Al Ahed Football Club () is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in Ouzai, a district in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, Lebanon, that competes in the

Lebanese Premier League The Lebanese First Division (), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. Established in 1934 and organized by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), the Lebanese Premier Leagu ...

, the top flight of Lebanese football. The club was founded in 1964 as Al Ahed Al Jadeed, initially starting in the Third Division before reaching the Premier League for the first time in 1996. Nicknamed "the Yellow Castle" (), Ahed have won one

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

title, nine

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

titles, six

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

titles, two Federation Cup titles, eight

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

titles, and six Elite Cup titles. They secured their first league title in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and have achieved three unbeaten seasons (in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

). In 2011, Ahed made history by becoming the first team in Lebanon to accomplish both a domestic treble and quadruple, winning the league, the FA Cup, the Elite Cup, and the Super Cup in the same season. In 2019, Ahed defeated North Korean side

April 25 Events Pre-1600 * 404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion. * 775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against th ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the

, becoming the first Lebanese side to win the competition. They reached the final once more in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, losing to Australian side

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Mar ...

. The club is primarily supported by the Shia community and is affiliated with

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

, a Lebanese Shia political party and militant group. Ahed's rivals include fellow Beirut clubs Nejmeh and Ansar. Their ultras group, formed in 2018, is called "Ultras Yellow Inferno". Ahed's stadium, the

Al Ahed Stadium Al Ahed Stadium () is a football field located in the Al-Ouzai area of Bourj el-Barajneh, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon. The stadium can accommodate about 2,000 spectators, and is owned by Al Ahed FC, which uses it as a training gro ...

, can accommodate 2,000 spectators.

History

Early history (1964–1989)

Ahed were founded in 1964 as Al Ahed Al Jadeed () in

Dahieh Dahieh (, ) is a predominantly Shia Muslim suburb in the south of Beirut, in the Baabda District of Lebanon. It has a minority of Sunni Muslims, Christians, and a Palestinian refugee camp with 20,000 inhabitants. It is a residential and commerc ...

, a southern suburb of

. Under the presidency of Muhieddine Anouti, the club initially competed in the

Lebanese Third Division The Lebanese Third Division () is the third division of Lebanese football, and is controlled by the Lebanese Football Association. The 23 teams are divided into four groups of six teams each (one group has 5 teams); the first two teams of each ...

. During the 1970s, Ahed played in Msaytbeh, an area of Beirut, under the name Al Huda Islamic Club (). However, the club ceased activities as a consequence of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. In 1984, Anouti acquired a license under the name Nejmet Al Ahed Al Jadeed () but did not establish a club. On 2 May 1985, the

Lebanese Football Association The Lebanese Football Association (LFA; ; ) is the governing body of association football in Lebanon. Formed in 1933, it is a member of both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation, AFC. It is also one of the founding members of the West Asian ...

granted membership to the club to resume playing football, with Mohammad Assi assuming the presidency. During the 1988–89 season in the

Lebanese Second Division The Lebanese Second Division () is the second division of Lebanese football. Established in 1933, it is controlled by the Lebanese Football Association. The 12 teams that participate in the league play each other twice, once at home and once awa ...

, the team qualified for a playoff match against Al-Majdi. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, preventing Ahed from securing promotion to the

Lebanese Premier League and first titles (1992–2011)

In 1992, Abdo Saad became the new president and changed the name of the club to Al Ahed () because its leaders wanted a name with a

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

ic meaning. In 1996, Amin Sherri succeeded Saad as president after his resignation, despite Ahed reaching the Second Division promotion play-offs. On 20 December 1996, Ahed were promoted to the Premier League for the first time in their history. They won their first Premier League game on 18 October 1997, defeating Riada Wal Adab 1–0 at the

Bourj Hammoud Stadium Bourj Hammoud Stadium () is a stadium in Bourj Hammoud, Beirut, Lebanon. It is currently used mostly for football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to sc ...

; Moussa Bedyan scored the lone goal in the 20th minute. After two seasons in the Premier League, Ahed were relegated to the Second Division, before they earned promotion back to the Premier League. Following the club's second promotion to the Premier League, Sherri resigned as club president and was replaced by Osama Al-Halabawi. Under Al-Halabawi's tenure, Ahed reached the finals of the 2001–02

and the 2002 Elite Cup, in addition to securing third place in the league during the 2002–03 season. Between 2004 and 2005, Ahed won two FA Cups, one Federation Cup, and one

. Having won the 2004 FA Cup, Ahed first qualified for an

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...

(AFC) competition, the

2005 AFC Cup The 2005 AFC Cup was the second edition of the AFC Cup, playing among clubs from nations who are members of the Asian Football Confederation. Qualification The 'developing' 9 nations in the Asian Football Confederation were invited to nominate ...

. They made their continental debut on 9 May 2009, defeating Indian club

Dempo Dempo Mining Corporation Limited is a prominent mining company from the western Indian state of Goa. The mineral business was founded by Vasantrao S. Dempo in 1941, along with his younger brother Vaikuntrao Dempo. Vasantrao was the founding c ...

