Mechal Sport Club (

Amharic Amharic is an Ethio-Semitic language, which is a subgrouping within the Semitic branch of the Afroasiatic languages. It is spoken as a first language by the Amhara people, and also serves as a lingua franca for all other metropolitan populati ...

: መከላከያ Mekelakeya), officially known as Defence Force Sport Club, is an Ethiopian 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 the city of

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

. They play in the Betking Ethiopian Premier League, the first division of professional football in Ethiopia. The team, formerly named Army SC and Mechal SC, is the second most decorated club in Ethiopian football history behind

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

History

Mekelakeya is historically the second most successful club in Ethiopian football history with 11 top division titles, with the most recent coming in 1989. Their dominance in the early years of Ethiopian football was cemented with six titles in the span of eight years from 1949 to 1956. After relative dormancy in the 1960s and 1970s, the club returned to its dominant ways in the 1980s by winning four titles. The club also has enjoyed success in the Ethiopian Cup, winning it 13 times. Defense beat Hawassa City 2–0 to win the 2015

Ethiopian Cup The Ethiopian Cup is the top knockout tournament of the Ethiopian football. It was created in 1945. Winners *1945 : British Military Mission-BMME (Addis Abeba) *1946 : Army (Addis Abeba) *1947 : Polisportiva (Addis Abeba) *1948 : Body Guard (Add ...

for a record 13th time and for the second time in three years. Defense entered the

2017 CAF Confederation Cup The 2017 CAF Confederation Cup (officially the 2017 Total CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th edition of the CAF Confederation Cup, Africa's secondary club football competition organized by the Confederation of African Foot ...

as the runners-up in the 2016 Ethiopian Cup. They were knocked out of the tournament by Cameroonian side

Yong Sports Academy Yong Sports Academy (YOSA) is a football club in Bamenda, Cameroon. Founded in 2004, it competes in the country's top division Elite One. History Yong Sports Academy was founded in 2004 by Yong Francis, a former football referee. At that time, ...

2–1 on aggregate in the preliminary round. On April 30, 2018, the club was involved in a match where they were awarded a goal that their opponents, Welwalo Adigrat University, disputed. An altercation followed that ultimately led to a member of the Welwalo coaching staff physically attacking the referee. In April 2021, the club was promoted back into the Ethiopian Premier League after a successful campaign in the second division.

Crest

File:Defense Force SC (logo).png, logo

Stadium

The club plays its home matches at

Addis Ababa Stadium Addis Ababa Stadium (Amharic: አዲስ አበባ ስታዲየም) is a multi-purpose stadium in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is used mostly for football matches although it also has athletics facilities. The stadium has a capacity of 20,000 people ...

Departments

Active departments

* Women's Football Team * Football Team (U17) * Football Team (U20)

Honors

Domestic

Ethiopian Premier League The Ethiopian Premier League (Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ፕሪምየር ሊግ), known as the BetKing Ethiopian Premier League for sponsorship reasons, is the top tier association football league of Ethiopia run by the Ethiopian Premier League ...

: 11 ::1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1976, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1989 *

: 14 ::1946, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1975, 1982, 1990, 2006, 2013, 2015, 2018

African

African Cup of Champions Clubs The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual club football competition organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) a ...

: 1 appearance ::

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

– First Round *

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football football team, club competition established in 2004 and organized by Confederation of African Football, CAF ...

: 2 appearances ::

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 ...

– First Round :: ::

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 ...

– Preliminary Round *

CAF Cup Winners' Cup The African Cup Winners' Cup was a football competition that started in 1975 and merged with the CAF Cup in 2004 to form the CAF Confederation Cup. It was a competition between the winning clubs of domestic cups in CAF-affiliated nations and was ...

: 1 appearance ::

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

– Quarter-finals

Players

First-team squad

Former managers

* Geberemedhin Haile

Former players

* Awol Abdellah * Bedaso Hora * Seyoum Kebede * Faud Ibrahim

References

External links

Team profile
nbsp;– ''ethiofootball.com''
Team profile
nbsp;– ''soccerway.com'' Football clubs in Ethiopia Football clubs in Addis Ababa 1938 establishments in Ethiopia Association football clubs established in 1938 Military association football clubs in Ethiopia {{Ethiopia-footyclub-stub