
	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos
1992–93	OFL Tetovo	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	1st ↑
1993–94	3. MFL North	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	1st ↑
1994–95	2. MFL West	32	16	6	10	61	38	54	4th
1995–96	2. MFL West	30	19	6	5	65	23	63	1st ↑
1996–97	1. MFL	26	8	5	13	27	48	29	13th ↓	R2
1997–98	2. MFL West	30	11	7	12	32	36	40	9th
1998–99	2. MFL West	30	12	6	12	72	45	42	7th
1999–00	2. MFL West	34	24	5	5	97	21	78	1st ↑	R1
2000–01	1. MFL	26	9	1	16	34	49	28	12th ↓	SF
2001–02	2. MFL	did not participated							n/a	R1
2002–03	2. MFL	36	20	6	10	71	42	66	4th	PR
2003–04	2. MFL	32	19	5	8	69	44	62	2nd ↑	R2
2004–05	1. MFL	33	15	5	13	59	40	50	5th	R1
2005–06	1. MFL	33	15	4	14	48	47	49	5th	RU
2006–07	1. MFL	33	10	8	15	39	63	38	10th	R2
2007–08	1. MFL	33	7	5	21	26	58	26	11th ↓	R2
2008–09	2. MFL	29	15	10	4	67	29	55	3rd	SF
2009–10	2. MFL	26	20	3	3	57	15	57^(−6)	1st ↑	PR
2010–11	1. MFL	33	21	9	3	65	23	72	1st	R1
2011–12	1. MFL	33	20	6	7	53	28	66	3rd	R2	Champions League	QR2
2012–13	1. MFL	33	13	8	12	52	49	44^(−3)	5th	RU	Europa League	QR1
2013–14	1. MFL	33	16	9	8	53	32	57	4th	QF
2014–15	1. MFL	32	18	5	9	58	31	59	3rd	R2	Europa League	QR1
2015–16	1. MFL	32	23	6	3	74	24	75	2nd	W	Europa League	QR1
2016–17	1. MFL	36	20	10	6	71	39	70	2nd	RU	Europa League	PO
2017–18	1. MFL	36	28	4	3	101	27	91	1st	W	Europa League	PO
2018–19	1. MFL	36	24	7	5	80	29	79	1st	QF	Champions League Europa League	QR3 PO
2019–20^1	1. MFL	23	10	5	8	38	20	35	3rd	N/A	Champions League Europa League	QR1 QR2
2020–21	1. MFL	33	22	9	2	69	26	75	1st	QF	Europa League	QR3
2021–22	1. MFL	33	16	13	4	49	25	61	3rd	QF	Champions League Conference League	QR1 QR2
2022–23	1. MFL	30	16	9	5	43	23	57	3rd	SF	Conference League	QR3
2023–24	1. MFL	33	18	10	5	55	27	64	2nd	R2	Conference League	QR1

^1The 2019–20 season was abandoned due to the COVID-19 pandemic in North Macedonia.[11]

Shkëndija in Europe

Accurate as of 13 July 2023

Overview

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win%
UEFA Champions League	12	3	1	8	8	21	−13	025.00
UEFA Europa League	27	10	6	11	32	33	−1	037.04
UEFA Europa Conference League	9	4	3	2	12	9	+3	044.44
Total	48	17	10	21	52	63	−11	035.42

Matches

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2011–12	UEFA Champions League	2QR	Partizan	0–1	0–4	0–5
2012–13	UEFA Europa League	1QR	Portadown	0–0	1–2	1–2
2014–15	UEFA Europa League	1QR	Zimbru	2–1	0–2	2–3
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	1QR	Aberdeen	1–1	0–0	1–1 (a)
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	1QR	Cracovia	2–0	2–1	4–1
		2QR	Neftçi	1–0	0–0	1–0
		3QR	Mladá Boleslav	2–0	0–1	2–1
		PO	Gent	0–4	1–2	1–6
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	1QR	Dacia	3–0	4–0	7–0
		2QR	HJK	3–1	1–1	4–2
		3QR	Trakai	3–0	1–2	4–2
		PO	Milan	0–1	0–6	0–7
2018–19	UEFA Champions League	1QR	The New Saints	5–0	0−4	5–4
		2QR	Sheriff	1–0	0–0	1–0
		3QR	Red Bull Salzburg	0−1	0−3	0–4
	UEFA Europa League	PO	Rosenborg	0−2	1−3	1–5
2019–20	UEFA Champions League	1QR	Nõmme Kalju	1–2	1–0	2−2 (a)
	UEFA Europa League	2QR	F91 Dudelange	1–2	1–1	2−3
2020–21	UEFA Europa League	1QR	Sumgayit	—	2–0	—
		2QR	Botoșani	—	1–0	—
		3QR	Tottenham Hotspur	1–3	—	—
2021–22	UEFA Champions League	1QR	Mura	0–1	0−5	0–6
	UEFA Europa Conference League	2QR	Riga	0−1	0−2	0−3
2022–23	UEFA Europa Conference League	1QR	Ararat Yerevan	2–0	2–2	4–2
		2QR	Valmiera	3–1	2–1	5–2
		3QR	AIK	1–1 (a.e.t.)	1–1	2–2 (2–3 p)
2023–24	UEFA Europa Conference League	1QR	Haverfordwest County	1–0	0–1 (a.e.t.)	1–1 (2–3 p)
2024–25	UEFA Conference League	1QR	Noah	1–2	0–2	1–4

Notes

• 1QR: First qualifying round
• 2QR: Second qualifying round
• 3QR: Third qualifying round
• PO: Play-off round

