Al Ansar Football Club ( ar, نادي الأنصار الرياضي, lit=The Supporters Sporting Club) is a football club based in Tariq El Jdideh, 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 . Formed in 1951, the club did not win its first

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, ...

until 1988. They went on to set a world record by winning the league 11 seasons in a row. Ansar is the most successful club in the country, having won the

14 times and the

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 ...

15 times. Ansar's major rivalry is with

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 ...

; dubbed the

Beirut derby The Beirut derby ( ar, ديربي بيروت) is the name given in football to any match between cross-city rivals Ansar and Nejmeh. It is considered the biggest club football game in Lebanon. The derby has historically been the most anticip ...

, it is the most anticipated game in Lebanon. While club's support comes in majority from the Sunni Muslim community in Beirut, the club has fans of all faiths from all around the country; they have been funded by

Rafic Hariri Rafic Bahaa El Deen Al Hariri ( ar, رفيق بهاء الدين الحريري; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese business tycoon and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from ...

and Salim Diab until 2005. Nabil Badr has been the club's president and main patron since 2012.

History

Early history

In 1948, a group of young Beirutis set up the first administrative board at the club headed by Mustafa Al-Shami. Three years Misbah Dougan, then head of the administrative board, formally requested an official licence for the club allowing them to play football on all Lebanese grounds. They were to be called "Al-Intisar", Arabic for "Victory", however a club with that name was already present. Mustafa Al-Shami proposed "Ansar" in remembrance of the supporters of the prophet

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

. Initially, Ansar was known as a Mount Lebanon team, rather than a team from

. This is because, as Beirut had already too many clubs, the

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...

decided to relocate Ansar to

Ghobeiry Ghobeiry ( ar, غبيري; also spelled ''Ghbayreh'' or ''Ghabariyeh'') is a municipality in the Baabda District of Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon. The inhabitants of Ghobeiry are predominantly Shia Muslims. In May 1988 following three week ...

. In 1965, Ansar moved to Beirut and won the 1966

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 ...

promotion play-offs, gaining promotion to the

for the following season.

Recent history

Ansar were crowned champions of the

2020–21 Lebanese Premier League The 2020–21 Lebanese Premier League was the 59th season of the Lebanese Premier League, the top Lebanese professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1934. The league was initially scheduled to start on 18 Septe ...

by beating

2–1 in the

in the last matchday; they won their 14th title, their first since 2007. They made the season a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

, after beating Nejmeh in the

final.

Supporters

Although the club's roots lie in the Sunni community in

, Ansar's support comes from all areas and religions in Lebanon. The club has been associated with the

Hariri family Hariri (in Arabic language, Arabic حريري) is a surname and derivative of ''harir'' (in Arabic language, Arabic حرير meaning silk) which indicates a mercantile background at one point in that field. People Historic * Ali Hariri (1009-1079) ...

from the early 1990s till 2005. In 2018, following the introduction of ultras groups in Lebanon, "Ultras Ansari 18" (UA18) was formed.

Club rivalries

The

with

has historically been the most anticipated game in Lebanon: both located in

, Nejmeh and Ansar have shared the majority of titles. While Nejmeh has been more successful in Asia, Ansar holds the most league titles and FA Cups. Another important rivalry is with Ahed: located in Beirut, they are affiliated with Hezbollah, with their fan base mostly coming from the

Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...

community in Beirut. In addition Ansar has a rivalry with Safa, also based in Beirut.

Players

Current squad

Notable players

Honours

** Winners (14; record): 1987–88, 1989–90,

1990–91 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 ...

, 1991–92,

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 ...

, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2005–06, 2006–07,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

**Winners (15; record): 1987–88, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2016–17,

**''Runners-up (5):'' 1985–86, 1996–97, 2000–01, 2018–19, 2021–22 *

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): 1997, 2000 **''Runners-up (8):'' 1996, 1998, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2016,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

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 ...

Lebanese Federation Cup The Lebanese Federation Cup ( ar, كأس الإتحاد اللبناني) was a Lebanese football annual cup competition. The competition was hosted five times, and served as the domestic League Cup. The cup was a preparatory competition held at ...

** Winners (2; record): 1999, 2000 *

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 (6): 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2012,

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**''Runners-up (4):'' 2002, 2010, 2017,

Performance in AFC competitions

AFC Champions League: 11 appearances :: 1988–89: Qualifying stage :: 1989–90: Qualifying stage ::

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

: Qualifying stage :: 1993–94: Quarter-finals :: 1994–95: Quarter-finals ::

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

: Second round :: 1997–98: Quarter-finals :: 1998–99: Second round :: 1999–2000: Second round :: 2000–01: First round :: 2002–03: Qualifying stage AFC Cup: 8 appearances :: 2007: Group stage ::

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; ...

: Group stage :: 2011: 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 ::

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

: Group stage ::

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

: ''Cancelled'' ::

: Group stage ::

: Group stage

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 :: 1991–92: First round :: 1996–97: First round

Chairmen history

* Mustafa El-Shami (1948–1950) * Ameen Itani (1950–1954) * Fouad Rustom (1954–1956) * Abdul Jalil Al-Sabra (1956–1963) * Jamil Hasbeeny (1963–1965) * Abed El-Jamil Ramadan (1965–1967) * Khaled Kabbani (1967–1975) * Said Wanid (1975–1977) * Salim Diab (1977–2008) * Karim Diab (2008–2012) * Nabil Badr (2012–present)

Notes

References

External links

Al Ansar FC
at the AFC
Al Ansar FC
at LebanonFG {{DEFAULTSORT:Ansar FC Football clubs in Lebanon Association football clubs established in 1951 1951 establishments in Lebanon Sunni Islam in Lebanon

History

Early history

Recent history

Supporters

Club rivalries

Players

Current squad

Notable players

Honours

Performance in AFC competitions

Chairmen history

See also

Notes

References

External links