 | |||
| Full name | Water & Power Development Authority Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Watermen | ||
| Short name | WAP | ||
| Founded | 1960; 65 years ago (1960) | ||
| Ground | Railway Stadium,Lahore | ||
| Owner | WAPDA | ||
| Head Coach | Tanveer Ahmed | ||
WAPDA Football Club serves as thefootball section ofWater & Power Development Authority. It is based inLahore,Punjab,Pakistan. The club used to compete in theNational Football Championship andPakistan Premier League. The club regularly participates in theNational Football Challenge Cup.
WAPDA has beenPakistan champions 8 times, winning four titles in theNational Football Championship, and fourPakistan Premier League titles including the inaugural edition in 2004.[1] They are the only Pakistani club to finish the seasonunbeaten in the2007–08 season.[2]
WAPDA football team was established shortly after the formation of WAPDA Sports Board in 1960. In 1961, they already started featuring in several domestic matches, including participating in the Lahore District Football League.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
WAPDA emerged as a departmental power in the early 1980s, winning theNational Football Championship title in their maiden appearance in the national competition after defeatingHabib Bank in the final.[9][10][11]
In 1991, WAPDA won their second National Football Championship title defeating Habib Bank in the final.[1] Hence, WAPDA's first ever Asian competition appearance was in the1991 Asian Club Championship, where they lost 5–0 toDhaka Mohammedan SC away, and drew 0–0 at home, thus losing 5–0 on aggregate.[12]
In 1992, WAPDA won theNational Games of Pakistan football competition under head coachMuhammad Aslam Japani, defeating Punjab Reds in the final atMinto Park inLahore.[13][14]
In the early 2000s, WAPDA won two consecutive National Football Championship titles in 2001 and 2003.[10]
Following the disbandment of the National Championship in 2003, WAPDA became the inaugural champions of the newly formed Pakistan Premier League in2004, with their strikerArif Mehmood, finishing top scorer.[2] The team subsequently represented Pakistan in theAFC President's Cup 2005, losing both of their games againstBlue Star SC andHello United and defeatedDordoi Bishkek 1–0 in their last group stage match as they were knocked-out of out the group stages.
In the2007 Pakistan Premier League, WAPDA finished the seasonunbeaten after defeating Pakistan Army on the final day. They became the first Pakistani club to finish the season unbeaten, earning the title ofthe Invincibles.[10] The club's next appearance in Asian competition was in2008 AFC President's Cup, where once again they finished at bottom of their group, drawing one and losing two matches.
After winning the2008 Pakistan Premier League, the team featured in the2009 AFC President's Cup. WAPDA finished second in their group and qualified for semi-finals after being the best second-placed in the tournament, WAPDA faced their group-mateRegar-TadAZ in the semi-finals, where WAPDA lost 4–3 atextra-time.
WAPDA clinched another Pakistan Premier League title in2010, subsequently making an appearance in2011 AFC President's Cup, where they finished third in their group and were knocked out. In 2010, the team also won theNational Games after defeatingPakistan Air Force in the final.[15][16] In 2012, WAPDA again clinched gold at the National Games after defeatingPakistan Police.[17][18]
In 2017, with the Pakistan Football Federation still paralysed by internal disputes and official competitions suspended,National Bank of Pakistan organised a separate2017 NBP President's Cup, which KRL won after defeating WAPDA 1–0 in the final.[19]
The team returned for the2018–19 Pakistan Premier League season after years of federation turmoil and football inactivity, ending fifth in the table.[20]
In 2020, former international defenderTanveer Ahmed took over as WAPDA head coach.[21][22] subsequently in2020, WAPDA won their firstNational Challenge Cup title after defeatingSui Southern Gas, this was WAPDA's first major trophy in almost a decade since the 2010 Pakistan Premier League title.[21]
Following the domestic football revamp in the country in 2023, departmental clubs including WAPDA remained competing in theNational Football Challenge Cup.[23][24] In the2023–24 National Football Challenge Cup, WAPDA won the title after defeatingSA Gardens in the final.[25]
WAPDA's football team is administered centrally by the WAPDA Sports Board, established in 1960, which organises annual inter-unit sports competitions across WAPDA bodies. The representative side is drawn from footballers employed across WAPDA-affiliated companies, includingHESCO,LESCO,MEPCO,GEPCO,FESCO, NTDC andQESCO.[26][27]
In domestic cup play, WAPDA have on occasion entered a regional unit side. For the2011 National Football Challenge Cup, WAPDA fielded their Multan-region team, MEPCO.
TheWAPDA department operates the WAPDA Sports Complex inKot Lakhpat constructed in 2002, which includes a main ground usable for athletics and football.[28]
However like several Pakistan domestic football teams, WAPDA do not have a dedicated, club-owned stadium for top-flight fixtures,[29][30] and have usedRailway Stadium in Lahore for most of its home fixtures.[31][32][33]
Muhammad Aslam Japani (1990–1992)Khalid Butt (2004–2011) Mohammad Habib (caretaker, 2010)[a]Sharafat Ali (2011–2013)Khalid Butt (2013–2015) Mohammad Habib (2016–2017)Khalid Butt (2017–2019)Tanveer Ahmed (2020–present)Win Draw Loss
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | First leg | Second leg | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991–92 | Asian Club Championship | Qualifying Stage |  Dhaka Mohammedan | 0–5 | 0–0 | 0–5 |
| 2005 | AFC President's Cup | Group stage |  Blue Star SC | 0–1 | ||
 Hello United | 1–2 | |||||
 Dordoi-Dynamo | 1–0 | |||||
| 2008 | AFC President's Cup | Group stage |  Regar-TadAZ | 1–2 | ||
 Nepal Police Club | 1–1 | |||||
| Dhaka Abahani | 0–1 | |||||
| 2009 | AFC President's Cup | Group stage | Regar-TadAZ | 0–0 | ||
| Nepal Police Club | 0–0 | |||||
 Taiwan Power Company | 3–1 | |||||
| Semi-finals | Regar-TadAZ | 3–4 | ||||
| 2011 | AFC President's Cup | Group stage | Nepal Police Club | 2–0 | ||
| Taipower | 0–3 | |||||
 Balkan | 0–1 | |||||
