Al Ahli SC (), also known as Al Ahli Doha, is a Qatari multi-sport club 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 ...

. It is most notable for its professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

section. Their home ground is the

Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Doha, Qatar. It is the home ground of Al Ahli SC (Doha) and Al-Sailiya SC. The stadium holds 18,000 people. In addition to QSL matches, the stadium also hosts regular track and field meets. ...

. Founded in 1950, it is the oldest sports club in Qatar.

History

Al Ahli was founded under the name Al Najah Sports Club in 1950, rendering it the oldest surviving sports club in Qatar. ''Al Najah SC'' was established by the founders of another club, called ''Sawt al-Arab'', which was subsequently disbanded. The most prominent of the founders was Naji Musaad, the first president of the club. The club's first headquarters was located in Barahat Al Jufairi, in a residential house which was rented at a monthly fee of 70

Indian rupees The Indian rupee (Currency symbol, symbol: Indian rupee sign, ₹; ISO 4217, code: INR) is the official currency of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 ''Indian paisa, paise'' (Hindi plural; singular: ''paisa''). The issuance of the currenc ...

. In 1964, the club was formally founded under resolution no. 2. Their first match abroad was scheduled to take place against

Al Muharraq Muharraq () is Bahrain's List of cities in Bahrain, third most populous city and served as its capital until 1932 when it was replaced by Manama. The population of Muharraq in 2020 was 263,373. Muharraq served as the country’s capital until ...

. After travelling to Bahrain by sea, the club was turned down because their squad comprised foreign players. Instead, they played against Al Nusoor, whom they defeated 3–1. In 1972, Al Najah was merged with another local club under its current name, ''Al Ahli Sports Club''. The first board of directors was formed with eight members, and the club's colors were officially decided as green and white. Early managers after the merger include Mohammed Kheiri, the first manager of Al Ahli Sports Club, Sudanese Abdullah Balash, Lebanese Omar Khatib and Sudanese Hassan Osman. They played a friendly against Pelé-led Santos in 1973 at Doha Sports Stadium. In the 1983/84 season, the club received a new headquarters, equipped with modern training and recreational facilities, as did all of the other sports clubs in Qatar. In September 1985, amidst a heavy debt of QAR 700,000, the club announced that it would not contract with any foreign players for that season to preserve its funds. As a result, five Yugoslavian players it had recently signed for its basketball, handball and volleyball teams would be released. The Ministry of Youth and Sports injected QAR 500,000 and its supporters and members raised over QAR 300,000 to help the club pay off debt and contract professionals. In the early nineties, under the presidency of Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al Thani, the club was relegated to the Qatari 2nd Division for the first time in its history. In an attempt to improve its younger generation of players by providing them with invaluable first team experience, the youth team had been given an opportunity to earn promotion back to the first division. They were unsuccessful, and only were runners up that year. The club has won one domestic trophy since its formation, the Emir Cup. This competition which was secured four times, with the first triumph coming in the inaugural edition under coach Mohammed Kheiri.

Stadium

Al Ahli play their home matches at

which has a capacity of 12,000 seats.

Supporters

The club has one of the most consistently high home attendances in the Qatar Stars League. On 11 April 2014, they set a new league record for final match day attendance with 10,142 fans attending the league match against Al Sailiya.

Players

''As of

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 ...

:''

Out on loans

Managerial history

Al Ahli club staff

Last update: 2 June 2017.

Club officials

Board

Club presidents

As of February 2012.

Records and statistics

Player statistics

Last update: 10 December 2024.
Players whose names are in bold are still active with the club.''

Performance in UAFA competitions

* UAFA Club Cup: 2 appearances ::2003/04: First round ::2007/08: First round

Performance in AFC competitions

Asian Cup Winners Cup The Asian Cup Winners' Cup was an Asian football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-Asian club competition organised by Asian Football Confedera ...

: 2 appearances :: 1992/93: First Round :: 1998/99: Second Round

Asian record

1. Al Nejmeh SC withdrew from the tournament.

Honours

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, ...

**Winners (4): 1973, 1981, 1987, 1992 **''Runners-up (5):'' 1975, 1984, 1985, 1998, 2003 *

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 Sheik ...

**''Runners-up (2):'' 1999, 2006 * Qatari 2nd Division **Winners (1): 2012

References

External links

* {{Qatari League Al-Ahli Sports Club Football clubs in Doha Association football clubs established in 1950 1950 establishments in Qatar