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Zakho (Zaxo)
Full name	Zakho Sport Club
Nickname(s)	Sons Of Khabour; Kurdish: Kurên Xabîrî; Arabic: أبناء الخابـور
Short name	ZAK
Founded	3 June 1987; 37 years ago
Ground	Zakho International Stadium
Capacity	25,000
Chairman	Ammar Farhad Agha
Coach	Talal Al-Bloushi
League	Iraq Stars League
2023–24	Iraq Stars League, 5th of 20
	Current season

Zakho Sport Club, (Arabic: نادي زاخو الرياضي) also spelled as Zaxo Sport Club (Kurdish: یانا زاخو یا وه‌رزشی, Yana Zaxo ya Werzişî), is an Iraqi professional sports club based in Zakho, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.

History

Football in Zakho was played unofficially from the early 1920s with many local amateur games as well as school competitions regularly being held in Zakho or nearby districts. This eventually led to the formation of the first ever football team in Zakho in 1948. This was made up of local workers and young men.^[1]

Beginnings

In 1986 the management team of the Zakho Youth Sporting Center which consisted of president Yousef Dawad Jabo as well as members: Ali Omran, Bashar Rahmallah, Khaled Hussein, Neshan Kerob, Khalat Ramadan and Khwaste Furman came up with the idea of starting Zakho Football Club to replace the Sporting Center or to be a part of it. According to the National Olympic Committee of Iraq one of the requirements for the creation of the club was that there was to be actual participation of the Sporting Center in sports competitions for at least one year before the club could be registered. So the sporting committee set up teams for different age groups and started competing in different friendly matches.^[1]

Regional Championship

In 1986 Zakho competed in a regional tournament in Duhok under the name of Zakho Youth Center against Duhok Police, Duhok Youth Center, Duhok students and Duhok SC. Zakho went on to win the competition after defeating all the participants, including Duhok FC on penalties. In addition to the regional tournament that the Sporting Center achieved, they also found success in other sports such as basketball, wrestling, weightlifting and bodybuilding which improved their establishment bid significantly. Finally, on June 3, 1987 the club was officially registered.^[1]

Debut season

Since the club's inception in 1987 the club did not participate in any competition mandated by the Iraqi FA until 1990 for various reasons. Eventually they participated in the 1990/91 Third Division where they were in the Northern Group alongside At-Ta'mim club, Serwan club, Alkarma and Qurqosh. Each team would play home and away where the winner would go to the final of the 3rd league - the winner of this would be promoted to the Second Division. Zakho would top the group with 15 points but the 1991 uprisings in Iraq led to the cancellation of the remainder of the Iraqi football calendar. Zakho fans everywhere were extremely upset.^[1]

1991–92 season

The following season saw Zakho to return to sporting activities after head of the Olympic Committee Uday Hussein guaranteed not to interfere with any Northern Iraqi sportsmen. Zakho were once again in the Northern group after being drawn with Duhok SC, Qaraqosh, Al Karama and Tel Afar. Zakho topped the group after 5 wins and 3 draws and qualified to the final round.

In the final round Zakho were to play each of Samawa FC, The Neighborhood and Al Hillah. The format was each team to play each other in a single-legged tie. Zakho won the group with 7 points and were crowned Iraqi Third Division champions and qualified to the second division.^[1]

New stadium

On June 3, 2015 Zakho FC celebrated the opening of their new stadium, known as Zakho International Stadium with an unofficial friendly against the Iraqi national team. The match was notable as Shwan Jalal made his Iraq debut and kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 victory for Iraq. Despite this, the new stadium has been a success and the club's fans hope there will be bright times ahead for Zakho FC.^[2]

Premier League

Zakho continued to compete in the Iraqi Premier League. In 2015-16 the club narrowly missed out on progression to the elite league, finishing 5th in their area group just one point behind the final elite league spot.^[3]

Zakho now competes in the unified Iraqi Premier League which has eliminated the initial stages based on area for one league containing all clubs. Zakho finished 16th in the 2016-17 season having won twice and drawn 16 times during the seasons 32 games. Zakho lost the other 14 games.

