Al Ahli SC (Arabic: النادي الأهلي الرياضي), also known as Al Ahli Doha is a Qatari multi-sport club based in Doha. It is most notable for its professional association football section. Their home ground is the Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium. Founded in 1950, it is the oldest sports club in Qatar.

Al-Ahli SC
Full nameAl-Ahli Sports Club
Nickname(s)Al Ameed (Brigadier)
Founded1950; 74 years ago (1950) as Al Najah
1972; 52 years ago (1972) as Al Ahli
GroundHamad bin Khalifa Stadium
Capacity12,000
ChairmanAbdullah Yousef Al-Mulla
Head coachIgor Bišćan
LeagueQatar Stars League
2022–23Qatar Stars League, 8th of 12
Websitehttps://alahli.qa/

History

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Al Ahli was founded under the name Al Najah Sports Club in 1950, rendering it the oldest surviving sports club in Qatar. Al Najah SC was established by the founders of another club, called Sawt al-Arab, which was subsequently disbanded. The most prominent of the founders was Naji Musaad, the first president of the club. The club's first headquarters was located in Barahat Al Jufairi, in a residential house which was rented at a monthly fee of 70 Indian rupees. In 1964, the club was formally founded under resolution no. 2. Their first match abroad was scheduled to take place against Al Muharraq. After travelling to Bahrain by sea, the club was turned down because their squad comprised foreign players. Instead, they played against Al Nusoor, whom they defeated 3–1.[1]

In 1972, Al Najah was merged with another local club under its current name, Al Ahli Sports Club. The first board of directors was formed with eight members, and the club's colors were officially decided as green and white.[1] Early managers after the merger include Mohammed Kheiri, the first manager of Al Ahli Sports Club, Sudanese Abdullah Balash, Lebanese Omar Khatib and Sudanese Hassan Osman.[2] They played a friendly against Pelé-led Santos in 1973 at Doha Sports Stadium.[3] In the 1983/84 season, the club received a new headquarters, equipped with modern training and recreational facilities, as did all of the other sports clubs in Qatar.

In September 1985, amidst a heavy debt of QAR 700,000, the club announced that it would not contract with any foreign players for that season to preserve its funds. As a result, five Yugoslavian players it had recently signed for its basketball, handball and volleyball teams would be released. The Ministry of Youth and Sports injected QAR 500,000 and its supporters and members raised over QAR 300,000 to help the club pay off debt and contract professionals.[4]

In the early nineties, under the presidency of Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al Thani, the club was relegated to the Qatari 2nd Division for the first time in its history. In an attempt to improve its younger generation of players by providing them with invaluable first team experience, the youth team had been given an opportunity to earn promotion back to the first division. They were unsuccessful, and only were runners up that year.[5]

The club has won one domestic trophy since its formation, the Emir Cup. This competition which was secured four times, with the first triumph coming in the inaugural edition under coach Mohammed Kheiri.[6]

Stadium

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Al Ahli play their home matches at Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium which has a capacity of 12,000 seats.

Supporters

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The club has one of the most consistently high home attendances in the Qatar Stars League. On 11 April 2014, they set a new league record for final match day attendance with 10,142 fans attending the league match against Al Sailiya.[7]

Players

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As of Qatar Stars League:

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   QAT Yazan Naim
2 DF   QAT Eissa El-Nagar U21
3 DF   QAT Islam Yassine
4 DF   QAT Talal Bahzad
5 DF   CRO Matej Mitrović
6 DF   QAT Bahaa Ellethy (on loan from Qatar)
7 MF   GER Julian Draxler
8 MF   CIV Idrissa Doumbia
9 FW   FRA Sekou Yansané
10 FW   ESP Erik Expósito
11 MF   QAT Abdelrahman Moustafa (on loan from Al-Duhail)
12 FW   QAT Ahmed Al-Sibai
13 GK   QAT Mohamed Lingliz
15 DF   QAT Ali Shahabi U21
16 DF   FIN Robin Tihi
18 DF   QAT Jassem Mohammed Omar
19 DF   QAT Mohammed Abdelkader
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 MF   QAT Hamad Mansour
21 DF   QAT Mohammed Al-Ishaq U21
23 MF   QAT Abdulrasheed Umaru
24 MF   QAT Ahmed Azhari
25 MF   QAT Eslam Abdelkader
26 DF   QAT Yaseen Lafrid
27 MF   QAT Jassem Al-Sharshani
30 GK   QAT Ali Asghar U21
32 FW   QAT Navid Dorzadeh
33 MF   EGY Driss Fettouhi (on loan from Al-Markhiya)
35 GK   QAT Marwan Badreldin
38 FW   QAT Yassin Gaira U21
45 DF   QAT Yousef Marei U21
69 MF   QAT Salam Rahma U21
70 MF   QAT Younes Abdelrahman U21
80 FW   QAT Noureldan Tamer U21
99 GK   QAT Aboubakr Abdelrahman U21

