Al-Ahli (UAE) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Al-Ahli Club is a United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

professional football (soccer)

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

club. They are based in Dubai

Dubai

Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...

. The club is abbreviated as A.C..

Al Ahli is one of the most successful clubs in the UAE. Al Ahli, literally translating to "national" in Arabic, was established in 1970, when three local teams joined together to form the club. The club won three UAE League

UAE League

The UAE Pro League Committee , commonly known as PLC, is the professional association football league of the United Arab Emirates. Founded in 1973, the league currently holds a number of tournaments for the 12 participating teams, including the Etisalat Pro-League, the Etisalat Cup, Etisalat...

titles in the '70s and won its fourth in 2006, and fifth in 2009.

Establishment

The club was established in 1970, when two local football teams Al Wehdah and Al Shabab (est. 1962) joined together, and then four years later another local team Al Najah joined to form Al Ahli Club.

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.

1973–1980: The golden age

It took Al Ahli only four years after its establishment to win the UAE League

UAE League

twice consecutively in 1975 and 1976 then again in 1980. Drawing home-town fans, Al Ahli has been and continues to be one of the most popular sports teams in the UAE. However,Al Ahli club have suffered a lot in the last decades,and they went back to the second division when they played against Al shabab which alahli was willing just for a point from the match to stay in the 1 division. Al ahli has lost the match and Al Shabab has won the league.
After a period of decline, Al Ahli went back on top winning its fourth league title in 2006 but throughout these years, Al Ahli continued to be a successful club in the UAE by winning 6 Emir Cups.

Al Ahli Castle

They are also known as Al Ahli Castle because of its involvement in other professional sports. The club competes in basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, volleyball

Volleyball

Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

, handball

Team handball

Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...

, track sport, table tennis

Table tennis

Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...

and track cycling

Track cycling

Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using track bicycles....

.
Al Ahli is also known for its involvement in cultural activities and community services. Al Ahli Drama club established in 1981, to promote Emirati plays focusing on UAE tradition, heritage and current events.

Brawl

In August 2009, Al-Ahli (though some early reports erroneously stated that it was Saudi outfit Al-Hilal

Al-Hilal

Al-Hilal Saudi Football Club , also known simply as Al-Hilal, is a Saudi Arabian sports club based in the country's capital of Riyadh and best known for its professional football team, known as Al-Hilal Saudi Football Club...

) caught the attention of the British media when a hastily organised training ground

Cobham Training Centre

The Cobham Training Centre is the state of the art training ground of Chelsea Football Club located in Stoke d'Abernon near Cobham, Surrey. The Chelsea first team have trained at Cobham since 2005, but it was not officially opened until 2007.-History:...

friendly against Premier League side Chelsea erupted into a mass brawl following an alleged spate of dangerous play from the UAE side, a knee-high two-footed tackle on Ben Gordon

Ben Gordon (footballer)

Benjamin Lawrence "Ben" Gordon is an English footballer who currently plays as a defender for Peterborough United on loan from Chelsea.-Career:...

was the catalyst, which started the fight in which Al-Ahli were accused of eye-gouging, karate-kicking and tearing the hair out of the Chelsea youngsters. Both Chelsea and the Football Association have stated that the incident was started by Al-Ahli and an investigation was launched. After the conclusion of the investigation, the FA was expected to contact their counterparts in the UAE after which action was expected to be taken against any guilty parties.

2009 FIFA Club World Cup

Al-Ahli, as UAE Premier League 2008–09 champions and as Dubai was hosting the event, qualified for the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup

2009 FIFA Club World Cup

-Play-off for Quarter-finals:-Quarter-finals:-----Semi-finals:-----Match for fifth place:-Match for third place:-Final:-Scorers:4 goals Denilson...

which was held in December 2009. They lost 0–2 to Auckland City

Auckland City FC

Auckland City Football Club is a football club based in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city. The club competes in the eight-team ASB Premiership which is the highest level of domestic football in the country...

in their only game in the competition.

Season 2009 – 2010

This season started up with the Super cup against Al-Ain, winners of the President's cup. The match headed to penalty shootout after the final score was 2–2, and Al Ahli lost. As the league began, Al Ahli club officials lost faith in their new manager Ioan Andone

Ioan Andone

Ioan Andone is a Romanian football coach and former player.-Career:He made his Divizia A debut with Corvinul Hunedoara in 1979. He later went to Dinamo Bucureşti where he helped win the league title in 1984 and 1990 and the cup title in 1984, 1986 and 1990. In 1990 he was bought by Spanish team...

