Abahani Limited Dhaka (Bengali: ঢাকা আবাহনী লিমিটেড), also referred as Dhaka Abahani or Abahani Limited, is a Bangladeshi professional football club based in the Dhanmondi area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The club currently competes in the Bangladesh Premier League, the top flight of Bangladeshi Football.

Abahani Limited Dhaka

Full name	Abahani Limited Dhaka
Nickname(s)	The Sky Blue Brigade[1]
Short name	ALD
Founded	1972; 50 years ago (1972) (as Abahani Krira Chakra) 1989; 33 years ago (1989) (as Abahani Limited Dhaka)
Stadium	Sylhet District Stadium, Sylhet
Capacity	15,000
Owner	Abhanai Limited
President	Salman F Rahman[2]
Coach	Mário Lemos
League	Bangladesh Premier League
2021–22	2nd of 12th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Active departments of Abahani Limited Dhaka
Football (Men's)	Football (Women's)	Cricket (Men's)
Hockey (Men's)	Badminton

The club was founded as Abahani Krira Chakra (Bengali: আবাহনী ক্রীড়া চক্র), through the re-organisation of Iqbal Sporting Club in 1972 by Sheikh Kamal, the eldest son of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In 1989, it was converted into a Limited company. Abahani Limited Dhaka is regarded as one of the country's most renowned and well supported clubs. Since arriving in the domestic football scene, the club has formed a long enduring rivalry with the neighboring Dhaka Mohammedan SC, known as the Dhaka Derby.[3]

The club has won eleven Dhaka League titles, which was the highest tier in Bangladesh until 2006. Since the inception of the country's first professional league, they have achieved a record seven Bangladesh Premier League titles.[4] With 17 domestic league titles, they are the second most sucessful club in Bangladesh top-tier league history, with the first being rivals Dhaka Mohammedan SC. The club has won both Federation Cup (12 times) and the Independence Cup (2 times) trophies. They have also enjoyed success in both continental and subcontinental football, winning 3 trophies (Charms Cup, Bordoloi Trophy and Sait Nagjee Trophy) from India, while in 2019, Abhani became the first Bangladeshi club to reach the knockout stages of the AFC Cup.[5]

History

The club won their first major domestic trophy in 1974 when they clinch the title of Dhaka League. In 2007, Bangladesh Football Premier League was introduced by Bangladesh Football Federation.Dhaka Abahani won the 2007 B.League which was the first edition of the league.[6] Dhaka Abahani Limited claimed their hat-trick titles of the Bangladesh Football Premier League by winning 2008–09 B.League & 2009–10 Bangladesh League respectively.[7] After a one-season break, Dhaka Abahani won their fourth league trophy by winning 2012 Bangladesh Football Premier League.[8] After a long trophyless run, Dhaka Abahani won the title of 2016 Bangladesh Federation Cup.[9] The triumph drew an end to the wait of the Dhanmondi outfit as the club last won a silverware back in the 2010–11 season. They also won the title of 2016 Bangladesh Football Premier League with an unbeaten record. The team became the first team to win the professional league title with an unbeaten record under the guidance of experienced coach György Kottán.[10] It was their fifth professional league title.

They started their 2016–17 season by retaining the title of 2017 Bangladesh Federation Cup. Equalling the record of arch-rival Dhaka Mohammedan, it was the 10th Bangladesh Federation Cup title for Abahani.[11] On 5 January 2018, Abahani also emerged as the champion of the Bangladesh Premier League for the record sixth time after they edged Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club 2–0 to confirm their second straight title with a game in hand. The club dedicated the title to their lifelong coach and former player Amalesh Sen, who died in October 2017.[12]

Rivalries

Dhaka Derby

The Dhaka Derby between Abahani Limited Dhaka and Dhaka Mohammedan, is seen as the biggest game in Bangladeshi football, although the rivalry was bigger in the past. Dhaka Mohammedan and Dhaka Abahani had their first encounter during the 1973 Dhaka League. The late Amalesh Sen scored the first goal in that match and became the first-ever goal scorer in the history of the Derby. During the early 70s the rivalry began, after Abahani signed the country's poster boy at the time, Kazi Salahuddin, and broke Mohammedan's Dhaka League dominance by winning their first league title in 1974.[13] The entirety of 80s and late 90s football scene in the country was dominated by the two forces. The derby has produced many memorable moments including an event in 1982, when four Abahani players were arrested at the end of the game.[14] The early years saw many violent confrontation between the fans of both clubs, and usually lead to police intervention or matches to be played behind closed doors. Fans were prevented from bringing flares into stadiums, as the games were heavily guarded by authorities to prevent fights among supporters.[15] However, since the inception of the country's first ever professional league, called the Bangladesh Premier League, the rivalry has lost its popularity among fans, locals and the media, in spite of the fact that it still remains as one of the biggest games of the year during every season, it is not as highly anticipated as in the past.[16] The professional league era has seen Abahani dominate the rivalry, winning 6 league trophy's, while Mohammedan are still searching for their first. Abahani also lead the way when it comes to the country's main domestic cup as they have won 12 Federation Cup which is two more than their rivals. On 18 July 2019, Mohammedan earned their first victory over Abahani in 1496 days.[17] Nonetheless, since the turn of the century Abahani have outperformed their rivals on both domestic and continental level, and in turn have produced a greater number of senior international players compared to Mohammedan, in recent years.

