Tripoli Sporting Club (), also known as AC Tripoli or simply Tripoli, is a

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

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

, Lebanon, that competes in the . Founded as Al Majd Sports Association (), the club was renamed Olympic Beirut Sporting Club () in 2001, winning the domestic double in the 2002–03 season. In 2005 they were re-established as AC Tripoli, and won a

Lebanese FA Cup The Lebanon Cup (), commonly known as the Lebanese FA Cup, is a Lebanese football annual cup competition. The first edition, held in 1937, was won by Nahda. The most successful club in the competition is Ansar with 15 titles, followed by Nejmeh ...

in 2014–15.

History

Olympic Beirut

Founded as Al Majd Sports Association (), the club was renamed Olympic Beirut Sporting Club () on 4 April 2001, by Taha Koleilat. In 2001–02 the club won the

Lebanese Second Division The Lebanese Second Division ( ar, الدوري اللبناني الدرجة الثانية) is the second division of Lebanese football. Established in 1933, it is controlled by the Lebanese Football Association. The 12 teams that participate ...

, and were promoted to the

Lebanese Premier League The Lebanese First Division ( ar, الدوري اللبناني الدرجة الأولى), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. There are 12 teams competing in the league, ...

. Koleilat allocated a budget of USD$7 million, with the goal of winning the league and building a competitive team for the

AFC Cup The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying s ...

. Having strengthened the team with the signings of Pierre Issa,

Edílson Edílson da Silva Ferreira (born 17 September 1971) is a Brazilian football pundit and retired footballer who played as a forward. Dubbed as ''Capetinha'', Edílson was a second striker who was known for his dribbling skills, and is mainly ...

, Faisal Antar, Youssef Mohamad, and

Abbas Ali Atwi Abbas Ali Atwi ( ar, عباس علي عطوي; born 15 December 1984), also known as Onika ( ar, أونيكا, links=no, also spelled Unica), is a Lebanese football coach and former player who is team manager of club Bourj. Club career Atw ...

, among others, Olympic Beirut won the domestic double in 2002–03, winning both the

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 Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. On 14 February 2003, the , which funded the club's activities, declared

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

. The decline was felt the following season, in 2003–04, with Olympic Beirut being knocked out of the 2004 AFC Cup in the quarter-finals against Singaporean club

Home United Lion City Sailors Football Club, commonly referred to as The Sailors or LCS, is a Singaporean professional football club competing in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Singapore football league system. Since the 2021 season, the ...

, and finishing the league in third place. In 2004–05 Olympic Beirut finished in fourth place.

AC Tripoli

Prior to the 2005–06 season, Koleilat sold the club's license to former

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

player

Walid Kamareddine Waleed (), also spelt as Walid, Oualid, or Velid, is an Arabic-language masculine given name meaning ''newborn child''. Given name Waleed * Waleed Ali, Kuwaiti footballer *Waleed Aly, Egyptian-origin Australian journalist * Waleed bin Ibrahim al-I ...

for $400,000, with the club being relocated to

. The club was first renamed Olympic, then Olympic Tripoli, and finally AC Tripoli (). The

Lebanese Football Association The Lebanese Football Association (LFA) ( ar, الاتحاد اللبناني لكرة القدم, Al-Ittiḥād Al-Lubnānī Likurat Al-Qadam; french: Fédération Libanaise de Football) is the governing body of association football in Lebanon. ...

(LFA) approved of the move on 24 November 2005. In 2014–15 Tripoli won the

, their first trophy under their new name. They participated in the 2016 AFC Cup where, after beating Kyrgyz club Alay Osh in the

qualifying play-offs Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

on penalty shoot-outs, they qualified to the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

. Drawn in group B, Tripoli finished in third place out of four with two wins, a draw, and three defeats. Starting from the 2016–17 season, Tripoli found themselves in financial issues due to

Najib Mikati Najib Azmi Mikati ( ar, نجيب عزمي ميقاتي; born 24 November 1955) is a Lebanese politician and businessman, and three-time Prime Minister of Lebanon whose current term began in September 2021. He also serves as the acting President ...

, the club's main funder, deciding to cut the club's salary year by year, leaving the club to rely on social donations and TV sponsorship payments.

Club rivalries

Tripoli plays the

derby with Egtmaaey, as they are both located in the same city. The club also contests the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

derby with

Salam Zgharta Salam Zgharta Football Club ( ar, نادي السلام الرياضي زغرتا, lit=Zgharta Peace Sporting Club), known as Salam Zgharta or simply Salam, is a football club based in Zgharta, Lebanon, that competes in the . Founded in 1933 ...

, also on the basis of location.

Players

Current squad

Honours

** Winners (1): 2002–03 *

** Winners (2): 2002–03, 2014–15 ** ''Runners-up (2):'' 2004–05, 2013–14 *

** Winners (2): 2001–02, 2010–11 *

Lebanese Challenge Cup The Lebanese Challenge Cup () is a Lebanese football annual cup competition contested by the teams placed between 7th and 10th in the previous season of the Lebanese Premier League and the two newly promoted teams from the Lebanese Second Divisio ...

** ''Runners-up (1):''

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Lebanese Super Cup The Lebanese Super Cup () is Lebanese football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Lebanese Premier League season and the holders of the Lebanese FA Cup. If the Lebanese Premier League champions also won the Lebanese FA ...

**''Runners-up (1):'' 2015

Performance in AFC competitions

: 2 appearances ::

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

: Quarter-finals ::

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

: Group stage

Managerial history

* Ihsan Sayeed (1999–2002) * Estevam Soares (2002) * Mohammed Sahel (2002–2004) *

Vardan Ghazaryan Vardan Martun Ghazaryan (; ; born 1 December 1969) is a football coach and former player. Born in Armenia, Ghazaryan moved to Lebanon and obtained citizenship through naturalisation in 1994. He played for Homenetmen and Sagesse as a striker, a ...

(2017) * Fadi Ayad (2018–2019) * Ismael Kortam (2019) * Ahmad Hafez (2019–2020) * Ismael Kortam (2020) * Salim Mikati (2018–2021) * Saad Jameel (2021–present)

Notes

References

External links

AC Tripoli
at the AFC
AC Tripoli
at LebanonFG {{DEFAULTSORT:Tripoli Football clubs in Lebanon 2001 establishments in Lebanon Association football clubs established in 2001 Association football clubs established in 2005