Al-Minaa

Al-Minaa Sports Club ( ar, نادي الميناء الرياضي, lit=Port Sports Club) is an Iraqi multi-sport club based in Al-Maqal, Basra that participates in the Iraq Division One, the second tier of Iraqi football. It is one of the most popular clubs in Iraq, particularly in the south, and became the first club outside Baghdad to win the Iraqi Premier League.

Al-Minaa was founded on November 22, 1931, in Al-Maqal. In 1974, the club was merged with another team called Al-Bareed to form a single club called Al-Muwasalat, and it was a strange situation because the Al-Bareed team were based in Baghdad while Al-Minaa were based in Basra and the two teams met in Baghdad on the day of the match only, so after just one season the club was dissolved and Al-Minaa returned in their place. In 1978, the team won the national league title for the first time. After a lean period in the post-war years, the team finished second in the league in the 2004–05 season, and therefore qualified for the 2006 AFC Champions League, becoming the first Iraqi club from outside Baghdad to play in this tournament.

For a long time, the club was considered to be one of the Iraqi football clubs that had its own style of play, and the team practised only under the supervision and training of coaches who graduated from the club, until the beginning of 2011, when the club started to depend on foreign coaches.

History

Foundation and early years (1931–1951)

Al-Minaa Sports Club was formed by some of the British sailors and workers serving in the Marine Transportation Company in Basra on the banks of the Shatt Al-Arab after Mandatory Iraq, where Colonel Sir John Ward was the director of company in the 1920s. When they were forming gatherings, sports were practiced and football was the most important. After the founding of Al-Maqal City and establishment the General Company for Ports on March 1, 1931, by Colonel Sir Ward under the auspices of King Faisal, and the transfer of employees in the company to Al-Maqal, the club coordinated with the company's management to make the green squares in the park located there to be a playing field for them, and after a few months, the company announced the establishment of the club officially, and Mr. C. F. Neikell was chosen as the first president of the club. The first football team consisted of Markar Avadician, Kadhim Dawood, Dehjat Ohaness, Liu Steven, Samuel Akesh, Aziz Hormuz, Rashad Al-Mufti, Khudair Abbas and others. After the founding of the Iraq Football Association, Al-Minaa participated in the Iraq FA Basra League, a regional league for teams in Basra organised by the Basra branch of the IFA. Al-Minaa won the league title in its first season, beating Sharikat Naft Al-Basra 1–0 in the final. Al-Minaa also participated in the first ever national knockout cup in Iraq, the 1948–49 Iraq FA Cup, but were knocked out in the quarter-finals 2–0 by Baghdad-based side Al-Haras Al-Malaki. Al-Minaa went on to finish in third place in the regional league in both the 1949–50 and 1950–51 seasons.

In 1950, Al-Minaa played its first match outside the country as the first Iraqi team to play outside Iraq, they played against Shahin at the Amjadiyeh Stadium in Tahran and the result was 2–2, The team was composed of these players: Mustafa Hameed, Karim Allawi, Noori Lafta, Jassim Bader, Karim Jaber, Djali Najeeb, Subhi Mohammed Zaki, Alwan Hussein, Michael Stanley, Salih Mohammed and Sabeeh Darwish. And the team played several friendly matches with other Iranian clubs. They played against Arteshe and the game ended in a 2–1 victory for Al-Minaa, and they played against Taj Ahvaz and won that match 5–1. They also played against Khorramshahr and won 3–1, and they faced Abadan F.C. and won that game too. The team benefited greatly from those matches. In 1951, the team won the Hanna Al-Sheikh Cup, which was organized for Basra-based teams. And in the same year, the first Iraqi national football team was established. Coach Dhia Habib invited three players from the Al-Minaa club to join them – Percy Lynsdale, Saeed Easho and Karim Allawi – to play against Turkey in Turkey. Before traveling, and on Wednesday 2 May 1951, Al-Minaa played – with adding a player from Sharikat Naft Al-Basra club; Shaker Ismail – against Iraq in Basra, and ended the match a draw 1–1, Tariq Khalil scored for Al-Minaa.

Matches with foreign teams (1952–1972)

The 1950s and 1960s were periods of preparation for Al-Minaa, and the team played several friendly matches with different teams in this period; some of these clubs were strong European teams, and other were strong Asian teams. These matches helped the club develop the qualities of the players in terms of tactics and technique and other aspects. On 6 January 1956, Al-Minaa played with Tehran F.C. and lost 3–0, and after a year they played with a number of English sailors teams, who were arriving in Basra in those years.
On December 20, 1958, Al-Minaa team travelled to Kuwait, playing against Kuwait national football team in a friendly match in Ahmadi, defeating Kuwait 8–0, scoring goals by Mohammed Manther, Karim Allawi, Nouri Lafta and Waleed Dawood, each with two goals, It was a very big result against a national team.

