Al-Najaf Sports Club () is an Iraqi professional

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

Najaf Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...

. They are members of the

Iraq Stars League The Iraq Stars League (), is the highest level of the Iraqi football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Iraqi Premier Division League. It is governed by the Iraqi Pro League Associa ...

. Al-Najaf has competed in the

2007 AFC Champions League The 2007 AFC Champions League was the 26th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament and the 5th edition under the current AFC Champions League title. Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds became champions for the first time, beating Se ...

History

In 1960, the city of

began an active movement to establish a sports club after the athletes then felt the need of the city to a sports club that absorbed the energies of young people and their creations which are almost lost in the amateur leagues. Some of the dignitaries of the city were contacted for this purpose. The request was submitted to the Ministry of the Interior, which was responsible for the authorisation of sports clubs in Iraq at that time. The name of Al Ghiri Sports Club was proposed for this institution. In 1961, the Ministry of the Interior approved their request to establish the club and thus wrote the birth certificate of the first sports club in the city of Najaf and consisted of the first administrative body of Messrs. Naji Hassan Hasswa as president and Maki Hadi Maala Vice-President and Alwan Elsafer as secretary. At the beginning of the establishment of the club, the Ministry of the Interior allocated an annual grant of 60 dinars divided into two instalments, and the club relied on this grant and monthly subscriptions from its members.

Stadiums

New Najaf Stadium is a purpose built football stadium that is the current home stadium of Al-Najaf. It opened in 2018, with a capacity of 30,000 people. Until 2018, the club played its home matches at

An-Najaf Stadium An-Najaf Stadium () is a multi-use stadium located in Najaf, Iraq. It is currently used mostly for football matches and serves as the home stadium of Al-Najaf SC. Opened in 1970, the stadium holds 12,000 people. See also *List of football st ...

().

Current squad

First-team squad

^FGN ^FGN ^FGN ^FGN ^FGN ^FGN

Current technical staff

{, class="toccolours" !bgcolor=silver, Position !bgcolor=silver, Name !bgcolor=silver, Nationality , - bgcolor=#eeeeee , Coach:, , Abdul-Ghani Shahad, , , - , Assistant coach:, , Dhiyya Falih, , , - , -bgcolor=#eeeeee , Goalkeeping coach:, , Mohammed Abdul-Zahra, , , - , Fitness coach:, , Salah Hashim, , , - , Team supervisor:, , Fadhel Mohammed, , , -bgcolor=#eeeeee , - , Team manager:, , Mohammed Abdul Hussein, , , -bgcolor=#eeeeee , Team Doctor:, , Haitham Abdul Amir, , , - , U-19 Coach:, , Haider Lafta, , , -

Managerial history

Since the club's promotion to the

Iraqi Premier League The Iraq Stars League (), is the highest level of the Iraqi football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Iraqi Premier Division League. It is governed by the Iraqi Pro League Asso ...

in the 1987–88 season so far, twenty-six coaches have led the team: * Mohammed Hussein Ismail * Alwan Mena * Nasrat Nasser * Mohammed Hussein Ismail * Alwan Mena * Hatif Shamran * Alwan Mena *

Najeh Humoud Najeh Humoud (Arabic: ناجح حمود حريب) is a former football coach of Najaf FC and Iraq. He played in midfield for Kufa FC in the 1970s, and the Najaf province team but never managed to play in the Iraqi first division. He began his ...

Wathiq Naji Wathiq Naji Jassim Al-Kaissi (; 1 July 1940 – 20 November 2014) was an Iraqi football manager, who took the team to the 1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * Janu ...

* Hatif Shamran * Noman Kadhim & Raheem Jassim *

* Hadi Mutanish * Ali Kadhim *

Abdul Ghani Shahad Abdul-Ghani Shahad (; born 7 March 1968) is an Iraqi professional football coach and former player who is currently manager of Naft Al-Wasat SC in the Iraqi Premier League. Abdul-Ghani started his playing career at Al-Najaf FC and remained a on ...

* Hatif Shamran * Majed Najem *

* Hatif Shamran *

Yahya Alwan Yahya Alwan Manhal (, (born 1 July 1956 in Baghdad, Iraq) is a former Iraq national and Olympic coach, who is currently coach of Al-Naft Coaching career He is an Iraqi football player and coach, born in 1956 in the capital of Iraq, the capital ...

