Nejmeh Sporting 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 Manara, a neighbourhood in Ras Beirut,

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 . The club was established in Beirut in 1945, and received its license in 1947. Nejmeh have won nine

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 ...

titles, eight Lebanese FA Cups, 12 Lebanese Elite Cups, and seven Lebanese Super Cups. In Asia, Nejmeh were runners-up in the 2005 AFC Cup, where they lost to Al-Faisaly of Jordan. Nejmeh is primarily supported by the Sunni Muslim community with a minority of

Shiites 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 ...

and

Druzes The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

, and shares a historic rivalry with fellow Beirut-based club Ansar, known as the Beirut derby. The club's board is affiliated with the Future Movement political party and the Hariri family.

History

Nejmeh was founded in 1945 by the

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

and

Sunni Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...

communities from Ras Beirut,

, Lebanon, as an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club, with Anis Radwan as their first president. This committee applied for a license at the Lebanese Government on 4 March 1947, which was issued on 28 April. The choice of club's name is said to have came on 11 October 1945, when a meeting was held at Radwan's house at night to discuss the affairs of the team. Looking at the sky's stars, Radwan decided to call the team Nejmeh (The Star). The

five-pointed star A five-pointed star (☆), geometrically an equilateral concave decagon, is a common ideogram in modern culture. Comparatively rare in classical heraldry, it was notably introduced for the flag of the United States in the Flag Act of 1777 and si ...

is the Druze's religious symbol. On 25 July 1950, Nejmeh won the Lebanese Second Division, but were only officially promoted in 1951, during which Papken Poyajian was appointed president of the club. They first competed in the

during the 1953–54 season. Nejmeh finished runners-up in 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� ...

twice: in 1951 and 1964, losing in the finals to Shabiba Mazraa and Safa respectively. Nejmeh lifted their first trophy, the Lebanese FA Cup, on 31 October 1971, when they won 3–1 against Safa. Nejmeh's goals were scored by Jamal Al Khatib, Hassan Chatila, and Mahmoud Chatila. During the 1970s, Brazilian international players

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

and

Bebeto José Roberto Gama de Oliveira (born 16 February 1964), known as Bebeto (), is a Brazilian former professional football player who played as a forward. He entered politics in the 2010 Brazilian general elections and was elected to the Legis ...

played matches with Nejmeh as honorary guests.

Colours and badge

Ever since the club's foundation, the traditional and primary color of Nejmeh has been burgundy red. The club's badge was composed of a star in the center, in reference to the club's name which, in Arabic, means "Star". The two cedars on the side of the logo recalled Lebanon's national symbol. In 2019 the logo underwent various changes: the star changed from white to gold, the cedars from green to burgundy and the text from burgundy to black. Other minor changes have also been made such as the enlargement of the width of the white border, and the shift of the text "BEIRUT 1945", which moved from the center of the star to underneath it. In 2023 the logo was drastically changed, with a more simplistic style being adopted. It became a

pictogram A pictogram (also pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto) is a graphical symbol that conveys meaning through its visual resemblance to a physical object. Pictograms are used in systems of writing and visual communication. A pictography is a wri ...

of a burgundy "N" (for Nejmeh) and a "C" (for Club) fused together, with a gold star in the center. The text "1945" above and "BEIRUT" below are written in burgundy.

Stadium

The

Rafic Hariri Stadium Rafic Hariri Stadium (), also known as Al Manara Stadium () or Nejmeh Stadium (), is a multi-use stadium in the Manara district of Beirut, Lebanon. It is currently used mostly for Association football, football matches and serves as the home for ...

is located in Manara area of

, Lebanon. The stadium consists of a football field, and spaces that accommodate around 5,000 spectators, together with a VIP seats area that accommodates around 100 guests, a cafeteria, and a gymnasium. The old club stadium first consisted of a sand training field over the land number 704 in Ras Beirut area with no facilities or fences. The stadium went through a rehabilitation process, with improvements including implanting the field with grass, increasing the seats spaces to allow more spectators, and enhancing the stadium facilities, walls, and fences. The first phase of the process started in June 2003 and was completed in late March 2004. On 21 February 2005, the stadium was named "The Martyr

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 ...

