Al-Ahli Dubai F.C.

This article is about the United Arab Emirati football team. For other uses, see Al-Ahly (disambiguation).
Al Ahli Club
Full name Al Ahli Football Club
Nickname(s) Fursan (Knights)
Founded 1970
Ground Rashed Stadium
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Ground Capacity 9,415
Owner Hamdan Al Maktoum
Chairman Abdullah Saeed
Manager Cosmin Olăroiu
League UAE Pro-League
2015–16 UAE Pro-League, 1st
Website Club home page

Al Ahli Club (Arabic: النادي الأهلي) is a United Arab Emirates professional association football club based in Dubai, that currently play in the UAE Arabian Gulf League. Considered to be one of the strongest clubs from UAE. The club is abbreviated as A.C.

Al Ahli is one of the most successful clubs in the UAE. Al Ahli, literally translating to "domestic or national" in Arabic, was established in 1970, when three local teams joined together to form the club. The club won three UAE Arabian Gulf League titles in the 1970s and won its fourth in 2006, fifth in 2009 and sixth in 2014 and seventh in 2016.

A club with a strong and rich history, Al Ahli has won 7 league titles, a record 8 UAE's President Cup titles, 3 UAE super Cup titles and 2 UAE League Cup titles, earning a total of 20 domestic titles, making them the second most successful team in UAE. In the ranking by IFFHS, Al Ahli is the 7th best Asian club and ranked 102 in the world.

History

Establishment

The club was established in 1970, when two local football teams Al Wehdah and Al Shabab (est. 1958) joined together for a training camp in Egypt but decided to merge as one single club under first club president H.E. Nasser Abdulla Hussain Lootah. Four years later another local team Al Najah joined to form Al Ahli Club.

1973–1980: The golden age and aftermath decline

Mohammed Shehta in the middle, the first manager for Al Ahli Club in early 70s.

It took Al Ahli only four years after its establishment to win the UAE Arabian Gulf League twice consecutively in 1974-75 and 1975-76 then again in 1979-80 for the third time, which allowed them to permanently keep the league trophy. The victorious team, led by coach Mohammed Shehta and featuring players such as Hassan Nazari and Hassan Roshan. The team also won three President Cup titles during that period. Drawing home-town fans, Al Ahli has been and continues to be one of the most popular sports teams in the UAE. However,the club went into decline for few decades, the result of which saw the club relegated to the second division (1995–96) in a dramatic way, when Al Ahli played against neighbour rival Al Shabab, Al Ahli needed just one point from the match to stay in the first division. Al Ahli has lost the match and Al Shabab has won the league title. The same year, Al Ahli won the President Cup title. After a period of decline, Al Ahli went back on top under new leadership of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Deputy Ruler of Dubai, winning its fourth league title in 2006 and in the following years, Al Ahli continued to be a successful club in the UAE by winning 6 President Cups.


Recent Success (2010-present)

The club began to rise up again and in 2010, the squad was gradually re-built, with the likes of Fabio Carnavaro and Grafite joined the Emirati homegrown talents Ahmed Khalil and Ismael Al Hammadi. In 2012, Al Ahli won the UAE President's Cup and the Arabian Gulf Cup. The arrival of the Romanian football manager Cosmin Olaroiu in 2013, set the stage to a highly successful 2013-14 season. Al Ahli performed strongly in the league and assured its 6th title with a record for the highest ever points total for a league season (62). In addition, the club won the Arabian Gulf Cup, 2 Arabian Gulf Super Cups (2013–14, 2014–15) and in the following year they reached 2015 AFC Champions League Final which they narrowly lost to Chinese team Guangzhou Evergrande. Al Ahli homegrown forward Ahmed Khalil named the UAE's sole recipient of the prestigious Asian Footballer of the Year award in 2015. In 2016, they again won their 7th domestic league title with two matches to play.[1]

2009 FIFA Club World Cup

Al-Ahli, as 2008–09 UAE Pro-League champions and as Abu Dhabi was hosting the event, qualified for the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup which was held in December 2009. They lost 0–2 to Auckland City in their only game in the competition.[2]

Crest and Nickname

The original Al Ahli logo reflected a falcon on top of football and the words "Al Ahli Club" written horizontally. After rebranding themselves to Red Knights in 2006, the logo changed to a horse head shape with the letters A C (Al Ahli Club) on top. The new logo represents strength and high spirits also it goes along with the new nickname Red Knights instead of the old nickname the Red Devils.

