Al Wahda FC

Al Wahda Football Club (Arabic: نادي الوحدة لكرة القدم) is an Emirati professional football club based in Abu Dhabi, that competes in the UAE Pro League.[2] The club was founded in 1974 and plays its home games at the Al-Nahyan Stadium. The club's colours are maroon, grey and white.

Al Wahda
Full nameAl Wahda Football Club
Founded1974 (1974)
GroundAl Nahyan Stadium
Capacity15,000[1]
OwnerHis Highness Sheikh Diab Bin Zayed Al Nahyan
ManagerGrégory Dufrennes
LeagueUAE Pro League
2020–21UAE Pro League, 7th
WebsiteClub website

History

Foundation

The first team created in Abu Dhabi was Al-Ahli in 1966, followed respectively by Al-Ittihad in 1968, Al-Falah and Al-Wahda in 1969. In 1974, a decision was made by the Minister of youth and sport to create Abu Dhabi SC by merging Al-Ittihad and Al-Wahda on 13 March 1974, and to create Al-Emirates SC by merging Al-Ahli and Al-Falah on 3 June 1974. In 1984, Abu Dhabi SC and Al-Emirates SC merged to create Al-Wahda FC.

Modern era

In 1999, Al Wahda won their maiden UAE League title with 8 points ahead of their rivals Al Ain. In 2018, Al Wahda changed its official logo as part of a new club redesign.

Honours

Club crest (1984–2018)

Leagues

UAE Pro-League: 4

UAE Division One: 2

  • Champions: 1976–77, 1984–85

Cups

President's Cup: 2

Super Cup: 4

  • Champions: 2002, 2011, 2017, 2018[3]

Federation Cup: 3

  • Champions: 1986, 1995, 2001

UAE League Cup: 2

Performance in AFC competitions

Al Wahda players (right) during an AFC Champions League match against FC Goa at the Fatorda Stadium in 2021

Al Wahda has been qualifying for Asian competitions regularly since the 1998–99 Asian Cup Winners' Cup, they've been qualifying for the AFC Champions League regularly by winning the President's Cup or consistently finishing near the top in the league.

2004: Quarter-finals
2006: Group stage
2007: Semi-finals
2008: Group stage
2010: Group stage
2011: Group stage
2015: Play-offs
2017: Group stage
2018: Group stage
2019: Round of 16
2020: Withdrew
2021: Quarter-finals
1999–2000: First round
2001–02: Group stage (Top 8)
1998–99: First round
2000–01: First round

Home stadium

An outer view of the Al Nahyan Stadium

The Al-Nahyan Stadium is the home of Al Wahda.[4] It has 15,000 seats and located only three kilometers from the downtown at the heart of Abu Dhabi City.

Current squad

No Position Player Nationality
1 GK Mohammed Al-Shamsi  United Arab Emirates
2 DF Mohammed Al-Menhali  United Arab Emirates
3 DF Lucas Pimenta  Brazil
4 DF Majed Abdulla U21  United Arab Emirates
6 DF Mahmoud Khamees (on loan to Al-Nasr)  United Arab Emirates
7 MF Khalil Ibrahim  United Arab Emirates
8 MF Tahnoon Al-Zaabi  United Arab Emirates
9 FW João Pedro  Brazil
10 MF Ismail Matar (captain)  United Arab Emirates
11 MF Fábio Martins  Portugal
12 MF Abdulla Hamad U21  United Arab Emirates
13 MF Khamis Esmaeel  United Arab Emirates
14 MF Ismail Al-Zaabi U21  United Arab Emirates
15 MF Mansoor Al-Harbi  United Arab Emirates
18 MF Hamdan Adel U21  United Arab Emirates
19 DF Rúben Canedo U21  Portugal
20 FW Mansoor Saeed U21  United Arab Emirates
21 DF Abdullah Al Karbi  United Arab Emirates
23 MF Adrien Silva  Portugal
31 DF Abdurahman Saleh U21  United Arab Emirates
33 DF Mohamed Jalal  United Arab Emirates
36 DF Alaeddine Zouhir  Tunisia
37 DF Ahmed Rashed  United Arab Emirates
39 DF Manea Aydh U21  United Arab Emirates
44 DF Fares Jumaa  United Arab Emirates
50 GK Rashed Ali  United Arab Emirates
66 GK Hazaa Ammar  United Arab Emirates
68 MF Mohammed Ali U21  United Arab Emirates
70 FW Omar Kharbin  Syria
76 MF Abdulla Ahmed U21  United Arab Emirates
77 FW Awadh Al-Katheeri U21  United Arab Emirates
78 DF Mansour Saleh U21  United Arab Emirates
80 FW Salem Al-Somhi U21  Yemen
82 GK Saeed Al-Ameri U21  United Arab Emirates
90 MF Rayane Benssy U21  Morocco
91 FW Nadir Lougmani U21  Morocco

Unregistered players

No Position Player Nationality
38 DF Nahayan Adel  United Arab Emirates

Out on loan

No Position Player Nationality
24 DF Rashed Abdulla (on loan to Al Dhafra)  United Arab Emirates
35 DF Mohamed Adel (on loan to Al Dhafra)  United Arab Emirates
99 FW João Marcos (on loan to Al Dhafra)  Brazil
DF Abdalla Al Refaey (on loan to Khor Fakkan)  Egypt
DF Gian (on loan to Al Urooba)  Brazil

Past managers

Pro-League Record

Season Lvl. Tms. Pos. President's Cup League Cup
2008–09 1 12 4th Semi-Finals Runner-ups
2009–10 1 12 1st Semi-Finals Semi-Finals
2010–11 1 12 5th Runner-ups Semi-Finals
2011–12 1 12 6th Semi-Finals First Round
2012–13 1 14 7th Semi-Finals Semi-Finals
2013–14 1 14 2nd Quarter-Finals First Round
2014–15 1 14 4th Round of 16 First Round
2015–16 1 14 3rd Round of 16 Champions
2016–17 1 14 5th Champions First Round
2017–18 1 12 2nd Semi-Finals Champions
2018–19 1 14 3rd Round of 16 Runner-ups
2019–20a 1 14 5th Round of 16 Quarter-Finals
2020–21 1 14 7th Round of 16 First Round

Notes^ 2019–20 UAE football season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates.

Key

  • Pos. = Position
  • Tms. = Number of teams
  • Lvl. = League

References

  1. "نبذة عن منشآت نادي الوحدة الرياضي". Archived from the original on 2015-03-17. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
  2. Al Wahda FC (UAE): club profile, squad, fixtures and achieves Soccerway.com. Retrieved 16 April 2021
  3. "Al Ain FC 3 : 3 , 222: 4 PAl Wahda FC". globalsportsarchive.com. Global Sports Archive. 25 August 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  4. "Al Wahda - Clubs - UAE Pro League Committee". Al Wahda Club. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  5. "Köppel wechselt in die VAE". kicker (in German). 5 August 2006. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  6. Bölöni appointed as head coach of Al-Wahda Archived 6 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Cerezo, Hugo (18 June 2015). "Javier Aguirre ficha por el Al Wahda". Marca (in Spanish).
  8. Jose, James (17 October 2019). "Al Jazira, Al Wahda appoint new managers". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  9. "Al Wahda set to name Vuk Rasovic as new coach ahead of Asian Champions League resumption". thenational. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.