Out on loans

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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
MF   QAT Ali Qadry (on loan to Al-Rayyan)

Managerial history

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As of 10 May 2023[8]
 
Seasons Manager Nationality
1972–73 Mohammed Hassan Kheiri  
1975–?? Ali Al Attar  
1978–?? Helmi Hussein  
1 Jul 1982 – 30 Jun 1984 Ivo Wortmann  
1984–85 Eid Mubarak  
1985–86 Colin Addison  
1987–88 Joubert Meira  
1988 Sebastião Lazaroni  
1991 Zoran Đorđević  
1991–93 Paulo Massa  
1994–95 Faruk Pašić  
1997–98 Abdelkadir Bomir  
1998 Heshmat Mohajerani  
1998–99 Anatoliy Prokopenko  
1999 Abdelkadir Bomir  
1999[9] Sead Gruda
Abdulqadir Almoghaisab
 
 
1999–00 José Robles  
2000–01 Cruz  
2001 José Robles  
2001 Eid Mubarak  
1 Jul 2002 – 30 Jun 2003 Carlos Alhinho  
2003 Pepe[10]  
16 Jul 2004 – 8 Nov 2004 Augusto Inácio  
2004–05 Pepe  
2005 Oswaldo de Oliveira  
2005–Feb 2006 Waldemar Lemos
Oswaldo de Oliveira
 
 
Feb 2006–2006 José Robles[11]  
2006 Michel Decastel  
2006 Reiner Hollmann  
 
Seasons Manager Nationality
2006–07 José Robles  
1 Jul 2007 – 30 Jun 2008 Mark Wotte  
2008–09 Erik van der Meer  
2009 Mrad Mahjoub  
2009 Carlos Manuel  
2009 Heron Ricardo Ferreira  
2009[12] Abdulqadir Almoghaisab (CT)  
2009 Abdullah Mubarak  
2009–10 José Robles  
2010 Hassan Hormatallah  
1 Jul 2010– 10 Sep 2010 Ilija Petković  
26 Sep 2010 – 23 Oct 2011 Abdullah Mubarak  
23 Oct 2011 – 30 Jun 2012 Bernard Simondi  
1 Jul 2012 – 30 Jun 2013 Henri Atamaniuk  
1 Jul 2012 – 7 Feb 2015 Milan Máčala  
7 Feb 2015 – 1 Feb 2016 Zlatko Kranjčar  
1 Feb 2016 – 11 May 2016 Yousuf Adam (interim)  
11 May 2016 – 30 Oct 2016 Luka Bonačić  
30 Oct 2016 – 1 Jun 2017 Yousuf Adam  
2 Jun 2017 – 27 Dec 2017 Joaquín Caparrós  
1 Jan 2018 – Jun 2018 Jorge Peris  
Jun 2018 Yusef Ahmad Baker (interim)[13]  
Jun 2018 – Dec 2018 Milan Máčala  
14 Dec 2018 – 18 Nov 2019 Rubén de la Barrera  
1 Dec 2019 – 14 Sep 2023 Nebojša Jovović  
 
Abdullah Mubarak, former manager of Al Ahli

Al Ahli club staff

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Last update: 2 June 2017.[14]

 
Senior team
Technical staff
Head coach Igor Bišćan
Assistant coach Ivan Hucko
Khalid Taj
Head of transatlantic relations Samuel Alger
Medical staff
Head of clinic Dr Tawfiq
Team doctor Sokryi
Physiotherapist Anselmo
Physiotherapist Assad Ammari
Team staff
Director of reserve team Majed Saeed
Director of administration Abdulaziz Hamza
Director of football Ibrahim Al Karaniris
Deputy director of football Khalid Shabib
Director of sports affairs Abdullah Jassim
Director of sport marketing Yaqoub Nasser
ATI Systems Youssef Bizzou
 
Youth teams
Technical staff
U23 manager Hassan Khalil Ahmed
U23 head coach Ivan Hucko
U23 assistant coach Hussein Baqir
U16 head coach John Lake
U16 assistant coach Abdulredha Hussein
 
Youth teams
Medical staff
Physiotherapist Islam Salahuddin
Physiotherapist Ihab Abdelfatah
Team staff
Head of youth teams Fahad Al Wadanaa
Deputy head of youth teams Ahmad Sayyar

Club officials

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Board

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Position Staff
President   Abdulla Yousef Al-Mulla
Vice-president   Mohammed Abdulla Al-Mustafawi Al-Hashemi
General secretary   Aref Abdulrahman

Last updated: February 2012
Source: Board of Directors

Club presidents

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As of February 2012.

