Al-Wahda SC (Syria)

Al-Wahda SC
Full name Al-Wahda Sports Club (Damascus)
Nickname(s) Damascene orange
Founded 1928
Ground Abbasiyyin Stadium
Damascus, Syria
Ground Capacity 30,000
Chairman Ahmad Qoutrash
Manager Rafat Muhammad
League Syrian Premier League
2015–16 1st (Group B)
2nd (Championship play-off)
Active departments of
Al-Wahda SC
Football Basketball

Al-Wahda Sports Club (Arabic: نادي الوحدة الرياضي) is a Syrian multi-sports club based in Damascus. It is mostly known for its football and basketball teams. Al-Wahda were founded in 1928. They play their home games at the Abbasiyyin Stadium. The club is nicknamed "The Damascene orange".

History

Founded in 1928, Al Wahda is one of the oldest clubs in the Arabic world. Previous names for the club include Al Ghouta, and Qasioun (named after Mount Qasioun which overlooks the city of Damascus). Ahmed Ezzat Rifai is the original founder of this club. He met with a group of friends in Souq Saruja, Damascus to discuss setting up a new sports club, and they agreed to found the club and named it Qasioun. The club was officially opened in 1928 and hosted a series of sports, including football and weightlifting.

The "Golden Era"

Nenad Stavrić is a Serbian coach who joined Al-Wahda club in 2001. He started with two losses against Al-Horriya and Al-Karamah followed with draw with Al-Jaish, the team had to wait until the fifth week of the season to achieve their first win with the new coach. The team finished the league in the third place. In his second year the team had a big improvement In the level of performance especially with the new formation 4–4–2 which was the first time ever a Syrian team to use it, in the beginning the results was awful with the new formation especially the big defeat against the Saudi Arabia champion Al-Ittihad Jeddah seven to nothing in the Arabian club tournament, but after that the team keep improving to win the Syrian Cup in 2003 against Al-Ittihad Aleppo after a dramatic match 5–3. In the next season he made the dream true and Al-Wahda is the 2003–04 Syrian League champion for the first time in the club history, also the team reached the final of AFC Cup and lost against the other Syrian side Al-Jaish after losing the first game 2–3 and winning the second game 1–0. In 2004–05 the team was too close to win the title again but it lost it in the last few weeks with missing a key players along the season with major injury. The curse of injuries continued in the following season but even though the team was closer than the year before to clinch the title. The chairman of the club Khaled Hbobaty decided to replace him with Mansoor Haj Saied and the club entered the black tunnel for several years and still until this days.

Achievements

2003–04, 2013–14
1993, 2003, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016
1993, 2016–17

Performance in AFC competitions

2005: Group Stage
2004: Finalist
2013: Qualifying Round
2014: Group Stage

Performance in ACL Competitions

2005–06: First Round
2006–07: First Round

Current squad

First-team squad

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

No. Position Player
1 Syria GK Radwan Al Azhar
2 Syria DF Ibrahim Al Abdullah
3 Syria DF Ali Diab
4 Syria DF Omar Al Midani
5 Syria MF Mohammad Al Ghabbash
6 Syria MF Burhan Sahyouni
7 Syria MF Osama Omari
8 Syria DF Shuaib Al Ali
9 Syria MF Mohammad Fares
10 Syria FW Raja Rafe
11 Syria FW Ali Al Ramadan
12 Syria MF Khaled Mobayed
No. Position Player
13 Syria GK Talal Al Hussen
14 Syria FW Majed Al Haj
17 Syria DF Mohammad Rammal
20 Syria MF Mohammad Ali
23 Syria MF Mahmoud Al Darraj
24 Syria DF Hadi Al Masri
30 Syria MF Qusay Habib
31 Syria GK Taha Mousa
77 Syria MF Mohamad Al Hasan
85 Syria DF Wael Ayan
99 Syria FW Abdulhadi Shalha

Former managers

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