Al-Gharafa Sports Club is primarily a Qatar

Qatar

Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...

i football

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 from Doha

Doha

Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...

, although it also has teams for other sports. It was established on the 6 June 1979 as Al-Ittihad and later officially incorporated into the Qatar Football Association on the 23 September that same year. The club was officially renamed to its current form in 2004 to better represent the district of Al-Gharafa, which the club belongs to.

The idea of of creating the new club that would represent Gharafat Al-Rayyan sparked from a group of young Qataris in 1978. Most notably, people like Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Al-Thani, Sheikh Mohammad Bin Jassim Al-Thani, and Saad Mohammad Al-Rumaihi. In a documentary produced by Al Kasshttp://www.alkass.net/ sports channel about the history of the club, Shiekh Hamad Bin Jassim mentioned that the idea was suggested by Saad Al-Romaihi initially who was working as a sports journalist at Al Raya newspaper.

History

Al-Gharafa Sports Club was founded on June 6, 1979 and was formally created on September 23, 1979 as Al-Ittihad by the first president of the board of directors, Khalifa bin Fahad bin Mohammed Al Thani (1979–1982) under resolution no. 9. Al-Gharafa was founded with the intent of creating sports facilities for the youth in the Al-Gharafa region. It did not occur to the leaders that Al-Gharafa would become as tremendously successful as it is today. The name "Al-Ittihad", which when translated into English, means "United", was chosen in the spirit of the brotherhood and solidarity that characterized the club and its leaders. Al-Gharafa owes much of its success in the early years to the financial and material support of its Sheikh leaders.

As Al-Gharafa was established relatively late compared to other Qatar

Qatar

Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...

i clubs, it was sent to the Qatar 2nd Division. It dominated the league and won the title on its debut with Egyptian coach Mahmoud Abu Rujaila, as well two more times before playing in the 1984–85 season of the Qatar Stars League, subsequently finishing last and being relegated. The club was once again promoted and winded up winning its first Stars League title in 1991–92, breaking the 16-year deadlock between the three dominant Qatari clubs Al-Arabi, Al-Sadd

Al-Sadd

Sadd Sports Club known as Al-Sadd Club is a Qatari sports club, best known for its football team of the Qatar National First Division, from the city of Doha. The club goes with the Nickname "Al-Zaeem", which translates to "The Boss", and was founded by four students on the October 21, 1969 in...

, and Al-Rayyan. Al-Gharafa has undoubtedly had the most league success since the dawn of the new century.

Club Presidents

Years	Chairman
Sep 1979 – May 1982	Qatar Khalifa bin Fahad bin Mohammed Al Thani
May 1982 - May 1984	Qatar Saad Al-Mohammed Al-Rumaihi Abdullah
May 1984 - May 1989	Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Jassim Al Thani
May 1989 - May 1991	Qatar Sheikh Jassim bin Faisal Al Thani
May 1991 - May 1992	Qatar Sheikh Khalid bin Thani Al Thani
May 1992 - 01	Qatar Sheikh Jassim bin Khalifa Al Thani
2001 - 2005	Qatar Sheikh Thamer Bin Mohammed al Thani
2005 -	Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer bin Mohammed bin Thani Al-Thani is the owner of Al Jazeera, which is based in Qatar. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of the Board of Administration.He is the chairman of Qatar Media Corporation....

Current squad

Management