Current squad

Dhaka Abahani Limited squad for 2021–22 season.

As of 6 April 2022

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  BAN Shahidul Alam Sohel 2 DF  BAN Sushanto Tripura 3 DF  BAN Nurul Naium Faisal 4 DF  BAN Rezaul Karim Reza 5 DF  BAN Tutul Hossain Badsha 6 MF  BAN Emon Mahmud Babu 7 MF  BAN Jewel Rana 10 FW  BAN Nabib Newaj Jibon (Captain) 11 FW  BAN Rakib Hossain 12 FW  CRC Daniel Colindres 13 MF  BAN Abu Shaeid 14 DF  BAN Mamun Miah 15 DF  BAN Shakir Ahmed 16 MF  BAN Mohamed Sohel Rana

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 FW  BAN Mehedi Hasan Royal 18 GK  BAN Mahfuz Hasan Pritom 19 DF  BAN Monir Hossain 21 DF  BAN Muhammad Nazim Uddin 22 GK  BAN Arifuzzaman Himel 23 MF  BAN Mohammad Ridoy 24 DF  BAN Syed Arafat Hossain Tasin 25 GK  BAN Md. Shamim Hossen 27 MF  BAN Mohammad Al-Amin 28 MF  BAN Tonmoy Das 29 MF  BAN Imtiaz Sultan Jitu 30 GK  BAN Rayhan Ahmed Jaber 35 MF  BAN Al-Amin Hassan Aanaf 80 MF  BRA Raphael Augusto

Personnel

Current technical staff

As of October 2022.

Position	Name
Head Coach	Mário Lemos
Assistant Coach	Jakaria Babu Kervin Lemos
Goalkeeper Coach	Atiqur Rahman Atiq
Trainer	Kazi Nazrul Islam Paulo Ramos Pereira
Physio	Atiqur Rahman Mithun
Team Manager	Satyajit Das Rupu
Youth Coach	Pranotosh Kumar Das

Board of directors

As of January 2022.

Position	Name
President	Salman F Rahman
Director	Kazi Nabil Ahmed
Head of delegation	Harunur Rashid
Media officer	Tonmoy Das

Managerial records

Statistics

As of 31 July 2022

Coach	From	To	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	%W
Ali Imam	1983	1984	0	0	0	0	0	0	!—
Kazi Salahuddin	1985	1987	0	0	0	0	0	0	!—
Ashraf Uddin Ahmed Chunnu	1989	1989	0	0	0	0	0	0	!—
Kazi Salahuddin	1992	1994	0	0	0	0	0	0	!—
Monem Munna	February 1998	February 2005	0	0	0	0	0	0	!—
Amalesh Sen ‡	2000	2000	0	0	0	0	0	0	!—
Andrés Cruciani	February 2007	10 May 2007[18]	9	5	3	1	10	2	055.56
Amalesh Sen	10 May 2007	27 August 2010	0	0	0	0	0	0	!—
Ali Akbar Pourmoslemi	27 August 2010	March 2011	0	0	0	0	0	0	!—
György Kottán	1 May 2016	31 December 2016	34	22	10	2	69	28	064.71
Drago Mamić	1 January 2017	29 November 2017	21	11	7	3	27	21	052.38
Atiqur Rahman Atiq	1 December 2017	1 February 2018	11	9	1	1	18	6	081.82
Saiful Bari Titu	7 February 2018[19]	16 May 2018	6	1	1	4	5	12	016.67
Jakaria Babu	17 October 2018[20]	23 November 2018	5	4	0	1	11	6	080.00
Mário Lemos	2 December 2018[21]	Present	104	69	18	17	256	121	066.35

‡– Interim P – Total of played matches W – Won matches D – Drawn matches L – Lost matches GS – Goal scored GA – Goals against
%W – Percentage of matches won

