Safa Sporting Club (Arabic: نادي الصفاء الرياضي, lit. 'The Purity Sporting Club') is a football club based in Wata El Msaytbeh, a district in Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the Lebanese Premier League. Founded in 1939, they won three league titles, three domestic cups, one Super Cup, and two Elite Cups; they have also reached the 2008 AFC Cup final.[2]

Safa

Full name	Safa Sporting Club
Nickname(s)	النسور (The Eagles)[1]
Founded	31 March 1939; 83 years ago (31 March 1939)
Ground	Safa Stadium[lower-alpha 1]
Capacity	4,000
Chairman	Ghazi Chaar
Manager	Youssef Al Jawhari
League	Lebanese Premier League
2021–22	Lebanese Premier League, 11th of 12
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Active teams of Safa
Men's Women's
v t e

Safa primarily receives its support from Wata El-Museitbeh, as well as the Druze community all over Lebanon.[3][4] Given their fanbase extends well in Mount Lebanon, including the city of Aley, they play the Mountain derby with Akhaa Ahli Aley.

History

Founded in 1933 at an amateur level in the Wata El-Museitbeh of Beirut, Safa Sporting Club was officially established in 1939 by seven people: Maher Wahab, Anis Naaim, Hasib Al-Jerdi, Amin Haidar, Chafik Nader, Toufik Al-Zouhairy and Adib Haidar.[5]

On 23 December 1948, Safa obtained the official membership and license from the government as a private association.[5] In the same year, the club was affiliated to the Lebanese Football Association and was ranked within the Second Division.[6] In 1961, Safa was promoted to the First Division.^{[citation needed]}

After finishing the 2021–22 Lebanese Premier League in 11th place, Safa were due to be relegated to the Second Division for the first time.[7] However, following Shabab Bourj's withdrawal from the league, they were relegated in place of Safa.[8]

Kit manufacturers

The following is a list of kit manufacturers worn by Safa.

Stadium

Safa Stadium

ملعب نادي الصفاء الرياضي
Location	Wata El-Museitbeh
Coordinates	33°52′29″N 35°29′31″E
Capacity	4,000
Opened	1948

The Safa Stadium opened in 1948, and has a capacity of 4,000 spectators. Located in the Wata El-Museitbeh district of Beirut, the stadium is five minutes from the Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport. While the stadium is of Safa's property, the club plays in various other stadiums around the country.^{[citation needed]}

Club rivalries

Safa has important rivalries with Ansar and Nejmeh, both being based in Beirut. Safa also plays the Mountain derby with Akhaa Ahli,[9] as Akhaa is based in Aley, a city in Mount Lebanon, and Safa's support comes from the Druze community in Lebanon, who mainly live in Chouf and Aley districts.^{[citation needed]}

Players

Current squad

As of 8 October 2022[10]

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  LBN Omar Idlibi 2 DF  LBN Ali Al Saadi 4 DF  LBN Hassan Abdallah Hazime 5 DF  LBN Mohamad Baker El Housseini 6 MF  LBN Kassem Hayek 7 DF  LBN Mohamad Zein Tahan (captain) 8 MF  LBN Hassan Kraytem 9 FW  SEN Adramé Diallo 10 MF  LBN Ahmad Jalloul 11 MF  LBN Hassan Hussein Hazimeh 13 GK  LBN Rabie El Kakhi 16 MF  LBN Ayman Chandab

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF  SYR Alaa Hamadeh 18 MF  LBN Mahdi Tlays 19 MF  MLI Issa Keita 20 MF  LBN Habib Shweikh 21 DF  LBN Ali Hareb 27 FW  LBN Moussa Tawil 66 MF  LBN Abbass Awad 70 FW  LBN Samih Damaj 71 FW  LBN Hussein Haidar 77 FW  PLE Ayman Abou Sahyoun 99 FW  LBN Hasan Hawila

Notable players

Players in international competitions

Competition	Player	National team
1996 AFC Asian Cup	Yasser Sibai	Syria
2000 AFC Asian Cup	Youssef Mohamad	Lebanon
	Ahmad Naamani	Lebanon
2019 AFC Asian Cup	Ahmad Taktouk	Lebanon
	Mohamed Zein Tahan	Lebanon

Honours

Domestic

• Lebanese Premier League
  • Winners (3): 2011–12, 2012–13, 2015–16
• Lebanese FA Cup
  • Winners (3): 1964–65, 1986–87, 2012–13
  • Runners-up (8): 1970–71, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1994–95, 1999–2000, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2016–17
• Lebanese Elite Cup
  • Winners (2): 2009, 2012
  • Runners-up (3): 2011, 2014, 2015
• Lebanese Super Cup
  • Winners (1): 2013
  • Runners-up (3): 2011, 2012, 2016
• Lebanese Second Division
  • Winners (1): 1960–61 (Beirut)

Continental

• AFC Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 2008

Other achievements

• Lebanese Challenge Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 2022

Performance in AFC competitions

• AFC Cup: 5 appearances

2008: Final

2009: Round of 16

2012: Group stage

2013: Group stage

2014: Round of 16

• Asian Cup Winners' Cup: 2 appearances

1992–93: Withdrew in first round

2000–01: Withdrew in first round

Managerial history

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (March 2019)

• Walid Zeineddine
• Mahmoud Saad
• Akram Salman
• Ghassan Abou Diab
• Samir Saad
• Emile Rustom
• Valeriu Tița (2013–2014)
• Emile Rustom (2015–2018)
• Valeriu Tița (2018–2019)
• Tarek Jarraya (2019)
• Robert Jaspert (2019–2020)
• Emile Rustom (2020)
• Mohammad Dakka (2020–2021)[11]
• Fadi Oumari (2021–22)
• Malek Hassoun (2022)
• Youssef Jawhari (2022–present)

See also

• Safa WFC, women's team
• List of football clubs in Lebanon

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Safa SC.

• Safa SC at the AFC
• Safa SC at FA Lebanon

На других языках

[de] Safa SC Beirut

[es] Safa Sporting Club

[ru] Сафа (футбольный клуб)