KF Egnatia Rrogozhinë (Albanian: Klubi i Futbollit Egnatia Rrogozhinë), commonly referred to as KF Egnatia, is an Albanian professional football club based in Rrogozhinë. The club competes in the Abissnet Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. Their home ground is Egnatia Arena, which has a capacity of 4,000 spectators.
The club was founded on 15 September 1934 under the name 22 Shtatori Rrogozhinë, and in 1991, the name of the club was changed to Vullneti Rrogozhinë, before renaming to its current name KS Egnatiain 1998. The club secured its first championship title in 2024.
History
The passion and desire for the game of football was integrated into the hearts of local citizens and patriots since the early years of World War I. Rrogozhinë, being neighbours to Kavajë, a city with a long tradition in football on a national level, knew how to use this experience to its own advantage by forming initially an amateur level team which would later go on to compete in the second division of Albanian football. The very first match in club history was a friendly between Besa in 1934 which ended in a 1–7 loss. Mustafa Cara, a student of agronomy in Bari, Italy who had returned home for vacation (he was a player for Fidelis Andria, a Serie B club in Italy at the time), scored 5 goals for Besa.
Following the liberation of the country after World War II, the league structure changed by allowing only district level teams to compete in the top two divisions. This made it difficult for Rrogozhinë, a locality at the time, to compete on a national level.[2]
Previous club logo
Egnatia had one season in the top tier of Albanian football after winning promotion in summer 2004.[3] They were only relegated on the first attempt,[4] with Alfred Ferko succeeding Hysen Dedja and Petrit Haxhia as first team coach during the season.
Recent years
Egnatia were promoted back to the top flight of Albanian football, the Kategoria Superiore, for the second time in their history on 2 May 2021, following a 1–0 victory over local rivals Besa Kavajë in the Promotion Round of the 2020–21 Kategoria e Parë.[5] Under head coach Gugash Magani, they finished top of Group B during the regular season and qualified for the Promotion Round, where they also finished top, securing their place in the championship final held on 21 May 2021 against the winners of Group A, Dinamo Tirana, where they won 1–0 through a stoppage-time winner from Ndriçim Shtubina.[6][7][8]
The club has played at the existing site of Egnatia Arena, since the team's foundation, the capacity of which was around 1,200, with one small main stand locate to the south. The stadium was originally name Rrogozhina Stadium and was also later known as the Egnatia Stadium as well as the Hasan Zyla Stadium.
The club broke ground on the newly named Arena Egnatia on the existing site of the stadium on 17 February 2021, with the club in pole position to achieve promotion to the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football.[9][10]
In May 2024, it was announced that the club had started working on building the new stand opposite the main Demrozi Stadium stand, to be named posthumously after former player Raphael Dwamena who died playing for the club the previous season. The club was also looking to secure land near the city of Rrogozhinë to build a new training complex in order to move from their existing ground in Lekaj.[11]
Since the Kategoria Superiore began in 2004, KF Egnatia have played 146 Superliga matches, scored 154 goals and conceded 167. The club has collected so far 178 points, won 48 games, drawn 38 and lost 60. The club's goal difference is -13.
League: P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; Pts = Points won; Pos = Final position;
Cup / Europe: PR = Preliminary round; QR = Qualifying round; R1 = First round; R2 = Second round; Group = Group stage; QF = Quarter-final; SF = Semi-final; RU = Runner-up; W = Competition won;
Players
First-team squad
As of 2 October 2024
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