In 1961, under the leadership of Danish coach Ingvard Hansen, the team played with a number of Iranian teams, beating Abadan F.C. 4–3 and losing to Shahin 1–0. and in February 1962, the Romanian club; Steaua București visited Iraq and Al-Minaa, under the same coach, played with them and lost 4–1, then, Al-Minaa played with the Syrian team Damascus and won 2–0. In February 1963, the team under the same coach, played with another Romanian club, Petrolul Ploiești, and lost 2–0 to them. The 1962–63 season saw Al-Minaa win the Iraq FA Basra First Division, the top-tier league in the region, by winning three and drawing one of their four games. The club's B team were the league's runners-up. In November 1965, the team played the Kuwaiti club Al-Qadsia and the match ended in a 3–3 draw. In September 1968, the team traveled to Syria and played with some its teams, and the results were good, and in 1969 the team under the leadership of coach Abdul Salam Saud, played against Bahraini club Al-Nasr and beat them 4–1; they then played against the Soviet club Neftçi and lost 1–0

On January 17, 1970, Al-Minaa played against Yugoslavian club Sarajevo and lost 3–1, and over a year later on January 29, 1971, they played under the leadership of coach Hadi Hassan Wasfi, with Czechoslovak club Spartak Trnava and won 2–0; Waleed Dawood and Abdul Razzak Ahmed scored. On December 20, 1972, Al-Minaa under the leadership of coach Hamza Qasim, played against the China national football team lost 1–0. These matches had a significant impact in making Al-Minaa stronger team.

Golden years and League title (1973–1979)

By 1973, Al-Minaa had amassed 15 regional league titles in Basra. In the 1973–74 season, Al-Minaa played in Iraq's new nationwide league under the leadership of coach Hamza Qasim, and finished the season in third place. In the 1974–75 season, the first nationwide league of clubs was formed, and Al-Minaa were merged with another team called Al-Bareed to form a club called Al-Muwasalat which finished third place in the league. Al-Minaa began to participate in the Iraqi Premier League as an independent club in the 1975–76 season under the leadership of coach Najem Abdullah, and finished the season in fourth place. The team was not well under coach Faleh Hassan Wasfi in the 1976–77 season, and finished in sixth place. The first match in Iraqi Premier League history to be televised was played in this season between Al-Minaa and Al-Zawraa at Al-Shaab Stadium on Friday, March 11, 1977, which ended 5–1 for Al-Zawraa.

The 1977–78 season was the golden season for the team when they won the league title, and the title moved for the first time from the clubs of the capital, Baghdad, to Basra under coach Jamil Hanoon. The team collected 21 points by winning eight matches and drawing in five matches; they did not lose any matches in this season. The Al-Minaa player Jalil Hanoon won the top scorer award with 11 goals in the league. The champions' squad included the following players: Sattar Farhan, Sameer Nori, Aziz Abdullah, Sabeeh Abed Ali, Abdul Redha Hussein, Rahim Karim, Khalil Ibrahim, Hadi Ahmed, Alaa Ahmed, Ali Abdul Zahra, Abdul Razzaq Ahmed, Jalil Hanoon, Hassan Abdul Hussein, Adnan Saddam, Raad Abdullah and Hadi Jabbar. Before the league start, Al-Minaa played in a pre-season football friendly tournament in Arbil, and the team played against Arbil and won 0–6, and won against Salahaddin in two matches 7–0 and 8–0, depending on this, the team was well prepared for the league championship. The first match of this league season was on October 1, 1977, and the last match was on March 31, 1978. Al-Minaa started the first two matches under coach leadership Faleh Hassan Wasfi, who resigned after being drawn against Salahaddin 0–0 and Al-Sinaa 0–0, the team played after that under the leadership of coach Jamil Hanoon, who took over the job, and led the team to a series of successes, began to win against defending champions Al-Zawraa 2–3 in Baghdad. In the last match, Al-Minaa played against Al-Shorta at Al-Minaa Stadium in Basra, and Al-Minaa won 1–0, thanks to Jalil Hanoon's goal on 50th minutes. The Al-Minaa goalkeeper, Sattar Farhan, saved a penalty kick obtained by Al-Shorta in the final minutes of the match. In 1978–79 season, The team played under the leadership of coaches Sabeeh Abed Ali and Abdul Mahdi Hadi, and finished the season in fourth place, after being equated with second-placed; Al-Shorta and third; Al-Talaba in the number of points (15 points), who applied it on goals difference.

