Al-Riffa Sports Club ( ar, نادي الرفاع الرياضي) is a

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

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

Riffa Riffa ( ar, الرفاع, ) is the second largest city in the Kingdom of Bahrain by area size. Riffa is divided into three parts: , and . The city is completely located in the Southern Governorate. The city is growing fast: during the 2001 cen ...

, that competes in the

Bahraini Premier League The Bahraini Premier League is the main football competition in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Currently known as the Nasser bin Hamad Premier League, the first season was held in 1957. The winners of the domestic championship qualify for the AFC Cup ...

, the top flight of Bahraini football. The club was founded in 1953.

History

The club was founded in 1953 under the name of West Riffa Sports Club. In 2001, the club changed the name to Al-Riffa Sports Club.

Stadium

Riffa use

Bahrain National Stadium Bahrain National Stadium ( ar, ستاد البحرين الوطني; transliterated: Stād al-Bahrayn al-Watanī) is the national stadium of Bahrain, located in Riffa. It can accommodate 24,000 spectators and is used mostly for football Fo ...

as their home ground, which has a capacity of nearly 24,000 spectators.

Achievements

The club's first international achievement was in 1982 when Riffa placed second in the

GCC Club Cup The GCC Club Cup ( ar, كأس الأندية الخليجية), formerly known as the GCC Champions League ( ar, دوري أبطال مجلس التعاون الخليجي), was an annually organized football tournament for clubs of the six Gulf Co ...

. This was an important achievement for the club and Bahraini football in general as it helped the region take notice of the talent available in Bahrain.

Domestic

;

: 14 :: 1982, 1987, 1990, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2021, 2022. ;

Bahraini King's Cup The King's Cup is Bahrain's premier knockout tournament in men's football. The national cup has had many different names over the years. Emir Cup (1952–59 & 1978–2002), Federation Cup (1960–77) and King's Cup (2003–present). Previous ...

: 7 :: 1973, 1985, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2019, 2021. ;

Bahraini FA Cup The Bahraini FA Cup is a Bahrain knockout tournament in men's association football. Previous winners *2000 : Al-Riffa ''(known as West Riffa)'' 3–0 Al Ahli *2001 : Al-Riffa *2002 : ''not held'' *2003 : Busaiteen 0–0 Al-Riffa (aet, 5–4 pe ...

: 4 :: 2000, 2001, 2004, 2014. ;

Bahraini Crown Prince Cup The Bahraini Crown Prince Cup was a Bahraini knockout tournament in men's association football that is played between the top-4 of the Bahraini Premier League in the previous year. The competition was run between 2001 until 2009 and was dominated ...

: 4 :: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005. ;

Bahraini Super Cup The Bahraini Super Cup is the curtain raiser to the Bahrain football season. Previous winners *1995 : Al-MuharraqSC *2003 : Al-Ahli 2-1 Al-Muharraq SC *2004 : Al-Shabab 2-1 Busaiteen *2005 : Al-Muharraq SC 1-0 Al-Shabab *2006 : Al-Muharraq SC ...

: 2 :: 2019, 2021.

Friendly international

;Scissors Cup (India): 1 ::1997.

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 ::

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 ...

: Group stage ;

Asian Club Championship 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 ...

: 5 appearances ::

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

: Qualifying stage ::

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

: Qualifying – 1st round ::

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

: Second round ::

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 ...

: withdrew in First round ::

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

: First round ;

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 ...

: 5 appearances ::

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

: Semi-final ::

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

: Round of 16 ::

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

: Round of 16 ::

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

: Group stage ::

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

: Zonal finals

Notable managers

Theo Laseroms Matheus Wilhelmus Theodorus "Theo" Laseroms (8 March 1940 – 25 April 1991) was a Dutch football defender who made a name for himself when he played for Feijenoord. He gained six caps for the Netherlands national team. Club career Laseroms ...

(1982–84) *

Uli Maslo Uli Maslo (born 6 July 1938) is a German retired football player and manager. Career Maslo joined Tweede Divisie club RCH Heemstede from Rot-Weiss Essen Rot-Weiss Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Wes ...

(1985–88), (1993–94) *

Rodion Gačanin Rodion Gačanin is a Croatian association football coach. Managerial statistics Honours ;Bahrain Riffa Club *Bahraini Premier League: 2002-03 2004-05 *Bahraini FA Cup: 2004 *Bahraini Crown Prince Cup: 2002, 2003, 2004 ;Al Kuwait Kaifan * ...

(July 1, 2003 – June 30, 2005) *

Dragan Talajić Dragan Talajić (born 25 August 1965) is a Croatian former footballer who is the technical director of the Bahrain Football Association. Club career Talajić had a spell with Zeytinburnuspor in the Turkish Süper Lig during the 1994–95 seaso ...

(July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2006) *

Eelco Schattorie Eelco Schattorie (born 18 December 1971) is a Dutch football manager. Career Born in Swalmen, Schattorie started as a youth and assistant coach, later becoming the caretaker manager and finally Technical Director for Youth Development with Du ...

(2006–07) *

Srećko Juričić Srećko Juričić (born 30 December 1954) is a Croatian former professional association football, footballer, who is currently the sporting director for HNK Rijeka. Juričić has also had a career as a manager (association football), manager coac ...

(July 1, 2007 – Dec 31, 2007) * Wilco van Buuren ''(Youth Team Director)'' * Julio Peixoto * Stefano Impagliazzo (2011–13) *

Florin Motroc Florin Motroc (born 8 August 1967) is a Romanian former footballer and current head coach, who previously coached Bahrain club East Riffa. He is the son of Ion Motroc, also a former footballer and the father of Vlad Motroc, currently player o ...

(June 1, 2013 – 2014) * Ali Ashoor (2018 –)

References

{{Bahrain-footyclub-stub