No. Chairperson No. Chairperson
1   Naji Musaad 8   Abdullah Mohammed Ghurery
2   Sheikh Mubarak bin Ahmed Al-Thani 9   Ali bin Ali Ahmed
3   Sheikh Ali bin Abdulaziz Al-Thani 10   Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Nasser Al-Thani
4   Sheikh Mohammed bin Saud Al-Thani 11   Abdullah Ahmad Hashemi
5   Sultan bin Sultan 12   Mohammed Kadhim Ibrahim
6   Abdulaziz Fahad Bozzoer 13   Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al Thani
7   Abdulqadir Al Moghaisib 14   Sheikh Ahmed bin Hamad Al Thani

Records and statistics

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Player statistics

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Meshal Abdullah holds the record for most league goals scored for Al Ahli

Last update: 10 December 2024.
Players whose names are in bold are still active with the club.

Most goals
# Nat. Name League Goals Years active
1   Meshal Abdullah 120 1999–2007, 2008–2010, 2013–2019
2   Dioko Kaluyituka 60 2011–2015
3   Alboury Lah 29 1995–1998
4   Caló 26 2002–2006
5   Ndombe Mubele 16 2015–2017
6   Nabil El Zhar 15 2019–2021
7   Mojtaba Jabbari 15 2013–2017
8   Juma Mossi 15 2001–2002
9   Wagner Ribeiro 13 2009–2011
10   Badar Al-Maimani 12 2005–2007
  Sérgio Ricardo 2005–2006

Performance in UAFA competitions

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2003/04: First round
2007/08: First round

Performance in AFC competitions

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1992/93: First Round
1998/99: Second Round

Asian record

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Year Tournament Round Club Home Away Aggregate
1993 Asian Cup Winners' Cup Group stage   Al-Arabi 0–0 0–1 0–1
1999 Asian Cup Winners' Cup 1   Nejmeh w.o.1 0–0 0–0
2   Al-Ittihad 0–0 1–7 1–7

1. Al Nejmeh SC withdrew from the tournament.

Honours

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Al-Ahli Sports Club – Foundation story". al-ahliclub.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2011. Retrieved 16 July 2012.
  2. ^ عبد الرحمن المغيصيب الرئيس السابق : النادي إبني البكر ولا أطيق عليه اي كلمة لو بالغشمرة (in Arabic). al-ahliclub.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  3. ^ "مشاركة متميزة لمركز قطر للتراث والهوية في اليوم الرياضي". alarab.qa. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2014.
  4. ^ "لا للاعب الأجنبي. في النادي الأهلي" (in Arabic). Al Raya. 3 September 1985. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
  5. ^ الشيخ خالد بن علي الرئيس السابق للنادي يفتح قلبه للموقع : الادارة الحالية تحتاج للدعم والوقت لاعادة العميد لامجاده-قرارات المجلس الحالي يجب ان تنبع من داخله وليس من المجالس (in Arabic). al-ahliclub.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2011. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  6. ^ مسابقة كأس سمو الأمير لكرة القدم المباريات النهائية (in Arabic). alkass.net. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  7. ^ "New Record Attendance for a Qatar Stars League Match in Round 26". qsl.com.qa. Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  8. ^ "Al Ahli Doha Manager history". 26 February 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
  9. ^ المغيصيب أفضل مدرب وطني ويبحث دائماً عن الانجازات (in Arabic). Qatar Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  10. ^ Abdul Hamid Al-Adassi (8 October 2003). "الدوري القطري ينطلق بمشاركة نجوم الكرة العالميين" (in Arabic). Al Jazeera. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  11. ^ "أوزفالدو الضحية السادسة في الدوري القطري". alittihad.ae. 7 February 2006. Archived from the original on 7 August 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  12. ^ إقالة مدرب الأهلي القطري (in Arabic). nablustv.net. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  13. ^ "Qatar Stars League 17/18: Football Development Report - Full Season Analysis" (PDF) (in Arabic). Qatar stars League. p. 58. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  14. ^ أسماء مدربين واداريين الفئات السنية كرة القدم (in Arabic). al-ahliclub.com. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
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