Detroit Besa
Albanian American club that played in Canada's National Soccer League.
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Detroit Besa is an American soccer club based in Hamtramck, Michigan, an enclave of Detroit. The club was founded in 1974 and originally competed in the Second Division of the Detroit Soccer League (DSL). In 1979, the club made the transition to the professional level by becoming the fourth American franchise to compete in Canada's National Soccer League (NSL), alongside the Buffalo Blazers, Detroit Canadians, and Detroit Vardar.
After competing in the NSL for three seasons, they returned to the amateur level by rejoining the Detroit Soccer League. Detroit originally played their home matches at Keyworth Stadium in Hamtramck, Michigan. The club was later renamed Drita S.C. and played in the Michigan Premier Soccer League in 2018.
History
Detroit Besa was founded in 1974 as a soccer team for the Albanian American community in Metro Detroit, starting out in the Detroit Soccer League’s Second Division. That same year, the club entered the National Amateur Cup for the first time. In 1976, Besa beat Carpathia Kickers 2-0 to win the DSL second division title. The following year, the team moved up to the First Division, but the league fined them after a fan brawl broke out during a match.
Also in 1977, Besa played in the National Amateur Cup, losing in the state semifinal to Detroit Sport Club. The club reached the state semifinal again in 1978. That season, Besa won the National Conference title and faced Detroit Vardar for the DSL Championship, falling 6-1. In 1979, the team turned professional by joining the National Soccer League, becoming one of the few American clubs in that Canadian league.
Detroit returned to the DSL briefly in 1980, then went back to the NSL for 1981 under manager Nino Berisic, a former Yugoslav player, with a roster featuring American Soccer League veterans. The club came back to the NSL in 1982 but dropped out near the end of the season. In 1985, Besa played in the Budweiser Indoor League. The team later changed its name to Drita S.C. and competed in the Michigan Premier Soccer League in 2018.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Detroit Besa (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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