# 2020–21 Kategoria e Parë

The 2020–21 Kategoria e Parë was the 73rd official season of the Albanian football second-tier since its establishment. The season began on 4 November 2020 and ended on 26 May 2021. There were 18 teams competing this season, split in 2 groups, each with 9 teams. The 2 winners of each group gained promotion to the 2021-22 Kategoria Superiore, and played the division's final against each other. The runners-up of each group played a play-off match between them. The winners of the play-off played another promotion play-off match against the 8th ranked team of the 2020–21 Kategoria Superiore. Dinamo Tirana and Egnatia were promoted to the 2021–22 Kategoria Superiore. Elbasani, Flamurtari, Oriku, Partizani B and Veleçiku were relegated to the 2021–22 Kategoria e Dytë. Egnatia won their second Kategoria e Parë title on 22 May 2021 after beating Dinamo Tirana in the final match.

## Changes from last season
### Team changes
#### From Kategoria e Parë

Promoted to Kategoria Superiore:
* Apolonia
* Kastrioti
Relegated to Kategoria e Dytë:
* Devolli
* Iliria
* Shënkolli
* Shkumbini
* Tërbuni

#### To Kategoria e Parë

Relegated from Kategoria Superiore:
* Flamurtari
* Luftëtari
Promoted from Kategoria e Dytë:
* Partizani B
* Tomori
* Vora

## Locations
### Stadia by capacity and locations
#### Group A

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Besëlidhja | Lezhë | Brian Filipi Stadium | 5,000 |
| Burreli | Burrel | Liri Ballabani Stadium | 2,500 |
| Dinamo Tirana | Tirana | Internacional Complex | 1,000 |
| Erzeni | Shijak | Tofik Jashari Stadium | 4,000 |
| Korabi | Peshkopi | Korabi Stadium | 6,000 |
| Oriku | Orikum | Fusha Sportive Orikum | 2,000 |
| Partizani B | Tirana | Internacional Complex | 1,000 |
| Veleçiku | Koplik | Reshit Rusi Stadium | 1,200 |
| Vora | Vorë | Internacional Complex | 1,000 |

#### Group B

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Besa | Kavajë | Luz i Vogël Stadium | 600 |
| Egnatia | Rrogozhinë | Shkumbini Stadium | 9,000 |
| Elbasani | Elbasan | Nexhip Trungu Stadium | 6,600 |
| Flamurtari | Vlorë | Flamurtari Stadium | 8,500 |
| Luftëtari | Gjirokastër | Gjirokastra Stadium | 8,400 |
| Lushnja | Lushnjë | Roza Haxhiu Stadium | 8,500 |
| Pogradeci | Pogradec | Gjorgji Kyçyku Stadium | 10,700 |
| Tomori | Berat | Tomori Stadium | 14,450 |
| Turbina | Cërrik | Nexhip Trungu Stadium | 6,600 |

## First phase
### Group A
#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Burreli | 16 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 26 | 10 | +16 | 34 | Qualification to the Promotion round |
| 2 | Korabi | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 8 | +9 | 33 | Qualification to the Promotion round |
| 3 | Dinamo Tirana | 16 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 23 | 9 | +14 | 32 | Qualification to the Promotion round |
| 4 | Vora | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 18 | −8 | 21 | Qualification to the Promotion round |
| 5 | Besëlidhja | 16 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 19 | 17 | +2 | 20 | Qualification to the Relegation round |
| 6 | Erzeni | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 19 | Qualification to the Relegation round |
| 7 | Partizani B | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 25 | −11 | 15 | Qualification to the Relegation round |
| 8 | Oriku | 16 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 15 | −8 | 15 | Qualification to the Relegation round |
| 9 | Veleçiku | 16 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 10 | 26 | −16 | 10 | Qualification to the Relegation round |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | BSË | BUR | DIN | ERZ | KOR | ORI | PAR | VEL | VOR |
| Besëlidhja | — | 0–0 | 4–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 |
| Burreli | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 5–2 | 1–0 |
| Dinamo Tirana | 2–0 | 2–0 | — | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| Erzeni | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | — | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Korabi | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 |
| Oriku | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| Partizani B | 2–6 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Veleçiku | 1–1 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | — | 1–0 |
| Vora | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — |

### Group B
#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Egnatia | 14 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 25 | 5 | +20 | 31 | Qualification to the Promotion round |
| 2 | Tomori | 14 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 23 | 11 | +12 | 29 | Qualification to the Promotion round |
| 3 | Pogradeci | 14 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 24 | 14 | +10 | 28 | Qualification to the Promotion round |
| 4 | Besa | 14 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 19 | 13 | +6 | 21 | Qualification to the Promotion round |
| 5 | Lushnja | 14 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 20 | −4 | 19 | Qualification to the Relegation round |
| 6 | Turbina | 14 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 16 | −2 | 18 | Qualification to the Relegation round |
| 7 | Flamurtari | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 20 | −13 | 10 | Qualification to the Relegation round |
| 8 | Elbasani | 14 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 5 | 34 | −29 | 1 | Qualification to the Relegation round |
| 9 | Luftëtari | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dissolved |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | BES | EGN | ELB | FLA | LUS | POG | TOM | TUR |
| Besa | — | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 |
| Egnatia | 3–1 | — | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 |
| Elbasani | 1–2 | 0–3 | — | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 |
| Flamurtari | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 |
| Lushnja | 2–1 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| Pogradeci | 2–1 | 0–1 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Tomori | 1–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 |
| Turbina | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–2 | — |

