Al Wasl FC

Al Wasl Football Club () is an Emirati professional football club based in Zabeel, Dubai that competes in the UAE Pro League.

The club plays its home games at Zabeel Stadium. Al-Wasl is amongst the most successful teams in the UAE, winning eight league titles since its establishment, with its most recent in 2024.

The club gained significant notoriety in 2011 and 2012, during Diego Maradona's spell at the club as head coach.

History

Foundation

The idea of starting a football club in Zabeel first emerged in 1958, as a result of discussions and meetings by various people living in the area. At the time, there were no grass fields to play on, as football was still not popular. The club was officially founded with the name Al-Zamalek in the year 1960, in the house of Bakheet Salem located in Zabeel. Club members had to rent a small house and each paid 10 Dirhams each in order to support the club economically.

In 1962, the club moved to different house owned by Madia bint Sultan under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and H.H. Sheikh Butti Bin Maktoum Al Maktoum. Later, the team elected His Highness Sheikh Ahmad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, to be their club president, he agreed and even participated with the team in matches, He is still leading the club to this day.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum was one of the players in Al-Zamalek, he played as a defender and was one of the best players in the team, winning many games before Travelling to the United Kingdom to continue his Studies. During this period, Al-Zamalek was arguably the best team In Dubai, winning against traditional giant Al-Nasr 2–1, Al-Wahda 3–1, and the English Country Club in Dubai 3–2. They even played against teams outside Dubai like Ras Al Khaimah, winning the game easily with a crushing 6–1 result.

Al-Zamalek was one of the strongest teams in not only Bur-Dubai, but all of the Emirate of Dubai as a whole, it had a strong reputation of winning games and matches. In 1966 Al-Zamalek got their first taste of success by defeating Al-Shabab to win the final of the Canada Dry Football Cup in Dubai. This was only the beginning for the club as it would continue to shine and build up its story and history in the following years.

1970s

In 1972 H.H. Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, vice president of U.A.E. and ruler of Dubai had privileged Al-Zamalek by building the 1st headquarters of the club in Za’abeel. This headquarters is still in use in the same location where Zabeel stadium is located.

In 1973, the first edition of the UAE League was started, Al-Zamalek was one of the inaugural members of the UAE league. It was placed in a four team group consisting of Al Nasr, Al Shaab, Al Shoala, Al Najah, and Al-Oruba. Al Zamalek was eliminated along with all other members of the group except for Al-Oruba who went on to win the inaugural league title. During this season, the Coach for the team was Zaki Osman, who was a former player for Al-Zamalek in Egypt.

In 1974, the merge happened between Al Shoula club in the Al Fahidi historic region and Al Orouba club in Jumeirah. Later, The two teams members and staff joined in to Al-Zamalek, making it one of the biggest clubs in Dubai once again, during this time, it was proposed to change the identity of the club due to the new members, this change of identity could be symbolic of a fresh start for the team, and the beginning of a new era for what would later be the most historic and prolific team in the United Arab Emirates. The new team's location would be based in Zabeel, the former location of Al-Zamalek.

Abdallah Salem Al-Rumaithi at this time suggested that the colour of the club be changed to yellow, the other administrators of the new and big club all were happy with the idea, as yellow was a unique colour which no other team used in the country, and so yellow became the official and iconic colour of the team which separates it from the rest of the teams in the UAE. The new name of the team was to be Al-Wasl which can be interpreted as one meaning, officially it is the previous name of the city of Dubai, and its other meaning can be the Arabic word for “connection” as in the club connects the youth through sport and other cultural activities. Al Wasl played its first season as a new team in the 1974–1975 season, it played 10 games in the season and lost 5, won 2 and drew 3, finishing fourth out of 6. The next season was still tough for the newly formed team, as they won 4 games, lost 7, and drew 5, finishing the league sixth out of 9. The next few seasons were trophy less, other Dubai-based teams like Al-Nasr and Al-Ahli enjoyed nationwide success but the team still needed more time to develop its players and bring in new talent.

In the late 1970s things were finally beginning to change for the team, more local young players were being added to the ranks of the youth teams and the team was playing more consistently, The International Ghanaian Football Legend Mohammed Polo was signed into the team and enjoyed a prolific career and seasons in the team, making a name for himself in Al Wasl as one of the greatest players to join the team and play for the team.

