 | |||
| Full name | Erbil Sports Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Yellow Castle - Mother Club - Emperor | ||
| Founded | 3 November 1968; 57 years ago (3 November 1968) | ||
| Ground | Franso Hariri Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 25,000 | ||
| Chairman | Safin Yassin | ||
| Manager | Basim Qasim | ||
| League | Iraq Stars League | ||
| 2024–25 | Iraq Stars League, 12th of 20 | ||
Erbil Sports Club (Kurdish:یانەی وەرزشیی ھەولێر,romanized: Yaney Werzişîy Hewlêr,Arabic:نادي أربيل الرياضي) is an Iraqi professionalsports club based in the city ofErbil,Kurdistan Region,Iraq that plays in theIraq Stars League, the first-tier ofIraqi football.
Erbil are one of the most successful teams in Iraq, and the most successful from the Kurdish region, having won the league title 4 times. In 2012, Erbil became the first Iraqi team to reach the final of theAFC Cup, a feat they repeated in 2014AFC Cup but lost both times.
Erbil also fields a football team in theKurdistan Premier League, as well as a team in the majority of sports across the country.
Erbil SC was founded on 3 November 1968, by the former Kurdistan-Iraq Football Association and spent decades in regional leagues and lower league competitions.[1] The team finally qualified for the top division for the first time in the1987-88 season, where they finished 15th out of 16th in the league, however the team escaped relegation as the FA decided to not relegate any team due to a planned expansion on the league.[2]The following season, the FA adapted a bizarre league and playoff style, teams where split into one of four groups, where the top two teams from each group come together to play a knockout style playoff. Erbil surprisingly finished in the top ten.[3] In the1989-1990 season, Erbil would finish bottom of the league with only 8 points, however they would once again benefit from the FA deciding to increase the number of teams, and as such escaped relegation.[4]
At the halfway stage of the1990-91 season, Erbil were forced to withdraw from the competition due to the1991 uprisings in Iraq. so theIraq U19 team was brought in to play the remaining half of the season.[5][6]
The club was allowed to stay in the league, after it was decided that their withdrawal was outside of their control in the previous season. In the 1991–92 season, Erbil finished bottom of the league with 19 points from 38 matches, however that season the FA decided that the bottom three teams would play a play-off to decide the relegated team, Erbil managed to survive the playoffs, meaning they managed to stay in the league despite finishing bottom for the third time in their young history.[7]
Erbil would continue to avoid relegation for three more seasons, however their stint in the stars league came to an end in the94-95 season where they finished in the bottom 12 teams, all of whom were relegated.[8]
Erbil would spend the next four seasons in the second division, before winning the 1998-99 second division title, which earned them a return to the top flight ahead of the new Millennium.[9] In their best ever result up to that point, Erbil finished 10th that season, with the team winning 70 points in a 50-game season. That same year, Erbil beatNineveh side Makhmur 13-0 in theIraqi FA Cup, which is the second-largest margin of victory in the competition's history.[10]
ierErbil finished 6th in the2001-02 season, continuing their upward trajectory in domestic football.[11]
The following two seasons were abandoned due to the2003 Iraq war and the ensuing internal conflicts,[12] which made it unsafe to continue holding football matches.[13]
The football federation was successful in hosting the 2004–05 season, where Erbil reached the final stage but finished 2nd in their group behind Al Quwa Al Jawiya.[14]
In the summer of 2005, Nadhim Shaker left rivalsDuhok SC to coach Erbil. In the2005–06 season, Erbil started slow, only just managing to finish third in Group A just ahead ofSirwan FC on goal difference to advance to the second round. Erbil topped their group in the second round to advance to the end of season play-offs where they met southern giantsNajaf FC in a two-legged home and away tie. Erbil were beaten byNajaf by a 4–1 scoreline which basically dented all hope of reaching the play-off final for the title. In the home leg, Erbil were winning 1–0 when the match got suspended with a replay taking place five days later with the match resulting in a 1–1 scoreline. This meant Erbil were knocked out of a chance of winning the championship but would instead take part in the third-place play-off match. This match did not take place as in the other semi-final match between the twoBaghdad giants,Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya andAl-Zawra'a. The second match of the leg was cancelled as the Al-Quwa players walked off the pitch, resulting in their disqualification and Erbil getting the automatic third-place finish. All in all, it was a strong first season under Shaker and that summer the team improved personnel ready for the next season. Their 3rd-place finish meant that the team would qualify to the Arab Club Championship.