Rivalries

Zakho SC's biggest rivals are their neighbours Duhok SC, with whom they contest the Bahdinan Derby. Also, the rivalry between Zakho SC and Erbil SC is known as the "Kurdish derby".^[4]

Current squad

First-team squad

As of 21 August 2024

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	IRQ	Omran Zaki
2	DF	JOR	Mohammad Abu Hashish ^FGN
3	DF	BRA	Patrick Marcelino ^FGN
4	DF	IRQ	Shivan Jameel
7	MF	YEM	Nasser Al-Gahwashi ^ARB
8	FW	IRQ	Younis Abid
10	FW	SYR	Mahmoud Al-Aswad ^ARB
12	GK	IRQ	Ali Kadhim
14	MF	IRQ	Amjad Attwan
17	DF	IRQ	Yousif Raed
19	MF	IRQ	Hamid Haji
21	DF	IRQ	Ramadhan Sediq


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
23	MF	BRA	Moisés Wolschick ^FGN
25	MF	IRQ	Mohammed Ali Abbood
29	FW	BRA	Gustavo Henrique ^FGN
30	DF	IRQ	Ahmed Ibrahim
33	DF	IRQ	Ahmed Nadhim
—	GK	IRQ	Ali Abdul-Kareem
—	DF	IRQ	Alaa Raed
—	FW	IRQ	Ahmed Zamel
—	FW	MAR	Ayoub Nanah ^FGN
—	FW	SYR	Ibrahim Hesar

Current technical staff

Position	Name	Nationality
Coach:	Talal Al-Bloushi
Assistant coach:	Mustafa Karem
Fitness coach:	Mustafa Jasm
Goalkeeping coach:	Nabil Awad
Team manager:	Naaman Kocher
Team supervisor:	Shvan Abdi
Club doctor:	Makram Halabi
Reserve team coach:	Khamis Humoud
Reserve ass. coach:	Nawzad Ali
U-19 Head coach:	Hussein Abdullah Al-Samawi
U-16 Manager:	Bahdin Ali
U-13 Manager:	Adnan Khairallah
Director of football:	Taha Zakholi
Administrative Coordinator:	Dr. Sherzad Zakariya
Director of public relations:	Dilzhar Adnan

Updated to match played 28 June 2020
Source: awajelpress.com

Former players

Arian Sevok^[5]

Managerial history

Khodr Wakohdar (1986–1987)
Amir Abdul Aziz (1987–1990)
Pauls Quryaquos (1992–1993)
Nori Zainal (1993–1994)
Mohammed Ahmed Mulla (1995–1996)
Sadeq Musa (1996–1997)
Ali Hilal (1997–1998)
Saleem Malakh (1998–1999)
Mohammed Kadhim Mizyad (1999–2000)
Hadi Mtanesh (2002–2004)
Saleem Malakh (2004–2005)
Adel Abdul Qader (2005–2006)
Tariq Al Hejiya (2006–2007)
Sabah Abdul Hassan (2007–2008)
Adel Abdul Qader (2007)
Talib Fadhel (2007)
Manaf Shekho (2007)
Adel Abdul Qader (2008)
Ammori Ahmed (2009–2010)
Walid Dhahad (2010)
Nazar Ashraf (2010)
Saadi Toma (2010–2011)
Suleyman Ramadhan (2011)
Basim Qasim (2011)
Nadhim Shaker (2011–2012)
Mohammad Kwid (2012–2014)
Ali Hadi (2014–2015)
Ilie Stan (2015)
Marin Ion (2016)
Essam Hamad Salem (2016)
Marian Mihail (2016)
Ahmed Wali (2016)
Dorinel Munteanu (2017)
Hadi Ahmed (2017)
Emad Aoda (2017)
Mohammed Yousef (2017)
Haidar Obeid Jassim (2017)
Salih Radhi (2017–2018)
Haidar Obeid Jassim (2018)
Ahmad Kadhim Assad (2019)
Abdul-Hafeedh Arbeesh (2019)
Ali Hadi (2019–2020)
Ahmad Salah Alwan (2020–2021)
Haitham Miteb (2021)
Sami Bahat (2021)
Abdul-Wahab Abu Al-Hail (2021–2022)
Firas Al-Khatib (2022)
Hamza Hadi (2022)
Haidar Abdul-Amir (2022–2023)
Talal Al-Bloushi (2023–)

Honours

League

Iraqi Premier Division League (second tier)
- Runners-up (2): 2001–02, 2018–19
Iraqi First Division League (third tier)
- Winners (1): 1991–92

Cup