Al-Wahda SC (Syria)

Al-Wahda active sections
; Football	; Basketball

Al-Wahda SC
Full name	Al-Wahda Sports Club Damascus
Nickname(s)	Damascene orange ; (Arabic: البرتقالة الدمشقية)
Founded	1928; 96 years ago as Qasioun SC
Ground	Al-Jalaa Stadium
Capacity	10,000
Chairman	Maher Al-Sayed
Manager	Ammar Shamali
League	Syrian Premier League
2022–23	8th
Website	Club website
Home colours	Away colours
	Current season

Al-Wahda Sports Club (Arabic: نادي الوحدة الرياضي) is a Syrian multi-sports club based in Damascus.^[1] The club 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".

The club has one of Syria's most prominent football charts, as it has 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.^{[citation needed]}

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]

History

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]

The club was officially opened in 1928 and hosted a series of sports, including football and weightlifting.^{[citation needed]}

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 remains so to this day.^{[citation needed]}

Stadiums

Al-Jalaa Stadium

Al-Jalaa Stadium is located in Mazzeh municipality of Damascus, Syria.^[6]

Abbasiyyin Stadium

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.

Supporters and rivalries

The biggest rival of the club is Al-Jaish SC,^[7] with whom they play the Damascus city derby.

Colours and kits

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]

Shirt sponsor & kit manufacturer

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
2012–2016	Kappa	Cham Wings Airlines
2016–2017	Lotto	Cham Wings Airlines
2017–2019	Uhlsport	None
2019–2020	Nike	None
2020–2022	Adidas	Cham Wings Airlines
2022–	Nike	Cham Wings Airlines

Honours

Domestic

Syrian Premier League: 2
- Winners: 2003–04, 2013–2014
Syrian Cup: 8
- Winners: 1993, 2003, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020
Syrian Super Cup: 3
- Winners: 1993, 2016, 2020

Continental

AFC Cup:
- Runners-up: 2004

Regional

Arab Club Champions Cup:
- Round of 32: 2006, 2007

Notes:

In 2016, Al-Wahda received^[9] an extraordinary Nine Values Cup, an award of the international children's social programme Football for Friendship.

Performance in AFC competitions

AFC Champions League: 1 appearance

2005: Group Stage

AFC Cup: 8 appearances

2004: Finalists

2013: Qualifying Round

2014: Group Stage

2015: Round of 16

2016: Round of 16

2017: Zonal finals

2018: Group Stage

2021: Group Stage

Records

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
2003–04	AFC Cup	Group stage	Dhofar	1–1	2–0	3–1
		Group stage	Mahindra	5–1	0–0	5–1
		Quarterfinals	Nejmeh	2–1	2–3	4–4
		Semifinals	Geylang	1–1	1–0	2–1
		Final	Al-Jaish	2–3	1–0	3–3 ^[a]
2004–05	AFC Champions League	Group stage	Al-Ain	2–3	0–3	2–6
			Al Shabab	1–2	1–3	2–5
			Sepahan	1–3	0–2	1–5
2012–13	AFC Cup	Qualifying play-off	Ahli Taizz	3–5^[b]		3–5
2013–14	AFC Cup	Group stage	Hidd	1–4^[c]	1–3	2–7
			Al-Shorta	1–3	0–0	1–3
			Qadsia	1–3	1–1	2–4
2014–15	AFC Cup	Group stage	Al Nahda	1–2^[d]	0–0	1–2
			Salam Zgharta	3–1	2–0	5–1
			Al-Wehdat	1–1	1–0	2–1
		Round of 16	Istiklol	1–1 (a.e.t.) (2–4 p)		1–2
2015–16	AFC Cup	Group stage	Al-Ourouba	2–1^[e]	1–2	3–3
			Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	5–2	0–1	5–3
			Shabab Al-Dhahiriya	0–3^[f]	3–0 ^[g]	3–3
		Round of 16	Al Ahed	0–4		0–4
2016–17	AFC Cup	Group stage	Hidd	0–2^[h]	1–0	1–2
			Safa	2–0	6–0	8–0
			Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	0–0	1–1	5–3
		Zonal semifinals	Al-Wehdat	4–1	0–1	4–2
		Zonal finals	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	2–1	0–1	2–2 (a)
2017–18	AFC Cup	Group stage	Al-Faisaly	1–2^[i]	2–2	3–4
			Al Ansar	2–1	0–1	2–2
			Dhofar	0–0	0–2	0–2
2020–21	AFC Cup	Group stage	Hidd	1–1		1–1
2020–21	AFC Cup	Group stage	Ahed	0–0		0–0

Performance in UAFA competitions

Arab Club Champions Cup: 3 appearances

2002–03: Group Stage

2005–06: Round of 32

2006–07: Round of 32

Records

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
2002–03	Arab Champions League	Group stage	Qadsia	1–2		1–2
2002–03	Arab Champions League	Group stage	Al-Ittihad	0–7		0–7
2005–06	Arab Champions League	Round of 32	Raja Casablanca	1–1	0–1	1–2
2006–07	Arab Champions League	Round of 32	Club Africain	0–3	1–3	1–6

Players

First-team squad

As of 30 May 2024

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	SYR	Hussain Rahal
2	DF	SYR	Abdullah Jniat
3	DF	SYR	Yasser Shahen
4	DF	SYR	Yousef Mohammad
5	DF	SYR	Milad Hamad
6	DF	SYR	Burhan Sahyouni
7	FW	SYR	Firas Kareem
8	MF	SYR	Maher Daaboul
9	FW	SYR	Anas Bota
11	FW	GHA	Mohammed Anas
12	FW	SYR	Ahmed Al Sharif
14	DF	SYR	Louay Al Shareef
15	DF	SYR	Mohammad Othman
17	DF	SYR	Mohamad Ali Rammal (captain)
18	FW	SYR	Mohamad Sharif