## Second phase
### Promotion round
#### Group A
##### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | Dinamo Tirana (P) | 22 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 32 | 13 | +19 | 47 | Promotion to 2021–22 Kategoria Superiore |
| 2 | Burreli | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 35 | 15 | +20 | 44 | Play-off promotion to 2021–22 Kategoria Superiore |
| 3 | Korabi | 22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 28 | 14 | +14 | 43 | |
| 4 | Vora | 22 | 6 | 3 | 13 | 14 | 36 | −22 | 21 | |

##### Results

| Home \ Away | BUR | DIN | KOR | VOR |
| Burreli | — | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 |
| Dinamo Tirana | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Korabi | 1–1 | 1–2 | — | 3–1 |
| Vora | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–5 | — |

#### Group B
##### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | Egnatia (C, P) | 20 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 36 | 10 | +26 | 46 | Promotion to 2021–22 Kategoria Superiore |
| 2 | Tomori | 20 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 36 | 20 | +16 | 40 | Play-off promotion to 2021–22 Kategoria Superiore |
| 3 | Pogradeci | 20 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 32 | 26 | +6 | 33 | |
| 4 | Besa | 20 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 24 | |

##### Results

| Home \ Away | BES | EGN | POG | TOM |
| Besa | — | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–4 |
| Egnatia | 1–0 | — | 4–2 | 2–1 |
| Pogradeci | 1–3 | 0–1 | — | 2–2 |
| Tomori | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | — |

### Relegation round
#### Group A
##### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 5 | Besëlidhja | 24 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 32 | 26 | +6 | 36 | |
| 6 | Erzeni | 24 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 29 | 22 | +7 | 34 | |
| 7 | Oriku (R) | 24 | 9 | 4 | 11 | 18 | 21 | −3 | 31 | Play-out relegation to 2021–22 Kategoria e Dytë |
| 8 | Partizani B (D) | 24 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 26 | 38 | −12 | 24 | Dissolved after the season |
| 9 | Veleçiku (R) | 24 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 17 | 46 | −29 | 11 | Relegation to 2021–22 Kategoria e Dytë |
* ↑ Partizani B was dissolved after the season due to the foundation of the U21 Albanian Championship.

##### Results

| Home \ Away | BSË | ERZ | PAR | ORI | VEL |
| Besëlidhja | — | 4–4 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Erzeni | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| Partizani B | 0–1 | 1–2 | — | 0–1 | 4–2 |
| Oriku | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | — | 3–0 |
| Veleçiku | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–3 | — |

#### Group B
##### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 5 | Lushnja | 20 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 21 | 25 | −4 | 28 | |
| 6 | Turbina | 20 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 23 | 24 | −1 | 25 | |
| 7 | Flamurtari (R) | 20 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 14 | 30 | −16 | 14 | Play-out relegation to 2021–22 Kategoria e Dytë |
| 8 | Elbasani (R) | 20 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 13 | 40 | −27 | 11 | Relegation to 2021–22 Kategoria e Dytë |
* ↑ Flamurtari were deducted 3 points for failing to fulfill financial obligations.

##### Results

| Home \ Away | ELB | FLA | LUS | TUR |
| Elbasani | — | 2–0 | 0–1 | 4–3 |
| Flamurtari | 0–1 | — | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| Lushnja | 1–1 | 2–2 | — | 1–0 |
| Turbina | 1–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | — |

## Promotion play-off

Tomori qualified to the final play-off match.

## Relegation play-offs

Butrinti was promoted to the Kategoria e Parë, while Oriku was relegated to the Kategoria e Dytë.
Tërbuni was promoted to the Kategoria e Parë, while Flamurtari was relegated to the Kategoria e Dytë.

## Season statistics
### Scoring
#### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Mikel Canka | Tomori | 15 |
| 2 | Xhuliano Skuka | Korabi | 14 |
| 3 | Artur Magani | Egnatia | 11 |
| 4 | Ndriçim Shtubina | Egnatia | 10 |
| 5 | Maranhão | Dinamo Tirana | 9 |
| 5 | Moustapha Djidjiwa | Dinamo Tirana | 9 |
| 7 | Brunild Pepa | Tomori | 8 |
| 7 | Gersi Diamanti | Flamurtari | 8 |
| 7 | Odeon Bërdufi | Partizani B | 8 |