Sagesse SC (football)

Sagesse
Full nameSagesse Sports Club
Nickname(s)القَلعَة الخَضراء (The Green Castle)[1]
Founded14 October 1943; 81 years ago (1943-10-14), as Cercle de la Sagesse
ChairmanElie Yahchouchi[2]
ManagerPaul Rustom
LeagueLebanese Premier League
2023–24Lebanese Premier League, 9th of 12
Websitehttps://sagesseclub.com/
Current season

Sagesse Sports Club (French: Club Sportif La Sagesse, lit. 'The Wisdom Sports Club'), known as Hekmeh (Arabic: الحكمة) in Arabic, is a football club based in Achrafieh, a district in Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the Lebanese Premier League,[3] and is primarily supported by the Maronite Christian community.[4]

The club was founded in 1943 as Cercle de la Sagesse. Although they haven't won any major title, Sagesse came second twice in the Lebanese Premier League 2002, and were finalists in both the Lebanese FA Cup, in 2006, and the Lebanese Federation Cup, in 2004.

History

Early history

The Collège de la Sagesse school had a football club with their own students; at the end of each season, graduated players would go on to play for other senior teams, mainly Salam Achrafieh.[5]

Sagesse's senior team were formed in 1942 under the patronage of Father Boulos Kik, the general director of the Sagesse Institute, supported by Monseigneur Jean Maroun.[6] The club received their official license on 14 October 1943,[6] and were formed as Cercle de la Sagesse by a group of former students, namely Edward Tyan, Camille Cordahi, Elie Khalife, and Negib Hobeika.[5] Toutoungi was the club's first president.[5]

The team first played in the 1943–44 Lebanese Second Division; initially formed of former students, the club later also accepted other players.[5] They won the Second Division in their first season, and were due to be promoted to the Lebanese Premier League after beating Shabiba Mazraa 4–0 in the promotion play-offs.[5] However, due to a technicality, Sagesse were allocated in the Second Division for the 1944–45 season.[5] From the 1945–46 season, the club were known as Club de la Sagesse.[5]

Recent history

In 2006 Sagesse reached the final of the Lebanese FA Cup, but lost against the cup holder Ansar 3–1.[7] Sagesse finished second in the 2020–21 Lebanese Second Division, and were promoted back to the Lebanese Premier League after five years.[8]

Club rivalries

Sagesse plays the Achrafieh derby with Racing Beirut.[9]

Players

Current squad

As of 5th of August 2024[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
5 MF Lebanon LBN Martin Bou Youness
6 MF Lebanon LBN Moustafa Baydoun
8 MF Lebanon LBN Hassan Hammoud
18 MF Lebanon LBN Paul Khater
20 MF Lebanon LBN Ahmad Jalloul
23 MF Lebanon LBN Michel Feghaly
25 GK Lebanon LBN Ahmad Kaawar
30 DF Lebanon LBN Taylor Khaddaj
30 Lebanon LBN Rami Abu Al Nasr
32 DF Lebanon LBN Mohammad Khalife
33 MF Lebanon LBN Hatem Eid (captain)
— FW Lebanon LBN Alaa Ezzo
— MF Lebanon LBN Mahdi Abou Mohsen (Tlais)
— MF Tunisia TUN Hamza Zaak
— Senegal SEN Abdine Sidibe
— GK Lebanon LBN Mohammad Taha
No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK Lebanon LBN Mohammad Zahr
— DF Lebanon LBN Hadi Madi
— MF   Alioune Faye
— FW   Papa Laye Dieng
— FW Lebanon LBN Alexandre Tabet
— FW Lebanon LBN Daniel Abou Fakhr
— DF Lebanon LBN Hussein Fahs
— FW Lebanon LBN Jean Sabbagh
— FW Lebanon LBN Kevin Trad
— FW Lebanon LBN Ali Ibrahim
— DF Lebanon LBN Ali Zbeeb
— MF Lebanon LBN Hussein Issa
— DF Lebanon LBN Ahmad Haidar
— DF Lebanon LBN David Trad
— MF Lebanon LBN Ziad Haidar

Notable players

See also: Category:Sagesse SC (football) players
Players in international competitions
Competition Player National team
2000 AFC Asian Cup Ali Fakih  Lebanon
Vardan Ghazaryan  Lebanon
Fouad Hijazi  Lebanon

Honours

Managerial history

See also

References

  1. ^ almaghribtoday. "almaghribtoday". Almaghribtoday (in Arabic). Retrieved 17 May 2019.
  2. ^ Khaled, Nasser (17 April 2021). "الاستقرار وراء تأهل سبورتينغ والحكمة للدرجة الأولى". Kooora. Archived from the original on 20 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  3. ^ "فريق: الحكمة". www.kooora.com. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  4. ^ Alami, Mona (1 September 2009). "Religious about football". NOW Lebanon. Archived from the original on 19 April 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Khadra, A. (3 August 1946). "Le Cercle de la Sagesse". Le Jour.
  6. ^ a b "هكذا تأسّس نادي الحكمة بيروت". نداء الوطن. 28 August 2020. Archived from the original on 26 April 2023. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  7. ^ "SAGESSE". www.abdogedeon.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  8. ^ "سبورتينغ بطل الدرجة الثانية والحكمة يعود الى دوري الأضواء". The LFA (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 16 April 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  9. ^ "مبارتا دربي اﻷشرفية!". Archived from the original on 23 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  10. ^ "CS Sagesse". Global Sports Archive. Archived from the original on 27 September 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.