, as the team lost their two opening games, and managed to draw in a couple following. The replacement was the assistant manager Noor Al Deen Al Obaidi. He managed to pick up the team a little bit, before the Big Emarati coach Mahdi Ali started coaching the team, and getting them back into shape and ready for the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi. With a lot of the key players out injured, the team couldn't do much in the Club World Club, and exited after the first game. Mahdi Ali left the team because his contract would expire with the end of Al Ahli's journey in the Club World Cup. Before another manager was to be recruited, Noor Al Deen Al Obaidi temporarily became the manager again. Al Ahli then announced the name of their fourth manager this season, Henk ten Cate

Henk ten Cate

Henk ten Cate is a Dutch football manager and a former professional player.In the 2005–06 season, he was the assistant of Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona that guided the team to a Champions League Trophy and La Liga title...

. Again, the new manager couldn't make a difference, and exited with his own will. Noor Al Deen Al Obaidi finished the season as the first manager, and was able to get Al Ahli fight in the Asian Champions league, however, because of the performance of the first two match in the beginning of the season, the couldn't advance to the second stage. As the season ended, Al Ahli's administration were in action to bring change.

2010 - 2011

There was a big change in the administration of the club, in which Mr Abdullah Saeed Al Naboodah took charge, and Mr Ahmad Khalifa Hammad became the Executive CEO. They recruited Italy's former captain Fabio Cannavaro

Fabio Cannavaro

Fabio Cannavaro, Ufficiale OMRI is a former Italian footballer considered one of the greatest defenders of all time and was given the name "Muro di Berlino" which means The Berlin wall by Italian supporters. He spent the majority of his career in Italy...

and David O'Leary

David O'Leary

David Anthony O'Leary is an Irish football manager and former player. His managerial career began at Leeds United and later he managed Aston Villa. He most recently worked as the manager of Al-Ahli Dubai...

as manager. They also recruited André Luciano da Silva, better known as Pinga, from Al-Wahda Club. Rumors have suggested that they were about to sign the Honduran David Suazo

David Suazo

Óscar David Suazo Velázquez is a Honduran football striker who currently plays for Calcio Catania in the Italian Serie A. He is also a member of the Honduran national team.-Early career:...

or the Ghanaian Sulley Muntari

Sulley Muntari

Sulleyman Ali "Sulley" Muntari is a Ghanaian international footballer who currently plays as a central midfielder for Serie A club Inter Milan in Italy. He has 66 caps for The Black Stars of Ghana.-Early career:...

as their forward, since their current Forward Jader Volne Spindler had transferred to Al Jazira Club. In the end, the club signed a contract with the Burkinabé

Burkinabe

Burkinabé may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to Burkina Faso, a nation in West Africa* A person from Burkina Faso, or of Burkinabé descent. For information about the Burkinabé people, see:** Demographics of Burkina Faso** Culture of Burkina Faso...

footballer Aristide Bancé

Aristide Bancé

Aristide Bancé is a Burkinabé footballer playing currently for Samsunspor, on loan from Al-Ahli Dubai. Of Spor Toto Super League 2011-2012 season first goal scorer.On 15 August 2010 he moved to Al-Ahli Dubai....

from Mainz 05 as well as a young british athlete known as Bilal Ali Khan as a full time replacement. As a young addition to the club Bilal spent most of his first few months on the reserve squad or as a substitute, it was not until december until O'Leary noticed the young boy's talent as he put the team through to knock out stages of the President cup. Bilal became the first to score 17 league goals in just one season. At the end of the season Bilal had 23 Goals to his name. The Fans named him 'Super Boy Khan'. O'Leary was let go during the season due to the team's poor performance, and an Emarati manager guided the team till the end of the season. During the January transfer window, Bance went on loan to Umm Salal Sport Club. By the end of the season, Bance transferred to Um Salal permanently. Al Ahli failed to finish in the top 4 and therefore could not qualify to the AFC Champions League

AFC Champions League

The AFC Champions League is the premier Asian club football competition hosted annually by Asian Football Confederation . The tournament is contested among the top thirty-two clubs from the top 10 Asian leagues, two of which must qualify through the playoffs...

. They were knocked out of the President's Cup in the semi-final round by Al Wasl FC

Al Wasl FC

Al Wasl Sports Club is a multi-sports club in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates. It is best known for its football team.-The Cheetahs:Being one of the most popular clubs in the UAE, AlWasl have had several nicknames. The most famous one being...

