# 1998–99 Albanian National Championship

The 1998–99 Albanian National Championship was the 60th season of the Albanian National Championship, the top professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1930. The season began on 29 August 1998 and concluded on 15 May 1999. Vllaznia began the season as defending champions of the 1997–98 season and Burreli was the only team promoted from the Kategoria e Dytë as the league was reduced from 18 teams to 16.
Tirana won their 18th Albanian title, having finished as runners-up during the previous season. The newly promoted club Burreli were the first team to be relegated, and they were followed by Laçi and Besa down to the Kategoria e Dytë.

## Teams
### Promotion and relegation

A total of 16 teams competed in the 1998–99 season, 2 less than the previous where 18 teams competed. Of these 16 teams, 15 of them were from the 1997–98 season with Burreli being the only promoted side from the Kategoria e Dytë. 3 sides from the 1997–98 season were relegated, and they were Shqiponja, Sopoti and Albpetrol.

### Stadia and last season

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | Last season |
| Apolonia | Fier | Loni Papuçiu Stadium | 10,000 | 7th |
| Besa | Kavajë | Besa Stadium | 8,000 | 14th |
| Burreli | Burrel | Liri Ballabani Stadium | 2,500 | Kategoria e Dytë |
| Bylis | Ballsh | Adush Muça Stadium | 6,000 | 13th |
| Dinamo Tirana | Tirana | Qemal Stafa Stadium | 19,700 | 12th |
| Elbasani | Elbasan | Ruzhdi Bizhuta Stadium | 15,000 | 6th |
| Flamurtari | Vlorë | Flamurtari Stadium | 15,000 | 15th |
| Laçi | Laç | Laçi Stadium | 5,000 | 8th |
| Lushnja | Lushnjë | Abdurrahman Roza Haxhiu Stadium | 12,000 | 9th |
| Partizani | Tirana | Qemal Stafa Stadium | 19,700 | 3rd |
| Skënderbeu | Korçë | Skënderbeu Stadium | 12,000 | 11th |
| Shkumbini | Peqin | Shkumbini Stadium | 6,000 | 4th |
| Teuta | Durrës | Niko Dovana Stadium | 12,040 | 5th |
| Tirana | Tirana | Qemal Stafa Stadium | 19,700 | 2nd |
| Tomori | Berat | Tomori Stadium | 14,750 | 10th |
| Vllaznia | Shkodër | Loro Boriçi Stadium | 15,000 | Champions |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Tirana (C) | 30 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 48 | 20 | +28 | 61 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Vllaznia | 30 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 57 | 18 | +39 | 60 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 3 | Bylis | 30 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 51 | 19 | +32 | 59 | Qualification for the UEFA Cup qualifying round |
| 4 | Tomori | 30 | 13 | 7 | 10 | 31 | 25 | +6 | 46 | |
| 5 | Lushnja | 30 | 14 | 2 | 14 | 52 | 40 | +12 | 44 | |
| 6 | Dinamo Tirana | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 40 | |
| 7 | Shkumbini | 30 | 12 | 4 | 14 | 30 | 38 | −8 | 40 | |
| 8 | Teuta | 30 | 12 | 4 | 14 | 28 | 48 | −20 | 40 | Qualification for the Intertoto Cup first round |
| 9 | Elbasani | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 39 | |
| 10 | Partizani | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 37 | 46 | −9 | 39 | |
| 11 | Flamurtari | 30 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 40 | 47 | −7 | 38 | |
| 12 | Skënderbeu | 30 | 12 | 2 | 16 | 44 | 53 | −9 | 38 | |
| 13 | Apolonia | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 32 | 42 | −10 | 37 | |
| 14 | Besa (R) | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 25 | 40 | −15 | 36 | Relegation to the 1999–2000 Kategoria e Dytë |
| 15 | Laçi (R) | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 36 | 55 | −19 | 33 | Relegation to the 1999–2000 Kategoria e Dytë |
| 16 | Burreli (R) | 30 | 8 | 3 | 19 | 40 | 60 | −20 | 27 | Relegation to the 1999–2000 Kategoria e Dytë |
* ↑ Bylis qualified for the UEFA Cup qualifying round due to Tirana winning the league as well as the 1998–99 Albanian Cup, meaning their place in the UEFA Cup was awarded to the cup runners-up Vllaznia, who also finished as runners-up in the league, meaning that their place in the UEFA Cup through the league route was awarded to Bylis.

## Results

| Home \ Away | APO | BES | BUR | BYL | DIN | ELB | FLA | LAÇ | LUS | PAR | SKË | SKU | TEU | TIR | TOM | VLL |
| Apolonia | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Besa | 1–0 | | 4–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Burreli | 2–0 | 2–3 | | 1–2 | 4–4 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 4–1 | 2–3 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Bylis | 4–1 | 2–1 | 5–1 | | 1–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| Dinamo | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Elbasani | 1–0 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Flamurtari | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | | 3–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 |
| Laçi | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–2 | | 0–2 | 2–3 | 5–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Lushnja | 3–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 3–1 | | 3–0 | 5–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 6–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Partizani | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Skënderbeu | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | | 3–1 | 5–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 |
| Shkumbini | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | | 4–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Teuta | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 0–5 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Tirana | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Tomori | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 |
| Vllaznia | 4–2 | 5–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 8–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | |
* 1 2 3 Match awarded.

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Artan Bano | Lushnja | 22 |
| 2 | Rigels Qose | Skënderbeu | 19 |
| 3 | Vioresin Sinani | Vllaznia | 14 |
| 4 | Bardhyl Elezi | Lushnja | 12 |
| 4 | Klodian Asllani | Bylis | 12 |
| 6 | Hekuran Jakupi | Bylis | 10 |
| 6 | Fjodor Xhafa | Flamurtari | 10 |
| 8 | Vladimir Gjoni | Burreli | 10 |
| 8 | Fatjon Ymeri | Dinamo Tirana | 10 |
| 8 | Daniel Xhafa | Flamurtari | 10 |