1987–88 Albanian National Championship
# 1987–88 Albanian National Championship

The 1987–88 Albanian National Championship was the 49th season of the Albanian National Championship, the top professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1930.

## Overview

It was contested by 14 teams, and 17 Nëntori won the championship.

## First phase

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 17 Nëntori | 26 | 11 | 11 | 4 | 41 | 20 | +21 | 33 | Qualification for the Championship round |
| 2 | Flamurtari | 26 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 38 | 27 | +11 | 29 | Qualification for the Championship round |
| 3 | Labinoti | 26 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 22 | 19 | +3 | 29 | Qualification for the Championship round |
| 4 | Apolonia | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 36 | 28 | +8 | 28 | Qualification for the Championship round |
| 5 | Besa | 26 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 28 | 22 | +6 | 28 | Qualification for the Championship round |
| 6 | Vllaznia | 26 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 30 | 26 | +4 | 28 | Qualification for the Championship round |
| 7 | Besëlidhja | 26 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 24 | 28 | −4 | 28 | Qualification for the Relegation round |
| 8 | Lokomotiva Durrës | 26 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 27 | 28 | −1 | 27 | Qualification for the Relegation round |
| 9 | Partizani | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 38 | 34 | +4 | 26 | Qualification for the Relegation round |
| 10 | Skënderbeu | 26 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 17 | 26 | −9 | 26 | Qualification for the Relegation round |
| 11 | Dinamo Tirana | 26 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 33 | 32 | +1 | 25 | Qualification for the Relegation round |
| 12 | Luftëtari | 26 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 24 | Qualification for the Relegation round |
| 13 | Tomori (R) | 26 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 29 | 34 | −5 | 23 | Relegation to the 1988–89 Kategoria e Dytë |
| 14 | 31 Korriku (R) | 26 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 22 | 61 | −39 | 10 | Relegation to the 1988–89 Kategoria e Dytë |

Note 1: After the regular season, Tomori and 31 Korriku were relegated immediately, while the other 12 teams were divided in 2 groups in the final phase

### Results

| Home \ Away | 17N | 31K | APO | BES | BSL | DIN | FLA | LAB | LOK | LUF | PAR | SKË | TOM | VLL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 17 Nëntori | | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 3–1 |
| 31 Korriku | 1–4 | | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Apolonia | 1–2 | 1–0 | | 2–1 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Besa | 1–1 | 6–1 | 3–1 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Besëlidhja | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 |
| Dinamo | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 4–0 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 4–3 | 1–3 |
| Flamurtari | 1–0 | 6–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | 4–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Labinoti | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Lokomotiva | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Luftëtari | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Partizani | 1–1 | 5–2 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 5–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Skënderbeu | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Tomori | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | | 3–2 |
| Vllaznia | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | |

## Final phase

### Championship round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 17 Nëntori (C) | 36 | 18 | 12 | 6 | 59 | 29 | +30 | 48 | Qualification for the European Cup first round |
| 2 | Flamurtari | 36 | 15 | 11 | 10 | 55 | 38 | +17 | 41 | Qualification for the Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Labinoti | 36 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 31 | 33 | −2 | 39 | |
| 4 | Apolonia | 36 | 16 | 6 | 14 | 51 | 43 | +8 | 38 | |
| 5 | Besa | 36 | 11 | 13 | 12 | 38 | 36 | +2 | 35 | |
| 6 | Vllaznia | 36 | 13 | 8 | 15 | 40 | 42 | −2 | 34 | |

**Results**

| Home \ Away | 17N | APO | BES | FLA | LAB | VLL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 17 Nëntori | | 4–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Apolonia | 2–1 | | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 |
| Besa | 3–2 | 2–0 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| Flamurtari | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | | 3–0 | 4–1 |
| Labinoti | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | | 1–0 |
| Vllaznia | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | |

### Relegation round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 7 | Lokomotiva Durrës | 36 | 11 | 16 | 9 | 34 | 35 | −1 | 38 | |
| 8 | Besëlidhja | 36 | 12 | 14 | 10 | 38 | 42 | −4 | 38 | |
| 9 | Partizani | 36 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 51 | 44 | +7 | 37 | |
| 10 | Skënderbeu | 36 | 11 | 14 | 11 | 26 | 33 | −7 | 36 | |
| 11 | Dinamo Tirana (O) | 36 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 41 | 42 | −1 | 34 | Qualification for the relegation play-offs |
| 12 | Luftëtari (R) | 36 | 11 | 11 | 14 | 31 | 34 | −3 | 33 | Relegation to the 1988–89 Kategoria e Dytë |

Note 2: '17 Nëntori' is Tirana, 'Labinoti' is Elbasani, 'Lokomotiva Durrës' is Teuta

**Results**

| Home \ Away | BSL | DIN | LOK | LUF | PAR | SKË |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Besëlidhja | | 2–2 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Dinamo | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Lokomotiva | 2–2 | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Luftëtari | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Partizani | 0–2 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | | 1–1 |
| Skënderbeu | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | |

## Promotion/relegation playoffs and Qyteti Stalin riots

Naftëtari Qyteti Stalin qualified for a promotion/relegation playoff after finishing runners-up to second tier champions Traktori Lushnja. After losing the first match 1–0 away to Albanian giants and Ministry of Interior club Dinamo Tirana, the second match in Qyteti Stalin on 5 June 1988 ended in riots and burning of the Dinamo team bus partly due to the fact that the game was led by a referee and assistants from Tirana. Dinamo also won the second leg 1-0- and the subsequent riots led to the suspension of Naftëtari from playing football for a year and demotion to the third tier. Their coach Pandi Angjeli and players Meta and Makashi were suspended for life and club manager Fatmir Ismaili was dismissed.

## Season statistics

### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Agustin Kola | 17 Nëntori | 18 |
| 2 | Arben Minga | 17 Nëntori | 16 |
| 3 | Ylli Shehu | Partizani | 14 |
| 4 | Roland Agallin | Partizani | 12 |
| 5 | Sokol Kushta | Flamurtari | 10 |
| 5 | Agim Bubegi | Flamurtari | 10 |
