Al Ansar Football Club () is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in Tariq El Jdideh, a district in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, Lebanon, that competes in the . Formed in 1951, the club did not win its first

Lebanese Premier League The Lebanese First Division (), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. Established in 1934 and organized by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), the Lebanese Premier Leagu ...

until 1988. They went on to set a world record by winning the league 11 seasons in a row. Ansar is the most successful club in the country, having won the

14 times and the

Lebanese FA Cup The Lebanon Cup (), commonly known as the Lebanese FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in domestic Lebanese football. In the first FA Cup final, held on 26 June 1938, Nahda beat Hilmi-Sport 3–2 in the replay (after drawing 1� ...

15 times, both domestic records. They have also won the Lebanese Federation Cup twice, the Lebanese Elite Cup twice and the Lebanese Super Cup six times. Ansar's major rivalry is with Nejmeh; dubbed the Beirut derby, it is the most anticipated game in Lebanon. The club is primarily supported by the Sunni Muslim community; they had been funded by

Rafic Hariri Rafic Bahaa El Deen al-Hariri (; 1 November 1944 – 14 February 2005) was a Lebanese businessman and politician who served as Prime Minister of Lebanon, prime minister of Lebanon from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2000 to 2004. Hariri headed fi ...

and Salim Diab until 2005. Nabil Badr has been the club's president and main patron since 2012.

History

Early history

In 1948, a group of young Beirutis set up the first administrative board at the club headed by Mustafa Al-Shami. Three years Misbah Dougan, then head of the administrative board, formally requested an official licence for the club allowing them to play football on all Lebanese grounds. They were to be called "Al-Intisar", Arabic for "Victory", however a club with that name was already present. Mustafa Al-Shami proposed "Ansar" in remembrance of the supporters of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

. Initially, Ansar was known as a

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon (, ; , ; ) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It is about long and averages above in elevation, with its peak at . The range provides a typical alpine climate year-round. Mount Lebanon is well-known for its snow-covered mountains, ...

team, rather than a team from

. This is because, as Beirut had already too many clubs, the

Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

decided to relocate Ansar to

Ghobeiry Ghobeiry (; also spelled ''Ghbayreh'' or ''Ghabariyeh'') is a municipality in the Baabda District of Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon. The inhabitants of Ghobeiry are predominantly Shia Muslims. In May 1988, following three weeks of intense ...

. In 1965, Ansar moved to Beirut and won the 1966 Lebanese Second Division promotion play-offs, gaining promotion to the

for the following season.

Recent history

Ansar were crowned champions of the

2020–21 Lebanese Premier League The 2020–21 Lebanese Premier League was the 59th season of the Lebanese Premier League, the top Lebanese professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1934. The league was initially scheduled to start on 18 Septe ...

by beating Nejmeh 2–1 in the Beirut derby in the last matchday; they won their 14th title, their first since 2007. They made the season a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

, after beating Nejmeh in the

final.

Supporters

Although the club's roots lie in the Sunni community in

, Ansar's support comes from all areas and religions in Lebanon. The club has been associated with the

Hariri family The Hariri family is a prominent family from Lebanon, involved in politics and business. They are Jordan's largest real estate property investors. Business The family has investments in banking, including a significant stake in the Arab Bank, ...

from the early 1990s till 2005. In 2018, following the introduction of ultras groups in Lebanon, "Ultras Ansari 18" (UA18) was formed.

Club rivalries

The Beirut derby with Nejmeh has historically been the most anticipated game in Lebanon: both located in

, Nejmeh and Ansar have shared the majority of titles. While Nejmeh has been more successful in Asia, Ansar holds the most league titles and FA Cups. Another important rivalry is with Ahed: located in Beirut, they are affiliated with

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

, with their fan base mostly coming from the

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

community in Beirut. In addition Ansar has a rivalry with Safa, also based in Beirut.

Players

Current squad

Notable players

Honours

** Winners (14; record): 1987–88, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2020–21 *

**Winners (16; record): 1987–88, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2016–17, 2020–21, 2023–24 **''Runners-up (5):'' 1985–86, 1996–97, 2000–01, 2018–19, 2021–22 * Lebanese Federation Cup ** Winners (2; joint record): 1999, 2000 * Lebanese Elite Cup (''defunct'') **Winners (2): 1997, 2000 **''Runners-up (8):'' 1996, 1998, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2016,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

* Lebanese Super Cup **Winners (6): 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2012,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

**''Runners-up (4):'' 2002, 2010, 2017,

Performance in AFC competitions

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

: 11 appearances :: 1988–89: Qualifying stage :: 1989–90: Qualifying stage ::

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

: Qualifying stage :: 1993–94: Quarter-finals :: 1994–95: Quarter-finals ::

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

: Second round :: 1997–98: Quarter-finals :: 1998–99: Second round :: 1999–2000: Second round :: 2000–01: First round :: 2002–03: Qualifying stage

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

: 8 appearances ::

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

: Group stage ::

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

: Group stage ::

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

: Group stage ::

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

: Group stage ::

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

: Group stage ::

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

: ''Cancelled'' ::

: Group stage ::

: Group stage

Asian Cup Winners' Cup The Asian Cup Winners' Cup was an Asian football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-Asian club competition organised by Asian Football Confedera ...

: 2 appearances :: 1991–92: First round :: 1996–97: First round

Chairmen history

* Mustafa El-Shami (1948–1950) * Ameen Itani (1950–1954) * Fouad Rustom (1954–1956) * Abdul Jalil Al-Sabra (1956–1963) * Jamil Hasbeeny (1963–1965) * Abed El-Jamil Ramadan (1965–1967) * Khaled Kabbani (1967–1975) * Said Wanid (1975–1977) * Salim Diab (1977–2008) * Karim Diab (2008–2012) * Nabil Badr (2012–present)

Notes

References

External links

Al Ansar FC
at the AFC
Al Ansar FC
at LebanonFG {{DEFAULTSORT:Ansar FC Football clubs in Lebanon Football clubs in Beirut Association football clubs established in 1951 1951 establishments in Lebanon Sunni Islam in Lebanon

History

Early history

Recent history

Supporters

Club rivalries

Players

Current squad

Notable players

Honours

Performance in AFC competitions

Chairmen history

See also

Notes

References

External links