The great season that Erbil enjoyed led to a spur of investment, combined with the several deteriorating security situation inBaghdad and the southern provinces, Erbil became the premier destination for local players, includingLuay Salah, and the runner up top goal scorer of the previous season,Mustafa Karim.[15] Erbil rode that momentum throughout the season, leading to them winning the league title for the first time in the06-07 season. Erbil became the first Kurdish club to win the Iraqi league title, and only the third team outside of Baghdad to win the title.[16] Ahmed Salah was the top goal scorer that season, the first time a player from Erbil to finish as top goal scorer of the season, and the team was captained byRafid Badr Al-Deen.
Winning the Iraqi league meant that Erbil would take part of theAsian Champions League for the first time ever[17] Their first match was against Qatari sideAl-Gharafa SC, which finished in a 1–1 draw.[18] The team finished 3rd in group D with 8 points.
The team hiredAkram Salman to be the team's new coach. The side would continue their great performances locally heading into the following season. the team would finish top of their group in the first two stages, as they reached the final of the playoffs to decide the league champions, in front of a crowd of 50,000 fans in Baghdad, defeated Al-Zawraa'a to retain their league title, afterAhmed Salah Alwan scored the winner in the 99th minute during extra time[19]
Due to the poor performance of Iraqi clubs in theAsian Champions League, the club would qualify to Asia's second-tier club competition, TheAFC Cup. The team reached the quarter final before they lost against Al-Kuwait club.[20] Ahead of the08-09 season, Erbil hired managerThair Ahmed to replace Akram Salman, who left Erbil to go manage in Jordan withAl-Wehdat SC. The team also signed Gunian Ismail Bango and Senegalese Camara Flouseen, who became the first foreign players to play in Iraq.[21] The change in personnel did not effect Erbil, who won their third straight league title, after beating Al Najaf on penalties.[22] The duo of Ahmed Salah and Luay Salah finished as the top two top goal scorers in the league, with 15 and 11 goals respectively.
Ahead of the2009–10 Iraqi Premier League, Erbil aimed to become the first Iraqi team to win the league title 4 times in a row. They started off the season strong, finishing top of the Northern group, as well as top of Group 2 to reach the Semi Final againstAl-Talaba, in the home leg played on theFranso Hariri Stadium, Erbil missed two penalties during the match, which ended in a 1–0 defeat. Al-Talaba went on the defensive in the return leg and managed to secure a 0–0 draw which was enough to knock Erbil out of title contention on aggregate. Erbil's northern rivalsDuhok would go on to win the league.[23]
Thefollowing season, Erbil aimed to re-gain their supremacy over the Iraqi league title, this time under the tutelage ofAyoub Odisho. Erbil once again topped the Northern group, qualifying to the final to faceAl-Zawra'a.[24] The match ended in a draw, and Al-Zawra'a won on penalties, withNabeel Sabah missing a penalty in the shootout. StrikerLuay Salah was the league's top goal scorer. In the2011 AFC Cup, Erbil reached the Semi Final, before losing against Al Kuwait[25]
Erbil finally broke their trophy draught and returned to winning ways in the11-12 season. The league format returned to a traditional round-robin format. The team dominated throughout the season under Syrian managerNizar Mahrous, losing only one league match, againstKarbala SC. Amjad Radhi was the team's top goal scorer during the season, and the second in the league overall with 23 goals.[26] Radhi was also influential in the2012 AFC Cup, where he was joint top goal scorer as Erbil reached the final of the tournament, but lost 4-0 toKuwait SC.[27]
In the12-13 season, Amjad Radhi continued his great goalscoring form, finishing as the league's top goal scorer. However that was not enough to win the league, as Erbil finished in 2nd place, two points behind Al-Shorta.[28] Erbil threatened to withdraw from the league after the team suffered racist chants in their match againstAl-Quwa Al-Jawiya,[29] however the team finished out the season as scheduled. In the2013 AFC Cup, the team lost to Syrian side Al-Shorta in the round of 16.[30]
The following season was ended prematurely while Erbil were in second place due to theISIS invasion of Iraq. Erbil reached the final of the2014 AFC Cup, once again losing to a Kuwaiti side, this time toQadsia SC on penalties.[31]Hawar Mulla Mohammed andAli Faez missed in the shootout.