Old logo

Grounds

Rashid Stadium also known as Al Ahli Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Dubai, United Arab Emirates was named after Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum. It is currently used mostly for football & Rugby matches. The stadium holds 9,415 people.[1] It was built in 1948. It is the home ground of Al-Ahli Dubai.[1]

Rivalries

Al Ahli's longest-established rivalry is with Dubai-based neighbour Al Shabab, often called the Deira derby because of both clubs location in Deira side of Dubai. Al Ahli rivalry with Al Ain FC is gaining popularity as the two clubs alternated as champions in the 70s and more post 2010, and currently both teams are considered among the top teams in the UAE, both clubs meet in the widely anticipated often called the UAE Clasico. The match usually creates a lively atmosphere but on few occasions led to problems like throwing shoes and bottles of water onto the pitch. In one incident the match was halted after the referee's assistant was hit by mobile phone thrown by a seething Ahli fan.

Active Departments of Al Ahli

The club is also known as Al Ahli Castle because of its involvement in other professional sports. The club competes in basketball, volleyball, handball, track sport, table tennis and track cycling. Al Ahli is also known for its involvement in cultural activities and community services. Al Ahli Drama club established in 1981, to promote Emirati arts and theatrical plays focusing on UAE tradition, heritage and current events.

Relationship with Spanish La Liga

In 2016 Al Ahli became the first foreign club to sign a partnership agreement with La Liga that is the first of its kind for both the renowned professional Spanish league and the Arabian Gulf League's leaders. The signing of the agreement, which was staged at La Liga's headquarters, marks the beginning of a linkup in which La Liga's experience will be used to support Dubai's leading club in its development especially a training program from youth coaches in Spain will be applied. The club's junior sides will gain invitations to leading tournaments there, providing the opportunity to gain valuable experience playing top-class opposition.[3]

Players

As of UAE Arabian Gulf League:

No Position Player Nation
14 Goalkeeper Mohammed Abdurahman      United Arab Emirates
22 Goalkeeper Ahmed Mubarak      United Arab Emirates
33 Goalkeeper Saif Yousef      United Arab Emirates
55 Goalkeeper Majed Naser      United Arab Emirates

2 Defender Salmeen Khamis      United Arab Emirates
5 Defender Walid Abbas      United Arab Emirates
18 Defender Abdullah Al-Noubi      United Arab Emirates
19 Defender Adel Al-Hammadi      United Arab Emirates
21 Midfielder Kwon Kyung-won      South Korea
24 Defender Mohammed Jaber      United Arab Emirates
26 Defender Abdulaziz Haikal      United Arab Emirates
28 Defender Eisa Ahmed      United Arab Emirates
62 Defender Abdelaziz Sanqour      United Arab Emirates
77 Defender Yousef Al Sayed      United Arab Emirates
78 Defender Abdullah Hassan      United Arab Emirates

4 Midfielder Habib Al Fardan      United Arab Emirates
6 Midfielder Hassan Abdurahman      United Arab Emirates
7 Midfielder Ismail Al Hammadi      United Arab Emirates
10 Midfielder Everton Ribeiro      Brazil
13 Midfielder Khamis Esmaeel      United Arab Emirates
15 Midfielder Ali Ghloum      United Arab Emirates
16 Midfielder Rashed Mohammed      United Arab Emirates
17 Midfielder Walid Anbar      United Arab Emirates
27 Midfielder Hamad Abdullah      United Arab Emirates
70 Midfielder Waleed Hussain      United Arab Emirates
88 Midfielder Majed Hassan      United Arab Emirates

3 Forward Asamoah Gyan      Ghana
9 Forward Lima      Brazil
11 Forward Ahmed Khalil      United Arab Emirates
20 Forward Saeed Al-Bloushi      United Arab Emirates
25 Forward Mohammed Abdurahman      United Arab Emirates
92 Forward Saeed Jassem      United Arab Emirates

Managerial history

Al Ahli Club Board Directors

Board Members

Al Ahli Football Company

Board Members

Honours

21 Official Championships

Domestic

League

UAE Football League

Cup

UAE President's Cup

UAE League Cup

UAE Super Cup

Contential

AFC Champions League

Friendly

Winners (1): 2016

References

  1. 1 2 "Al Ahli Sports Club". www.alahliclub.ae. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  2. "Al Ahli 0 – 2 Auckland City". ESPN. 2009-12-09. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  3. "Al Ahli football club sign ground-breaking agreement with Spain's La Liga through 2018 | The National". www.thenational.ae. Retrieved 2016-05-01.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Al-Ahli Dubai.
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