Al-Arabi SC (Qatar)

Al-Arabi Sports Club (Arabic: النادي العربي الرياضي), is a Qatari sports club based in Doha, Qatar. Founded in 1952, the most prominent team of the club is the football team which plays in the Qatar Stars League.[1] The club's home ground is the 13,000-seat Grand Hamad Stadium, where they have played since their establishment.

Al-Arabi SC
Full nameAl-Arabi Sports Club
(Arabic: النادي العربي الرياضي)
Nickname(s)Fareeg Al-Ahlam (The Dream Team)
Century Club in Qatar
Short nameARB
Founded1 April 1952 (1952-04-01)
GroundGrand Hamad Stadium
Capacity13,000
PresidentSheikh Tamim Bin Fahad Al Thani
ManagerHeimir Hallgrímsson
LeagueQatar Stars League
2019–20Qatar Stars League, 7th of 12
WebsiteClub website
Al Arabi's active sections

Football

Basketball

Handball

Volleyball

Futsal

Reserves

Al-Arabi had their first major success in 1978, winning the Emir of Qatar Cup, and won various titles during the 1980s and 1990s. The club enjoyed their greatest period of success in those two decades, winning 17 major trophies. Domestically, Al-Arabi have won seven league titles, eight Emir of Qatar Cups, one Qatar Crown Prince Cup and six Qatar Sheikh Jassem Cups.

Al-Arabi's regular kit colours are red shirts and shorts with red socks. The club's crest has been changed several times in attempts to re-brand the club and modernise its image. The current crest, featuring a ceremonial falcon, is a modification of the one introduced in the early 1950s. They are known for having one of the largest fan bases in Qatar next to rivals Al Rayyan. In terms of championships won, they are the second most successful club on a local level after Al Sadd. Al-Arabi is known by various nicknames including "Dream Team", "The Red Devils", and "Century Club".

History

Foundation (1952–1990)

The club was founded in 1952 under the name "Al-Tahrir", making them the second oldest team in Qatar. In 1957, the club merged with Al-Wehda, a club founded which was founded on that year led by Mohamed Ali Ahmed Al-Ansari, after playing a friendly. They merged under the name of Al-Wehda. Al-Wehda did not play out Qatar or host any foreign clubs due to lack of financial possibilities for the club. In 1972, the club integrated under their current name, Al Arabi.[2] The first president of the club was Ahmed Ali Ahmed Al-Ansari.

Al-Arabi was known for having one of the largest fan bases in all of Qatar, as well as other Gulf states, and was well-known overseas. Their popularity outside of the Middle East was bolstered by their achievements and national team players, until 2003 when it reached its peak with the signing of Argentine legend Gabriel Batistuta.

It placed 14th place in the International Federation of Football History & Statistics's 1901–2000 Asian Club of the Century.

Founders

Golden era (1990–2000)

The 1990s marked the start of a continuous chain of succession for Al-Arabi. The dream team had come to fruition with the likes of Marco Antônio and Richard Owebukeri who were the top scorers in the league at one point. Perhaps the most significant player was Mubarak Mustafa, who is still considered one of the best Qatari footballers in history. The team, impressing many with its versatile squad, took the Qatari league by storm, winning it 5 times out of 10. Not satisfied merely with local success, the team achieved runners-up position in the AFC Champions League in 1995.

They won their first Heir Apparent cup in 1997.

Decline (2000–2011)

The new century saw a significant slump in Al-Arabi's performance. Factors which impacted this may include the departure of Mubarak Mustafa and the increase of competitiveness from local clubs. In the 2002 season, Al Arabi finished in 7th place, the lowest position since its debut in the Qatar Stars League.

