Association Sportive DPHB, known as Al Sikkat Al Hadid Wal Marfa' in Arabic (), was a

multi-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 Forn El Chebbak, 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. DPHB, which was the sports club of the

Lebanese railways Rail transport in Lebanon began in the 1890s as French projects under the Ottoman Empire but largely ceased in the 1970s owing to the country's civil war. The last remaining routes ended for economic reasons in the 1990s. At its peak Lebanon ha ...

company, was mainly known for their

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. They also used to practice

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

, and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

. DPHB 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: in 1935–36, 1938–39, and 1940–41.

History

In 1935, DPHB played at the inaugural game of the

Beirut Municipal Stadium Beirut Municipal Stadium () is an 18,000-capacity multi-purpose stadium in Beirut, Lebanon. It is currently mostly used for football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football ...

with players such as

Camille Cordahi Camille Rouhana Cordahi (; 11 September 1919 – 11 May 2011) was a Lebanese footballer who played as a forward. He is the Lebanon national team's first official goalscorer, scoring his side's lone goal in a friendly game against Mandatory Pale ...

and

Joseph Nalbandian Joseph Nalbandian (; 1919 – after 1985) was a Lebanese football player and manager. During the 1930s and 1940s, Nalbandian played as a goalkeeper for DPHB, Hilmi-Sport, Sagesse, Homenetmen, and Nahda, at club level. He also represented Leban ...

. Five DPHB players were present in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

's lineup during their first international match against

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

in 1940:

Yeghishe Darian Yeghishe Darian (), also spelled Yeguiché or Jeugiche, was a Lebanese Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), full-back. He played for DPHB and Homenetmen Beirut FC, Homenetmen at club level, and the Le ...

Antoine Sakr Antoine Sakr (; also spelled Sacre) was a Lebanese footballer who played as an full-back. He played for DPHB, Racing Beirut, and Sagesse at club level, and the Lebanon national team internationally. Sakr took part in Lebanon's first interna ...

Toufic Barbir Toufic Barbir () was a Lebanese footballer who played as an midfielder for DPHB and the Lebanon national team. Barbir took part in Lebanon's first international match against Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, ...

Nercesse Nercesse (last name unknown; ), also spelled Narcis, was a Lebanese footballer who played as an forward. Nercesse played for DPHB, Homenetmen, Antranik, and Sagesse at club level. He took part in Lebanon's first international match against Ma ...

, and Cordahi.

Honours

** Winners (3): 1935–36, 1938–39, 1940–41 *

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� ...

**''Runners-up (1):'' 1939–40

Notes

References

Defunct football clubs in Lebanon Football clubs in Lebanon Association football clubs disestablished in 1942 {{Lebanon-footyclub-stub