Stadium" in honour of the late Prime Minister.

Supporters

Founded on 9 February 2018, Nejmeh's "Ultras Supernova" was the first ultras group to be introduced in Lebanon. The name "

Supernova A supernova (: supernovae or supernovas) is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. A supernova occurs during the last stellar evolution, evolutionary stages of a massive star, or when a white dwarf is triggered into runaway nuclear fusion ...

" is a reference to the etymology of Nejmeh which, in Arabic, means "Star". Prior to the Arab Club Champions Cup game against Al-Ahly of Egypt, played on 13 August 2018, seven "Ultras Supernova" fans were arrested by the Egyptian national security because of the negative connotations the word "Ultras" has in Egypt. The fans were returned to Lebanon by request of the Lebanese Ambassador to Cairo. During the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Qatar, Nejmeh ultras were employed by the Qatari government to act as Qatar national team fans during their games. The 1,500 "adopted" ultras wore maroon t-shirts with "Qatar" stamped on front, sang the Qatari national anthem and beat drums while singing chants.

Club rivalries

The Beirut derby with Ansar has historically been the most anticipated game in Lebanon: both located in Beirut, 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. In recent years another fierce rivalry has developed, between Nejmeh and Ahed. Also based in Beirut, Ahed have won the majority of league titles since the 2014–15 season. Tensions between the two teams have also forced the federation to change venues multiple times. Most noticeably, in the 2016–17 season, Nejmeh refused to play against Ahed in the league title decider and were sanctioned six points by the federation. Another rivalry that has developed in recent years is with Salam Zgharta. Since the 2016–17 season, Salam Zgharta and Nejmeh have played various intense games between each other, with some escalating in offensive chants. Other important matches are with Safa and

Racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...

, both located in the same city as Nejmeh.

Players

Current squad

Notable players

Honours

Domestic

League

**Winners (9): 1972–73, 1974–75, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2008–09, 2013–14, 2023–24 * Lebanese Second Division **Winners (1): 1950–51

Cup

**Winners (8): 1970–71, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2015–16, 2021–22, 2022–23 **''Runners-up (9):'' 1950–51, 1963–64, 1995–96, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2017–18, 2020–21 * Lebanese Elite Cup (''defunct'') **Winners (12; record): 1996, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

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 ...

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 (2):'' 1997, 2013 * Lebanese Super Cup **Winners (7): 2000, 2002, 2004, 2009, 2014, 2016,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

**''Runners-up (5):'' 1996, 1997, 2005, 2018,

Continental

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 ...

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

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

* Arab Club Champions Cup **''Runners-up (1):'' 1981–82

Awards

*Best Team in Asia **Winners (1): March 2000

Performance in AFC competitions

In 1982, Nejmeh reached the Arab Club Champions Cup final but lost to 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 ...

. In 2005, Nejmeh reached the final of the AFC Cup and lost to Al-Faisaly of Jordan: this was the first time a Lebanese football team had reached the final of any Asian competition. *

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 ...

: 2 appearances :: 1996–97: Second round :: 2002–03: First round *

: 11 appearances ::

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 60 ...

: Quarter-finals ::

: Final ::

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

: Semi-finals ::

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 ...

: Semi-finals ::

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

: Group stage ::

: Round of 16 ::

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

: Group stage ::

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 ...

: Group stage ::

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 ...

: Group stage :: 2023–24: Group stage * AFC Challenge League: 1 appearance :: 2024–25: ''TBD'' * Asian Cup Winners' Cup: 3 appearances :: 1990–91: First round :: 1997–98: First round :: 1998–99: First round

Footnotes

References

External links

*
Nejmeh SC
at the AFC
Nejmeh SC
at LebanonFG {{DEFAULTSORT:Nejmeh SC Football clubs in Lebanon Football clubs in Beirut Sunni Islam in Lebanon Druze in Lebanon Shia Islam in Lebanon Association football clubs established in 1945 1945 establishments in Lebanon

History

Colours and badge

Stadium

Supporters

Club rivalries

Players

Current squad

Notable players

Honours

Domestic

League

Cup

Continental

Awards

Performance in AFC competitions

See also

Footnotes

References

External links