Years of war and chaos (1980–2003)

At the beginning of the Iran–Iraq War in 1980, Basra became a battleground, and the eight-year war broke all areas of life in Basra, including the field of sports. Al-Minaa in particular had many players recruited and transported to the battlefield, and the team lost their playing field, and did not find a training ground. Their financial allocations were significantly reduced, and the stars of the team left to play in the big clubs of Baghdad. In this period, the Iraqi Ba'athist government worked on the separation of the club and GCPI in terms of funding, so the club has become dependent on self-financing, which was very poor, and as a result the team was composed of 11 players only (players without substitutes).

In the 1985–86 season, Al-Minaa were not able to play in Basra, due to the fall of the bombs and the lack of safe stadiums, so their matches were moved to Amarah, and because of these harsh conditions, the team finished in 14th place and were relegated to the Iraq Division One for the first time in its history. But the team was determined to return to play in the Iraqi Premier League, and they managed to win the Iraq Division One title in 1987, and thus were able to return to play in the Premier League again in the 1987–88 season. They were runners-up of the Al-Faw Liberation Championship in 1988, a tournament hosted at Al-Minaa Stadium that featured Al-Talaba, Al-Zawraa and Al-Tayaran. The club remained unstable after the Second Gulf War, which began in 1991, and Sanctions against Iraq later (1991-2003), which destroyed the sport in the whole of Iraq.
The ruling Ba'ath Party has been accused of treating the club with racist treatment, including the opening match of Maysan Stadium in 1987 between Al-Minaa and Al-Rasheed (club sponsored by the ruling party in Iraq), which ended in a 0–0 draw attended by the son of president Uday Saddam Hussein, and when he found that the fans cheer for Al-Minaa team said: "If this stadium could have been moved to Baghdad, I would have done so (this audience is not worth it)". And another of the manifestations of racism that the Ba'athist government was accused of is what happened in the league in 1991–92 season at the Al-Minaa match against Al-Karkh and the attendance of more than 20,000, which ended for Al-Karkh 3–2. The match was led by international referee Subhi Rahim, who scored an incorrect penalty against Al-Minaa and the most famous red card against Al-Minaa player Asaad Abdul Razzaq, which led to the protest of the supporters of the club, then the Al-Karkh coach Adnan Dirjal was accused of shooting Al-Minaa supporters from his pistol, resulting in serious injuries among supporters of the club. The Football Association punished Al-Minaa players, and because Dirjal led the Iraq national football team in the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification, he prevented Al-Minaa players from playing in the national team, including Mohammed Abdul Hussein, who won the title of best player in the league for the 1992–93 season. Among the practices that one of the most important players in Al-Minaa was exposed to, when Sabah Mirza Mahmoud, a close associate of Saddam Hussein, became president of the Al-Shabab Club and ordered Hadi Ahmed, the most important player in Al-Minaa team, to leave his club and moving to Al-Shabab Club, but Ahmed refused because of his loyalty to the club and was severely punished. Also Uday Saddam Hussein imprisoned him in Al-Radwaniyah Prison, shaved his hair and forced him to retire.

Despite these difficult circumstances, the team managed to reach fourth place in Iraqi Elite Cup and fourth place in the league in 1998–99 season, and reach the semifinals of the 1999–2000 Iraq FA Cup, where they were came out of the championship after losing from Al-Zawraa, who won the title that season, and in the 2002–03 Iraq FA Cup also reached the semifinals, came out of the championship after losing from Al-Talaba, who won the title that season.

Gradual return and Asian prominence (2004–2006)

With the change that took place after the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the overthrowing of Saddam Hussein, GCPI took care of the club, and started to bring the team back to their natural position slowly, and the 2004–05 season was the distinctive season. Under the leadership of coach Abdul Karim Jassim (''Jombi''), Al-Minaa won the Southern Group in the First Stage, and advanced to the Elite Stage where they won Group A. In the semi-finals, they managed to beat Al-Zawraa in Baghdad 1–0 and tied 0–0 with them in Basra to advance to the final, where they played against Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya. The match was played in Baghdad which gave Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya an advantage. Al-Minaa lost the match 2–0 to take the runner-up title, and the opportunity to represent Iraq in the next AFC Champions League; the team became the first team from outside Baghdad to represent Iraq in the continental championship.

