Safa Beirut SC
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| Full name | Safa Beirut Sporting Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Safa SC The Yellows The Blues The Rockets |
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| Founded | 1939 | ||
| Ground | Safa Stadium, Beirut – Lebanon (Capacity: 4,000) | ||
| Chairman |  Issam Al-Sayegh |
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| Head Coach | Ghassan Abou Diab |
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| League | Lebanese Premier League | ||
| 2010-11 | 2nd Place | ||
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Safa Beirut SC (in Arabic نادي الصفا الرياضي بيروت) (fullname Safa Beirut Sporting Club) is a Lebanese sports club based in Wata El-Museitbeh, Beirut. In English the name Safa الصفاء means clarity. The club belongs to Walid Jumblatt, and receives its support primarily from the Druze community.[1][2]
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[edit] History
[edit] Early years
Founded in 1939, Safa Beirut SC (Nadi al-Safa' al-Riyadi Beirut) started playing football on a private field located in Wata El-Museitbeh, Beirut. The club main interest was to practice the game officially.
In 1948, Safa Beirut SC obtained the official membership and license from the government as a private association. In the same year, the club was affiliated to the Lebanese Football Association (Fédération Libanaise de Football Association) and was ranked within the second division.
In 1961, Safa Beirut SC was promoted to the first division. Safa Beirut SC had one of the best coaches: Samir Saad. He left the team in 2008. Samir made history for the club as he led them to their first AFC Cup final.
Safa was a very strong team back in the 1990s; behind Nejmeh and Al Ansar, this team was able to shine. Despite everything, Al-Safa needs more effort to go back to the old days. Many Safa members saw that the Lebanese Premier League itself needs to improve its performance vis-à-vis all Lebanese players.
In the 1990s and at the beginning of the 21st century, Al Safa Club showed that it is a persistent team that can pose problems and threats to top level teams. It won the Lebanese cup twice in 1964 and 1986. Located in Beirut, the Safa stadium can include 4,000 seated people. Many prominent players played in al Safa team like: Captain Ghassan Abu Diab,Walid Zeineddine ,shahin ferzan, hamzeh hamzeh , Abdelkarim Hassoun, samer arbid , bassam kassas , mohamed berri ,assad kalout , ali sabra , sindibad albahri , saad and souheil halawi , issam balouk , Walid Dahrouge, Nabih al Jurdi, hassan ayoub ,mohamed al maoula, khaled al bana , farid samaha, nabil sheikho , shawkat horani , joseph abou samra , Daniel al A’war, salman abdel khalek, the goalkeeper Bilal Hachem and fouad mirza and nassif atoue , , and many others like the liberians stars , nima cllions emanuel harris, alexandre freeman , jenjy jackobs, and william do. francky from ghana ,osman saleh from nigeria
Al Safa proved itself as an extremely strong team: throughout the 1990s, its forward tactics were marvelous; the team succeeded in scoring many goals in several games. It was known for the fact that its players were driven towards the attack.
In 2009, led by their new coach Evan, Safa Beirut SC made a new achievement by winning the Lebanese Elite Cup for the first time in their history and this marked their first official championship since 23 years.
According to many Lebanese First Division players, Al Safa was a team they should fear because it can be a source of many troubles on the ground. Al Safa officials assured that their team deserved to win at least one cup in the 1990s. However, they accused many administrative sources of being behind plots.
The games between Safa and other teams were considered as the best in Lebanon, especially in the 1990s, because the team was oriented towards forward playing; therefore, many goals were expected.
The Players
Al Safa had a bunch of players who succeeded in drawing their names in the Lebanese soccer history. Walid Dahrouge was a brilliant forward; they call him “The Goal Machine” because he rarely misses chances in front of the net. He was sometimes the only savior when his team failed to score. Against Nejmeh, Al Ansar, or any other strong team, Dahrouge excelled in scoring; Al Safa fans were delighted to have him.
