 | |||
| Full name | Al-Rasheed Sports Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | November 23, 1983 (1983-11-23) | ||
| Dissolved | August 18, 1990 (1990-08-18) | ||
| Ground | Al-Rasheed Stadium,Baghdad, Iraq | ||
| Capacity | 6,000 | ||
| Iraqi National League, 2nd | ||
Al-Rasheed Sports Club (Arabic:نادي الرشيد الرياضي) was an Iraqisports club based inKarkh,Baghdad. Its professionalfootball team played in what is now known as theIraq Stars League, the top tier of theIraqi football, from 1984 until 1990. The club's home stadium wasAl-Rasheed Stadium.
Founded in 1983 byUday Hussein, the son ofSaddam Hussein, Al-Rasheed were promoted to the top tier in their first season of existence and went on to win 3league titles in a row, 2FA Cups, 3Arab Champions Cup titles, and reach the final of the1988–89 Asian Club Championship. In 1990, the club was dissolved and all its properties as well as its place in the top division were transferred toAl-Karkh SC.
Taking theAl-Karkh Stadium as his club's, on 23 November 1983,Uday Hussein founded a new sports club named Al-Rasheed. The team was put straight into thesecond division of Iraqi football by Uday. A few days after their foundation, they played their first match in the second division (Baghdad Group) and it was againstAl-Karkh, the team that would replace them in the top-flight seven years later; Al-Rasheed won the game 4–0. They were promoted to what is now known as theIraq Stars League in their first ever season, after achieving the 2nd Division title by beatingAl-Najaf 1–0 in their final game.[1] Uday Hussein brought most of theIraq national team players into the club, managed byAmmo Baba, the head coach of the national team at the time. The most popular of them wereAhmed Radhi,Adnan Dirjal,Samir Shaker,Haris Mohammed,Habib Jafar, andLaith Hussein.[2] Many of them, including Ahmed Radhi, were forced to join the club and had no choice in the matter. Uday Hussein was also known to punish players who did not perform up to standards by ordering his guards to beat them, and often forced them to completely shave their heads before matches to embarrass them in public. The club's taking of most of Iraq's best players as well as the fact that they made domestic football much less competitive made the team very unpopular among fans.
Al-Rasheed dominated the Iraqi football from the club's foundation until its dissolving. In their first season in the top-flight, the1984–85 season, Al-Rasheed were in 1st place, at 43 points, but because of the league being abandoned, no champions were announced.[3] After the abandonment of the league, Al-Rasheed set up the Al-Rasheed Cup which contained 12 of the 14 Iraqi League teams as well as four lower division teams. Al-Rasheed won this tournament by beatingAl-Zawra'a in the final. They participated in the1985–86 Asian Club Championship but withdrew from the competition during the qualifiers. They finished 2nd in the1985–86 Iraqi League,[4] but won the 1986 Saddam International Tournament which contained teams from all around the world includingIraq,Brazil,Kenya,Jordan,Morocco andKuwait.[5] Being managed by Ammo Baba, they achieved the league in the1986–87 season,[6] along with theIraq FA Cup, after beatingAl-Jaish.[7] In the1987 Asian Club Championship they were knocked out in the final group stage. Another double success came under the management ofJamal Salih in the1987–88 season.[7][8] In the1988–89 season, Al-Rasheed achieved the league to be their last ever achievement.[9] Al-Rasheed became the first team to win the league three times in the row since it started in 1974.
Al-Rasheed also achieved theArab Champions Cup three times in the row; defeatingUSM El Harrach in1985 inAl-Shaab Stadium,[10]ES Tunis in1986 inStade El Menzah,[11] and beatingAl-Ittihad in the final of1987 inPrince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium.[12] Al-Rasheed also finished third in the1989 Arab Cup Winners' Cup. Al-Rasheed's biggest achievement in AFC competitions is that they reached the 2nd place of the1988–89 Asian Club Championship, after losing by the away goal rule toAl Sadd.[13] They were the first Iraqi team to reach the final of Asia's main club competition sinceAliyat Al-Shorta in1971. In the next edition of the Asian Club Championship in1989–90, Al-Rasheed were very close to reaching the final again, but they failed to. They also failed to win the league title, and they failed to win the cup as they were surprisingly knocked out by lower division team Al-Tijara 3–2 on aggregate. Therefore, they ended the season without winning a trophy.
On 18 August 1990, theIraqi Olympic Committee decided to dissolve Al-Rasheed Sports Club and transfer all of its properties to Al-Karkh Sports Club and replacing Al-Rasheed with Al-Karkh in what is now known as theIraq Stars League.[14] It is believed that the decision to dissolve the club was made bySaddam Hussein, due to Saddam being fed up that the club was very unpopular among supporters and players, and fans often chanted against the team.
In 1984, Al-Rasheed took over theAl-Karkh Stadium and turned it into theirs after renovating it and allowing shops to be opened around it. In the dissolving of Al-Rasheed, the stadium returned to its old name as the stadium of Al-Karkh SC.[14]
| Year | League | Iraq Cup | Super Cup |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983–84 | Promoted (Div. 1) | - | Started in 1986 |
| 1984–85 | not finished | not finished | |
| 1985–86 | Runner-up | not held | Winner |
| 1986–87 | Winner | Winner | not held |
| 1987–88 | Winner | Winner | not held |
| 1988–89 | Winner | Semi-final | not held |
| 1989–90 | Runner-up | Round of 16 | not held |
On July 26, 1990, the second-to-last month of the club's existence:
| Competition | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |
| Asian Club Championship | 25 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 064.00 |
| Total | 25 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 064.00 |
| Type | Competition | Titles | Seasons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | Iraq Stars League | 3 | 1986–87,1987–88,1988–89 |
| Iraqi Premier Division League (second tier) | 1 | 1983–84 | |
| Iraq FA Cup | 2 | 1986–87,1987–88 | |
| Iraqi Super Cup | 1 | 1986 | |
| International | Arab Club Champions Cup | 3s | 1985,1986,1987 |
| Competition | Titles | Seasons |
|---|---|---|
| Uday Saddam Hussein Championship | 1 | 1987 |
| Saddam International Tournament | 1 | 1986 |
| Al-Rasheed Cup | 1 | 1985 |
{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|url= (help)| Arab Club Champions Cup | |
|---|---|
| Arab Unified Club Championship | |
| Arab Champions League | |
| UAFA Club Cup | |
| Arab Club Championship | |
| Arab Club Champions Cup | |
