2015–16 Kategoria Superiore

The 2015–16 Kategoria Superiore was the 77th season of the top Albanian professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1930. It was organised by the Albanian Football Association and it was the 13th season under the name Kategoria Superiore, which took over from the Albanian National Championship in 2003. The season began on 21 August 2015 and concluded on 18 May 2016.

Kategoria Superiore

Season	2015–16
Dates	21 August 2015 – 18 May 2016
Champions	Skënderbeu 7th Albanian title
Relegated	Bylis Tërbuni
Champions League	Skënderbeu[note 1] Partizani
Europa League	Partizani Kukësi Teuta
Matches played	180
Goals scored	395 (2.19 per match)
Top goalscorer	Hamdi Salihi (27 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Alban Hoxha (19 clean sheets)
Biggest home win	Flamurtari 7–0 Tërbuni (4 October 2015) Skënderbeu 6–1 Laçi (4 May 2016)
Biggest away win	Tërbuni 0–4 Vllaznia (9 March 2016)
Highest scoring	Flamurtari 7–0 Tërbuni (4 October 2015)
Longest winning run	9 games Partizani
Longest unbeaten run	16 games Partizani
Longest winless run	14 games Tërbuni
Longest losing run	5 games Tërbuni Flamurtari
← 2014–15 2016–17 → All statistics correct as of 24 November 2016.

Skënderbeu began the season as defending champions of the 2014–15 season. Bylis and Tërbuni entered as the two promoted teams from the 2014–15 Albanian First Division, but they were both relegated at the end of the season.

Hamdi Salihi of Skënderbeu won the scoring title with 27 goals in 30 games. Alban Hoxha of Partizani led the league with 19 clean sheets in 32 games. Gugash Magani of Flamurtari and then Teuta won the Manager of the Season award.

Bylis, the 2014–15 Kategoria e Parë champion, returns to the top level after just one year of absence.

Bylis

Flamurtari

Kukësi

Laçi

Partizani

Skënderbeu

Teuta

Tërbuni

Tirana

Vllaznia

Locations of the 2015–16 Kategoria Superiore teams

Team	Home city	Stadium	Capacity	2014–15 season
Bylis	Ballsh	Adush Muça Stadium	5,200	Kategoria e Parë
Flamurtari	Vlorë	Flamurtari Stadium	8,200	6th
Kukësi	Kukës	Zeqir Ymeri Stadium	5,000	2nd
Laçi	Laç	Laçi Stadium	2,300	5th
Partizani	Tirana	Qemal Stafa Stadium	12,800	3rd
Skënderbeu	Korçë	Skënderbeu Stadium	5,724	Champions
Teuta	Durrës	Niko Dovana Stadium	12,040	8th
Tirana	Tirana	Selman Stërmasi Stadium	9,600	4th
Tërbuni	Pukë	Ismail Xhemali Stadium	1,950	Kategoria e Parë
Vllaznia	Shkodër	Reshit Rusi Stadium(2)	1,200	7th

• (2) Vllaznia played the majority of their 2015–16 home games at the Reshit Rusi Stadium in Shkodër. The club's normal home ground, the Loro Boriçi Stadium was undergoing reconstruction.

Stadiums

Bylis	Flamurtari	Kukësi	Laçi	Partizani
Adush Muça Stadium	Flamurtari Stadium	Zeqir Ymeri Stadium	Laçi Stadium	Qemal Stafa Stadium
Capacity: 5,200	Capacity: 8,200	Capacity: 5,000	Capacity: 2,300	Capacity: 19,700
Skënderbeu	Teuta	Tirana	Tërbuni	Vllaznia
Skënderbeu Stadium	Niko Dovana Stadium	Selman Stërmasi Stadium	Ismail Xhemali Stadium	Reshit Rusi Stadium
Capacity: 5,724	Capacity: 12,040	Capacity: 9,600	Capacity: 1,950	Capacity: 1,200

