The 1981–82 Arab Club Champions Cup was the first edition of the

Arab Club Champions Cup The Arab Club Champions Cup (, ) is a club football competition organised by the Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA) and contested by top clubs from the Arab world. The tournament is contested by a total of 37 teams from Asia and Africa. F ...

. The tournament featured three teams, after the withdrawal of South Yemeni club

Al-Tilal Al-Tilal Sports Club () is a Yemeni multi-sports club based in Aden, Yemen. The club was founded in 1905, making it one of the oldest football clubs in the Middle East and the oldest in the Arabian Peninsula. Al-Tilal Sports Club is a Yemeni fo ...

, Saudi club

Al-Nassr Al-Nassr Football Club () is a professional football club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The club competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of the Saudi football league system. Al-Nassr is one of only three clubs to have participated ...

and Somali club Horseed. Iraqi club

Al-Shorta Al-Shorta Sports Club () is an Iraqi sports club based in Al-Rusafa, Iraq, Al-Rusafa, Baghdad. It has teams in 19 different sports, and the best known section of the club is the football team, whose origins date back to 1932. Al-Shorta was for ...

were crowned champions after a playoff victory against Lebanese side Al-Nejmeh. Al-Ahli of Jordan were the other team to take part.

Teams

;Participants ;Withdrawals

Semi-finals

The six teams were originally drawn into two groups, with one group consisting of Al-Nejmeh, Al-Ahli and

, and the other group consisting of

, Horseed and

. However, Al-Nassr withdrew from the tournament due to several of their players being unavailable on international duty, and Al-Tilal also withdrew from the competition. A two-legged semi-final was therefore set up between Al-Nejmeh and Al-Ahli, with both matches being held at

Amman International Stadium The Amman International Stadium () is a stadium in Al-Hussein City, Amman, Jordan. It was built in 1964 and opened in 1968. It is owned by the Government of Jordan and operated by the Higher Council of Youth. It is also the home stadium of the ...

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

due to the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

Horseed were scheduled to travel to Baghdad on 2 February to play Al-Shorta in the other semi-final, but Horseed withdrew from the tournament and Al-Shorta qualified directly for the final. :

Final

Both legs of the final were held at

Al-Shaab Stadium Al-Sha'ab International Stadium () is an all-seater multi-purpose stadium in Baghdad, Iraq. The 35,700-seater was the home stadium of the Iraq national football team, as well as the largest stadium in Iraq, from its opening on 6 November 1966 un ...

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

due to the

First leg

After Al-Nejmeh's kits and boots did not arrive in Baghdad in time for the first leg,

provided kits and boots to the Al-Nejmeh team to wear for the match. Al-Nejmeh wore red shirts with white shorts and black boots (except for the player Mohammed Hatoum who wore white boots), while Al-Shorta wore green shirts with white shorts and green socks. Al-Shorta took the lead in the 40th minute; Mahmoud Hussein Mahmoud beat an Al-Nejmeh player on the right wing and sent in a cross which his brother

Ali Hussein Mahmoud Ali Hussein Mahmoud (; born 1 January 1953) is a former Iraqi football striker who played for Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the s ...

met with a header, sending the ball over Al-Nejmeh goalkeeper Zain Hashim and into the net. Ali Hussein Mahmoud scored his second goal in the 83rd minute, as he was sent through on goal and netted with a left-footed shot towards the near post from inside the penalty area. The Kuwaiti referee also awarded Al-Shorta a penalty in the match, but it was missed by Ali Hussein Mahmoud, and the match ended 2–0.

Second leg

Al-Nejmeh wore orange shirts, black shorts and orange socks for the second leg, and the Lebanese side took the lead in the first half through Jamal Al-Khatib who got onto the end of a corner delivered by Al-Nejmeh's captain and struck the ball past goalkeeper Raad Hammoudi. Al-Shorta equalised in the first half when Riyadh Nouri bundled the ball over the line after an Al-Nejmeh defender had made a goal-line block. Al-Nejmeh took the lead again in the second half when Hassan Chatila scored with a shot from outside the penalty area, but Al-Shorta brought the game back level and restored their two-goal aggregate advantage when Tariq Abdul-Amir crossed the ball into the box for Salih Radhi to finish. Al-Nejmeh player Jamal Al-Khatib suffered a dislocated hip during the match, which ended 2–2, therefore making Al-Shorta 4–2 winners on aggregate. Al-Shorta manager Douglas Aziz was presented with the trophy after the game.

Winner

Top goalscorers

References

External links

1981/1982 season
- ''Al-Shorta video archive'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Arab

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

1981 in Asian football 1982 in Asian football 1981–82 in Iraqi football 1981–82 in Lebanese football