100 years ago, on August 4, 1922, the legend of Albanian football, Loro Boriçi, was born in Shkodra. Undoubtedly, an extraordinary figure and the greatest personality in the history of Albanian football and one of the people with the most contributions to the development of football in our country with a glorious career.

Loro completed his schooling at the Saverian College in Shkodra, an educational institution belonging to the Catholic Church that had normal general education. He stood out at the age of 15 for his technical skills and immediately became part of Vllaznia, where he played for several seasons.

He then moved to Italy with his older brother, Mark, and enrolled at the Faculty of Law in Rome to study law. In 1941 Loro joined the Lazio club and after a difficult first season he reached the formation of the first team, playing 19 games and scoring 6 goals in the elite championship of Italy.

At that time, there were also several other Albanian footballers in Serie A who played with Italian clubs, such as Riza Lushta of Juventus, Naim Kryeziu of Rome, Hilë Staka of Bologna or Slava Llambi of Inter.

With the end of the war, Loro Boriçi decided to return to Albania and moved to Vllaznia, where he was declared champion twice in 1945 and 1946. His debut with the Albanian National Team would come in the friendly against Montenegro, played in August 1946.

Loro Boriçi was the main protagonist and the captain who led the Albanian National Team to the historic victory of the 1946 Balkaniad in Tirana, defeating teams with names like Romania and Bulgaria.

In 1949 he arrived in Tirana for military service, although he was 27 years old and played for Partizani. He also won two championship titles (1949, 1954), while in the last season as an active footballer he also played for Spartak of Tirana. In 1956, he was appointed coach of Partizani and in 1957, he was the coach of the national team until the eve of the 80s. In fact, Loro Boriçi holds another special record as the longest serving coach of the Albanian National Team.

In 1960, he studied at the Institute of Physical Culture and Sports in Bulgaria, in Sofia, and as a coach he would be declared champion in 1963, 1964, 1971 with Partizani.

Also, as a coach, he won the Republic Cup in 1964, 1966, 1968 and 1970, the Balkan Cup with Partizani in 1970, the Balkan Championship with the Shpresa team in 1977. Boriçi also won the silver medal with Partizan at the Friendly Armies Games in Hanoi in 1963. 

From 1972 to 1975 he worked in China to help the development of Chinese football, to return to his last experience at the head of the national team bench. Loro Boriçi passed away at the age of 62 on April 25, 1984 after a serious illness.

Honored with the sports titles “Master”, “National Coach”, “Honour of Albanian Sports” as well as the order of “Naim Frashëri” awarded by the Presidents of the Republic, the Gold Order “Naim Frashëri”, decoration ” Grand Master of Work”, the order “Honour of the Nation” awarded on December 30, 2012 with the motivation:

“With rare dedication, considering sport as a vital mission to serve Albania with his rare talent, he was and remains the icon of Albanian football.” Today, the national stadium of Shkodra bears the name of Loro Boriçi.

/Klara Ruci/