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	President	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Bylis	Agron Kapllanaj	Adnan Zildžović	Maringlen Shoshi	Nike	—
Flamurtari	Sinan Idrizi	Zekirija Ramadani	Bruno Telushi	Nike	TRK/Atlasjet
Kukësi	Safet Gjici	Klodian Duro	Rrahman Hallaçi	Nike	Kevin Construction
Laçi	Pashk Laska	Ramadan Ndreu	Stipe Buljan	Nike	Top Sport
Partizani	Gazment Demi	Andrea Agostinelli	Alban Hoxha	Nike	—
Skënderbeu	Ardian Takaj	Mirel Josa	Bledi Shkëmbi	Nike	Ama Cafè
Teuta	Edmond Hasanbelliu	Gugash Magani	Bledjan Rizvani	Nike	Caffè Pascucci
Tirana	Refik Halili	Ilir Daja	Ervin Bulku	Nike	–
Tërbuni	Grand Frroku	Viktor Gjoni	Abaz Karakaçi	Nike	AML Leonard
Vllaznia	Bashkia Shkodër	Armando Cungu	Ndriçim Shtubina	Nike	–

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Partizani	Shpëtim Duro	End of contract	29 May 2015	Pre-season	Sulejman Starova	30 May 2015
Tirana	Ndubuisi Egbo	End of tenure as a caretaker	30 May 2015		Shkëlqim Muça	30 May 2015
Teuta	Gentian Begeja	End of contract	31 May 2015		Gugash Magani	1 June 2015
Bylis	Roland Nenaj	End of contract	31 May 2015		Agim Canaj	28 July 2015
Flamurtari	Ernestino Ramella	Mutual consent	31 May 2015		Stanislav Levý	6 July 2015
Kukësi	Miodrag Radanović	Mutual consent	14 June 2015		Marcello Troisi	15 June 2015
Tërbuni	Elvis Plori	End of contract	14 June 2015		Samuel Nikaj	11 July 2015

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Skënderbeu[a] (C)	36	25	4	7	73	27	+46	79
2	Partizani	36	21	11	4	51	21	+30	74	Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3	Kukësi	36	18	9	9	41	25	+16	63[b]	Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[c]
4	Teuta	36	18	9	9	43	28	+15	63[b]
5	Tirana	36	13	14	9	37	25	+12	53
6	Vllaznia	36	11	6	19	36	42	−6	39
7	Laçi	36	8	12	16	30	48	−18	36
8	Flamurtari[d]	36	9	11	16	34	44	−10	35
9	Bylis (R)	36	8	8	20	27	53	−26	32	Relegation to the 2016–17 Kategoria e Parë
10	Tërbuni (R)	36	4	6	26	22	81	−59	18

Source: Albanian Football Association (in Albanian), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Head-to-head goals scored; 5) Goal difference; 6) Goals scored; 7) Draw.^[4]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Skënderbeu would have qualified for the Champions League second qualifying round, but were excluded from participating in the 2016–17 European competitions by UEFA for match-fixing.^[1][2]
2. Kukësi ahead of Teuta on head-to-head record; Kukësi–Teuta 3–0, Teuta–Kukësi 1–0, Kukësi–Teuta 2–2, Teuta–Kukësi 0–0.
3. Kukësi qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2015–16 Albanian Cup.
4. Flamurtari were deducted three points.^[3]

Results

Each team plays every opponent four times, twice at home and twice away, for a total of 36 games.