2011-2012

Al Naboodah knew that he needed to bring new players that can help the team win trophies in the new season. Fabio Cannavaro was named as the consultant of Al Ahli's football company after he announced his retirement from football. Salem Khamis

Salem Khamis

Salem Khamis is a football player from the United Arab Emirates and Al-Nasr SC-External links:*...

fully transferred to Al Nasr SC after spending the previous season on loan, while Amir Mubarak transferred to Al Ahli. Pinga's contract was not renewed. Hammad announced the signing of 3 new foreign players: the Brazilian Grafite

Grafite

Edinaldo Batista Libânio , commonly known as Grafite is a Brazilian footballer who plays for UAE Football League club Al-Ahli Dubai....

from Wolfsburg on a 2 year contract, the Brazilian Jakson Coelho from Trabzonspor

Trabzonspor

Trabzonspor is a professional Turkish football club located in the city of Trabzon, Turkey. Formed in 1967 through a merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor won six championships in Turkish Super League. The Club won their first Championship title in 1975 which is also the Club's initiation year...

(famously known as Jajá) on a 3 year contract and the Chilean international Luis Antonio Jiménez from Ternana Calcio

Ternana Calcio

Ternana Calcio is an Italian football club based in the city of Terni, Umbria.The team's colours are red and green.The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana have twice played in Serie A...

on a 4 year contract. Al Naboodah also recruited the former Football Association of the Czech Republic

Football Association of the Czech Republic

The Football Association of the Czech Republic or colloquially the Czech Football Association is the governing body of football in the Czech Republic, based in Prague. It organizes the football leagues, Czech Liga and Czech 2. Liga, and the Czech Republic national football team...

president, Ivan Hašek

Ivan Hašek

Ivan Hašek is a retired Czech footballer who played as a central midfielder.He spent 11 years of his career with Sparta Prague, appearing in more than 300 official games with the club, and later acting as its manager....

, who guided Al Ahli from midway through the 2007-2008 season, to the end of the season of 2008-2009 when he became the president of the Football Association of the Czech Republic, to be Al Ahli's manager. By his side will be the Emarati coach Mohammad Jalbot who will serve as one of his assistants. While the team was training in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, the administration made the top signing of the year in the UAE of the captain of 1. FC Köln

1. FC Köln

1. FC Köln is a German association football club based in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs Kölner Ballspiel-Club 1901 and SpVgg Sülz 07....

, Youssef Mohamad

Youssef Mohamad

Youssef Wasef Mohamad is a Lebanese footballer currently playing for Al-Ahli in the UAE Football League and the Lebanon national team. He represented Lebanon at the 2000 Asian Cup and also captained of the team from November 2004 to August 2005.-Club career:...

, who will serve as the Asian foreigner since he is Lebanese

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

Current squad

(vice captain)

Notable former players

Asia Ali Karimi

Ali Karimi

Mohammad Ali Karimi Pashaki better known as Ali Karimi, is an Iranian professional footballer who is currently playing for Persepolis in Iran Pro League. He was awarded the Asian Footballer of the Year in 2004....

Javad Kazemian

Javad Kazemian is an Iranian Football right winger who plays for Persepolis in the Iran Pro League. He is commonly mistaken for a striker as he is frequently involved in running towards the opposing box, but his preferred position is a right winger....

Farhad Majidi

Farhad Majidi is an Iranian football striker who currently plays for Esteghlal in Iran's Premier Football League. He was also a member of Iran national football team.- Club career :...

Milad Meydavoudi

Milad Meydavoudi is an Iranian football player, who currently plays for Esteghlal in Iran's Premier Football League.-Club career:Meydavoudi started his career at Esteghlal Ahvaz with whom he made his professional debut in 2004, He was broght to Esteghlal Ahvaz by Nasser Hejazi from youth team.In...

Hassan Rowshan

Hassan Rōshan is an Iranian football coach, manager, and former player. He usually played as a striker. As of 15 July 2011, He is Head of Technical Committee of Esteghlal.- Early life :...

Hassan Zonderjasan Youssef Mohamad

Youssef Mohamad

Africa Aristide Bancé

Aristide Bancé

Kelvin Sebwe

Kelvin Sebwe is a retired Liberian footballer who played as a midfielder. Sebwe was also a member of the Liberia national football team. His brother is Dionysius Sebwe...

Rachid Benmahmoud

Rachid Benmahmoud is a Moroccan former footballer and current assistant coach of Al-Ain FC.- External links :...

Karim El Ahmadi

Karim El Ahmadi Arrousi is a Dutch footballer of Moroccan descent who currently plays as a defensive midfielder for the Dutch Eredivisie club Feyenoord.-UDI:...

Abdellatif Jrindou

Abdellatif Jrindou is a Moroccan football Defender. He currently plays for Raja Casablanca.In his career, Jrindou played for Olympique Casablanca in Morocco, Al-Ahli in UAE, Al-Ittifaq in Saudi Arabia, he is currently a captain of Raja Casablanca's 1st squad.Jrindou has made several appearances...