1980s

The 1980s were the golden ages for Al Wasl, the team saw the best lineup in its history, and clinched onto various trophies, winning the league five times, the most out of any team in the history of the league at the time, and the record was not broken until the early 2000s. The new decade began with yet another trophy less season, but the patience of Al Wasl was met with reward later on in the 1980s. During the 1980-81 season, the team was under the leadership of the Brazilian coach Valinhos. It was around this time that the team went to an official training camp in Germany, where they not only trained but played friendly games against various German teams, the team was also visited by H.H. Sheikh Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. It was after this training camp that the team gained vital knowledge and skills necessary to develop the play style and experience required to go back home and challenge for the league title and the cups along with other championships.

Later that year, a 3-man group was sent to Brazil in order to scout for a coach for the team and even players, amongst these three men was Saeed Hareb. There in Brazil, the men were introduced by a taxi driver to Gilson Nunes who at the time was a local assistant coach for the Brazilian national team. Gílson Nunes was flown back to Dubai and became the assistant coach for Al Wasl, under the leadership of Joel Santana.

In 1980, Al Wasl's stadium, Zabeel Stadium was opened in Zabeel, Dubai. It holds around 9,000 people and is the home for Al Wasl to this day. It underwent many renovations and will get upgraded to 25,000 in 2025 after a decision from H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed Al Maktoum.

Notable players of this time period include Fahad Khamees, (nicknamed "dark cheetah"), a UAE national team player in the 1990 World Cup, Mohammed Polo, Ghanaian forward who was nicknamed "the dribbling magician" and played with the club from 1979 to 1985, Zuhair Bakheet, who spent his entire 18-year career in Al Wasl and led the UAE national team to the World Cup, and Hamad Yousuf, goalkeeper that played for Al Wasl and won many titles with the club, including the President's Cup in the 1986–87 season.

In the 1981–1982 season, armed with the skills gained in the German training camp, the new coaches, and new players and young talents, Al Wasl won their maiden league title, leaving Al Ain in second place. In the 1982–1983 season, Al Wasl clinched back-to-back league titles, ending the season with 25 points and fortifying its position as one of the leaders of Emirati football. In the following season, 1983–84, Al Wasl came second with only a 2-point difference, but the team was able to bounce back and win the league the following season with ease. However, in the same season, Al Wasl lost the final of the Presidents cup 2–0 against Sharjah.

In the 1985–1986 season, Al Wasl came second place for the second time in its history when its rival Al Nasr lifted the league with yet again a two-point difference, and this happened yet again in the following season as Al Wasl placed second with a three-point difference behind Sharjah. But this was historic as no team finished either first or second for this long, and it was now fully clear that Al Wasl was going to remain a strong and powerful team from the results shown previously. In the same season Al Wasl was the runner up of the presidents cup, losing 2–0 against rivals Al Nasr.

In 1986 Al Wasl made it to the Asian Club Championship but was eliminated in the qualifying stage. They were qualified due to their good performance in the GCC champions league in the same year.

In the 1986–87 season, Al Wasl lifted the UAE President's Cup for the first time after defeating Al Khaleej (now Khor Fakkan Club) 2–0.

In 1987–88, Al Wasl won the league with an 18-point difference to clinch their fourth league title in history and in six years, crowning Al Wasl as the team with the most league titles across the UAE at the time. Al Wasl would hold onto this honour until the early two thousands as mentioned before.

From 1988 to 1990, Al Wasl finished second for two more consecutive seasons, meaning that they now came first or second for 9 consecutive years.
They also competed in the Asian club championship for the second time, getting eliminated in the qualifying stage once again.

Al Wasl ended the decade as the most successful team in the country.

1990s

The 1990s saw Al Wasl's performance hinder greatly in stark contrast to the performances in the 1980s. The 1990–91 season had been cancelled in the UAE due to the events in Kuwait, and the Gulf War.

Things were back to normal in the 1991–1992 season, and Al Wasl lifted the League trophy once again and for the fifth time, maintaining their lead at the top of the pyramid of UAE clubs.