First half of season Home \ Away BYL FLA KUK LAÇ PAR SKË TËR TEU TIR VLL Bylis 2–3 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–4 0–2 2–1 0–1 3–1 Flamurtari 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 3–1 7–0 0–1 0–2 2–0 Kukësi 2–0 1–0 1–0 0–1 2–1 1–0 3–0 0–1 1–0 Laçi 3–1 2–1 1–1 2–3 0–3 4–0 2–2 1–1 2–0 Partizani 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 2–1 4–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 Skënderbeu 4–0 2–0 1–0 4–0 1–0 4–0 2–2 2–1 3–1 Tërbuni 4–2 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–2 0–2 0–1 1–2 0–3 Teuta 3–0 3–1 1–0 0–1 0–1 0–1 3–1 0–0 2–0 Tirana 0–0 1–1 2–1 0–0 0–0 1–2 3–0 2–0 0–0 Vllaznia 3–2 4–0 1–1 0–1 1–2 0–1 2–0 0–1 1–1 Source: Albanian Football Association Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Second half of season Home \ Away BYL FLA KUK LAÇ PAR SKË TËR TEU TIR VLL Bylis 0–0 0–2 1–0 0–2 1–1 4–0 0–1 0–0 0–1 Flamurtari 0–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–0 2–1 2–0 Kukësi 3–0 4–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 2–2 2–1 0–0 Laçi 0–1 1–2 1–1 0–0 0–2 0–0 1–2 0–3 3–2 Partizani 1–2 1–1 1–0 2–0 1–1 4–0 1–2 2–0 3–0 Skënderbeu 3–0 5–1 3–1 6–1 0–1 2–3 1–0 1–0 2–1 Tërbuni 0–1 0–2 1–2 1–1 0–0 1–3 1–4 1–3 0–4 Teuta 1–0 1–1 0–0 3–0 0–2 1–1 2–1 0–0 1–0 Tirana 2–0 0–0 1–1 1–0 2–2 0–1 3–0 0–0 1–0 Vllaznia 1–0 2–1 1–2 0–0 1–1 1–0 2–0 0–2 3–1 Source: Albanian Football Association Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

As of matches played on 21 May 2016.^[5]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Hamdi Salihi	Skënderbeu	27
2	Xhevahir Sukaj	Partizani	21
3	James Adeniyi	Laçi/Skënderbeu	15
4	Elis Bakaj	Tirana	14
5	Peter Olayinka	Skënderbeu	10
	Izair Emini	Kukësi
7	Artur Magani	Teuta	9
7	Mateus Lima	Kukësi	7
	Emiljano Musta	Teuta
	Ardit Hoxhaj	Bylis
10	Eraldo Çinari	Vllaznia	6
	Erick Flores	Kukësi
	Valdan Nimani	Laçi
	Stevan Račić	Partizani
	Ndriçim Shtubina	Vllaznia
	Bruno Telushi	Flamurtari

Hat-tricks

Main article: List of Albanian Superliga hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date	Ref
Hamdi Salihi	Skënderbeu	Flamurtari	5–2	20 March 2016	[6]
Elis Bakaj	Tirana	Tërbuni	3–0	3 April 2016	[7]
Xhevahir Sukaj	Partizani	Tërbuni	4–0	30 April 2016	[8]

Clean sheets

As of matches played on 21 May 2016.^[5]

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Alban Hoxha	Partizani Tirana	19
2	Edvan Bakaj	Tirana	17
3	Orges Shehi	Skënderbeu Korçë	16
4	Shpëtim Moçka	Teuta Durrës	15
5	Ervis Koçi	Kukësi	10
	Andrija Dragojević	Vllaznia Shkodër
7	Stivi Frashëri	Tirana/Bylis Ballsh	9
8	Argjent Halili	Flamurtari Vlorë	8
9	Enea Koliqi	Kukësi	7

Discipline

As of 21 May 2016

Player

• Most yellow cards: 12^[5]
  • Orgest Gava (Bylis)
  • Kristi Vangjeli (Skënderbeu)

• Most red cards: 3^[5]
  • Bruno Telushi (Flamurtari)

Club

• Most yellow cards: 97^[5]
  • Bylis

• Most red cards: 6^[5]
  • Flamurtari

Attendances

Club	Lowest attendance	Highest attendance	Average attendance
Partizani	1,000	10,031	3,009
KF Tirana	2,000	11,734	2,993
Skënderbeu	500	4,200	2,731
FK Kukësi	531	5,110	1,957
Flamurtari	70	3,000	1,215
Teuta	150	1,700	940
Vllaznia	2,500	8,000	5,550
KF Laçi	300	1,800	828
Bylis	300	1,800	828
Tërbuni	300	1,800	828

Notes

1. Partizani were transferred to the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round following the exclusion of Skënderbeu Korçë by UEFA for match-fixing.