Al-Wahda Sports Club (Arabic: نادي الوحدة الرياضي) is a Syrian multi-sports club based in Damascus.[1] It is mostly known for its football and basketball teams.[2] The football team plays in Syria's top competition, the Syrian Premier League. Al-Wahda SC was founded in 1928 and its colours are orange and white. They play their home games at the Al-Jalaa Stadium. The club is nicknamed The Damascene orange.
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Full name | Al-Wahda Sports Club Damascus | ||
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Nickname(s) | Damascene orange (Arabic: البرتقالة الدمشقية) | ||
Founded | 1928; 94 years ago (1928) as Qasioun SC | ||
Ground | Al-Jalaa Stadium | ||
Capacity | 10,000 | ||
Chairman | Maher Al-Sayed | ||
Manager | ![]() | ||
League | Syrian Premier League | ||
2021–22 | 4th | ||
Website | Club website | ||
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Al-Wahda active sections | ||
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![]() Football |
![]() Basketball |
The club has one of Syria's most prominent football charts, as it won the Syrian Premier League 2 times, the Syrian Cup 8 times and the Syrian Super Cup 3 times. Internationally, Al-Wahda biggest achievement is participation in the final of the 2004 AFC Cup.
Al-Wahda SC have competed in the AFC Champions League group stage as first Syrian club in history and have reached the knockout rounds of the AFC Cup four times, as well as reaching the round of 32 at the Arab Club Champions Cup twice.[3][4]
Founded in 1928, Al Wahda is one of the oldest clubs in the Arab world. Previous names for the club include Al Ghouta, and Qasioun (named after Mount Qasioun which overlooks the city of Damascus).[5]
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.[lower-alpha 1] The club was officially opened in 1928 and hosted a series of sports, including football and weightlifting.
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 remains so to this day.
Al-Jalaa Stadium is located in Mazzeh municipality of Damascus, Syria.[6] The stadium consists of a football field, and spaces that accommodate around 10,000 spectators, together with a VIP seats area that accommodates around 100 guests.
Al-Wahda formerly played their home games at their own ground, Abbasiyyin Stadium, but maintenance deficiencies prevented the club from using the stadium. As a consequence, Al-Jalaa Stadium replaced it as the official home ground.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, Al-Wahda has established itself as adored by the masses of the capital and all of Syria, reaching the third place among the clubs in the Arab world. Al-Wahda's supporters are called the "Crazy Orange" Ultras, and they emerged as an organized group around 2017.
The biggest rival of the club is Al-Jaish SC,[7] with whom they play the Damascus city derby. Other big rivalries are with Al-Ittihad SC Aleppo, Al-Karamah SC or Tishreen SC.
The club's home jersey is based on the orange color that, in addition to the Damascus sword monument located on Umayyad Square and Damascene Jasmine, the club has had in its emblem since its foundation. Away jerseys are white with orange edges.[8]
Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
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2012–2016 | Kappa | Cham Wings Airlines |
2016–2017 | Lotto | |
2017–2019 | Uhlsport | None |
2019–2020 | Nike | |
2020–2022 | Adidas | Cham Wings Airlines |
2022– | Nike | |
Notes:
Accurate as of 28 September 2022
Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AFC Champions League | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 16 |
AFC Cup | 49 | 17 | 13 | 19 | 66 | 66 |
TOTAL | 55 | 17 | 13 | 25 | 71 | 82 |
Match won | Match drawn | Match lost | Champions | Runners-up |
Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Agg |
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2003–04 | AFC Cup | Group stage | ![]() |
1–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
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5–1 | 0–0 | 5–1 | |||
Quarterfinals | ![]() |
2–1 | 2–3 | 4–4 | ||
Semifinals | ![]() |
1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | ||
Final | ![]() |
2–3 | 1–0 | 3–3 [lower-alpha 2] | ||
2004–05 | AFC Champions League | Group stage | ![]() |
2–3 | 0–3 | 2–6 |
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1–2 | 1–3 | 2–5 | |||
