Al Ahli SC (), also known as Al Ahli Doha, is a Qatari multi-sport club based in Doha. It is most notable for its professional association football section. Their home ground is the Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium. Founded in 1950, it is the oldest sports club in Qatar.
History Al Ahli was founded under the name Al Najah Sports Club in 1950, rendering it the oldest surviving sports club in Qatar. Al Najah SC was established by the founders of another club, called Sawt al-Arab, which was subsequently disbanded. The most prominent of the founders was Naji Musaad, the first president of the club. The club's first headquarters was located in Barahat Al Jufairi, in a residential house which was rented at a monthly fee of 70 Indian rupees. In 1964, the club was formally founded under resolution no. 2. Their first match abroad was scheduled to take place against Al Muharraq. After travelling to Bahrain by sea, the club was turned down because their squad comprised foreign players. Instead, they played against Al Nusoor, whom they defeated 3–1.
In 1972, Al Najah was merged with another local club under its current name, Al Ahli Sports Club. The first board of directors was formed with eight members, and the club's colors were officially decided as green and white. Early managers after the merger include Mohammed Kheiri, the first manager of Al Ahli Sports Club, Sudanese Abdullah Balash, Lebanese Omar Khatib and Sudanese Hassan Osman. They played a friendly against Pelé-led Santos in 1973 at Doha Sports Stadium. In the 1983/84 season, the club received a new headquarters, equipped with modern training and recreational facilities, as did all of the other sports clubs in Qatar.
In September 1985, amidst a heavy debt of QAR 700,000, the club announced that it would not contract with any foreign players for that season to preserve its funds. As a result, five Yugoslavian players it had recently signed for its basketball, handball and volleyball teams would be released. The Ministry of Youth and Sports injected QAR 500,000 and its supporters and members raised over QAR 300,000 to help the club pay off debt and contract professionals.
In the early nineties, under the presidency of Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al Thani, the club was relegated to the Qatari 2nd Division for the first time in its history. In an attempt to improve its younger generation of players by providing them with invaluable first team experience, the youth team had been given an opportunity to earn promotion back to the first division. They were unsuccessful, and only were runners up that year.
The club has won one domestic trophy since its formation, the Emir Cup. This competition which was secured four times, with the first triumph coming in the inaugural edition under coach Mohammed Kheiri.
Stadium Al Ahli play their home matches at Hamad bin Khalifa Stadium which has a capacity of 12,000 seats.
Supporters The club has one of the most consistently high home attendances in the Qatar Stars League. On 11 April 2014, they set a new league record for final match day attendance with 10,142 fans attending the league match against Al Sailiya.
Players Current squad As of Qatar Stars League:
Olympic squad
Out on loan
Managerial history
