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 Dubai Club

Nickname(s)

Fursan

Founded

1970

Ground

Rashed Stadium
Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Capacity

25,000

Owner

Ahmad Khalifa Hammad

Chairman

Abdullah Saeed

Manager

Cosmin Olăroiu

League

UAE Pro-League

2013–14

UAE Pro-League, 1st

Website

Club home page

Home colours

Away colours

Old logo

Al Ahli Club (Arabic: النادي الأهلي‎) is a United Arab Emirates professional association football club based in Dubai. 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 Arabian Gulf League titles in the '70s and won its fourth in 2006, fifth in 2009 and sixth in 2014.

History

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 Arabian Gulf 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, 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 plays focusing on UAE tradition, heritage and current events.

2009 FIFA Club World Cup

Al-Ahli, as UAE Arabian Gulf League 2008–09 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.^[1]

Current squad

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

No.	Position	Player
2	DF	Salmin Khamis
4	MF	Habib Al Fardan
5	DF	Walid Abbas
7	MF	Ismail Al Hammadi ´
8	MF	Everton Ribeiro
9	MF	Abdulla Jassem
10	MF	Luis Jiménez
11	FW	Ahmed Khalil
12	GK	Ahmed Mahmoud
14	MF	Oussama Assaidi
15	DF	Abduraheem Abdurahman
17	FW	Walid Anber
18	MF	Khaled Tareq Bashir
20	FW	Saeed Al-Bloushi
21	MF	Kwon Kyung-won

No.	Position	Player
22	GK	Ahmed Mubarak
24	FW	Abdulla Eyssa
26	DF	Abdulaziz Haikel
27	DF	Omar Mohammed
28	DF	Essa Ahmed
31	MF	Mohammed Anter
33	GK	Saif Yousif
46	DF	Abdul-Rahman Yousef
55	GK	Majed Naser
62	DF	Abdelaziz Sanqour
70	MF	Waleed Hussain
71	MF	Nawaf Mubarak
77	DF	Yousif Al Sayed
80	MF	Humaid Abbas
88	MF	Majed Hassan