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1–3 | 0–2 | 1–5 | |||
2012–13 | AFC Cup | Qualifying Play-off | ![]() |
3–5[lower-alpha 3] | 3–5 | |
2013–14 | AFC Cup | Group stage | ![]() |
1–4[lower-alpha 4] | 1–3 | 2–7 |
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1–3 | 0–0 | 1–3 | |||
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1–3 | 1–1 | 2–4 | |||
2014–15 | AFC Cup | Group stage | ![]() |
1–2[lower-alpha 5] | 0–0 | 1–2 |
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3–1 | 2–0 | 5–1 | |||
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1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | |||
Round of 16 | ![]() |
1–1 (a.e.t.) (2–4 p) | 1–2 | |||
2015–16 | AFC Cup | Group stage | ![]() |
2–1[lower-alpha 6] | 1–2 | 3–3 |
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5–2 | 0–1 | 5–3 | |||
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0–3[lower-alpha 7] | 3–0 [lower-alpha 8] | 3–3 | |||
Round of 16 | ![]() |
0–4 | 0–4 | |||
2016–17 | AFC Cup | Group stage | ![]() |
0–2[lower-alpha 9] | 1–0 | 1–2 |
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2–0 | 6–0 | 8–0 | |||
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0–0 | 1–1 | 5–3 | |||
Zonal semifinals | ![]() |
4–1 | 0–1 | 4–2 | ||
Zonal finals | ![]() |
2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 (a) | ||
2017–18 | AFC Cup | Group stage | ![]() |
1–2[lower-alpha 10] | 2–2 | 3–4 |
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2–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | |||
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0–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | |||
2020–21 | AFC Cup | Group stage | ![]() |
1–1 | 1–1 | |
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0–0 | 0–0 |
Accurate as of 28 September 2022
Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arab Club Champions Cup | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 17 |
TOTAL | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 17 |
Match won | Match drawn | Match lost | Champions | Runners-up |
Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Agg |
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2002–03 | Arab Champions League | Group stage | ![]() |
1–2 | 1–2 | |
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0–7 | 0–7 | ||||
2005–06 | Arab Champions League | Round of 32 | ![]() |
1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
2006–07 | Arab Champions League | Round of 32 | ![]() |
0–3 | 1–3 | 1–6 |
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Position | Name |
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Head coach | ![]() |
Assistant coach | ![]() ![]() |
Assistant coach and analyst | ![]() |
Fitness coach | ![]() ![]() |
Goalkeeping coach | ![]() |
Team administrator | ![]() |
Technical director | ![]() |
Last updated: 23 September 2022
Source: [citation needed]
Period | President |
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1974–1976 | Ahmed Al-Sharbaji |
1976–1982 | Hamad Al-Numan |
1982–1986 | Muntaz Malas |
1986–1988 | Ahmed Al-Sharbaji |
1988–1990 | Salim Daas |
1990–1994 | Salim Daas |
1994–1996 | Salim Daas |
1996–1997 | Ahmed Bitar |
1997–1998 | Ahmed Al Homsi |
1998–2001 | Muntaz Malas |
2001–2003 | Khaled Haboubati |
2003–2004 | Safwan Nizamuddin |
2004–2006 | Khaled Haboubati |
2006–2008 | Khaled Haboubati |
2008–2009 | Fouad Mahfoud |
2009–2019 | Ahmed Qutrash |
2019–2021 | Maher Al-Sayed |
2021–2022 | Anwar Abdel Hai |
2022–present | Maher Al-Sayed |
No. | Season | Name | Nation | Goals | Notes |
1 | 1990–91 | Othman Bawarshi | ![]() |
11 | |
2 | 1992–93 | Assaf Khalifa | ![]() |
11 | With Mouhanad Boushi |
3 | 2010–11 | Ali Salah Hashim | ![]() |
9 | Season suspended |
4 | 2013–14 | Majed al-Haj | ![]() |
11 | |
5 | 2015–16 | Raja Rafe | ![]() |
22 | |
6 | 2016–17 | Osama Omari | ![]() |
17 | |
7 | 2017–18 | Basel Mustafa | ![]() |
15 |
No. | Name | Nation | Goals | Notes |
1 | Osama Omari | ![]() |
78 | |
2 | Maher Al-Sayed | ![]() |
76 | |
3 | Assaf Khalifa | ![]() |
59 | |
4 | Mahmoud Mahmalji | ![]() |
51 | |
5 | Raja Rafe | ![]() |
46 | |
6 | Nizar Mahrous | ![]() |
44 | |
7 | Majed al-Haj | ![]() |
38 | |
=7 | Nabil Al-Shahma | ![]() |
38 | |
9 | Ismail Fatout | ![]() |
31 | |
10 | Maher Kharrat | ![]() |
30 | |
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