Safa Sporting Club () is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

club based in Wata El Msaytbeh, a district in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, Lebanon, that competes in the . 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 The 2008 AFC Cup was the fifth edition of the AFC Cup, playing between clubs from nations who are members of the Asian Football Confederation. Qualified teams 20 clubs will be competing, including champions of the national leagues and champion ...

final. Safa primarily receives its support from Wata El-Museitbeh, as well as the

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...

community all over Lebanon. Given their fanbase extends well in

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at . Geography The Mount Le ...

, including the city of

Aley Aley ( ar, عاليه) is a major city in Lebanon. It is the capital of the Aley District and fourth largest city in Lebanon. The city is located on Mount Lebanon, 15 km uphill from Beirut on the freeway to Damascus. Aley has the nick ...

, they play the Mountain derby with Akhaa Ahli Aley.

History

Founded in 1933 at an amateur level in the Wata El-Museitbeh of

, 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. On 23 December 1948, Safa obtained the official membership and license from the government as a private association. In the same year, the club was affiliated to the

Lebanese Football Association The Lebanese Football Association (LFA) ( ar, الاتحاد اللبناني لكرة القدم, Al-Ittiḥād Al-Lubnānī Likurat Al-Qadam; french: Fédération Libanaise de Football) is the governing body of association football in Lebanon. ...

and was ranked within the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. In 1961, Safa was promoted to the First Division. After finishing the

2021–22 Lebanese Premier League The 2021–22 Lebanese Premier League was the 60th season of the Lebanese Premier League, the top Lebanese professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1934. The league started on 11 September 2021 and ended on 4 ...

in 11th place, Safa were due to be relegated to the Second Division for the first time. However, following Shabab Bourj's withdrawal from the league, they were relegated in place of Safa.

Kit manufacturers

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

Stadium

The

Safa Stadium The Safa Stadium ( ar, ملعب نادي الصفاء الرياضي) is a multi-use stadium in Beirut, Lebanon. It is currently used mostly for football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball t ...

opened in 1948, and has a capacity of 4,000 spectators. Located in the Wata El-Museitbeh district of

, 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.

Club rivalries

Safa has important rivalries with Ansar and

Nejmeh Nejmeh Sporting Club ( ar, نادي النجمة الرياضي, lit=The Star Sporting Club) is a football club based in Manara, a district in Ras Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the . The club was established in Beirut in 1945, and ...

, both being based in

. Safa also plays the Mountain derby with Akhaa Ahli, as Akhaa is based in

, a city in

, and Safa's support comes from the Druze community in Lebanon, who mainly live in Chouf and Aley districts.

Players

Current squad

Notable players

Honours

Domestic

Lebanese Premier League The Lebanese First Division ( ar, الدوري اللبناني الدرجة الأولى), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. There are 12 teams competing in the league, ...

** Winners (3): 2011–12, 2012–13, 2015–16 *

Lebanese FA Cup The Lebanon Cup (), commonly known as the Lebanese FA Cup, is a Lebanese football annual cup competition. The first edition, held in 1937, was won by Nahda. The most successful club in the competition is Ansar with 15 titles, followed by Nejmeh ...

**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 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, 2016–17 *

Lebanese Elite Cup The Lebanese Elite Cup () is a Lebanese football annual cup competition contested by the top six teams of the previous Lebanese Premier League season. Founded in 1996 as the Super League Cup, the first edition was contested by the top five finish ...

**Winners (2):

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

**''Runners-up (3):''

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...

Lebanese Super Cup The Lebanese Super Cup () is Lebanese football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Lebanese Premier League season and the holders of the Lebanese FA Cup. If the Lebanese Premier League champions also won the Lebanese FA ...

**Winners (1): 2013 **''Runners-up (3):'' 2011, 2012, 2016 *

Lebanese Second Division The Lebanese Second Division ( ar, الدوري اللبناني الدرجة الثانية) is the second division of Lebanese football. Established in 1933, it is controlled by the Lebanese Football Association. The 12 teams that participate ...

**Winners (1): 1960–61 (Beirut)

Continental

AFC Cup The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying ...

** ''Runners-up (1):''

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Other achievements

Lebanese Challenge Cup The Lebanese Challenge Cup () is a Lebanese football annual cup competition contested by the teams placed between 7th and 10th in the previous season of the Lebanese Premier League and the two newly promoted teams from the Lebanese Second Divisio ...

**''Runners-up (1):''

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

Performance in AFC competitions

: 5 appearances ::

: Final ::

: Round of 16 ::

: Group stage ::

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

: Group stage ::

: Round of 16 *

Asian Cup Winners' Cup The Asian Cup Winners' Cup was an association football competition run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The competition was started in 1991 as a tournament for all the domestic cup winners from countries affiliated to the AFC. The winne ...

: 2 appearances ::

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

: Withdrew in first round :: 2000–01: Withdrew in first round

Managerial history

* Walid Zeineddine * Mahmoud Saad * Akram Salman * Ghassan Abou Diab * Samir Saad *

Emile Rustom Emile Boulos Rustom ( ar, إميل بولس رستم; born 27 March 1952) is a Lebanese football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Sagesse. After playing with Sagesse for 22 years, and the Lebanon national team for nine, ...

* Valeriu Tița (2013–2014) *

(2015–2018) * Valeriu Tița (2018–2019) * Tarek Jarraya (2019) *

Robert Jaspert Robert Niels Jaspert (born 26 February 1960) is a German professional football coach and former player. Playing career Jaspert represented SF Kladow, Hertha Zehlendorf, SC Wacker 04 Berlin, , SC Rapide Wedding, Weddinger FC, SC Westend 190 ...

(2019–2020) *

(2020) * Mohammad Dakka (2020–2021) * Fadi Oumari (2021–22) *

Malek Hassoun Malek Ibrahim Hassoun ( ar, مالك ابراهيم حسون; born 10 June 1975) is a Lebanese football manager and former player who is the head coach of club Tadamon Sour. As a player, he played as a midfielder for Chabab Ghazieh, Ansar, an ...

(2022) * Youssef Jawhari (2022–present)

Notes

References

External links

Safa SC
at the

AFC AFC may stand for: Organizations * Action for Children, a UK children's charity * AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits * Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution * A ...

Safa SC
at FA Lebanon * {{DEFAULTSORT:Safa Beirut Sc Football clubs in Lebanon 1939 establishments in Lebanon Association football clubs established in 1939