Sagesse Sports Club (), known as Hekmeh ( ar, الحكمة ) in Arabic, 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

Achrafieh Achrafieh ( ar, الأشرفية) is an upper-class area in eastern Beirut, Lebanon. In strictly administrative terms, the name refers to a sector (''secteur'') centred on Sassine Square, the highest point in the city, as well as a broader quarter ...

, a district in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, Lebanon, that competes in the . The club was founded in 1943 as Cercle de la Sagesse. Although they haven't won any major title, Sagesse came second twice in 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, ...

2002, and were finalists in both the

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 2006, and the

Lebanese Federation Cup The Lebanese Federation Cup ( ar, كأس الإتحاد اللبناني) was a Lebanese football annual cup competition. The competition was hosted five times, and served as the domestic League Cup. The cup was a preparatory competition held at ...

, in 2004. The club is mostly known for its basketball program, and mainly has

Maronite Christian Lebanese Maronite Christians ( ar, المسيحية المارونية في لبنان; syc, ܡܫܝܚܝ̈ܐ ܡܪ̈ܘܢܝܐ ܕܠܒܢܢ) are adherents of the Maronite Church in Lebanon, which is the largest Christian denomination in the country ...

ties.

History

Early history

The

Collège de la Sagesse The Collège de la Sagesse ( ar, کلیة الحکمة) is a Lebanese major national and Catholic school founded in 1875 by the Maronite archbishop of Beirut at the time, Joseph Debs who laid the first stone of the original building. The school ...

school had a football club with their own students; at the end of each season, graduated players would go on to play for other senior teams, mainly Salam Achrafieh. Sagesse's senior team were formed in 1942 under the patronage of Father Boulos Kik, the general director of the Sagesse Institute, supported by Monseigneur Jean Maroun. The club received their official license on 14 October 1943, and were formed as Cercle de la Sagesse by a group of former students, namely Edward Tyan,

Camille Cordahi Camille Rouhana Cordahi ( ar, كميل روحانا قرداحي; 11 September 1919 – 11 May 2011) was a Lebanese footballer who played as a forward. He is the Lebanon national team's first official goalscorer, scoring his side's lone goal in ...

, Elie Khalife, and Negib Hobeika. Toutoungi was the club's first president. The team first played in the 1943–44

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 ...

; initially formed of former students, the club later also accepted other players. They won the Second Division in their first season, and were due to be promoted to the

after beating Shabiba Mazraa 4–0 in the promotion play-offs. However, due to a technicality, Sagesse were allocated in the Second Division for the 1944–45 season. From the 1945–46 season, the club were known as Club de la Sagesse.

Recent history

In 2006 Sagesse reached the final of the

, but lost against the cup holder Ansar 3–1. Sagesse finished second in the

2020–21 Lebanese Second Division The Lebanese Second Division ( ar, الدوري اللبناني الدرجة الثانية) is the second division of Lebanese football. It is controlled by the Lebanese Football Association. The top two teams qualify for the Lebanese Premier L ...

, and were promoted back to the Lebanese Premier League after five years.

Club rivalries

Sagesse plays the

derby with

Racing Beirut Racing Club (), known as Racing Beirut or simply Racing, is a football club based in Achrafieh, a district in Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the . They play their home matches at the Fouad Chehab Stadium and are primarily supported by the ...

Players

Current squad

Notable players

Honours

** Winners (4): 1943–44, 1947–48, 1955–56, 1998–99 *

** ''Runners-up (1):'' 2001–02 *

** ''Runners-up (1):'' 2005–06 *

** ''Runners-up (1):'' 2004

Managerial history

Eugen Moldovan Eugen Moldovan ( ar, يوجين مولدوفان, born 5 November 1961 in Braşov), also known as ''Ojine Moldovane'' in Morocco, is a Romanian football manager who last managed Saham Club in Oman. He has coached several clubs in the Arabic cou ...

(2000–2001) *

Theo Bücker Johannes Theodor "Theo" Bücker (born 10 July 1948) is a German football manager and a former player, who is the current coach of the under-15 team of Lebanese club Athletico SC (Lebanon), Athletico SC. Coaching career Return to Lebanon On ...

(2001–2002) *

Emile Rustom Emile Boulos Rustom ( ar, إميل بولس رستم; born 27 March 1952) is a Lebanese football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Sagesse. After playing with Sagesse for 22 years, and the Lebanon national team for nine ...

(2005) * Riad Murad *

Fouad Hijazi Fouad Moussa Hijazi ( ar, فؤاد موسى حجازي; born 27 June 1973) is a Lebanese football manager and former player who is the assistant coach of club Ansar. As a player, Hijazi was midfielder and played for Lebanon in the 2000 AFC As ...

Fouad Leila Fouad may refer to: People with the single name *Fuad I of Egypt (1868-1936), also spelled Fouad, sultan and later king of Egypt *Fuad II of Egypt (born 1952), deposed infant king of Egypt Fictional characters *Fouad (Family Guy), character in Amer ...

* Sohad Zahran (–2021) *

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, ...

(2021–2022) *

(2022–present)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sagesse Sagesse SC 1943 establishments in Lebanon Football clubs in Lebanon Association football clubs established in 1943