Al Ahed FC


Al Ahed Football Club is a football club based in Ouzai, a district in Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the Lebanese Premier League, the top flight of Lebanese football. The club was founded in 1964 as Al Ahed Al Jadeed, starting in the Third Division, before they first reached the Lebanese Premier League for the first time in 1996.
Nicknamed "the Yellow Castle", Ahed have won one AFC Cup title, seven Premier League titles, six FA Cup titles, seven Super Cup titles, five Elite Cup titles, and one Federation Cup title. They earned their first league title in 2008. In a period stretching from 2008 to 2010, they went unbeaten for 44 consecutive games. In 2011, Ahed became the first team in Lebanon to accomplish both a domestic treble and quadruple after they won the league, the cup, the Super Cup and the Elite Cup in the same season. In 2019, Ahed became the first Lebanese side to win the AFC Cup, defeating North Korean side April 25 in the final.
The club primarily receives support from the Shia community in Beirut. Ahed are also affiliated with Hezbollah, and are fierce rivals with fellow Beirut club Nejmeh. Their ultras group, formed in 2018, is called "Ultras Yellow Inferno".

History

Early history (1964–1989)

Ahed were founded in 1964 as Al Ahed Al Jadeed in Dahieh, a southern suburb of Beirut. Under the presidency of Mahieddine Anouti, the club played in the Lebanese Third Division. During the 1970s, Ahed played in Msaytbeh, an area of Beirut, under the name Al Huda Islamic Club. However, the club stopped playing as a consequence of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
In 1984, Anouti bought a license under the name Nejmeh Al Ahed Al Jadeed but did not actually form a club. On 2 May 1985, the Lebanese Football Association granted membership to the club to continue playing football, with Mohammad Assi as president. During the 1988–89 season in the Second Division, the team qualified for a playoff match against Al-Majdi. However, the match ended 1–1 to prevent Ahed from being promoted to the Premier League.

Lebanese Premier League (1992–2005)

In 1992, Abdo Saad became the new president and changed the name of the club to Al Ahed because its leaders wanted a name with a Quranic meaning. In 1996, Amin Sherri became president after Saad resigned even though Ahed had reached the Second Division promotion play-offs. On 20 December 1996, Ahed were promoted to the Lebanese Premier League for the first time in their history. After two seasons in the Premier League, they were relegated to the Second Division, before they earned promotion back to the Premier League.
After the club's second promotion to the Premier League, Sherri resigned as club president and was replaced by Osama Al-Halabawi. Under Al-Halabawi, Ahed reached the finals of the 2001–02 FA Cup, the finals of the 2002 Elite Cup, and third place in the league during the 2002–03 season. Between 2004 and 2005, Ahed won two FA Cups and one Federation Cup.

Domestic and continental success (2007–present)

The club won their first league title in 2007–08; they went on a record 44-match unbeaten streak in the Lebanese Premier League from 26 October 2008 to 6 November 2010. In the 2010–11 season, Ahed won the league, the cup, the Super Cup and the Elite Cup, becoming the first team in Lebanon to accomplish both a domestic treble and a quadruple. On 25 June 2014, Tamim Sleimen was appointed president of the club by unanimous decision. In his first year as president, Ahed won the 2014–15 Premier League, the club's 4th in total.
After Ahed won the 2018–19 Lebanese Premier League, their 7th in total, Ahed became the three-time defending champions, a position held once before by Ansar in 1992. Ahed beat Al-Jazeera at the 2019 AFC Cup to reach the final for the first time in their history. They became the third Lebanese team to be a finalist at an AFC Cup; the first two were Nejmeh in 2005 and Safa in 2008. On 4 November 2019, Ahed beat North Korean club 25 April 1–0 in the final due to a header by Issah Yakubu, becoming the first Lebanese team to win the competition. Ahed conceded only three goals in 11 matches; they had nine clean sheets, including five in a row in five knockout matches, as they went unbeaten throughout the tournament. The club were also awarded the competition's Fair Play Award.

Stadium

Ahed owns the Al Ahed Stadium in Beirut. Located near Rafic Hariri Airport, the venue can hold 2,000 people. The club only uses its stadium for training. For games at home in club matches, Ahed uses various other stadiums in Lebanon such as the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium and the Saida International Stadium, as they have a larger capacity.
In 2018 Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, accused Hezbollah, a Shia political party and militant group based in Lebanon, in a speech of using the Al Ahed Stadium as a missile cluster. Gebran Bassil, the Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, denied the claims.

Supporters

Ahed's fan base primarily consists of Beirut's Shia community. The team has strong ties with Hezbollah, with whom they share the same colour, yellow. Ahed is also affiliated with Iranian club Sepahan, Turkish club Adanaspor and Lebanese club Bekaa. Following the introduction of ultras groups in Lebanon in 2018, Ahed formed "Ultras Yellow Inferno".

Club rivalries

Ahed and Ansar are rivals; also located in Beirut, Ansar identify with the Hariri family and represent the most nationalist stream. In recent years, Nejmeh, another Beirut-based team, has become a fierce rival of Ahed as well. Nejmeh is the most-supported team in Lebanon, and tensions between Nejmeh and Ahed have forced the federation to change venues multiple times.

Players

Current squad

Other players under contract

Out on loan

Notable players

CompetitionPlayerNational team
2019 AFC Asian CupRabih Ataya
2019 AFC Asian CupSamir Ayass
2019 AFC Asian CupHaytham Faour
2019 AFC Asian CupMohamad Haidar
2019 AFC Asian CupMehdi Khalil
2019 AFC Asian CupNour Mansour
2019 AFC Asian CupAhmad Al Saleh

Honours

Domestic

Ahed first participated in an Asian competition in the 2005 AFC Cup, where they were drawn in the group stage with Indian club Dempo and Jordanian club Al-Hussein. After finishing second in the group, Ahed faced Sun Hei in the quarter-finals, to whom they lost 2–3 on aggregate.
Before they won the competition, their best performance was in 2016, when they reached the semi-finals before Iraqi club Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya eliminated them 3–4 on aggregate. In 2019, Ahed defeated April 25 to win the AFC Cup. They are the first Lebanese side to do so; previous finalists Nejmeh and Safa were defeated in the 2005 and the 2008 finals, respectively.