Racing Club (), known as Racing Beirut or simply Racing, 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

Achrafieh Achrafieh () is an upper-class area in eastern Beirut, Lebanon. In strictly administrative terms, the name refers to a sector (''secteur'') centred on Sassine Square, the highest point in the city, as well as a broader quarter (''quartier''). In p ...

, 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 . They play their home matches at the Fouad Chehab Stadium and are primarily supported by the Greek Orthodox Christian community. Racing Beirut won 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 ...

three times, the Lebanese Challenge Cup twice, and the Lebanese Second Division four times. They also finished runners-up in the

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� ...

twice.

History

Early history

The club was founded in 1934 by several locals from the

and Gemmayzeh districts of

, Lebanon. The club's name is inspired from French football club

Racing Paris Racing Club de France Football, commonly known as Racing Club de France (), is a French Association football, football club based in the Paris suburb of Colombes. The club was founded in 1882 as a multi-discipline sports club, and is one of ...

, who the club's presidents supported. Racing played five years in the Lebanese Second Division, and got its first promotion to the Lebanese Premier League in 1940. In 1953, Albert Kheir was elected as the club's president. He sought to heighten the club's status in the country, by buying 20-year-old Joseph Abou Murad from Intissar Chayyah, Said Haidar from Al Nahda, and Yuguslavian coach

Ljubiša Broćić Ljubiša Broćić ( sr-Cyrl, Љубиша Броћић; 3 October 1911 – 16 August 1995) was a Yugoslav football player and manager. Career Broćić was at the helm of some of the top European sides: PSV Eindhoven, Juventus, FC Barcelona, an ...

. Racing Beirut played international friendly games against a variety of famous clubs and selections during the 1970s, including one against the Brazil national under-23 team.

Recent history

The match between Ahed and Racing Beirut in the first matchday of the

2023–24 Lebanese Premier League The 2023–24 Lebanese Premier League was the 62nd season of the Lebanese Premier League, the top Lebanese league for football clubs since its establishment in 1934. The league started on 4 August 2023, and ended on 30 June 2024. It was the four ...

, on 6 August 2023, was the first to test the 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).

Club rivalries

Historically, during the 1960s and 1970s, Racing's main rivals were Nejmeh, also from Beirut. Racing plays the Achrafieh derby with Sagesse.

Players

Squad

Shirt manufacturers

*2008:

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

*2009: Lotto *2010: Lotto *2011–2013:

*2014–2016: Diadora *2016–2018:

Joma Joma Sport, S.A. is a Spanish sports clothing and shoes brand. History Joma was founded in 1965 by Fructuoso López to produce shoes for general use. The brand name comes from the given name of Fructuoso's first born son (José Manuel). In 196 ...

*2018–2022: Capelli Sport *2022–:

Honours

League

** Winners (3): 1955–56, 1964–65, 1969–70 * Lebanese Second Division **Winners (4): 1938–39, 1999–2000, 2006–07, 2022–23

Cup

* Lebanese Challenge Cup (''defunct'') **Winners (2; joint record):

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 ...

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 ...

** ''Runners-up (2):'' 1944–45, 1947–48

Managerial history

(1955) * Ion Bogdan (1967–1970) * Dorian Marin (2004–2005) * Libor Pala (2012–2015) * Eugen Moldovan (2015–2016) * Moussa Hojeij (2016–2017) * Roda Antar (2017–2019) * Jalal Radwan (2019–2020) * Said Jraidini (2020–2021) * Ismail Kortam (2021–2023) * Vladimir Vujović (2023–2024) * Osama Sakr (2025–Present)

References

Football clubs in Lebanon Football clubs in Beirut 1934 establishments in Lebanon Christianity in Beirut Greek Orthodoxy in Lebanon {{Lebanon-footyclub-stub