Albanian Volleyball League
Current season, competition or edition: 2016–17 Albanian Volleyball League
|
|
| Sport | Men's Volleyball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1946 |
| Divisions | 1 |
| No. of teams | 9 |
| Country |
 Albania
|
| Confederation |
 CEV
|
| Most recent champion(s) |
Vllaznia (1st title) |
| Most titles | Dinamo (25 titles) |
| TV partner(s) | RTSH & TeleSport |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | Amateur leagues |
| International cup(s) | CEV Challenge Cup |
| Official website | fshfv.org |
The Albanian Volleyball League is the top flight professional volleyball league competition in Albania, which currently features 7 clubs in 1 division. The league was founded in 1946, shortly after the formation of the Albanian Federation of Volleyball (FSHV) and it has remained the top flight men's volleyball competition in the country ever since. Dinamo Tirana have won the most championship titles with 25, but they have won just 2 titles since 1991, as Studenti have become the dominant club in the country, winning 14 titles out of a possible 18 since 2000.
The league currently consists of 9 clubs in 1 division, but other formats have been used such as a division consisting of 7 clubs, as well as 2 divisions consisting of 12 clubs. Having started in 1946, it is one of the oldest and longest running volleyball competitions Balkans, and the sport experiences its peak in popularity during the Communist era in the 70s and 80s. Since the fall of communism in Albania in 1991 many volleyball clubs struggled to remain active due to a lack of funding, which led to the decline in the popularity of the sport as a whole in the country. However, since 1993 there has been some re-establishment of clubs that had previously folded, as private investment along with some state funded has allowed some of these clubs to continue functioning.
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Wikipedia