Ghassan Abu Diab is a historical legend in this team. In the 1980s, this player was an idol in the attacking midfield position. In the 1988 Arab Nations tournament in Amman, he brilliantly played with the Lebanese national team against Tunisia: The score was 1–1. Abu Diab represented al Safa in a great way by showing that his skills were not only of a local caliber but of a regional one.
Nabih al Jurdi was one of the best defenders in Safa’s history. In the 1990s and mid 2000s, al Jurdi had the pace of a rabbit in his own penalty area. Scoring goals against his goalkeeper was a difficult task because al Jurdi would run after him.
Bilal Hachem was a fairly good goalkeeper who used to save his teams from dangerous balls. Last but not least, Daniel al A’war was a tough defender along with al Jurdi; he was always there to create difficulties for attackers. Al A’war was a fighter who provided safety for the team.
[edit] Founders
Maher Wahab, Anis Naaim, Hasib Al-Jerdi, Amin Haidar, Shafik Nadir, Toufik Al-Zouhairy, Adib Haidar.
[edit] Stadium
- Name: Safa SC Stadium.
- Opened: 1948.
- Owner: Safa Beirut SC.
- Location: Wata El-Museitbeh, Beirut.
- Transport: 5 Minutes from Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport.
- Seating Capacity: 4,000 Spectators.
- Tickets: Sold at Main Gate.
- Surface: Artificial Grass (Part of the FIFA "Goal Project" that was approved on 22 September 2004).
[edit] Achievements
[edit] Domestic competitions
- Safa Beirut SC won the Lebanese second division league for twelve consecutive years from 1948 till 1960.
- Winner of the Lebanese Cup: 1964, 1986
- Finalist of the Lebanese Cup: 1971, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2008
- Safa Beirut SC never won the Lebanese first division league, but was first runner up for seven times in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2007
- Winner of "City of Alley" cup: 1972, 1974
- Winner of "Al-Adha Tournament": 1979, 1984
- Winner of "16 March Tournament": 1983, 1984
- Winner of the Lebanese Elite Cup: 2009
[edit] AFC competitions
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- AFC Cup 2008: Runner-up with a record of 6 wins, 4 draws, and 2 losses.
- AFC Cup 2009: Round of 16
[edit] Current squad
| Pos. | # | Name | Nat. | Other |
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| GK | 1 | Nazih Tay | |
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| GK | 24 | Mohamad Mustapha El Doraa | |
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| GK | 35 | Ziad Al-Samad | |
International |
| DF | 2 | Ali Al Saadi | |
International |
| DF | 3 | Milat Pierre Polycarpe |  |
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| DF | 4 | Abdallah Taleb | |
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| DF | 8 | Mohamad Korhani | |
International |
| DF | 18 | Hamzeh Abboud | |
International |
| MF | 12 | Ramy Kaddoura | |
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| MF | 14 | Amer Khan | |
(Vice Captain) / International |
| MF | 15 | Mba Derick Ebi |  |
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| MF | 16 | Salih Sadir |  |
International |
| MF | 19 | Ali Khalil | |
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| MF | 20 | Khodor Salameh | |
Captain / International |
| MF | 25 | Hamid Termina |  |
International |
| FW | 7 | Mahmoud Al-Zoughbi | |
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| FW | 9 | Hussein Tahan | |
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| FW | 10 | Roni Azzar | |
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| FW | 11 | Guy Charles Jimgou | |
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| FW | 13 | Davidson Charles |  |
International |
| HC | – | Samir Saad | |
Head Coach |
- Salih Sadir arrived in February 2010 from
Rah Ahan F.C. as on loan from Al-Ahed.[3]
[edit] Notable former managers
[edit] Notable former players
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[edit] Kit Manufacturer
[edit] References
- ^ Montague, James (24 October 2007). "In Lebanon, even soccer is tainted by sectarian strife". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/24/sports/24iht-CUP.1.8030583.html. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
- ^ Alami, Mona (1 September 2009). "Religious about football". http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArchiveDetails.aspx?ID=111940. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
- ^ http://goalzz.com/main.aspx?player=8341
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