Kingsley Obiekwu

Kingsley Obiekwu is a retired Nigerian footballer who played as a defender.He represented Nigeria at international level and was a member of the squad which won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.-References:...

Mohamed Kader

Mohamed Abdel-Kader Coubadja-Touré is a Togolese football striker.-International career:A Togo international, he helped them reach the 2006 World Cup, their first World Cup ever. He further scored the team's first ever World Cup goal in a loss to South Korea. The goal was also Togo's only goal...

Anthony Nwaigwe Ali Zitouni

Ali Zitouni

-Career:Zitouni plays for Antalyaspor in the Turkish Super Lig. He previously played for Espérance in Tunisia and was loaned to Troyes AC for six months.Zitouni played for the Tunisia national football team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals...

South America Grafite

Grafite

Edinaldo Batista Libânio , commonly known as Grafite is a Brazilian footballer who plays for UAE Football League club Al-Ahli Dubai....

Jajá Coelho Marcos Assunção

Marcos Assunção

Marcos dos Santos Assunção is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Palmeiras.A Central Midfielder, he is renowned as a world-class free kick specialist, and is best known for his spell at Real Betis, having represented teams in four different countries.-Club career:Assunção began his career at Rio...

Pinga Renato

Renato Cunha Valle

Renato Cunha Valle, better known as Renato, is a former footballer who played as a goalkeeper....

Luis Jiménez Juan Martín Parodi

Juan Martín Parodi

Juan Martín Parodi is a Uruguayan footballer.-Club career:Parodi has spent most of his career in Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico and Greece, notably playing for Nacional in the Primera División Uruguaya as well as Deportivo Español and Colón in the Primera División de Argentina, Toros Neza in the...

Europe Slavisa Mitrovic

Slavisa Mitrovic

Slaviša Mitrović is a retired Bosnian Serb footballer.During his career he played in UAE League with Alahli and Al-Wahda and in Romanian League with Naţional Bucureşti and in the Second Division with SC Concordia Chiajna. He was the second top scorer with Alahli in UAE League with 19...

Martin Kamburov

Martin Kamburov , is a Bulgarian footballer and current international, currently playing as a striker for Dalian Shide.-Plovdiv teams:...

Gregory du Frenice

Grégory Dufrennes is a French football midfielder who currently plays for Al-Ittihad Kalba in the UAE League.His father, Jean-Luc Dufrennes, who worked for the French Football Federation training coaches had been a great influence on his playing career in his youth.Dufrennes senior was Gregory's...

Fabio Cannavaro

Managerial history

Srećko Juričić

Srecko Juricic

Srećko Juričić is a former Croatian football player. He was the manager of the Yemen national football team before being sacked in December 2010.As a player, he was part of NK Rijeka's golden generation which won the Yugoslav Cup in 1978 and 1979....

Željko Markov

Zeljko Markov

Zeljko Markov is a football coach from the Republic of Serbia. He is a former player of SFR Yugoslavia.As a player successfully played in Serbia, Greece, Italy, Germany and Bahrain...

Winfried Schäfer (2005–07) Faozy Altaisha Alan Michelle Yousef Zawawi (2007) Robert Pouven Ivan Hašek

Ivan Hašek

(2007–09) Ioan Andone

Ioan Andone

(2009) Henk Ten Cate

Henk ten Cate

(2009) Noor Al Deen Al Obaidi (2009–10) David O'Leary

David O'Leary

(2010–11) Ivan Hašek

Ivan Hašek

(2011) Quique Flores (2011–)

Al Ahli Club Board Directors

Abdulla Saeed al Naboodah – Chairman|
Hammed Abdullah – Deputy Chairman|
Ahmad Khalifa Hammad – CEO|

Board Members

Al Ahli Football Company

Abdulla Saeed al Naboodah – Chairman |
Sayef Bin Mrkhan – Deputy Chairman|
Ahmad Khalifa Hammad – CEO|

League

UAE Football League

Champions: (5) 1974–75, 1975–76, 1979–80, 2005–06, 2008–09

Cup

UAE President Cup
UAE President Cup
The UAE President's Cup is the top association football knockout tournament of the United Arab Emirates.- Winners :- Top-performing clubs:-References:...

Champions: (7) 1974–75, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1995–96, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2007–08

UAE Super Cup
UAE Super Cup
The UAE Super Cup, commonly known as the Etisalat Super Cup, is the curtain raiser of the of the United Arab Emirates football season. It is played between the previous season's Pro-League winners and President's Cup Winners. The first edition has been played on 14 September 2008.-Winners:-Titles...

Winners: (1) 2009

External links

Official website

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