The following season, Erbil aimed to break their duck in Asia and push hard for a continental trophy, signing bothNashat Akram andYounis Mahmoud specifically to play in the2015 AFC Cup[32] That plan ended in failure as the team was knocked out from the group stage.
After a decade of dominating domestic football and reaching two continental finals, financial burdens hit Erbil hard, due to the unsustainable levels of spending in order to achieve their success, as well decreased economic activity due to the war on ISIS, which affected sponsorship money from local companies. The team was bailed out in February 2015 by the local government, receiving a US$400,000 grant in order to finish the season.[33] This came after the club had already sold prominent players such asJalal Hassan,Saad Abdul-Amir,[34]Amjad Radhi[35] andSaif Salman[36] The team managed to finish 6th in their group in the14-15 season, far from where they are used to
The following season, the team finished in 6th place in their group again. The 16-17 season started off in trouble, as Kurdistan attempted to hold a referendum to leave Iraq. The referendum and its results caused tension in Iraq, between Kurdish and Arab sections in all aspects of society, including sports.[37] These tensions combined with continued financial difficulties caused Erbil's northern rivals Duhok to withdraw from the league, and after 12 rounds of the 16-17 season, Erbil claimed they can no longer continue to play and withdrew from the league.[38] Erbil were relegated due to their withdrawal, returning to the second tier for the first time since 1999
Erbil bounced back to the Premier League immediately, finishing 2nd in the2017–18 Iraqi First Division League. Erbil continued to struggle with financial difficulties, which led to a number of disappointing campaigns back in the first league where they finished in the bottom half of the table. In 2020, Several players sued the club for failure to pay wages.[39] Erbil's issues were exacerbated by disagreements between the Kurdish government and the Iraqi federal government, where the latter paused payments to the Kurdish region over multiple reasons, which caused a financial squeeze as the regional government was unable to pay salaries on time and heavily reduced the grant money given to its sports club.[40] Erbil, and other Kurdish clubs, were also not given access to funds released by the federal governments to the clubs taking part in the Iraqi stars League.[41]
In the 2022-2023 season, Erbil reached the final of the Iraqi FA Cup for the first time, but lost 1-0 to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya.[42]
Erbil play their matches at theFranso Hariri Stadium. The stadium holds 25,000 spectators and was re-built in 1956 under the name Erbil stadium. It was significantly Renovated in 1992.Following the assassination ofFranso Heriri on 18 February 2001, who actively supported rebuilding the stadium, theKurdistan Regional Government renamed it in his memory.
In July 2009, Franso Hariri Stadium received the green light from the AFC to host Erbil matches. It marked the first time a competitive match was held on Iraqi soil since 2003[43] However, due to technical problems,FIFA abandoned the idea of having more national games being hosted in the stadium.[44]
Attempts to stop the FIFA ban on Iraq hosting matches continued to persist by Iraqi officials, with Erbil's stadium considered the most suitable to host football matches. Erbil would host their rivalsDuhok SC in the Fransao Hariri stadium in 2011, despite FIFA's objections.[45] Erbil would go on to host the final of the competition the following year, becoming the first Iraqi stadium to host the final of a continental competition.[46]
In December 2021, a mini riot occurred following the Iraqi FA Cup match againstAl-Shorta SC, spectators of both teams invaded the pitch and reportedly verbally and physically assaulted each other after an away fan raised the Iraqi flag after the match and chanted nationalists slogans. Some minor injuries were reported after the clash.[47][48]
Erbil SC's main rival isDuhok SC with whom they contest theSouth Kurdistan derby. Also, the rivalry between Erbil SC and Zakho SC is known as the "Kurdish derby".[49]Within the Kurdish Premier League, they also have a Derby against Peshmerga Hawler SC, which is another club situated inside Erbil.
