Al-Najaf Sports Club ( ar, نادي النجف الرياضي) is an

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

Najaf Najaf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف) or An-Najaf al-Ashraf ( ar, ٱلنَّجَف ٱلْأَشْرَف), also known as Baniqia ( ar, بَانِيقِيَا), is a city in central Iraq about 160 km (100 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated popula ...

. They are members of the

Iraqi Premier League The Iraqi Premier League ( ar, الدوري العراقي الممتاز) is the top level of the Iraqi football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it is operated by the Iraq Football Association (IFA) and operates on a system of promotion ...

. Al-Najaf has competed in the

2007 AFC Champions League The 2007 AFC Champions League was the 26th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament and the 5th edition under the current AFC Champions League title. Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds became champions for the first time, beating Se ...

History

In 1960, the city of

began an active movement to establish a sports club after the athletes then felt the need of the city to a sports club that absorbed the energies of young people and their creations which are almost lost in the amateur leagues. Some of the dignitaries of the city were contacted for this purpose. The request was submitted to the Ministry of the Interior, which was responsible for the authorisation of sports clubs in Iraq at that time. The name of Al Ghiri Sports Club was proposed for this institution. In 1961, the Ministry of the Interior approved their request to establish the club and thus wrote the birth certificate of the first sports club in the city of Najaf and consisted of the first administrative body of Messrs. Naji Hassan Hasswa as president and Maki Hadi Maala Vice-President and Alwan Elsafer as secretary. At the beginning of the establishment of the club, the Ministry of the Interior allocated an annual grant of 60 dinars divided into two instalments, and the club relied on this grant and monthly subscriptions from its members.

Stadiums

New Najaf Stadium Al-Najaf International Stadium ( ar, ملعب النجف الدولي) is a newly built stadium in Najaf, Iraq, which was opened on 5 May 2018. It is used mostly for football matches and serves as the home stadium of Al-Najaf FC and Naft Al-Wasat ...

is a purpose built football stadium that is the current home stadium of Al-Najaf. It opened in 2018, with a capacity of 30,000 people. Until 2018, the club played its home matches at

An-Najaf Stadium An-Najaf Stadium () is a multi-use stadium located in Najaf, Iraq. It is currently used mostly for football matches and serves as the home stadium of Najaf football club. The stadium holds 12,000 people. See also *List of football stadiums in I ...

( ar, ستاد النجف).

Current squad

First-team squad

Current technical staff

{, class="toccolours" !bgcolor=silver, Position !bgcolor=silver, Name !bgcolor=silver, Nationality , - bgcolor=#eeeeee , Coach:, , Haidar Aboodi, , , - , Assistant coach:, , Dhiyya Falih, , , - , -bgcolor=#eeeeee , Goalkeeping coach:, , Mohammed Abdul-Zahra, , , - , Fitness coach:, , Salah Hashim, , , - , Team supervisor:, , Fadhel Mohammed, , , -bgcolor=#eeeeee , - , Team manager:, , Mohammed Abdul Hussein, , , -bgcolor=#eeeeee , Team Doctor:, , Haitham Abdul Amir, , , - , U-19 Coach:, , Haider Lafta, , , -

Managerial history

Since the club's promotion to the

in the 1987–88 season so far, twenty-six coaches have led the team: * Mohammed Hussein Ismail * Alwan Mena * Nasrat Nasser * Mohammed Hussein Ismail * Alwan Mena * Hatif Shamran * Alwan Mena *

Najeh Humoud Najeh Humoud (Arabic: ناجح حمود حريب) is a former football coach of Najaf FC and Iraq. He played in midfield for Kufa FC in the 1970s, and the Najaf province team but never managed to play in the Iraqi first division. He began his ...

Wathiq Naji Wathiq Naji (1 July 1940 – 20 November 2014) ar, واثق ناجي) was an Iraqi football manager, who took the team to the 1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * Ja ...

* Hatif Shamran * Noman Kadhim & Raheem Jassim *

* Hadi Mutanish * Ali Kadhim * Abdul Ghani Shahad *

* Abdul Ghani Shahad * Hatif Shamran * Majed Najem * Abdul Ghani Shahad * Hatif Shamran * Abdul Ghani Shahad * Yahya Alwan * Hassan Ahmed *

Qahtan Chathir Qahtan Chathir is an Iraqi football forward who played for Iraq in the 1996 Asian Cup. He also played for Al Talaba, Al Karkh, Al Ittihad, Al-Thaid, Al Sinaa. Career Playing career Qahtan Chathir played for Al Talaba, Al Karkh, Al Itti ...