1–0 at home. Ahed finished second in their group of three, which also included Al-Hussein of Iraq, and qualified for the quarter-finals. Despite a 1–0 home victory against Hong Kong club

Sun Hei Sun Hei Sports Club () is a Hong Kong professional football club which currently competes in the Hong Kong Second Division. The club has a long history in playing in the top flight, but decided to self-relegate in the 2013–14 season after de ...

in the first leg, Ahed lost the second leg 3–1 and were eliminated. Ahed won their first league title in 2007–08. They went on a 44-match unbeaten streak in the Premier League from 2 November 2008 to 30 October 2010, winning the 2009–10 league without defeats as a consequence. In the 2010–11 season, Ahed won the league, the FA Cup, the Super Cup and the Elite Cup, becoming the first team in Lebanon to accomplish both a domestic treble and quadruple.

Tamim Sleiman presidency and domestic dominance (2014–2024)

In 2014, Tamim Sleiman was appointed president of the club by unanimous decision. In his first year as president, Ahed secured the

2014–15 Premier League The 2014–15 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the ...

, the club's fourth in total. Their 2016–17 league victory marked the beginning of a historic streak for Ahed, as they went on to win the league in 2017–18 (their second unbeaten) and 2018–19, securing their seventh title overall and establishing themselves as three-time defending champions, a position previously held only by Ansar in 1992. Ahed reached the final of the

– the AFC's second-tier club competition – for the first time in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, joining Nejmeh in 2005 and Safa in

as the only Lebanese teams to do so. On 4 November 2019, Ahed beat North Korean side

25 April Events Pre-1600 *404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion. * 775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the ...

with a 1–0 win in the

, from a header by Issah Yakubu, thus becoming the first Lebanese team to win the competition. Throughout the tournament, Ahed conceded only three goals in 11 matches and achieved nine

clean sheets In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

, including five consecutive ones in all five knockout matches, as they maintained an unbeaten record. In the 2021–22 season, Ahed cleaimed their third league title unbeaten, securing their eighth title overall. They continued their dominance by winning their ninth league title in

2022–23 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 ...

. The match between Ahed and

Racing Beirut Racing Club (), known as Racing Beirut or simply Racing, is a football club based in Achrafieh, a district in Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the . They play their home matches at the Fouad Chehab Stadium and are primarily supported by the ...

on 6 August 2023, the first matchday of the 2023–24 league season, marked the inaugural use of

video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a Assistant referee (association football), match official in association football who assists the referee by reviewing decisions using video footage and providing advice to the referee based on those revi ...

(VAR) technology in Lebanese football. On 5 May 2024, Ahed made it to the

of the

2023–24 AFC Cup The 2023–24 AFC Cup was the 20th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the final edition under the AFC Cup title, as the competition was revamped under the nam ...

for the second time, finishing runners-up after losing 1–0 to Australian side

. The game marked the conclusion of the AFC Cup, following changes made to the AFC's competition system.

Recent years (2024–present)

Following Tamim Sleiman's 10-year presidency term at Ahed, lawyer Zein Khalife was elected as Ahed's president on 5 August 2024.

Crest and colours

Ahed's primary colour is yellow, a characteristic reflected in their nickname, "the Yellow Castle" (). On 20 May 2022, Ahed unveiled a revamped badge, adopting a minimalist design to commemorate their 2021–22 league triumph. The new emblem features a

pictogram A pictogram (also pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto) is a graphical symbol that conveys meaning through its visual resemblance to a physical object. Pictograms are used in systems of writing and visual communication. A pictography is a wri ...

representing the three

Arabic letters The Arabic alphabet, or the Arabic abjad, is the Arabic script as specifically codified for writing the Arabic language. It is a unicameral script written from right-to-left in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters, of which most have co ...

composing the word "Ahed" (). File:Al-Ahed SC (logo).png, Logo until 2022 File:Al Ahed FC logo (2022).svg, Logo between 2022 and 2023 File:Al Ahed FC logo (2023).svg, Logo since 2023

Stadium

Ahed owns the

in Beirut. Located near Rafic Hariri Airport, the venue can hold 2,000 people. The club only uses the stadium for training purposes. For their home matches in club competitions, Ahed opts to utilize various other stadiums across Lebanon, such as the

Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium (CCSC) () is a multi-purpose stadium with a capacity of 49,500 seats, located in the Bir Hassan area of Beirut, Lebanon. The stadium, equipped with sport of athletics, athletics facilities, is the largest in th ...

and the

Saida Municipal Stadium The Saida Municipal Stadium (), also known as the Martyr Rafic Hariri Stadium (), is a 22,600 capacity multi-purpose stadium in Sidon, Lebanon. The stadium was built in 1999 on the expanded grounds of the old stadium, as one of the venues to h ...