The arrival of Gabriel Batistuta in 2003 saw a glimpse of hope for Al-Arabi as they finished significantly higher in the league than the last 2 previous seasons, however they ended up finished 9th in the league at the end of the 2007 season, a new low. They did not win a single domestic title during this period, and had limited success in international competitions. Furthermore, they suffered their largest-ever defeat against Al Sadd that season when they were beaten 7–0, which resulted in the sacking of their coach Cabralzinho.[3]

In 2006, due to popular dissent accosting the club president Sheikh Falah bin Jassim, there was an administration change which resulted in Sheikh Faisal bin Mubarak being elected as president.

Management crisis (2011–present)

The beginning of the 2011–12 season looked bright for Al Arabi, with the club winning their first domestic silverware in 13 years by defeating Umm Salal SC in the final of the 2011 Sheikh Jassem Cup. However, a string of bad results in the league resulted in the sacking of their coach, Paulo Silas.

They were also eligible to play in the 2012 AFC Champions League, which they were the first team to be eliminated from. During this period, the club had been in charge of 3 coaches in a span of 3 months. They infamously made history by being the first team since 2007 to lose every match in the group stage, as well as the first Qatari team to achieve this.[4] As a result, the club's Director of Football, Mubarak Mustafa, announced his departure from the club.[5] Furthermore, Dr. Abdullah al-Mal, president of the club, announced his retirement from sports.[6] He was replaced by Hitme Bin Ali Al Hitmi. The fiscal budget of the club was reduced from 15 million riyals to 9 million riyals.[7]

The title of Dream Team

Al Arabi Club called by the nickname " Dream Team ", an old launched by the local press in the season title (1992/1993) proportions team American dreams of basketball where the team has achieved in the early nineties all titles and was the win significant results of all the teams at least three goals in every game.

Most notably Matches at that time, win 6–1 against Al Rayyan, Win 9–0 against Al itthad ( Al Gharafa), and win 6–0 against Al Ahli.

Al Arabi Fans Club

Al Arabi Fans Club was established on 21 October 2015, it was created to support the team in all Sports and to gather the fans to think of innovative ways to support and cheer the teams throughout the season [8] in 21 October 2015, The same day the Fan Club was established, Al Arabi Club management decided to withhold the Number (1) jersey permanently from the list of the first team players and award it to the Fans, whom officially became the number (1) player in Al Arabi Club, Where Captain Masoud Zeraei waived his number (1) and awarded it to the Fans, who will retains its permanently under resolution. They have the most supporters in Qatar and that is one of the reasons why the gave them shirt number (1).

Stadium

Grand Hamad Stadium (Arabic: استاد حمد الكبير), also known as the Al-Arabi Sports Club Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Doha, Qatar. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The football team Al-Arabi SC play there. The stadium holds 13,000 people. The stadium was used extensively during the 2006 Asian Games, and was a venue for several different sports; these include football, table tennis, rugby sevens and fencing. Iraq national football team played their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC) games at the ground. Now they use the Stadium as a home for Yemen national football team in 2015 Fifa World qualification (AFC).

Rivalries

Al Rayyan

Al Rayyan and Al Arabi are often the most considered the most passionate sets of fans in Qatar. This derby known as "Fans Derby".

Head-to-head

From 1994 to 2017.

Head-to-head
Competition P W D L GF GA GD
Qatar Stars League491117216388−25
Sheikh Jassem Cup431082+6
Emir Cup6213910−1
Crown Prince Cup7115616−10
Reserve League51131215−3
Qatar Stars Cup100102−2
Total7218213398133−35

Al Sadd

This is the clash of Qatar's two most successful teams: Al Sadd and Al Arabi. For some fans, winning this derby is more noteworthy than winning the league itself. The derby is an important component of the country's culture.[9]

Al Arabi always regarded themselves as the club of Qatar's working class, in contrast with the more upper-class support base of Al Sadd. The social class divide between the two fan bases eventually diminished.[9]

Memorable matches

Bold indicates a win.

Season Result Competition Notes
1981–82 0–1 Emir Cup
1985–86 1–0 Emir Cup
1992–93 2–0 Emir Cup
1995–96 0–0 Qatar Stars League Al Arabi crowned champions.
2009–10 3–3 Qatar Stars League Al Sadd come back from 3–0 down to deny Al Arabi an ACL spot.

