Niko Dovana

Last updated • 2 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Niko Dovana
Personal information
Full name Niko Dovana
Date of death 1949
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1930–194? Teuta Durrës (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Niko Dovana was a former Albanian football player who played for Teuta Durrës during the 1930s and 1940s. He is considered one of Teuta Durrës's most important players and was the main financier of the club until his death in 1949.

Contents

The club's stadium was renamed to the Niko Dovana Stadium in the early 1990s in honour of the goalkeeper. He lived in Milan, Italy for the latter stages of his life where he was a prominent trader.

Personal life

He was born in Durrës as the oldest of five children to Vlash and Mellani Dovana (née Terka). His father Vlash was a trader who along with Niko's uncle Laz owned the Dovana Brothers trading company. His mother was born into a prominent family in Durrës and her father Pavlo Terka was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Albania between 1914 and 1916. [1] His only brother Alfons was a poet and writer, whose main area of expertise was the reform of the Albanian language. [2]

Club career

Dovana was an integral part of Teuta's early history as he was a key player and financier, helping the club reach the championship playoff finals in 1931 and remain in the top tier division throughout the 1930s. At the time of his playing career he was living in Milan, Italy where he was working as a trader, and he would travel to Albania during the playing season to live and play there for Teuta. He is regarded as one of Teuta's best ever goalkeepers and one of their most important ever figures and he is also remembered for his goal against SK Tirana in the first tie of the championship playoff on 29 June 1931. His side were losing the game 1-0 when Dovana instructed one of the forwards to cover for him in goal as he went to play as a forward, and with a shot on goal he scored and equalised, which led to mass media coverage, with many Albanian football fans fascinated by the sight of the goalkeeper playing as a forward and scoring. SK Tirana complained to the Albanian Football Association on the grounds that a registered goalkeeper cannot play as an outfield player, but these complaints were not heard and SK Tirana went on to win the second leg of the tie 0–3 in Durrës and win their second consecutive championship. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KF Teuta</span> Albanian football club

Klubi i Futbollit Teuta, commonly referred to as Teuta, is an Albanian professional football club based in Durrës. The club competes in the Kategoria Superiore, the top tier of Albanian football. Their home ground is the Niko Dovana Stadium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niko Dovana Stadium</span>

The Niko Dovana Stadium, officially Stadiumi "Niko Dovana", is a multi-use stadium located in Durrës, Albania. It is the home ground of Teuta. The capacity is 12,040, making it the fifth largest ground in the country. It was renamed in 1991 in honour of former Teuta goalkeeper and financier Niko Dovana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tefik Osmani</span> Albanian footballer

Tefik Osmani is an Albanian professional football official and a former centre-back. He is the sporting director for Albanian club Tirana.

The 1930 Albanian Championship was the first edition of the Albanian National Championship, which ran from 6 April until 6 July 1930. It was the first-ever official football competition in Albania run by the newly formed Albanian Football Association. The National Championship was only one of three such tournaments organized during that year by the AFA, the other two being the Youth Championship, and the Military Championship. All three championships were under the sponsorship of Princess Myzejen Zogu. The six teams participating in the tournament were Urani, Teuta, Skënderbeu, Bashkimi Shkodran, Sportklub Tirana and Sportklub Vlora, who were to play a ten-game format, whereby each team would host each of their five rivals once with two points awarded for a win and one point awarded for a drawn game. The two teams with the most points at the end of the regular season of the competition would then enter a championship playoff where they would play each other twice and the champions would be crowned based on the aggregate score of the home and away ties, however this playoff was not actually played due to forfeit.

The 1931 Albanian National Championship was the second edition of the Albanian National Championship, the top professional league for association football clubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shpëtim Moçka</span> Albanian footballer

Shpëtim Moçka is an Albanian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper.

The 2008–09 Kategoria Superiore was the 73rd season of top-tier football in Albania and the eleventh season under the name Kategoria Superiore. The season began on 24 August 2008 and ended on 23 May 2009. The defending champions were Dinamo Tirana.

The 2008–09 season was Klubi i Futbollit Tirana's 70th competitive season, 70th consecutive season in the Kategoria Superiore and 88th year in existence as a football club.

Refik Shaban Resmja was an Albanian professional footballer.

The 2010–11 Kategoria Superiore was the 72nd official season, or the 75th season of top-tier football in Albania and the thirteenth season under the name Kategoria Superiore. The season began on 21 August 2010 and ended on 16 May 2011. Dinamo Tirana were the defending champions, having won their 18th Albanian championship last season.

The 2011–12 Kategoria Superiore was the 73rd official season, or 76th season of top-tier football in Albania and the fourteenth season under the name Kategoria superiore. The season began on 10 September 2011 and ended on 12 May 2012. The defending champions were Skënderbeu, who won their second Albanian league championship last season and third in their history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FK Partizani Tirana B</span> Albanian football club

KF Partizani B is the B team of Albanian football club Partizani.

In the 2014–15 season, Partizani Tirana competed in the Kategoria Superiore for the second consecutive season.

The 2014–15 KF Tirana season was the 94th year in Klubi i Futbollit Tirana existence and 76th competitive and consecutive season in the Kategoria Superiore.

The 2015–16 season is FK Kukësi's 4th consecutive season in the Kategoria Superiore and 86th year in existence as a football club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of KF Tirana</span>

KF Tirana is an Albanian men's football club in the Albanian Superliga, and based in Tirana. The club, part of the multidisciplinary sports club SK Tirana, is the most successful in Albania, having won 51 recognized major domestic titles. They play their home games at the Selman Stërmasi Stadium in Tirana.

In the 2008–09 season, Partizani Tirana was again relegated from the Kategoria Superiore after eight seasons playing in that competition, after a loss in the relegation play-out against Kastrioti Krujë, in a game that was marred by poor refereeing decisions as well as violence.

In the 2006–07 season, Partizani Tirana competed in the Kategoria Superiore for the sixth consecutive season and finished in fourth place. The club also reached the semi-finals of the Albanian Cup where it was eliminated by Teuta Durrës on the away goals rule.

The 2021–22 season is Teuta's 81st season in their history of the Albanian Superliga and came in as the defending champions. Along with the Superliga, the club also participated in the Albanian Supercup, Albanian Cup, and the Champions League qualifying stage. The season began on 11 September 2021 and ended on 26 May 2022.

The 2022–23 Kategoria Superiore was the 84th official season, or 85th season of top-tier football in Albania and the 23rd season under the name Kategoria Superiore. The season began on 19 August 2022 and ended on 29 May 2023. Partizani won the league title on 29 May 2023, on the last matchday.

References


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.