, due to their larger seating capacities. In 2018,

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

, the

Prime Minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel (, Hebrew abbreviations, Hebrew abbreviation: ; , ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief executive of the Israel, State of Israel. Israel is a parliamentary republic with a President of Isra ...

, alleged in a speech that

, a Lebanese Shia political party and militant group, was using the Al Ahed Stadium as a site for storing missile clusters.

Gebran Bassil Gebran Gerge Bassil (; born 21 June 1970) is a Lebanese politician who is the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement since 2015 and leader of the Strong Lebanon bloc in the Lebanese parliament since 2018. A Maronite Christian, he is the son-in-l ...

, the Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, denied these accusations.

Supporters

Ahed's fan base primarily comprises Lebanon's Shia community, and the team has strong affiliations with Hezbollah, sharing the same yellow colour. With the emergence of ultras groups in Lebanon in 2018, Ahed established "Ultras Yellow Inferno". On 28 January 2009, Ahed initiated an informal partnership with Iranian club

Sepahan Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Sport Club (, ''Bâšgâh-e Farhangi-Varzeši-ye Fulâd-e Mobârake-ye Sepâhân''), commonly known as Sepahan, is an Iranian sports club based in Isfahan. It is best known for their football section that play in the P ...

, which was later formalized on 8 March 2021. This partnership involves collaborative activities such as training camps and friendly matches between the two clubs.

Club rivalries

Ahed shares a rivalry with Ansar, another Beirut-based team. Ansar's affiliation with the

Hariri family The Hariri family is a prominent family from Lebanon, involved in politics and business. They are Jordan's largest real estate property investors. Business The family has investments in banking, including a significant stake in the Arab Bank, ...

and their representation of a nationalist stream add depth to this rivalry. In recent years, Nejmeh, also based in Beirut, has emerged as a fierce rival for Ahed. As the most-supported team in Lebanon, Nejmeh's clashes with Ahed have escalated tensions to the extent that the Lebanese Football Association has had to change venues multiple timess.

Kit manufacturers

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

Players

Current squad

Players out on loan

Notable players

Coaching staff

Honours

Domestic

** Winners (9): 2007–08, 2009–10,

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22,

Lebanese FA Cup The Lebanon Cup (), commonly known as the Lebanese FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in domestic Lebanese football. In the first FA Cup final, held on 26 June 1938, Nahda beat Hilmi-Sport 3–2 in the replay (after drawing 1� ...

**Winners (6): 2003–04, 2004–05, 2008–09,

, 2017–18, 2018–19 **''Runners-up (5):'' 2001–02, 2006–07, 2015–16,

, 2023–24 *

Lebanese Federation Cup The Lebanese Federation Cup () is an annual cup competition in men's domestic football in Lebanon. Organised by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), it serves as the domestic league cup to the Lebanese Premier League and is contested before ...

** Winners (2; joint record): 2004,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Lebanese Elite Cup The Lebanese Elite Cup () was 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 played by the top five finisher ...

(''defunct'') **Winners (6):

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

**''Runners-up (7):'' 2002, 2003, 2004,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

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 (8; record): 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2017, 2018,

**''Runners-up (2):'' 2004, 2009,

Continental

** Winners (1; Lebanese record):

** ''Runners-up (1):'' 2023–24

Performance in AFC competitions

Ahed first participated in an Asian competition in the 2005 AFC Cup, where they were drawn in the group stage with Indian club Dempo and Jordanian club Al-Hussein. After finishing second in the group, Ahed faced Hong Kong club Sun Hei in the quarter-finals, to whom they lost 3–2 on aggregate. Before they won the competition, their best performance was in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, when they reached the semi-finals before Iraqi club

Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya () is an Iraqi sports club based in Al-Rusafa, Iraq, Rusafa District, Baghdad that competes in the Iraq Stars League, the top-flight of Football in Iraq, Iraqi football. Founded in 1931, it is the oldest existing club in Iraq. ...

eliminated them 4–3 on aggregate. In 2019, Ahed defeated North Korean club April 25 to win the AFC Cup, becoming the first Lebanese side to do so. Previous finalists Nejmeh and Safa were defeated in the 2005 and the 2008 finals, respectively. They reached the AFC Cup final once more in 2024, losing 1–0 to Australian club Central Coast Mariners. *

: 12 appearances ::

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

: Quarter-finals ::

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

: Group stage ::

: Round of 16 ::

: Group stage ::

: Semi-finals ::

: Zonal semi-finals ::

: Champions ::

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

: ''Cancelled'' ::

: Zonal semi-finals :: 2023–24: Runners-up

Notes

References

External links

Al Ahed FC
at the AFC
Al Ahed FC
at FA Lebanon
Al Ahed FC
at LebanonFG {{DEFAULTSORT:Ahed FC Football clubs in Lebanon Football clubs in Beirut 1966 establishments in Lebanon 1985 establishments in Lebanon Association football clubs established in 1966 Association football clubs established in 1985 AFC Champions League Two winning clubs Shia Islam in Lebanon