"Stadium Boys"

Agron Selmani returned after a long time to open the doors of the "Ismet Shabani" stadium in Ferizaj.

The city's stadium had served for many years as a home for Agron and his family. The Selmani family had maintained the Ferizaj stadium for two decades.

There are now few things left in the stadium that identify the Selmani family as part of it.

The two-room house, where Agron, his siblings, father and mother had lived for a long time, has been demolished. Their house was inside the stadium.

Much else has been destroyed in what used to be a football stadium.

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"It's okay to disagree with this fact, it's okay to say why all this is being destroyed, but Ferizaj is building a new soul and this emotional barrier not only of our family, but also of the district here, must be we see with perspective that this place has not been misused, but a school is being built. If we asked the sports fans, they would say that the stadium should remain here, but as we moved from two rooms, today we have the five brothers from one house to our own", said Agron Selmani in his account of the past 20 years at the stadium.

The ruin could be seen from the stadium doors. The sign of the "Ismet Shabani" stadium had only the first two letters "Is" left, while the gates were rusted. The field on which the school will be built was left in the worst condition. For the Selmani family, the stadium will eventually remain just a memory. The gates will soon be removed and a new grandstand built a few years ago will also be demolished.

Selman tells about the two decades spent at the stadium. It shows that in Ferizaj they know them as "the boys of the stadium".

"Until the age of 20, I experienced it, I was born here. Figuratively, I am explaining that we are called the boys of the stadium. One of our friends tells us that you were born in the center of the field, in the penalty area, someone in the 16-meter. A bit of a joke, but a not bitter reality, a good reality. All three of our brothers were born here and at the age of 20 we were forced to leave here because the family has developed, five sons and three daughters, we were forced to build our own house", continued Selmani's confession.

Agron Selmani and his family are proud of the contribution they made to the Ferizaj club and the "Ismet Shabani" stadium. He says that his father, now deceased, worked as a maintenance man for the stadium, while his mother says that she took care of cleaning the players' clothes.

"The mother took care of the clothing of all categories of the club. At that time there were no household tools and all clothes were washed by hand. We have helped the children gradually as we have grown up, but the mother is a real heroine because she has done miracles for the athletes to come out as clean as possible on the field, not overlooking the contribution of the father, who also dealt with administrative work the club, the organizational part of the game, as well as us who have been the workforce, especially the first three brothers Luani, Vetoni and me".

Although in difficult conditions, Selmani says that a good atmosphere has reigned in the family, although the fatigue has been great with the stadium work.

"We have done all the work. We were supportive of father and mother, including cleaning clothes and maintaining the field. As a child, I mowed the grass of the field, we did the lines, cleaning the field. We are not ashamed of what we have worked for because it has made us stronger, better personalities and we are satisfied with our work. Father knew how to motivate us in the evening after all the tiring daily activity, in those two rooms where we lived. He knew how to create a song in his own way, as he learned from his family, generation after generation. It was really a pleasure", said Agron Selmani.

He says that they have never been broken even though there were serious situations.

"It was an extremely difficult time for our family, but we have been with the spirit of a sportsman, with a fighting spirit and we have succeeded even in existential matters. We have gone through them with sportsmanship and have always found satisfaction in what God has brought us. Something small, but something very good", continues Agroni.

Selmani was also a football player in the Ferizaj club, something natural when you grow up inside the stadium. But, after finding a job in Pristina, he ended his career before it started well.

After the family's well-being improved, Selmani says he started studying to become a football coach. He received the "Profi" license in Sarajevo, while he started his career as a coach at the Ulpiana football club. He led Ulpiana to the Super League. Then he became a coach in Gjilani to continue to Kosovo and Vushtrri. In the end, he worked at his club, the Ferizaj club.

He worked in Ferizaj in three different periods. He says that sometimes it went bad and sometimes it went well. He currently has the role of sports director in the heart club. He believes that sport has created his identity.

"Sport has created a personality for me, sometimes harder, sometimes easier. I changed clubs, sometimes I was successful and sometimes not, but football has these things".

After about half an hour of talking about KOHEN, he returned to continue his work schedule at the Health Center in Ferizaj. It left the space that used to be the stadium, where it may not return for a long time.

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Thousands of young people will learn where football used to be played. Children of the extended Selmani family can also learn. The family, which once jealously guarded every corner of the stadium.