* Salman Hussein * Haider Yahya * Hatif Shamran * Haider Yahya * Hameed Salman * Ali Wahab *

Emad Mohammed Emad Mohammed Ridha ( ar, عماد محمد رضا, born 24 July 1982) is a coach and former Iraqi football striker, currently managing Iraq U20. Club career On 25 June 2007, Emad renewed his contract with Sepahan for another season in a deal ...

* Hatif Shamran *

Nadhim Shaker Nadhim Shaker Salim ( ar, ناظم شاكر سالم; 18 December 1958 – 11 September 2020) was an Iraqi football player and coach of the Iraq national team. Playing career Nadhim Shaker was one of the most talented defenders in Iraqi footba ...

* Ali Hashim * Ahmed Khalef * Mudhafar Jabbar *

Thair Jassam Thair Jassam Homi (born 31 December 1959) is a coach and former Iraqi football player, also a coach. Jassam signed to manage Al-Najaf in the Iraqi premier league in November 9 of 2018, and is still leading the Najaf city team. Managerial stati ...

* Chasib Sultan * Hassan Ahmad * Haidar Aboodi * Hatif Shamran * Haidar Aboodi

Honours

Domestic

**''Runners-up (3):'' 1995–96, 2005–06, 2008–09 *

Iraqi Elite Cup The Iraqi Elite Cup ( ar, كأس النخبة العراقي), known officially as the Baghdad Championship ( ar, بطولة بغداد) and previously known as the Mother of all Battles Championship ( ar, بطولة أم المعارك, ''Botola ...

**Winners (1):

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

Friendly

*Victory and Peace Championship **Winners (1): 1992 *Love Championship **Winners (1): 2003

Performance in AFC Competitions

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

: 1 appearance ::

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

: Group stage

Statistics

In domestic competitions

{, class="wikitable collapsible " style="text-align: center;" , - !Year !

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

! Iraq Cup ! Super Cup ! Elite Cup , - , 1987–88, , 16, , -, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , rowspan=4, Started in
1991 , - , 1988–89, , 6, , Round of 32, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 1989–90, , 8, , Quarter-final, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 1990–91, , 7, , Quarter-final, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 1991–92, , 6, , Round of 16, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , Group stage , - , 1992–93, , 15, , Second round, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , Group stage , - , 1993–94, , 4, , -, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , , - , 1994–95, , bgcolor="#cc9966", 3, , -, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , 4 , - , 1995–96, , bgcolor=silver, Runner-up, , -, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , Group stage , - , 1996–97, , 4, , Quarter-final, , , , bgcolor="#cc9966", 3 , - , 1997–98, , 4, , Round of 16, , , , bgcolor=gold, Winner , - , 1998–99, , 8, , Round of 32, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , Group stage , - , 1999–2000, , 9, , Round of 16, , , , Group stage , - , 2000–01, , 6, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , , , , - , 2001–02, , 5, , bgcolor="#cc9966", Semi-final, , , , Group stage , - , 2002–03, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not finished'', , Quarter-final, , , , Group stage , - , 2003–04, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not finished'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , Group stage , - , 2004–05, , 6, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , rowspan=18, Abolished in
2004 , - , 2005–06, , bgcolor=silver, Runner-up, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2006–07, , bgcolor="#cc9966", 3, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2007–08, , 5, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2008–09, , bgcolor=silver, Runner-up, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2009–10, , 11, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2010–11, , 11, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2011–12, , 9, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2012–13, , 11, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not finished'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2013–14, , 15, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2014–15, , 17, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2015–16, , 13, , , , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2016–17, , 9, , Round of 16, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2017–18, , 6, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'', , , - , 2018–19, , 12, , Round of 16, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2019–20, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not finished'', , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not finished'', , , - , 2020–21, , bgcolor="#cc9966", 3, , Round of 16, , bgcolor="#cd5c5c", ''not held'' , - , 2021–22, , 7, , Round of 16, ,

References

External links

Official Website
(Arabic)
Club Page On Kooora
{{Iraq Super League 1961 establishments in Iraq Najaf Association football clubs established in 1961 Football clubs in Najaf