History

• Ali Imam (1983–1984)
• Kazi Salahuddin (1985–1987)
• Ashraf Uddin Ahmed Chunnu (1989)
• Kazi Salahuddin (1992–1994)
• Monem Munna (February 1998 – February 2005)
• Amalesh Sen (2000)
• Andrés Cruciani (February 2007 – May 2007)
• Amalesh Sen (May 2007 – 2010)
• Ali Akbar Pourmoslemi (2010–2011)
• Amalesh Sen (2010–11)
• Ali Akbar Pourmoslemi (December 2011 – 2012)
• Ardeshir Pournemat Vodehi (November 2012 – May 2013)
• Nathan Hall (October 2013 – November 2013)
• Amalesh Sen (November 2013 – December 2013)
• Ali Akbar Pourmoslemi (December 2013 – 2014)
• Amalesh Sen (2014)
• György Kottán (December 2014 – June 2015)
• Amalesh Sen (July 2015 – August 2015)
• Drago Mamić (April 2016)
• Amalesh Sen (April 2016 – May 2016)
• György Kottán (May 2016 – December 2016)
• Drago Mamić (February 2017 – November 2017)
• Atiqur Rahman Atiq (December 2017 – February 2018)
• Saiful Bari Titu (February 2018 – May 2018)
• Jakaria Babu (September 2018 – December 2018)
• Mário Lemos (December 2018 – Current)

Professional league era

The club's competitive record since the inception of the first professional league are listed below.

Record as Bangladesh Premier League member
Season	Division	League								Federation Cup	Independence Cup	Asian club competition		Top league scorer(s)
		P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Position					Player	Goals
2007	B.League	20	14	5	1	36	8	47	Champions			AFC President's Cup	Group Stage	Zahid Hasan Ameli	12
2008/09	B.League	20	16	2	2	45	11	50	Champions	Runners-up		AFC President's Cup	Group Stage	Emeka Christian	17
2009/10	B.League	24	22	1	1	63	8	67	Champions	Runners-up		AFC President's Cup	Group Stage	Enamul Haque	21
2010/11	BPL	22	13	5	4	30	15	44	4th	Champions	Quarter-finals	AFC President's Cup	Group Stage
2012	BPL	20	13	6	1	42	15	45	Champions	Quarter-finals				Twum Frank	11
2012/13	BPL	16	8	5	3	23	15	29	3rd	Quarter-finals	Semi-finals	AFC President's Cup	Group Stage	Shakhawat Hossain Rony	7
2013/14	BPL	16	8	5	3	23	15	29	Runners-up	Semi-finals	Semi-finals			Osei Morrison	12
2015	BPL	20	10	5	5	32	13	35	4th	Quarter-finals				Sunday Chizoba	10
2016	BPL	22	15	7	0	48	16	52	Champions	Champions	Runners-up	AFC Cup	Group Stage	Sunday Chizoba	19
2017/18	BPL	22	16	4	2	35	13	52	Champions	Champions	Quarter-finals	AFC Cup	Group Stage	Sunday Chizoba	9
2018/19	BPL	24	19	1	4	60	28	58	Runners-up	Champions	Semi-finals	AFC Cup	Inter-zone Semi-final	Sunday Chizoba	20
2019/20	BPL	Cancelled								Quarter-finals		AFC Cup	Preliminary round 2	Sunday Chizoba	5
2020/21	BPL	24	13	8	3	65	29	47	3rd	Semi-finals		AFC Cup	Withdrew	Kervens Belfort	17
2021/22	BPL	22	14	5	3	55	22	47	Runners-up	Champions	Champions	AFC Cup	Play-off round	Dorielton Gomes	18

Asian club ranking

As of October 2020.[22]

Current rank	Country	Team	Points
76		Al-Jaish SC	1373
77		Al-Wehdat SC	1373
78		Abahani Limited Dhaka	1129
79		Al-Wahda SC	1101
80		Yangon United F.C.	839

Honours and achievements

Domestic

League

• Bangladesh Premier League:
  • Champions (6): 2007, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2012, 2016, 2017–18
• Dhaka League:
  • Champions (11): 1974, 1977, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1989–90, 1992, 1994, 1995, 2001[23]

Cup

• Federation Cup:
  • Champions (12): 1982,[note 1] 1985, 1986, 1988, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021–22
• Independence Cup:
  • Champions (2): 1990, 2021–22
• National Football Championship:
  • Champions (1): 2000
• Liberation Cup:
  • Champions (1): 1977
• DMFA Cup:
  • Champions (1): 1994
• Independence Gold Cup (Rajshahi):
  • Champions (1): 2005
• Super Cup:
  • Champions (1): 2011[24]

Invitational

• Sait Nagjee Trophy:
  • Champions (1): 1989[25]
• BTC Club Cup:
  • Champions (1): 1991
• Charms Cup:
  • Champions (1): 1994[26]
• Bordoloi Trophy:
  • Champions (1): 2010[27]
• Independence Day Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 1993[28]

Notable players

• The players below had senior international cap(s) for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed, represented their countries before or after playing for Abahani Limited Dhaka.[29]

Notes

References

External links

• Abahani Limited FIFA page
• Team info at GSA

На других языках

[de] Abahani Ltd. Dhaka

[es] Abahani Limited Dhaka

[ru] Абахани (футбольный клуб, Дакка)