* Hassan Ahmed * Qahtan Chathir * Salman Hussein * Haider Yahya * Hatif Shamran * Haider Yahya * Hameed Salman * Ali Wahab *

Emad Mohammed Emad Mohammed Ridha (, born 24 July 1982) is a coach and former Iraqi football (soccer), football striker, currently managing Iraq national under-20 football team, Iraq U20. Club career On 25 June 2007, Emad renewed his contract with Sepahan S. ...

* Hatif Shamran *

Nadhim Shaker Nadhim Shaker Salim (; 18 December 1958 – 11 September 2020) was an Iraqi football player and coach of the Iraq national team. Playing career Nadhim Shaker was one of the most talented defenders in Iraqi football history. He began his playin ...

* Ali Hashim * Ahmed Khalef * Mudhafar Jabbar *

Thair Jassam Thair Jassam Homi (born 31 December 1959) is a former Iraqi football player, and a manager. He is currently the manager of Al-Nasiriya SC Managerial statistics Honours Club Al-Faisaly SC (Amman) * Jordan FA Shield: 2011 * Jordan FA Shiel ...

* Chasib Sultan * Hassan Ahmad *

Haidar Aboodi Haeder Aboudi () (born 1986) is an Iraqi former footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian ...

* Hatif Shamran *

Honours

Domestic

**Runners-up (3): 1995–96, 2005–06, 2008–09 * Baghdad Championship **Winners (1): 1997–98

Friendly

*Victory and Peace Championship **Winners (1): 1992 *Love Championship **Winners (1): 2003

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 ::

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

: Group stage

Statistics

In domestic competitions

{, class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" style="text-align: center;" , - !Year ! Stars League ! Iraq Cup !

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 ...

! Baghdad Ch'ship , - , 1987–88, , 16, , -, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , rowspan=4, Started in
1991 , - , 1988–89, , 6, , Round of 32, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 1989–90, , 8, , Quarter-final, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 1990–91, , 7, , Quarter-final, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 1991–92, , 6, , Round of 16, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , Group stage , - , 1992–93, , 15, , Second round, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , Group stage , - , 1993–94, , 4, , -, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , , - , 1994–95, , bgcolor="#cc9966", 3, , -, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , 4 , - , 1995–96, , bgcolor=silver, Runner-up, , -, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , Group stage , - , 1996–97, , 4, , Quarter-final, , , , bgcolor="#cc9966", 3 , - , 1997–98, , 4, , Round of 16, , , , bgcolor=gold, Winner , - , 1998–99, , 8, , Round of 32, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , Group stage , - , 1999–2000, , 9, , Round of 16, , , , Group stage , - , 2000–01, , 6, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , , , , - , 2001–02, , 5, , bgcolor="#cc9966", Semi-final, , , , Group stage , - , 2002–03, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not finished'', , Quarter-final, , , , Group stage , - , 2003–04, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not finished'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , Group stage , - , 2004–05, , 6, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , rowspan=20, Abolished in
2004 , - , 2005–06, , bgcolor=silver, Runner-up, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2006–07, , bgcolor="#cc9966", 3, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2007–08, , 5, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2008–09, , bgcolor=silver, Runner-up, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2009–10, , 11, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2010–11, , 11, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2011–12, , 9, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2012–13, , 11, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not finished'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2013–14, , 15, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2014–15, , 17, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2015–16, , 13, , , , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2016–17, , 9, , Round of 16, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2017–18, , 6, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , , - , 2018–19, , 12, , Round of 16, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2019–20, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not finished'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not finished'', , , - , 2020–21, , bgcolor="#cc9966", 3, , Round of 16, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2021–22, , 7, , Round of 16, , rowspan=2, , - , 2022–23, , 7, , Round of 32 , - , 2023–24, , 4, , Round of 16

References

External links

* (archived 30 July 2008)
Club page
on Kooora {{Iraq Super League Football clubs in Iraq 1961 establishments in Iraq Najaf Association football clubs established in 1961 Football clubs in Najaf