2006–07 Iraqi Premier League

The Iraqi Premier League of 2006–2007 kicked off on December 22, 2006. In the beginning, teams only in the north and in the south were able to hold their games, while Baghdad based clubs were unable to begin the season on time due to the War in Iraq. During the season, the league had to go through some dramatic changes in order to move on with the league. At the beginning of the season, the teams were split into 3 groups, a North division, a South division, and a Baghdad division. Months into the season and the Baghdad based teams were unable to go forth with their games, thus the league had to change group and the system.

The 24 teams were split into four groups. The South and North divisions each have 7 teams, with one Baghdad division consisting of 4 teams and the other of 6 teams. At the end of the regular season, the top 3 teams from each group, a total of 12 teams, will advance to the next round. In the second round, these 12 teams will be splite into two groups of 6, with teams playing a single game with each opponent in the group. The top two team in each of the two groups advanced to the next round creating a 4 team playoff being played in Arbil. It was the first time in Iraqi history to have the championship game played outside of Baghdad. Baghdad based teams Al-Shorta, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Al- Talaba and Al-Zawraa opposed the decision of the IFA holding the championship game in Arbil and threaten to withdraw from the tournament.[1] Non of the teams withdrew and the playoffs went on.

Original groups

The following was the group in the beginning of the season. The groups would eventually have to be modified later on during the season because of security problems.

North division
  • Arbil
  • Duhok
  • Kirkuk
  • Mousel
  • Samaraa
  • Sirwan
  • Sulimaniya
South division
  • Naft Al Junoob
Baghdad division
  • Al-Adala
  • Al-Jaish
  • Al Kahraba
  • Al Naft
  • Al Quwa Al Jawiya
  • Al-Ramadi
  • Al Sinaa
  • Al Shorta
  • Al Talaba
  • Al Zawraa

By January, the Baghdad division was behind in getting their games underway. Ramadi FC widthrew due to economic reasons, thus the league finally split the group into 2 Baghdad divisions.

The Primary stage

Al Quwa Al Jawiya
Al Jaish
Al Sinaa
Al Naft
Al Zawraa
Al Kahraba
Arbil
Duhok
Mousel
Samaraa
Sirwan
Sulaymaniyah
Al Shurta
Ash Shatra
Naft Al Junoob
Al Minaa
Al Talaba
  • Green – Northern division
  • Blue – Baghdad division 1
  • Purple – Baghdad division 2
  • Red – Southern division

Baghdad Division A

Rank Club Pld W D L GD Pts
1 Al-Shorta 6 6 0 0 +11 18
2 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 6 3 1 2 +6 10
3 Al-Sinaa 6 1 2 3 −4 5
4 Al-Jaish 6 0 1 5 −13 1

Baghdad Division B

Rank Club Pld W D L GD Pts
1 Al-Zawraa (C) 8 3 6 0 +6 15
2 Al-Talaba 8 3 5 1 +2 14
3 Al-Naft 8 2 3 3 +1 9
4 Al-Kahraba 8 2 3 3 −3 9
5 Al-Adala (N) 8 1 3 4 −6 6

South Division

Rank Club Pld W D L GD Pts
1 Najaf 12 10 1 1 +15 31
2 Al-Minaa 12 8 3 1 +13 24
3 Karbalaa 12 5 6 1 +10 21
4 Naft Al Junoob 12 3 4 5 0 13
5 Maysan 12 2 3 7 −7 9
6 Al-Shatra 12 2 2 8 −9 8
7 Al-Forat (N) 12 2 1 9 −19 7

North Division

Rank Club Pld W D L GD Pts
1 Arbil 12 8 3 1 +13 27
2 Duhok 12 6 4 2 +1 22
3 Sirwan 12 5 5 2 +3 20
4 Sulaymaniyah (N) 12 5 4 3 +2 19
5 Mousel (N) 12 1 5 6 −5 8
6 Samaraa 12 1 5 6 −7 8
7 Kirkuk 12 2 2 8 −7 8
  Qualifies to next round
  Relegate to second division
(N)   Promoted to Iraqi Premier League in this season

The Elite stage

Group A

Rank Club Pld W D L GD Pts
1 Arbil 5 4 0 1 +7 12
2 Al-Talaba 5 2 2 1 +1 8
3 Karbala 5 2 1 2 0 7
4 Al-Minaa 5 2 1 2 -1 7
5 Al-Naft 5 1 1 3 −2 4
6 Al-Shorta 5 1 1 3 −5 4

Group B

Rank Club Pld W D L GD Pts
1 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 5 4 1 0 +4 13
2 Najaf 5 2 3 0 +6 9
3 Al-Sinaa 5 2 2 1 +1 8
4 Al-Zawra 5 1 1 2 0 4
5 Dohuk 5 0 2 3 −4 2
6 Sirwan 5 0 2 3 −7 2
  Qualifies to next round

The Golden Stage (final stage)

Semifinals

July 4, 2007
Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 2–0 Al-Talaba
38' Ali Mansoor
54' Haidar Raheem

July 4, 2007
Arbil FC 2–0 Najaf FC
15' Qusay Munir

22' Ahmad Salah

Third place match

July 6, 2007
Najaf FC 2–1 Al-Talaba
7' Yassir Abdul-Razzaq
18' Ali Mohammed 		52' Yassir Abdul-Muhsen

Final

July 6, 2007
Arbil FC 1–0 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
1' Ahmad Salah
Champions

Arbil FC
First Title

Top goalscorers

Pos Scorer Goals Team
1
 Ahmad Salah
11
 Arbil FC
2
 Sahib Abbas
9
 Karbala FC
3
 Halkurd Mulla Mohammed
8
 Sulaymaniyah FC
4
 Mostafa Karim
7
 Arbil FC
5
 Saeed Muhsen
6
 Duhok FC
5
 Hussam Ibrahim
6
 Al-Minaa
5
 Khalid Musheer
5
 Duhok FC

Sources

References

  1. ↑ Iraq Football Confederation won’t take back its decision of holding final round games outside Baghdad | Sports News | Alsumaria Iraqi Satellite TV Network