Head-to-head

From 1996 to 2017.

Head-to-head
Competition P W D L GF GA GD
Qatar Stars League491312245491−37
Sheikh Jassem Cup6105813−5
Emir Cup113261117−6
Crown Prince Cup2101330
Reserve League622211110
Qatar Stars Cup4121812−4
Total7821183995147−52

Crest

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Period Kit manufacture Shirt main sponsor Shirt sub sponsor
2000–2001 Grand Sport

Doha Bank

None
2001–2002 Adidas None
2002–2003" None
2004–2003 Erreà None
2004–2005" Grand Sport None None
2005–2006 None None
2006–2007 Adidas

Doha Bank

None
2007–2008 Burrda Sport None None
2008–2009 None None
2009–2010 QPM Salman & brother & Al Rayan Bank

2010–2011 Salman & brother

2011–2012 Adidas
2012–2013 None
2013–2017 None None
2017–2018 Burrda Sport None None
2018–2019 Puma None None
2019-Present

Doha Bank

Sharq Insurance & Dreama

Honours

Qatar Stars League

Emir of Qatar Cup

  • Champions (8): 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1992–93

Qatar Crown Prince Cup

Qatar Sheikh Jassem Cup

  • Champions (6): 1980, 1982, 1994, 2008, 2010, 2011

League results

Qatar Stars League

Performance in AFC competitions

1987: Group stage
1993: Qualifying – 1st round
1995: Runners-up to Thai Farmers Bank
1996: Group stage
1999: First Round
1990–91: Second Round
1993–94: Semi-final
2012: Group stage

Performance in UAFA competitions

1986: Runners-up to Al-Hilal
2002: Group stage
2006: Group stage
2011: Quarter-finals

Current squad

First team squad

As of Qatar Stars League:

No Position Player Nation
3 Midfielder Mohammed Sayyar  Bahrain
4 Midfielder Abdurahman Enad  Qatar
5 Defender Marc Muniesa  Spain
6 Midfielder Abdullah Marafee  Qatar
7 Midfielder Mehrdad Mohammadi  Iran
8 Midfielder Ahmed Fatehi  Qatar
11 Midfielder Mohammed Salah Al-Neel  Qatar
12 Defender Khalifah Al-Malki  Qatar
13 Forward Sebastián Soria  Qatar
14 Forward Fahad Khalfan  Qatar
17 Midfielder Aron Gunnarsson  Iceland
19 Defender Ibrahim Kala  Qatar
20 Forward Abdulaziz Al-Ansari  Qatar
21 Goalkeeper Mahmud Abunada  Qatar
23 Defender Fahad Al-Abdulrahman  Qatar
24 Defender Ayoub Azzi  Algeria
27 Midfielder Jasser Yahya  Qatar
28 Midfielder Youssef Msakni (on loan from Al-Duhail)  Tunisia
66 Defender Yasser Abubakar  Qatar
74 Goalkeeper Satea Abdelnasser  Qatar
98 Forward Yaghob Eissa  Qatar

Reserve U23

No Position Player Nation
2 Defender Abdulrahman Bilal  Qatar
15 Defender Jassem Gaber  Qatar
16 Forward Abdullah Al-Sulaiti  Qatar
18 Midfielder Mohammed Al-Mohammedi  Qatar
22 Defender Khalid Mubarak  Qatar
26 Midfielder Barakat Jaafer  Iraq
33 Midfielder Abdulrahim Al-Bloushi  Qatar
36 Midfielder Mohammed Essam  Qatar
39 Midfielder Mohamed Abo Obaidah  Qatar
62 Midfielder Hassan Saif  Qatar
70 Goalkeeper Noureldine Mohammed  Qatar
71 Goalkeeper Muaiad Shanan  Qatar
72 Forward Ahmed Aboutrika  Egypt
81 Midfielder Abdullah Abdulrahman  Qatar
Defender Abdullah Khaled  Qatar

Out on loan

No Position Player Nation
35 Midfielder Mohammed Al Badr (on loan to Al-Shamal)  Qatar
45 Midfielder Mohammed Moustafa (on loan to Umm Salal)  Qatar
Defender Feras Dahboor (on loan to Al-Wakrah)  Qatar

Club staff

Technical and administrative staff

Last updated: April 2019.

