Erbil SC

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Erbil SC

Full name	Erbil Sports Club
Nickname(s)	Yellow Castle
Founded	3 November 1968; 55 years ago (3 November 1968)
Ground	Franso Hariri Stadium
Capacity	25,000
Chairman	Walid Arab
Manager	Abbas Obed
League	Iraq Stars League
2022–23	Iraqi Premier League, 6th of 20
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Erbil Sports Club (Arabic: نادي أربيل الرياضي Kurdish: Yaney Werzişîy Hewlêr / یانەی وەرزشیی هەولێر) is a professional sports club based in the city of Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq that plays in the Iraq Stars League, the first-tier of Iraqi football. Erbil also fields a team in the Kurdistan Premier League.

For the first time in its history, Erbil became champions of the Iraqi Premier League after beating Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (1–0) in the final game on Friday, 6 July 2007. On 24 August 2008, Erbil retained their status as Iraqi Premier League champions with a win over Baghdad based Al-Zawraa. On 16 July 2009 Erbil became the champion of Iraq's super league for the third consecutive year after beating Najaf FC. They also won the league in 2012 with only one loss.

Erbil Sport Club is the first Iraq team to qualify for the Asian Champions League and the Arab Champions League. In 2012 and 2014 they reached the AFC Cup final but lost both times. Erbil SC is the first Iraqi Premier League team to get players from outside Iraq.

History[edit]

Foundation[edit]

Erbil SC was founded on 3 November 1968, by the former Kurdistan-Iraq Football Association and spent many years in mid-table obscurity, occasionally challenging the top Iraqi sides.^[1]

2004–2005[edit]

After the turn of the century and the beginning of the Iraq War, Erbil FC has dramatically improved and have become a real powerhouse in Iraqi club football. Top Iraqi players from southern Iraq and international players from around the world have begun coming to the kurdistan region and to Erbil SC to play their trade with good wages and relative safety.^[1]

Nadhim Shaker and glory years[edit]

In the summer of 2005, Shaker left rivals Duhok SC to coach Erbil. In the 2005–06 season, Erbil started slow, only just managing to finish third in Group A just ahead of Sirwan 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 giants Najaf FC in a two-legged home and away tie. Erbil were beaten by Najaf 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 didn't take place as in the other semi-final match between the two Baghdad giants, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya and Al-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.

Franso Hariri Stadium[edit]

Franso Hariri Stadium is the stadium where Erbil Sport Club play their home games. It is a multi-use stadium in Erbil. The stadium holds 25,000. It was built in 1992.

After the assassination of Franso Heriri on 18 February 2001, who actively supported rebuilding the stadium, the Kurdistan Regional Government renamed it in his memory.

In July 2009, Franso Hariri Stadium became Iraq national football team's home venue after the green-light from AFC to host the Iraqi national and clubs teams in Erbil.^[2] However, due to technical problems, FIFA abandoned the idea of having more national games being hosted in the stadium.

Rivalries[edit]

Erbil SC's main rival is Duhok SC with whom they contest the South Kurdistan derby. Also, the rivalry between Erbil SC and Zakho SC is known as the "Kurdish derby".^[3] Within the Kurdish Premier League, they also have a Derby against Peshmerga Hawler SC, which is another club situated inside Erbil.

Honours[edit]

Performance in AFC competitions[edit]

• AFC Champions League: 1 appearance

2008: Group Stage

• AFC Cup: 6 appearances

2009: Quarter-finals

2011: Semi-finals

2012: Runners-up

2013: Round of 16

2014: Runners-up

2015: Group Stage

Individual honours[edit]

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup

The following players have played in the FIFA Confederations Cup whilst playing for Erbil:

• 2009 – Luay Salah

Current squad[edit]

First-team squad[edit]

As of 18 October 2022

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 GK  IRQ Hussein Ali Joli — GK  IRQ Mohammed Azad Noori 12 GK  IRQ Hassanin Mohammed 1 GK  IRQ Rebaz Abdullah 20 GK  IRQ Ahmed Rebwar 30 DF  IRQ Ahmed Ibrahim Khalaf 4 DF  BRA Hélio 5 DF  IRQ Niaz Mohammed 3 DF  IRQ Omar Jengi 31 DF  IRQ Herdi Siamand 34 DF  IRQ Ahmed Hasan Maknzi 16 DF  IRQ Karrar Faleh 23 DF  IRQ Kosrat Baiz 2 DF  BRA Bruno Oliveira 77 DF  IRQ Halo Fayaq 32 MF  IRQ Didar Ghazi 13 MF  IRQ Ali Shakhwan 21 MF  IRQ Mohammed Saleh

No. Pos. Nation Player 27 MF  IRQ Rawa Yousef 33 MF  IRQ Ali Sarhan 30 MF  IRQ Amir Ismail 19 MF  IRQ Muayed Abdul Baset 6 MF  IRQ Jasim Mohammed 8 MF  IRQ Akam Hashem 7 FW  IRQ Ahmed Sartip 36 FW  IRQ Mohammed Muhsen 10 FW  IRQ Safin Mansor 29 FW  IRQ Barzan Sherzad Rashid 14 FW  IRQ Mazin Fayyadh 15 FW  IRQ Abdul Qadir Ayoub 17 FW  NGA Shuaibu Ibrahim 11 FW  IRQ Amjad Radhi — FW  IRQ Sherko Karim — FW  CZE Jakub Yunis

Out on loan[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  IRQ Zidane Abduljabbar (on loan at Karbala SC until the end of the 2022–23 season) — MF  IRQ Rebaz Rahim (on loan at Peshmerga S until the end of the 2022–23 season)

Recent history[edit]

• From 2004 to 2005 season, the competition changed from League system to various rounds including table and knockout rounds.
• From 2011 to 2012 season, the competition went back to the single league system.
• From 2014 to 2015 season, the competition returned to a system with various rounds.
• From 2016 to 2017 season, the competition went back to the single league system.

Managerial history[edit]

Name Nationality Years Yahya Alwan 2004–05 Nadhim Shaker 2005–07 Akram Salman 2007–08 Thair Ahmed 2008–10 Ayoub Odisho 2010–11 Nizar Mahrous 2012–13 Rodion Gačanin 2012-2013 Ayoub Odisho 2013–15 Ahmad Salah 2015 Thair Ahmed 2015–17 Ali Wahab 2017–18 Emad Aoda 25 August 2018 – 6 December 2018 Nadhum Shaker 8 December -26 April 2019 Akram Ahmad Salman 28 April 2019 – 5 October 2019 Rodion Gačanin 19 October 2019 – 10 February 2021 Luay Salah 11 February 2021 – 15 May 2021 Taha Kader 15 May 2021 – 16 October 2021 Tarek Jarraya 16 October 2021 – 11 December 2021 Nizar Mahrous 23 December 2021 Ali Wahab[4] Present

Nationality is indicated by the corresponding FIFA country code(s).

Current technical staff[edit]

Position	Name	Nationality
Manager:	Ali Wahab
Assistant manager:	Taha Qadir
Assistant manager:	Shwan Anwar Hasan
Goalkeeping coach:	Abdulkhalq Mahmoud
Medic:	Abdukhalq Muhammed
Administrative director:	Pusho Khasraw
U-16 Manager:	Emad Asaad

Updated to match played 2024
Source: http://erbilsc.com/ku_football_team1.aspx

See also[edit]

• Iraqi clubs in the AFC Cup
• Iraqi clubs in the AFC Champions League

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Official logo (archived 16 March 2022)
• Official Site (archived 20 February 2014) (in Arabic)
• Club squad on the AFC official website (archived 30 September 2018)