KF Bylis

The club was formed on 14 July 1972 as Ballshi i Ri, and they played in the Albanian Third Division between 1973 and 1976. But between 1976 and 1981, they were not allowed to participate in Albanian football due to laws restricting a single team from each district. They began playing once again in the Third Division in 1981, which they eventually won in 1986 and were promoted to the Albanian Second Division. The club played in the Second Division for 10 years between 1986 and 1996, where they were promoted following a successful 1995–96 season which saw the club score 124 goals and concede just 21, as the best goal scorer was Agim Metaj, making it a national record which was even noted by the prestigious French magazine France Football. However, despite their record breaking season they only finished as runners-up in the league but still achieved promotion to the Albanian Superliga.^[1]

In their debut season in the top flight of Albanian football the club finished in 14th place out of 18 teams.^[2] During the 1998–99 season, the club finished in third place, just 2 points behind the eventual champions KF Tirana^[3] this earned the club a place in the UEFA Cup for the first time. In their first European experience, KF Bylis played Slovakian side Inter Bratislava, whom they lost 5–1 to on aggregate. The following season they would again finish strongly, this time in 5th place, joint on points with 4th-place side Vllaznia Shkodër, who they lost 4–3 to in the play-off for the UEFA Intertoto Cup place.^[4] In the 2000–01 season, they finished 5th once again^[5] and earned a place in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, where they met Romanian side FC Universitatea Craiova the following season. They lost 4–3 on aggregate, after a memorable 3–3 draw away in Romania^[6] and a 1–0 home loss.^[7]

KF Bylis then began to struggle, eventually getting relegated after a poor 2002–03 season, which saw them finish second to last with just 26 points and 3 wins from 26 games.^[8] They were relegated once again to the third tier after the 2004–05 season in which they scored just 13 league goals in total. Between 2007 and 2009 the club achieved consecutive promotions back to the Albanian Superliga for the 2008–09 season.^{[citation needed]}

Besnik Kapllanaj was the club's president between 2006 and 2014 and owned a 75% share in the club, with the remaining 25% owned by the Ballsh Municipality.^[9]

On 15 March 2014 in a home tie against KF Laçi,^[10] the club's president was involved in an altercation with the FSHS head of competitions, Besnik Çela. Kapllanaj hit the FSHF delegate Çela in the head with a baton which required him to be rushed to hospital due to the injury. Cela refused to start the game due to overcrowding inside the Adush Muça Stadium. Once some of the fans had left they began to throw rock into the stadium in disapproval of the FSHF's decision to not let them watch the match, which kicked off 20 minutes later than scheduled. Kapllanaj then allegedly caused a power cut so that SuperSport Albania cameras could not transmit the game live as was planned. In the closing stages of the game KF Laçi were awarded a penalty which caused crowd trouble, as they began to throw rocks onto the pitch. KF Laçi's president Pashk Laska instructed captain and penalty taker Erjon Vuçaj to miss the penalty intentionally to avoid further trouble and danger for his teammates. Following the final whistle, Kapllanaj physically abused KF Laçi's players by hitting them with a baton, as well as Besnik Çela, who later filed a police report against Kapllanaj once he left the hospital.^[11] On 19 March, the club's president Besnik Kapllanaj resigned from his post hours before the verdict from the FSHF disciplinary commission, who punished him with a lifetime ban from sporting activities in Albania. The commission also expelled the club from the Albanian Superliga with 9 remaining games of the 2013–14 season, relegating the club to the Albanian First Division for the 2014–15 season as well as handing KF Laçi a 3–0 victory in the game which originally ended 0–0.^[12] The following day, Kapllanaj turned himself in to the Fier police authorities after being charged for assault.^[13]

As of December, 2008.

Season	Competition	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1999–00	UEFA Cup	QR		Inter Bratislava	0–2	1–3	1–5
2001	UEFA Intertoto Cup	1R		Universitatea Craiova	0–1	3–3	3–4

• QR = Qualifying Round
• 1R = 1st Round

As of 1 September 2024^[14]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   ALB Renato Beqaj 3 DF   BRA Bruno Nascimento 4 DF   BRA Gabriel Recife 5 DF   ALB Kristo Miçi 6 DF   GER Eduart Mahmuti 8 MF   ALB Xhoeli Macolli 9 FW   ALB Mario Gjata 11 FW   ALB Patrik Treni 13 DF   ALB Fabjan Përndreca 14 DF   BRA Igor Almeida 16 MF   BRA Wendel Nery 17 FW   CIV Aboubacar Camara 18 MF   ALB Flamur Ruçi 19 FW   ALB Endri Çelaj 20 FW   NGA Malomo Ayodeji

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 MF   ALB Henri Sulovari 22 MF   ALB Ervis Kasaj 23 DF   GHA McCarthy Ofori 29 FW   AZE Amil Yunanov 33 GK   ALB Klevis Hasanbelli 41 FW   GER Erich Berko 44 DF   ALB Aurel Marku 55 DF   BRA Higor Fellype 69 FW   ALB Laert Papa 70 MF   ECU Alex Peralta 76 MF   ALB Arli Përgjoni 77 MF   ALB Marin Abazaj (captain) 80 FW   BRA Felipe Souza 98 MF   BRA Walisson Nem 99 FW   BRA Laércio Georges

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   BRA Guilherme Buranelli (at Erzeni Shijak)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW   NGA Ibrahim Akibu (at Erzeni Shijak)

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   ALB Rejdi Jahaj 2 DF   ALB Kristi Merkaj 3 DF   ALB Kejdi Kaceli 4 FW   ALB Pedro Marku 5 DF   BRA Higor Fellype 6 MF   NGA Rapheal Olawole 7 MF   NGA Chidera Nwaneri 8 MF   ALB Mario Bushi 9 FW   NGA Victor Ojo 10 FW   BRA Laércio Georges 11 MF   ALB Andrea Thanasi

No. Pos. Nation Player 12 GK   ALB Eris Qalliu 13 DF   ALB Fabjan Përndreca 14 MF   ALB Aislin Ahmetaj 15 MF   ALB Eldinjo Alimerkaj 17 FW   ALB Gjergji Shyti 18 DF   ALB Flavio Cypi 19 FW   NGA Ayomide Babajide 21 MF   ALB Aureljo Marku 22 MF   ALB Eriklen Bregasi 23 MF   NGA Olamilekan Adeduro 44 DF   ALB Aurel Marku (captain)

Had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Bylis Ballsh.

Past (and present) players who are the subjects of Wikipedia articles can be found