Hardy(T)'s World Soccer Diary

3/9/96, Gjirokäster, Albania

Anyone who has read David Twydell's excellent book 'Albania FC' will know all about the Subi Bakira Stadium in Gjirokäster. This was the site of one of his many "three second" groundhopping excursions in this fascinating country. David visited Albania back in the mid 80's, when the only way to visit the country was on an organised tour, and even then, they only let in 100 or so foreign visitors each year. Once you were in you had to strictly adhere to the tour itinerary, but David found time in each town to escape from the tour bus for just long enough to track down the local football stadium and grab a snapshot!

By the time I visited Albania, things were much more relaxed, and foreign visitors, and even more so foreign dollars, were welcomed with open arms. Another major change was the death of Enver Hoxha, who ruled the country with an iron fist for over 40 years, and the subsequent toppling of the Stalinist regime. Gjirokäster was Hoxha's birthplace, and it was from the very spot where his statue once stood, overlooking the beautiful city from its spectacular citadel, that I got this sighting of the home of Shqiponia Gjirokäster: the Eagles (this pleased immensely the Palace fan I was with).

Enver was here

As you can see, it's little more than an open grass bowl, surrounded by basic concrete terracing, although Twydell reports it has a capacity of over 8,000 with a small, cantilever roofed stand along one side. There is apparently a fairly primitive clock at one end, but not much else to write home about. After falling on hard times in the late 80's (when they were known as Luftetari), a revitalised Shqiponia won the Albanian 2nd Division in 93/94, but last season were languishing in 15th (out of 18) in Division One before the football season was abandoned due to renewed civil unrest.

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