| Type | Competition | Titles | Seasons |
|---|---|---|---|
| National | Iraq Stars League | 4 | 2006–07,2007–08,2008–09,2011–12 |
| Iraqi Premier Division League (second tier) | 1 | 1998–99 | |
| Regional | Kurdistan Premier League | 3 | 2009–10,2011–12,2015–16 |
2006-07 –Ahmed Salah Alwan 11 goals2008-09 –Ahmed Salah Alwan 15 goals2010-11 –Luay Salah 17 goals2012-13 –Amjad Radhi 25 goalsAmjad Radhi scored 75 of his 181 goals with Erbil, including the goal he broke the record with Mahmoud Kadhimv. Makhmur,1998–99Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
| Season | Pos. | Pl. | W | D | L | GS | GA | P | AFC CL | AFC Cup | Arab CL | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 12 | 30 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 46 | 29 | ||||
| 2001–02 | 6 | 38 | 20 | 12 | 6 | 61 | 32 | 72 | ||||
| 2002–03 | — | 27 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 44 | 33 | 37 | Abandoned due to war | |||
| 2003–04 | — | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 8 | Abandoned due to war | ||||
| 2004–05 | 5 | 20 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 32 | 23 | |||||
| 2005–06 | 3 | 19 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 16 | |||||
| 2006–07 | 1 | 19 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 34 | 11 | 1st round | ||||
| 2007–08 | 1 | 24 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 33 | 10 | Group stage | ||||
| 2008–09 | 1 | 27 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 55 | 17 | |||||
| 2009–10 | 4 | 42 | 29 | 6 | 7 | 79 | 22 | |||||
| 2010–11 | 2 | 27 | 17 | 6 | 4 | 54 | 21 | Semi-finals | ||||
| 2011–12 | 1 | 38 | 23 | 14 | 1 | 65 | 22 | 83 | Final | |||
| 2012–13 | 2 | 34 | 21 | 7 | 6 | 67 | 34 | 70 | Round of 16 | |||
| 2013–14 | 2 | 21 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 29 | 15 | 42 | Final | Ended prematurely | ||
| 2014–15 | 11 | 18 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 21 | 17 | Group stage | ||||
| 2015–16 | 11 | 17 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 19 | 17 | |||||
| 2016–17 | Withdrew | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Relegated | |||
| 2017–18 | 2 (Div. 1) | Promoted | ||||||||||
| 2018–19 | 11 | 38 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 34 | 36 | 48 | ||||
| 2019–20 | — | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 11 | Abandoned due to COVID-19 | ||||
| 2020–21 | 12 | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 39 | 41 | 44 | ||||
| 2021–22 | 11 | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 37 | 42 | 47 | ||||
| 2022–23 | 6 | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 44 | 39 | 58 | ||||
| 2023–24 | 14 | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 46 | 50 | 41 | ||||
| 2024–25 | 12 | 38 | 15 | 5 | 18 | 49 | 61 | 50 |
|
Nationality is indicated by the correspondingFIFA country code(s).
| Position | Name | Nationality |
|---|---|---|
| Manager: | Basim Qasim | |
| Assistant manager: | - | |
| Assistant manager: | - | |
| Goalkeeping coach: | - | |
| Medic: | - | |
| Administrative director: | - | |
| U-16 Manager: | - |
Updated to match played 2024
Source: http://erbilsc.com/ku_football_team1.aspx
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