In the 1992–93 season, Al wasl finished runner-up in the league and won the UAE Federation Cup. They were also one of the Emirati teams nominated to compete in the Asian Club Championship. In the Qualifying stages, Al Wasl defeated Jordanian Giants Al Wehdat 7–1 on aggregate. Al Wasl was placed in group B along with PAS Tehran of Iran, and Wohaib FC of Pakistan. Al Wasl won both of its two games in the group stage, being the top team in the table. They defeated PAS Tehran 1-0 and proceeded to defeat Wohaib 10–1 which was the greatest result out of any game in Asian Championship history. In the semi final of the Asian Championship, Al Wasl faced off against Al Shabab Riyadh who were the strongest Saudi team at the time. The game ended with a 2–2 draw, but Al Wasl was just barely defeated on penalties. Al Wasl finished third in the whole championship, defeating Yomiuri FC (now Tokyo Verdy) 4–3 in Bahrain. Al Wasl finishing third made it the first Emirati team to finish on the podium in an Asian competition, and was one of the reasons for Al Wasl winning the award for Emirati club of the century in 2000. In the 1993–94 season, the club had a dip in form, finishing 4th in the league table, and losing the final of the Federation cup to Al Wahda 3–0.

The next two seasons were trophyless for Al Wasl, and they didn't finish second either which broke their 11-year streak of finishing first or second. However, in 1994–1995, Al Wasl once again competed in the Asian club championship, losing in the Quarterfinals. In 1995–96, Al Wasl finished second behind Sharjah with a 3-point difference. Despite a lack of trophies, Al Wasl was still a force to be reckoned with. However, in the following season, 1996–1997, Al Wasl won the league for the sixth time. In the final match of the league where Al Wasl lifted the league trophy, they introduced a unique celebration of bringing in a small model train and driving it onto the field making for a unique entrance. This was later called the Al Wasl train, and was an iconic celebration unique to Al Wasl.

It was around this time that Al Wasl gained the nickname "The Sun of the League". The reason being that despite Al Wasl's long absence from championships, it returns and wins once again, just like how the sun will always dawn but come back and rise.

In 1998, Al Wasl played in the Arab Club Cup, reaching the semi final. They defeated Al Ittihad 1–0 and drawed with Al Tahaddi 0–0 before defeating Al Wehdat 5–1, finishing at the top of their group. In the semifinal, Al wasl lost 3–1 to WA Tlemcen who eventually went onto win the championship.

In between 1999 and 2000, Al Wasl was named the UAE's Club of the century. This is due to being the team who won the UAE League the most, winning 6 league titles up until then, and also being the best performing Emirati Club in international competitions and the most frequently qualified Emirati team to international competitions.

2000s

In the 2000s Al Wasl would win only three championships, the team wasn't able to challenge on many titles initially but still have good performances regardless.

In 2000, Al Wasl lost the final of the President's cup to Al Wahda, and would later finish the league In 7th place.

In 2002, the legend Zuhair Bakhit retired from football, having spent his entire career in Al Wasl.

From the early to mid two thousands, Al Ain and Al Wehda dominated the league, but Al Wasl did come second in group B behind Al Ahli when the league was split into a different format for the 2003–04 season, but this format was changed back to normal later. The following two seasons were disappointing, with Al Wasl finishing mid table. Some notable players of this time period include Rachid Daoudi of Morocco and Farhad Majidi of Iran, both of whom are regarded as international legends of their respective countries.

In 2006–2007, Al Wasl had a stellar season. Under the leadership of Brazilian Zé Mário, the club, seemingly out of nowhere, took the league title with ease, losing only once in the whole season. Al Wasl only had two foreign players, both being Brazilian: striker Anderson Barbosa (who was on loan from Sharjah and also the leagues top scorer with 18 goals) and midfielder Alexandre Oliveira. Al Wasl also went on to lift the President's Cup after defeating Al Ain with a crushing 4–1 result in the Zayed Sports City Stadium, becoming one of the only clubs to achieve the double.

In the 2007–2008 season, Al Wasl would make their AFC Champions League debut, as a result of winning the league title. However, they exited the competition in the group stage, with 2 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses. In the league the club was not even close to defending their league title, finishing in 7th place.

In the 2008–2009 season, Al Wasl finished seventh but still qualified to the GCC Club Cup. In the 2009–2010 season, Al Wasl played in the GCC club cup after qualifying during the previous season. Al Wasl finished top of the group and qualified to the next round. In the semi final, they faced off against Al-Nassr and lost 3–1 away. But the team picked up the pace and struck back with a comeback, taking down Al-Nassr 4–2 in the home game and winning 4–2 on penalties. During that game, a famous and infamous incident occurred where Al-Nassr's doctor taunted Al Wasl fans, which upset them and caused them to jump down to the field in a large amount, starting a physical conflict with the doctor and certain players. Players from both teams attempted to stop the rowdy crowd, and the Dubai police officers on the sight were able to quickly and effectively stop the scene, and the perpetrators were banned from attending future games. In the Final game, Al Wasl faced off against Qater SC; the first leg ended in a 2–2 draw. in the second leg, Al Wasl fans were barred from attending the game due to the incidents that unfolded during the semi-final against Al Nassr. Despite without the support of its fans, Al-Wasl won the title on the away goals rule and were crowned champions of the Arabian Gulf.