SeasonsManagerNationality1972–73Mohammed Hassan Kheiri1975–??Ali Al Attar1978–??Helmi Hussein1 Jul 1982 – 30 Jun 1984Ivo Wortmann1984–85Eid Mubarak1985–86Colin Addison1987–88Joubert Meira1988Sebastião Lazaroni1991Zoran Đorđević1991–93Paulo Massa1994–95Faruk Pašić1997–98Abdelkadir Bomir1998Heshmat Mohajerani1998–99Anatoliy Prokopenko1999Abdelkadir Bomir1999Sead Gruda Abdulqadir Almoghaisab 1999–00José Robles2000–01Cruz2001José Robles2001Eid Mubarak1 Jul 2002 – 30 Jun 2003Carlos Alhinho2003Pepe16 Jul 2004 – 8 Nov 2004Augusto Inácio2004–05Pepe2005Oswaldo de Oliveira2005–Feb 2006Waldemar Lemos Oswaldo de Oliveira Feb 2006–2006José Robles2006Michel Decastel2006Reiner Hollmann SeasonsManagerNationality2006–07José Robles1 Jul 2007 – 30 Jun 2008Mark Wotte2008–09Erik van der Meer2009Mrad Mahjoub2009Carlos Manuel2009Heron Ricardo Ferreira2009Abdulqadir Almoghaisab (CT)2009Abdullah Mubarak2009–10José Robles2010Hassan Hormatallah1 Jul 2010– 10 Sep 2010Ilija Petković26 Sep 2010 – 23 Oct 2011Abdullah Mubarak23 Oct 2011 – 30 Jun 2012Bernard Simondi1 Jul 2012 – 30 Jun 2013Henri Atamaniuk1 Jul 2012 – 7 Feb 2015Milan Máčala7 Feb 2015 – 1 Feb 2016Zlatko Kranjčar1 Feb 2016 – 11 May 2016Yousuf Adam (interim) 11 May 2016 – 30 Oct 2016Luka Bonačić30 Oct 2016 – 1 Jun 2017Yousuf Adam2 Jun 2017 – 27 Dec 2017Joaquín Caparrós1 Jan 2018 – Jun 2018Jorge PerisJun 2018Yusef Ahmad Baker (interim)Jun 2018 – Dec 2018Milan Máčala14 Dec 2018 – 18 Nov 2019Rubén de la Barrera1 Dec 2019 – 14 Sep 2023Nebojša Jovović
Al Ahli club staff Last update: 13 Feb 2026. +Senior teamTechnical staffHead coachBorja JiménezAssistant coachKhalid TajFitness coachHakim AissaMatch analystErmin AvdicHead of transatlantic relationsSamuel AlgerMedical staffHead of clinicDr TawfiqTeam doctorSokryiPhysiotherapistAnselmoPhysiotherapistAssad AmmariTeam staffDirector of reserve teamMajed SaeedDirector of administrationAbdulaziz HamzaDirector of footballIbrahim Al KaranirisDeputy director of footballKhalid ShabibDirector of sports affairsAbdullah JassimDirector of sport marketingYaqoub NasserATI SystemsYoussef Bizzou +Youth teamsTechnical staffU23 managerHassan Khalil AhmedU23 head coachIvan HuckoU23 assistant coachHussein BaqirU16 head coachJohn LakeU16 assistant coachAbdulredha Hussein +Youth teamsMedical staffPhysiotherapistIslam SalahuddinPhysiotherapistIhab AbdelfatahTeam staffHead of youth teamsFahad Al WadanaaDeputy head of youth teamsAhmad Sayyar
Club officials Board
Club presidents As of February 2012. No.ChairpersonNo.Chairperson1 Naji Musaad8 Abdullah Mohammed Ghurery2 Sheikh Mubarak bin Ahmed Al-Thani9 Ali bin Ali Ahmed3 Sheikh Ali bin Abdulaziz Al-Thani10 Sheikh Abdulrahman bin Nasser Al-Thani4 Sheikh Mohammed bin Saud Al-Thani11 Abdullah Ahmad Hashemi5 Sultan bin Sultan12 Mohammed Kadhim Ibrahim6 Abdulaziz Fahad Bozzoer13 Sheikh Khalid bin Ali Al Thani7 Abdulrahman Abdulqadir Al Moghaisib14 Sheikh Ahmed bin Hamad Al Thani
Records and statistics Player statistics
Last update: 10 December 2024. Players whose names are in bold are still active with the club. +Most goals#Nat.NameLeague GoalsYears active1Meshal Abdullah1201999–2007, 2008–2010, 2013–20192Dioko Kaluyituka602011–20153Alboury Lah291995–19984Caló262002–20065Ndombe Mubele162015–20176Nabil El Zhar152019–20217Mojtaba Jabbari152013–20178Juma Mossi152001–20029Wagner Ribeiro132009–201110Badar Al-Maimani122005–2007Sérgio Ricardo2005–2006
Performance in UAFA competitions UAFA Club Cup: 2 appearances 2003/04: First round 2007/08: First round
Performance in AFC competitions Asian Cup Winners Cup: 2 appearances 1992/93: First Round 1998/99: Second Round
Asian record Year Tournament Round Club Home Away Aggregate1993Asian Cup Winners' CupGroup stage Al-Arabi0–00–10–11999Asian Cup Winners' Cup1 Nejmehw.o.10–00–02 Al-Ittihad0–01–71–7
1. Al Nejmeh SC withdrew from the tournament.
Honours Emir of Qatar Cup Winners (4): 1973, 1981, 1987, 1992 Runners-up (5): 1975, 1984, 1985, 1998, 2003 Sheikh Jassem Cup Runners-up (2): 1999, 2006 Qatari 2nd Division Winners (1): 2012 UAE-Qatar Challenge Cup Winners (1): 2026
References
External links