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Albanian Basketball League (ABL)
Current season, competition or edition:; 2023–24 Albanian Basketball League
Sport	Basketball
Founded	1946
First season	1946
Divisions	Superliga & First Division
No. of teams	11
Country	Albania
Continent	FIBA Europe (Europe)
Most recent; champion(s)	Besëlidhja (1st title) ; (2023–24)
Most titles	Partizani ; (33 titles)
TV partner(s)	RTSH
Level on pyramid	1st & 2nd
Relegation to	Albanian First League
Related; competitions	Albanian Cup; Albanian Supercup
Official website	https://fshb.basketball/

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.^[1]^[2]

History

The Albanian Basketball League is 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

Superliga (2022–23)

Club	Location	Founded	Arena	Capacity
Apolonia	Fier	1925	Fier Sports Palace	680
Besëlidhja Basket	Lezhë	2020	Asllan Rusi Sports Palace	4,000
Kamza	Kamëz	1962	Bathore Sports Hall	500
Teuta	Durrës	1925	Ramazan Njala Sports Palace	1,663
Tirana	Tirana	1946	Farie Hoti Sports Palace	1,200
Vllaznia	Shkodër	1919	Qazim Dërvishi Sports Palace	1,101

First Division (2022–23)

Club	Location	Founded	Arena	Capacity
Partizani	Tirana	1946	Asllan Rusi Sports Palace	4,000
Elbasani	Elbasan	1930	Tomorr Sinani Sports Palace	2,130
Flamurtari	Vlorë	1924	Flamurtari Sports Palace	2,040
Skëndërbeu	Korçë	1924	Tamara Nikolla Sports Palace	2,400

Winners

Key
(*)	The team wins its 10th title
(**)	The team wins its 20th title
(***)	The team wins its 30th title

Season	Champion
1945–46	17 Nëntori
1946–47	Ylli Kuq
1947–48	17 Nëntori
1948–49	17 Nëntori
1949–50	17 Nëntori
1950–51	Partizani
1951–52	Partizani
1952–53	Partizani
1953–54	Partizani
1954–55	Teuta
1955–56	Partizani
1956–57	Tirana
1957–58	Partizani
1958–59	Partizani

Season	Champion
1959–60	Partizani
1960–61	17 Nëntori
1961–62	17 Nëntori
1962–63	17 Nëntori
1963–64	Partizani
1964–65	17 Nëntori
1966–67	Vllaznia
1967–68	Partizani(*)
1968–69	Partizani
1969–70	Partizani
1970–71	17 Nëntori(*)
1971–72	Partizani
1972–73	Partizani
1973–74	Partizani

Season	Champion
1974–75	Partizani
1975–76	Partizani
1976–77	Partizani
1977–78	Partizani
1978–79	Partizani(**)
1979–80	Partizani
1980–81	Partizani
1981–82	Partizani
1982–83	Partizani
1983–84	Partizani
1984–85	Partizani
1985–86	Partizani
1986–87	Partizani
1987–88	Partizani

Season	Champion
1988–89	Partizani(***)
1989–90	Vllaznia
1990–91	Partizani
1991–92	Partizani
1992–93	Vllaznia
1993–94	BC Adelin Pogradec
1994–95	Dinamo
1995–96	Partizani
1996–97	Vllaznia
1997–98	Vllaznia
1998–99	Tirana
1999–00	Vllaznia
2000–01	Tirana
2001–02	Tirana

Season	Champion	Runner-up	Score
2002–03	Valbona	Tirana	3–0
2003–04	Valbona
2004–05	Valbona
2005–06	Valbona	Vllaznia	3–0
2006–07	Valbona	Tirana	3–2
2007–08	Tirana
2008–09	Tirana
2009–10	Tirana	Studenti	3–2
2010–11	Tirana	UAT	3–0
2011–12	Tirana	Kamza	3–0
2012–13	Kamza	Vllaznia	3–0
2013–14	Vllaznia	Tirana	3–0
2014–15	Vllaznia	Tirana	2–0
2015–16	Vllaznia	Teuta	3–1
2016–17	Tirana	Vllaznia	3–0
2017–18	Tirana(**)	Teuta	3–2
2018–19	Goga	Teuta	3–2
2019–20	-	-	-
2020–21	Teuta	Goga	3–1
2021–22	Teuta	Vllaznia	3–1
2022–23	Tirana	Besëlidhja Basket	3–2
2023–24	Besëlidhja	Teuta	4–0

All–Time Champions

Team	Titles	Years Won
Partizani ⭐⭐⭐	33	1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1995–96
Tirana ⭐⭐	21	1946, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1957, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1970–71, 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2022–23
Vllaznia	9	1966–67, 1989–90, 1992–93, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16
Kamza* (BC Valbona)	6	2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2012–13
Teuta	4	1947, 1955, 2020–21, 2021–22
BC Adelin Pogradec	1	1993–94
Dinamo	1	1994–95
Goga	1	2018–19
Besëlidhja	1	2023–24