Later during that season, Al Wasl signed Spanish player Francisco Yeste, who stayed for a season. He was An audacious player and created many good memories at Al Wasl, one of which including scoring a goal from the halfway line, this goal was called “the fastest equaliser in football history.”

2010s

The 2010s are considered the worst decade for Al Wasl as a club, as not a single trophy was won during this period. The team went into a state of decline and would constantly finish in either the mid table or the bottom, but was still far from relegation.

In 2010, Ultras Junoon was founded. Ultras Junoon is the first Ultras group in the Gulf, having been established before all other groups of the same Ultras culture elsewhere.

In the 2010–11 season, Al Wasl reached the semi finals of both the Etisalat Cup and President's Cup, and would finish sixth in the league. The top scorer for the team was Fran Yeste with 16 goals across all competitions.

In May 2011, 1986 World Cup winner Diego Maradona was appointed as the club's new coach. This deal shocked the whole world and expectations were high for the club. Diego's stay at Al Wasl was difficult; they finished eighth in the league that season, were eliminated in the League Cup semifinals, and eliminated in the President's cup quarterfinals. The team had a good campaign in the 2012 GCC Champions League, and were on course to winning the title for the second time in 3 years after a 3-1 first leg victory away from home over Bahraini club Al-Muharraq; however in the second leg at home, Al Wasl lost the title on penalties, after the Bahraini club had won the match 3–1, which was facilitated by Al Wasl having two players sent off.

Diego was very popular with the fans, and was great at building bonds between him and his players during his tenure. Al Wasl shirt sales increased all across the UAE and even worldwide. By the end of the season Maradona was sacked, but remained a club legend. Two of the players he brought to the club, Juan Manuel Olivera and Mariano Donda, finished as the club's topscorers that season.

2012–13 was worse than the previous season; the team finished ninth in the league, were knocked out of the President's cup round of 16, and were eliminated in the first round of the Etisalat league cup. In a season where they went through three different managers, the first was French coach Bruno Metsu, who resigned in October 2012 after contracting colon cancer. He was succeeded by another French coach, Guy Lacombe. Lacombe was dismissed after less than four months in charge, with the decision being made after a 4–0 loss against Al Ahli. His successor was Emirati Eid Baroot, who eventually finished off the season with average results.

In the 2013–14 season, Al Wasl's new kit sponsor was Adidas, Shikabala returned from his loan back to Al Zamalek, and this was Donda's last season with Al Wasl. In the 2014–2015 season, Al Wasl signed two new Brazilian players and future club Icons, Caio Canedo and Fábio Lima. They went on to provide a spectacular first season at Al Wasl, despite the team finishing 6th. The team qualified to the GCC champions league and during that tournament, it was cancelled and the team did not proceed.

In 2015–16, Al Wasl finished 6th once again, and almost as if the previous season was repeated, they qualified to the GCC Champions League but it was cancelled due to the Kuwaiti FA being suspended from FIFA and due to a lack of a sponsor for the tournament.

In the 2016–17 season, Al Wasl gave one of its best performances in recent times. The new coach Rodolfo Arruabarrena was introduced to the team, and the club performed greatly during his tenure. Waheed Ismail was the club captain, and Caio and Lima gave great and notable performances. Other notable players include Hassan Zahran, Ali Salmon, and Hugo Viana. Unfortunately, Al Wasl finished second behind Al Jazira during the end of the league, but gained qualification the AFC Champions League for the following season. During this season, an iconic game happened and one of the greatest comebacks of UAE football history. Al wasl was losing 3–0, but returned to make the result 4–3 in the last minutes. Al Wasl during this season won the game with the highest score, winning 8–0 against dibba al Fujairah.

Al Wasl finished third in the following season, and gained qualification to the AFC Champions League once again. During this season Al Wasl made it to the final of the UAE presidents cup but lost 2–1 to Al Ain, and qualified to the final of the league cup but lost to Al Wahda.

