4.1.14

Albania 1911?

The World Wide Web  is a source of a great deal of fascinating information, and an invaluable resource for students of football history. Statistics, images and match reports relating to games from bygone ages are readily available, often from reliable sources. However, some caution is needed.

If you were to look into the history of Albanian football, for example, you would read that the Kategoria Superiore began in 1930. 
There is, however, reference to a tournament taking place in 1911. Internet sites routinely recycle this as fact.  
However, the Kategoria Superiore of 1911 is a journalistic hoax originating in 2012.
Here are the facts.

The leading authority on Albanian Football is Dr Giovanni Armillotta. You can find plenty of his work online. 
Dr Giovanni Armillotta makes no reference to the Kategoria Superiore of 1911.
Dr Giovanni Armillotta has a timeline of Albanian football which lists the founding of clubs and the playing of significant matches: Dr  Armillotta lists no club earlier than 1913 (Indipendenca Shkodër)
The country's governing body, Federate Shqiptare E Futbolitt was founded in 1930.

Sport Ekspress newspaper, in February 2012, carried a story that there had been a tournament in 1911. The original source has gone from the  archives, but I have found an outsourcing at:
 http://www.peshkupauje.com/2012/02/tirana-trofeun-e-pare-ne-futboll

The pixelated photograph accompanying this article captioned Tirana Squad 1911 is of an American football team. It appears here: http://drunkard.com/issues/55/55-all-star-alcoholics.html and here: http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2013/07/23750/pride-of-ohio-marion
The final is described as being between Tirana and Peqini. Sources attribute this as being SK Tirana versus Klubi Sportiv Shkumbini. This is a ridiculous stance to take, as neither club was founded until the 1920s. 



1913 

The earliest Albanian club,Indipendenca Shkodër, was founded in 1912. In October 1913 Indipendenca Shkodër played team of the Austro Hungarian Imperial Navy. The Navy won 2-1. Indipendenca's goal was scored by Palokë Nika, who organized the match.