Qatar Sports Club () is a

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

based in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. It is best known for its

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 ...

team which competes in the

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

. The club was founded in 1961 with the merger of two Qatari football clubs, Al-Oruba and Al-Nasour. They play their home games in the Qatar SC Stadium, which can accommodate 13,000 spectators. The club has recently diversified into sports other than football with an athletics division having been established, competing in sprinting, long jump and javelin throwing. The club adopted its current name, ''Qatar SC'', in 1981.

History

Formation (1972)

In 1972, Al-Oruba merged with Al-Nasour to form a new football club named ''Al-Esteqlal''. Former player Saad Mohammed Saleh was selected as the first coach. Al Esteqlal was one of the strongest clubs right from its establishment, winning its first official Q-League season in

1972–73 Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this y ...

. The next year, in 1974,

Al Sadd Al Sadd Sports Club () is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the capital city Doha. It is best known for its association football team, which competes in the top level of Qatari football, the Qatar Stars League. Locally, it i ...

hired head coach Hassan Othman from the club in addition to 14 of its players, including

Hassan Mattar Hassan Mattar (; born 1 January 1956) is a Qatari former striker who played for Al Sadd and the Qatar national team. He currently serves as the Head of Youth Teams for Al Sadd. He was an international for the Qatar national team, participatin ...

and Mubarak Anber, much to the dismay of club president Hamad bin Suhaim. During this period, transfers could be made unconditionally in Qatari football. Despite the resounding difficulties arising from the transfer fiasco, the club continued with its success, winning the 1976–77 season and supplying the national team with some of its most prominent players.

1981–present: Qatar SC

Al Esteqlal was renamed Qatar SC in 1981. However, it gradually faded into obscurity for the next 2 decades, with the league being dominated by Al Arabi,

, and

Al Rayyan Al Rayyan (; also spelled ''Ar Rayyan'') is the third-largest municipalities of Qatar, municipality in Qatar. Its primary settlement is the Al Rayyan (city), city of the same name, which occupies the entire eastern section and is a part of the Do ...

. The club won the

Qatar Crown Prince Cup The Qatar Cup (formerly known as Qatar Crown Prince Cup) is a tournament in men's football. It is played by the top 4 teams of the Qatar Stars League after each season. In 2013, the tournament was renamed Qatar Cup. Previous winners All-time ...

in 2002 and also won the 2002–03 league season by three points. They won the Crown Prince Cup the same year, and again in 2009. The club was relegated to

Qatari Second Division The Qatari Second Division (), QSD or Second Division League, also was known as Qatargas League due to sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the two-tier football league competition in Qatar. Contested by 8 teams, it operates on a system of p ...

after the 2015-16 season, but were promoted back to the top division the next season.

Name history

* 1972: The club was founded by a merger of ''Al-Oruba'' and ''Al Nasour'', and was named ''Al Esteqlal'' * 1981: The club was renamed ''Qatar Sports Club''

Stadium

Qatar SC play their matches at Suheim bin Hamad Stadium, which is located in Doha's seaside district of

Al Dafna Al Dafna (Arabic: الدفنة) is a seaside district of the Qatari capital Doha located on the Persian Gulf. The district is rapidly developing into a central business district, and since the late 1990s dozens of skyscrapers have risen in the dis ...

. It is a multi-purpose stadium, featuring an athletics field, a gym, a shopping centre and a mosque, among other facilities. The stadium has a capacity of 13,000 seats. An Iranian student named

Yaser Ghasemian Yasser (also spelled Yaser, Yasir, or Yassir; , ''Yāsir'') is an Arabic male name meaning “to be of ease” or “of wealth”. Notable people with this given name *Yasir Abdullah (born 2000), American gridiron football player *Yasir ibn Amir ...

Zoeram designed the stadium of this club for renovation, which was met with a unique reception in Qatar. Besides local football matches, the stadium also hosts a number of tournaments such as

Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix The Doha Diamond League is an annual one-day track and field meeting held at the Suheim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar. It is part of the Diamond League – the top level international circuit for the sport. It is typically held in May as the ...

and some of the

2011 AFC Asian Cup The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was the 15th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar from 7 to 29 January 2011. It was the secon ...

matches.

Players

''As of

:''

Out on loan

Honours

** Champions (8): 1966-67, 1967-68, 1968-69, 1969-70, 1970-71,

, 1976–77, 2002–03 *

Emir of Qatar Cup Emir of Qatar Cup (), also known as the Emir Cup, but changed to Amir Cup starting in 2019, is an association football tournament played every season by all first and second division teams in Qatar. The tournament is played in a knockout system, ...

** Champions (8): 1966-67, 1967-68, 1968-69, 1969-70, 1970-71, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1975–76 *

** Champions (3): 2002, 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 ...

Qatar Sheikh Jassem Cup The Sheikh Jassim Cup () is an annual men's super cup competition in Qatari football held between the winner of the Qatar Stars League and the Emir of Qatar Cup. History The inaugural Sheikh Jassim Cup was held in 1977. Prior to the 2014 Sheikh ...

** Champions (4): 1983, 1984, 1987, 1995 * Qatari Stars Cup/QNB Cup ** Champions (1): 2014

Records and statistics

Last update: 15 March 2023.
Players whose names are in bold are still active with the club.''

Recent seasons

Technical staff

Senior team

Youth team

Managerial history

Performance in AFC competitions

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

: 1 appearance :: 2003–04: Group Stage

References

External links

Official website
(archived 24 November 2005) {{Qatari League Football clubs in Qatar Football clubs in Doha Association football clubs established in 1961 Multi-sport clubs in Qatar 1961 establishments in Qatar