 
Coaching staff
Head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson
Assistant coach Jordi Condom Aulí
2nd assistant coach Bjarki Már Ólafsson
Physical coach Miguel Angel Garcia
Performance Analyst Thiago Cardoso Souza
Goalkeeper coach Ferdinando Scarpello
Administration staff
Team manager Adel Al Busairi[10]
Reserve team manager Hamad Al-Sulaiti[10]
Deputy director Ali Sulaiti
 
Youth team technical director
Technical director Petrus In 't Groen
Youth team coaching staff
U–19 head coach Teo Pirija
U–17 head coach Omer Khalid
U–15 head coach Abderrazak Kniss
U–14 head coach Yousif Hamoor
U–13 head coach Gideon Dijks
Goalkeeper coach Sandro Daros
Orlando Ribecaro

Club officials

Managerial history

Present and past managers of Al-Arabi (incomplete):[11][12]
(* denotes caretaker role)

Al-Wehda (1957–72)

  • Tayeb Fadel (1957–??)
  • Hassan Djidjo (1968–??)
  • Ahmed Ali Al-Ansari (1969)

Al-Arabi (1972–present)

Former managers with unknown dates

  • Mohammed Atatash
  • J. Mustafa
  • Atha Al-Shatti
  • Hilmi Al-Qut
  • Medhat Mohammed
  • Al-Makki
  • Flamarion Nunes
  • Ahmed Jassim Al-Jassim "Menotti"

Management

Position Staff
President Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad bin Jaber Al-Thani
general secretary Talal Al-Kuwari
Director General Faleh AlHader

Last updated: 8 October 2011
Source: Board of Directors

Presidents

Club rankings

National ranking

As of 1 November 2020.[14]
Current Rank Country Team Points
4Al Jaish1426
5Al Gharrafa1384
6Al-Arabi SC1313
7Al-Sailiya SC1308
8Qatar SC1281

Asian ranking

As of 1 November 2020.[14]
Current Rank Country Team Points
124Pusamania Borneo1316
125Oita Trinita1315
126Al-Arabi SC1313
127Gol Gohar Sirjan F.C.1312
128Semen Padang F.C.1312

World ranking

As of 1 November 2020.[14]
Current Rank Country Team Points
1275Joenkoepings Soedra IF1313
1276Korona Kielce1313
1277Al-Arabi SC1313
1278FC UTA Arad1313
1279América de Quito1313

References

  1. "QSL – Al Arabi". qsl.com.qa. Archived from the original on 6 July 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  2. "Alarabi Sports Club – History". Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  3. الدوري القطري تاريخ و نجوم (in Arabic). Al Jazeera Sports. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  4. QFA.com – Al Arabi end Asian campaign on losing note
  5. "السنياري : لن استمر مع العربي في الموسم المقبل". Archived from the original on 2 May 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  6. "العربي يغلق باب الترشح لانتخاباته في الثامنة مساء". Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  7. "Al Arabi Sports Club holds AGM". Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Al Sadd vs Al Arabi". QFA. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011.
  10. "Al Arabi appoints Al Busairi as first team manager". Qatar Stars League. 7 July 2015. Archived from the original on 25 July 2015. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  11. "Interview" (in Arabic). al-watan.com. Archived from the original on 7 June 2014. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  12. مسابقة كأس سمو الأمير لكرة القدم المباريات النهائية (in Arabic). alkass.net. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  13. "العربي يقيل زاماريو رسميا". alghad.com. 22 December 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  14. "Asia Football / Soccer Clubs Ranking". Retrieved 14 November 2015.
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