Welwalo Adigrat University 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 ...

: ''ወልዋሎ'' ዓዲግራት ዩኒቨርሲቲ ''ስፖርት ክለብ'') is an Ethiopian

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

Adigrat Adigrat ( , ''ʿaddigrat'', also called ʿAddi Grat) is a city and separate Districts of Ethiopia, woreda in Tigray Region of Ethiopia. It is located in the Misraqawi Zone at longitude and latitude , with an elevation of above sea level and below ...

, Ethiopia. They play in the

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 ...

, the top division of Ethiopian football.

History

Welwalo Adigrat University FC was founded in 1948 as Wolwalo F.c and participated in different Ethiopian league ranks. Wolwalo was promoted to the

for the first time after the end of the 2016–17 season. Welwalo Adigrat is funded as part of Adigrat University, a public institution. The club began as the official football team of Adigrat University, called themselves Welwalo, and competing in gold and black colors. The Welwalo initially participated in Group A of the Higher league (also known as the Ethiopian Super League), the second tier of Ethiopian football, before being promoted to the

after the 2016–17 season.

Ethiopian Premier League

After a slow start to the season falling to 10th place in the premier league, the team sacked their manager Berhane GebreEgziabher. Former Arba Minch manager Tsegaye Kidanemariam was hired in his place. In a match versus Fasil Kenema (K/Mariam's first match as manager), the Welwalo goalkeeper Zewedu Mesfin gained much attention for an infamous play in which he accidentally threw the ball into his own net. The own goal ended being the deciding factor in the match with Welwalo dropping all 3 points in 1–0 scoreline. On April 30, 2018, the club was involved in an altercation during a game against Defense Force S.C. that ultimately led to a member of the Welwalo coaching staff physically attacking the referee. Although all involved avoided serious injury after altercation the incident prompted the

Ethiopian Football Federation The Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) (Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ እግር ኳስ ፌዴሬሽን) is the governing body of Football (soccer), football in Ethiopia. It organizes all tiers of the national football league and the Ethiopia nation ...

to suspend the entire

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

upon further review of the situation, calling for an emergency meeting for the following Thursday.

Grounds

Welwalo Adigrat University FC plays its home games at Adigrat Stadium in the city of

in the northern

Tigray Region The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...

of Ethiopia. Notably the field they play on was grass-less during their inaugural

2017–18 Ethiopian Premier League The 2017–18 Ethiopian Premier League is the 71st season of top-tier association football, football in Ethiopia (20th season as the Premier League). The season began play on 4 November 2017 and ended on 16 July 2018.Tigray Region The Tigray Region (or simply Tigray; officially the Tigray National Regional State) is the northernmost Regions of Ethiopia, regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob people, Irob and Kunama people. I ...

club Mekelle 70 Enderta FC. The derby enjoys relatively large attendances.

Former managers

* Berhane GebreEgziabher * Tsegaye Kidanemariam * Yohannes Sahle

Players

First-team squad

''As of 12 January 2020''

References

Football clubs in Ethiopia Association football clubs disestablished in 2011 University and college association football clubs Sport in Tigray Region Adigrat {{Ethiopia-footyclub-stub