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
19	MF	SYR	Abdul Kader Adi
21	FW	SYR	Qais Al-hassan
23	MF	SYR	Yahya Karak
24	FW	SYR	Mahmoud Al-khatib
27	FW	SYR	Firas Kraym
30	MF	SYR	Qusay Habib
31	MF	SYR	Anas Al-aji
66	DF	SYR	Zakaria Karak
70	DF	SYR	Farhad Khaled
77	DF	SYR	Amro Jenyat
88	FW	SEN	Sekou Traore
90	DF	SYR	Ahmad Al Khaimi
92	GK	SYR	Ali Mariama
97	GK	SYR	Eyad Jomaa
99	MF	SYR	Mohammed Harb

Personnel

Current technical staff

Administration

Club presidents

Wahda presidents since 1974:

Former managers

Ayman Hakeem (1993–1995)
Sameer Soukieh (1995–2001)
Nenad Stavrić (2001–06)
Mansour Al Haj Saied (2006)
Ayman Hakeem (2006–07)
Costică Ştefănescu (2007)
Muhammad Jomma (2007–08)
Nizar Mahrous (2008)
Assaf Khalifa (2009)
Faruk Kolović (2009)
Nizar Mahrous (2009–11)
Ayman Hakeem (2012)
Hussam Al Sayed (2012)
Mohannad Al Fakir (2013)
Rafat Muhammad (2013–2017, 2018, 2019)
Eyad Abdulkareem (2019–2020)
Ghassan Maatouk (2020–2021)
Ayman Hakeem (2021)
Maher Bahri (2021–2022)
Siniša Dobrašinović (2022)
Ammar Shamali (2022–present)

Notable players

Player records

League top scorer

Al-Wahda SC players won the title of top scorer in the Syrian Premier League 7 times:

No.	Season	Name	Nation	Goals	Notes
1	1990–91	Othman Bawarshi	Syria	11
2	1992–93	Assaf Khalifa	Syria	11	With Mouhanad Boushi
3	2010–11	Ali Salah Hashim	Iraq	9	Season suspended
4	2013–14	Majed al-Haj	Syria	11
5	2015–16	Raja Rafe	Syria	22
6	2016–17	Osama Omari	Syria	17
7	2017–18	Basel Mustafa	Syria	15

Top scorers

List of top scorers for Al Wahda club in the league and cup historically:

No.	Name	Nation	Goals	Notes
1	Osama Omari	Syria	78
2	Maher Al-Sayed	Syria	76
3	Assaf Khalifa	Syria	59
4	Mahmoud Mahmalji	Syria	51
5	Raja Rafe	Syria	46
6	Nizar Mahrous	Syria	44
7	Majed al-Haj	Syria	38
=7	Nabil Al-Shahma	Syria	38
9	Ismail Fatout	Syria	31
10	Maher Kharrat	Syria	30

Notes

^ Al-Jaish SC won on away goals rule.
^ Teams from Syria were not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security concerns.
^ Teams from Syria were not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security concerns.
^ Teams from Syria were not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security concerns.
^ Teams from Syria were not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security concerns.
^ The Al-Wahda v Shabab Al-Dhahiriya match on matchday 2 (9 March 2016) was not played as scheduled. It was awarded 3–0 to Al-Wahda by the AFC Disciplinary Committee on 28 April 2016, as it found Shabab Al-Dhahiriya as the relevant party for causing the cancellation of the match.^[10]^[11] The decision was reversed and awarded 3–0 to Shabab Al-Dhahiriya by the AFC Appeal Committee on 24 June 2016, as it found Al-Wahda as the relevant party for causing the cancellation of the match.^[12]^[13]
^ The Shabab Al-Dhahiriya v Al-Wahda match was required by the AFC to be played at a neutral venue due to restriction of Syrians entering Palestine.^[14] However, Shabab Al-Dhahiriya were unable to secure a neutral venue and the match was forfeited.^[15]
^ Teams from Syria were not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security concerns.
^ Teams from Syria were not allowed to host their home matches in their country due to security concerns.

References

^ "Al Wahda profile". goalzz.com. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2022.
^ "Al Wahda Damascus". asia-basket. Archived from the original on 20 December 2021. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
^ "Arab Champions' League 2005/06". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
^ "Arab Champions' League 2006/07". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 3 October 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
^ History of Al Wahda Archived 2020-05-03 at the Wayback Machine
^ Kabboul, Tamarah (8 February 2019). "Discover old Beirut in these 15 amazing photos". www.the961.com. Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
^ "Al-Wahda team qualifies to the final round of the Basketball League". Syrian Arab News Agency. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
^ "Al-Wahda defeats al-Wathba 1-0, tops Syrian league". Syrian Arab News Agency. 25 June 2014. Archived from the original on 14 March 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
^ "Young football ambassadors present Nine Values Cup to the Samba Boys". euronews. 2019-04-03. Archived from the original on 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
^ "AFC Disciplinary Committee decision regarding Al Wahda v Al Dharia match". AFC. 29 April 2016. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
^ "17th AFC Disciplinary Committee on 28 April 2016" (PDF). AFC. 28 April 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
^ "AFC Appeal Committee decisions". AFC. 24 June 2016. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
^ "4th AFC Appeal Committee on 24 June 2016" (PDF). AFC. 24 June 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
^ "AFC Competitions Committee decisions". AFC. 12 April 2016. Archived from the original on 28 February 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
^ "AFC Cup 2016: Final standings in Groups C and D confirmed". AFC. 13 May 2016. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2022.