In the 2018–19 season Al Wasl finished 9th in the league but gave a good run in the Arab Champions League, notably taking down Egyptian Giants Al Ahly on away goals but getting eliminated in the quarter final.

The 2019–2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

2020s

In the 2020–21 season, Al Wasl ended the season with a 9th-place finish.

In the 2021–22 season, and after the campaign by the Al Wasl Fans, there was a change in the administration and board of directors of the club after poor results and bad relations between the club and its fans for the past few years. The new Administration led by His excellency Mr Ahmad Bin Shafar was debuting. Immediately there was change in the team's spirit and performance, and there was a greater attendance effort from the fans. A 6th-place finish was an improvement from the previous season.

In the 2022–23 season Al Wasl had one of the greatest fan displays in the UAE league, great effort was on display and everyone was hopeful that the team would return to its glory. Al Wasl reached the semi final of the presidents cup, narrowly losing 1–0 to Al Ain across two legs. The team also finished 4th in that season.
The 2023–24 season is by far the most successful season in the past decade. Al Wasl lost only one game in the league to this day, and has maintained first place since the start of the season. Al Wasl defeated rivals Shabab Al Ahli 3 times in one month, with a total score of 8–3 goals across all performances. Al Wasl also lifted the Presidents Cup on May 17 after a victory against their derby rivals al Nasr 4–0, in front of a sold-out stadium of 25,000 fans. Al Wasl eventually clinched their 8th UAE Pro League title, following a 3–0 victory over second-place Shabab Al Ahli with two games remaining.

In the 2024–25 season, Al Wasl was faced with a huge season, this was because they had to defend their league title as well as compete in five more competitions (President's Cup, ADIB cup, AFC Champions League Elite, EMAAR Super Cup, UAE-Qatar super shield) Al Wasl started the season with a last minute draw to Kalba, but won their next game against Dibba Al Hisn, and managed to win later in their first ACL Elite against Uzbekistan giants Pakhtakor. They then defeated rivals Al Nasr 3–1 at home in the Dubai Derby. however after this game the teams level started to drop and they lost to reigning Asian champions Al Ain 4–2 away in the league. and in Asia they lost 2–0 to Saudi giants Al Ahli at home. they once again lost in the league to Khor Fakkan 4–3 after a comeback from the guests due to a red card. however the team began to pick up its pace and knocked Al Wahda out of the presidents cup with a 3–1 victory. Al Wasl then signed with Nigerian Isaac Success who would only compete locally with Al Wasl after the winter transfer window opens, as for the time being he was only allowed to play in the AFC Champions league Elite. Al Wasl won their third game in Asia against Al Gharafa 2–1 with a goal from the new player Isaac Success in the 93rd minute.

Rivalries

Al Wasl's main competitors would be Al Nasr who they compete with in the Bur Dubai Derby and Al Ain who they challenge in the 'UAE Classico'.

Current squad

''As of UAE Pro-League:''

Unregistered players

Out on loan

Honours

Domestic competitions

* UAE Pro League: 8
:: Winner: 1981–82, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1991–92, 1996–97, 2006–07, 2023–24
* UAE President's Cup: 3
:: Winner: 1986–87, 2006–07, 2023–24
* UAE Federation Cup: 1
:: Winner: 1992–93

* The IFFHS named Al Wasl as the UAE's Club of the 20th Century.

Regional competitions

* Gulf Club Champions Cup
:Winner (1) : 2009–10
:''Runners-up (2):'' 2005, 2012

* Arab Club Champions Cup
: ''Semi-finals:'' 1998
: ''Quarter-finals:'' 2018–19

Performance in AFC competitions

*AFC Champions League: 3 appearances
::2008: Group stage
::2018: Group stage
::2019: Group stage

* Asian Club Championship: 4 appearances
:: 1986: Qualifying Stage
:: 1989–90: Qualifying Stage
:: 1992–93: Third Place
:: 1994–95: Quarter finals

Coaching staff

Managerial history

^* Served as caretaker coach.

Pro-League record

_{Notes 2019–20 UAE football season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates.}

Key
* Pos. = Position
* Tms. = Number of teams
* Lvl. = League

See also

* List of football clubs in the United Arab Emirates

References

External links

Official Website

{{Arabian Gulf League teamlist

Football clubs in Dubai
Wasl
Association football clubs established in 1960
1960 establishments in the Trucial States