Al-Wahda Sports Cultural Club (Arabic: نادي الوحدة الرياضي الثقافي) is a football club based in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates that plays in the UAE Pro-League. The club was founded in 1974 and plays its home games at the Al-Nahyan Stadium. The club's colours are maroon, grey and white.
Al Wahda has won the UAE Pro-League four times, with the most recent title coming in the 2009–10 UAE Pro-League season.
[edit] History
Al Wahda is one of the UAE's famous club, founded when the Emirates Club merged with Abu Dhabi in 1974. Al Wahda remains proud of the history that formed its roots, the club's chairman was Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and presently is H.H. Sheikh Saeed bin Zayed Al Nahyan with the head of the executive board for the club being led by Shaikh Tahnoon bin Saeed Al Nahyan. While H.H. Sheikh Nahyan bin Zayed Al Nahyan is the vice-chairman. After shaky beginnings, the club began to fill its trophy cabinet in the 1990s with Al Wahda winning the Federation Cup winners in 1995, league champions in 1998-1999 and President Cup winners in 2000. The 1999 season rests in the annals: Hussain Ali was voted the league's best goalkeeper, Fahad Massaood was voted player of the year and Al Bouri Lah finished the season as the league's top goalscorer. During the 1990s Al Wahda boasts many internationals in their ranks, Yasir Salim, Abdul Raheem Jumaa and Abdul Salam among them, but also relied on a well-organised scouting system with a tradition of unearthing young talent. Since 1993, it has organised an annual international U-17 tournament for sides from Europe and South America now called the Zayed Cup (formerly called "Al Wahda Cup").
Al Wahda has a large following in the UAE, and are always considered as one of the favourites in major competitions within the UAE. Al Wahda also had stints with regards to major Asian competition, and reached the last 4 of the Asian Champions League, but lost after away and home matches to Sapehan(Iran)(season 2007-2008). Al Wahda also won the League title in 2004/2005 season.
Al Wahda's most famous players are Ismail Matar, Abdulrahim Jumaa, Haider Alo Ali And Bashir Saeed. Al Wahda includes some talented young players such as Mohamed Al Shehhi, Eisa Ahmed, Hamdan Al Kamali and Saeed Al Kithiry.
[edit] Honours
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- Champion: 1999, 2001, 2005, 2010
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- Champion: 2000
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- Champion: 2002, 2011
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- Champion: 1985, 1998, 2001
[edit] Performance in AFC competitions
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- 2004: Quarter-Finals
- 2006: Group Stage
- 2007: Semi-Finals
- 2008: Group Stage
- 2010: Group Stage
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- 2000: First Round
- 2002: Group Stage
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- 1998/99: First Round
- 2000/01: First Round
[edit] Al Nahyan stadium
The Al Nahyan stadium is the home of Al Wahda, and although Al-Nahyan Stadium is perhaps less impressive in terms of infrastructure (12,000 seats) it still boasts a fervent atmosphere on match days and has the added advantage of being only three kilometres from the city centre.
[edit] 2011/2012 Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
[edit] Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
[edit] Famous players played or still playing for Al-Wahda
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This list of "famous" or "notable" sporting persons has no clear inclusion or exclusion criteria. Please help to define clear inclusion criteria and edit the list to contain only subjects that fit that criteria. |
- Angola
- Bahrain
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Brazil
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- Chile
- Colombia
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Ghana
- Iran
- Iraq
- Mali
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- Morocco
- Nigeria
- Oman
- Romania
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- South Africa
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- Tunisia
- United Arab Emirates
- Zambia
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- qatar
[edit] Past managers
[edit] External links
Heshmat Mohajerani (1984–86)
Mahmoud El-Gohary (1995–96)
Jo Bonfrere (1998–01)
Dimitri Davidovic (1999–00)
Cemşir Muratoğlu (2002–03)
Rolf Fringer (2003)
Reiner Hollmann (2005–06)
Ivo Wortmann (2007–08)
László Bölöni (2010)