After the return of the Iran–Iraq relations, Al-Minaa participated in the 2004 Peace and Friendship Cup in Ahvaz, under the leadership of coach Abdul Karim Jassim, has won the tournament, having played against Iranian clubs have won it, in semi-final, the team played against Esteghlal Ahvaz B and won 2–1, Al Mina'a's goals were scored by Nasser Talla Dahilan at the 35th minute and Qais Essa at the 75th minute. in final played against Foolad Khuzestan B and won 1–0, the winning goal was scored by Alaa Aasi at the 44th minute of the game.

The team under the leadership of coach Aqeel Hato did not enter the 2006 AFC Champions League to compete for the title, given the weaknesses of the team (most of them were young and they needed experience in matches like this), but as a chance to play with strong teams and prepare for the Iraqi Premier League. But Al-Minaa embarrassed some of the big teams in Asia and by earning draws against the likes of Mash'al and Al-Hilal.

Last five years of local dependence (2006–2011)

After the team were knocked out of the AFC Champions League, the experienced players joined other clubs, and thus began a new era for the club under the leadership of young coach Asaad Abdul Razzaq for two seasons with and the young players who have grown up in the club. The team entered the 2006–07 season and managed to finish second in their First Stage group behind Al-Najaf to qualify for the Elite Stage, but team was not able to get to the semi-finals as they finished fourth behind Arbil, Al-Talaba and Karbalaa.

In the 2007–08 season, a similar thing repeated under the same coach, where the team finished in 3rd place in their First Stage group behind Karbalaa and Al-Najaf, having won eight matches, drawn six and lost two, but could not go beyond the Elite Stage, where they finished in fourth place in Group A behind Arbil, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya and Kirkuk.

In the following three seasons, the team was under the leadership of young coach Adel Nasser and these were not good seasons, as they were knocked out in the First Stage in all three seasons. In the 2008–09 season, the team finished in sixth place in their group, where team won ten matches, drew six and lost eight matches, and in the 2009–10 season, the team ended up in seventh place in the group stage where they won 16 matches, drew 11 and lost seven.

In pre-season and under the leadership of coach Adel Nasser, Al-Minaa won 2009 Thaghr Al Iraq Championship title, Al-Minaa qualified for the final game after collecting 7 points by defeating Naft Maysan 3–1, Ghaz Al-Junoob 4–1, and won the Thaghr Al Iraq Championship after beating Naft Al-Junoob in the final game with a score of 2–1. Al Mina'a's goals were scored by Nayef Falah in the 46th minute and Hassan Hadi Ahmad in the 79th minute. On the other hand, the sole goal of Naft Al-Junoob was scored by Muhannad Youssef at the 10th minute of the game. The two teams shared the lead of the game that was led by referee Ahmad Shaker. The referee gave red cards to 3 players: Amjad Hameed, Alaa Nayrouz from Naft Al-Junoob team and Al-Minaa player Ihsan Hadi.

In the third season, 2010–11, the team under the same coach finished in fourth place in their First Stage group with 12 wins, nine draws and five defeats.

Eight coaches in three seasons (2011–2014)

The club was always praised for depending on coaches and players that had graduated from the club itself, but since the 2011–12 season, the club went a different way by contracting with a professional coach of Norwegian nationality (Iraqi origin) called Younis Al Qattan. But the club's management did not settle on one coach during the season, so they changed the coach seven times during these three years. In the 2011–12 season, the team under the leadership of Al-Qattan was not successful with two wins, two losses and six draws, so the manager was changed. The team began playing under the leadership of Rahim Hameed and they ended the Premier League in 11th place, and in the 2012-2013 season, the club returned to the local coach Aqeel Hato but this did not last very long as he was sacked having won four matches, drawn four matches and lost two matches, and the team played under the leadership of the young coach Ghazi Fahad afterwards but this also did not last long as he was fired having won five matches, drawn one match and lost five matches. The club then appointed coach Asaad Abdul Razzaq who led the team to finish the season in eighth place, having won eight matches and lost six with one draw, and the team began the season relying on foreign players. Al-Minaa used five foreign professionals from Europe, Africa and Asia in this season.

In the 2013–14 season, the same thing happened as happened in the previous season, where three coaches led the team in a row. They started the season led by coach Jamal Ali and who resigned because the results were not good, especially after the 2–1 loss to Al-Karkh

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