UEFA club coefficient ranking

As of 4.09.2021, Source: [1]

Rank	Team	Points
113	Dundalk FC	9.500
114	Fenerbahçe SK	9.500
115	KF Shkëndija	9.000
116	RSC Anderlecht	9.000
117	OGC Nice	9.000

Top goalscorers in Europe

As of 20.07.2024, Source: kfshkendija.com

Rank	Name	Shkëndija Career	Goals
1	Besart Ibraimi	2015–2021, 2024–	16
2	Ferhan Hasani	2007–2012, 2015–2018, 2022–2023	7
3	Stênio Júnior	2014–2019	5
4	Agim Ibraimi	2005–2006, 2019–2020	4
5	Ljupcho Doriev	2020–2023	3
6	Sindrit Guri	2021–2022	2
	Valmir Nafiu	2010–2011, 2018–2023
	Marjan Radeski	2015–2020
	Adenis Shala	2021–
10	Armend Alimi	2014–2021	1
	Egzon Bejtulai	2013–2019, 2020–2023
	Klisman Cake	2022–
	Ivan Čeliković	2017
	Ardian Cuculi	2006–2014, 2015–2018, 2022–2023
	Izair Emini	2007–2012, 2017–2019
	Hristijan Kirovski	2014–2015
	Ivan Mitrov	2014–2015
	Florent Ramadani	2019–
	Bojan Vručina	2014–2016
	Arbin Zejnullai	2016–2021

Historical list of coaches

• Ajet Shosholli (1995 – 1996)
• Edmond Miha (1999)
• Zoran Smileski (Jul 1999 – Jun 2000)
• Idriz Sulejmani (2000 – 2001)
• Zoran Smileski (2001)
• Medin Zhega (2002)
• Buran Beadini (2003 – 2004)
• Iskender Junuzi (Jul 2004 – Nov 2004)
• Nexhat Huseini (28 Nov 2004 – Jun 2006)
• Edmond Miha (2006 – Apr 2007)
• Ibrahim Ljuma (14 Apr 2007 – Jun 2007)
• Qatip Osmani (Jul 2007 – Oct 2007)
• Zoran Smileski (28 Oct 2007 – Mar 2008)
• Borce Hristov (21 Mar 2008 – 1 May 2008)
• Ejup Sulejmani (2 May 2008 – )
• Zoran Stratev (Jan 2009 – Jun 2009)
• Qatip Osmani (Jul 2009 – Sep 2010)
• Edmond Miha (16 Sep 2010 – 1 Nov 2010)
• Qatip Osmani (6 Nov 2010 – 30 Sep 2011)
• Erhan Salimi (interim) (Oct 2011)
• Nexat Shabani (11 Oct 2011 – 20 Mar 2012)
• Qatip Osmani (21 Mar 2012 - 31 Jul 2012)
• Ibrahim Luma (interim) (Aug 2012)
• Artim Shaqiri (22 Aug 2012 – 4 Jul 2013)
• Gjore Jovanovski (1 Aug 2013 - 24 Nov 2013)
• Shpëtim Duro (24 Nov 2013 – 24 May 2014)
• Roy Ferenčina (6 Jun 2014 - 31 Aug 2014)
• Jeton Beqiri (interim) (Sep 2014)
• Ardian Kozniku (4 Sep 2014 – 27 Mar 2015)
• Jeton Beqiri (27 Mar 2015 - 25 May 2015)
• Shpëtim Duro (12 Jun 2015 - 22 Dec 2015)
• Bruno Akrapović (22 Dec 2015 – 27 Oct 2016)
• Jeton Beqiri (interim) (28 Oct 2016 - 31 Dec 2016)
• Thomas Brdarić (7 Jan 2017 - 10 May 2017)
• Erhan Salimi (interim) (May 2017)
• Qatip Osmani (Jun 2017 – Sep 2019)
• Erhan Salimi (interim) (Sep 2019 - Oct 2019)
• Ernest Gjoka (10 Oct 2019 – Aug 2021)
• Bruno Akrapović (2 Aug 2021 – 4 Apr 2022)
• Artim Shaqiri (Jun 2022 – Sep 2022)
• Qatip Osmani (Sep 2022 – May 2023)
• Ardian Nuhiu (Jun 2023 – present)

References

1. D. Nikolić. "Predstavljamo Škendiju, prvog Partizanovog rivala". Archived from the original on 23 June 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
2. "Škendija, šampion Makedonije". 20 June 2011. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
3. "Historiku". Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
4. "Shkendija Tetovo wins the Macedonian First League". Archived from the original on 30 November 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
5. "Macedonian First League – Round 32". Archived from the original on 22 November 2012. Retrieved 14 May 2012.
6. "Ecolog takes over Shkendija". Archived from the original on 10 March 2014. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
7. "Ecolog" shpëton Shkëndijën, tha po" (in Albanian). Archived from the original on 2 August 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
8. "Shpëtim Duro to caretake Shkendija". Archived from the original on 2 April 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
9. "Shpëtim Duro, trajneri i Shkëndijës së Tetovës". Archived from the original on 29 November 2018. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
10. Emil Gasevski. "Skendija lift Macedonian Super Cup". Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
11. "Вонредна седница на Управен одбор на Фудбалска федерација на Македонија: Прекин на натпреварувачката сезона 2019/2020". Фудбалска Федерација на Македонија. 4 June 2020. Archived from the original on 4 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.

External links

• Official website (in Albanian)
• Fan Website (in Albanian)
• KF Shkëndija on Facebook
• Club info at MacedonianFootball (in English)
• Supporters Website (in Albanian)
• Football Federation of Macedonia (in Macedonian)