# Zakho SC

Zakho Sport Club, (Arabic: نادي زاخو الرياضي) also spelled as Zaxo Sport Club (Kurdish: یانا زاخو یا وه‌رزشی, Yana Zaxo ya Werzişî), is an Iraqi professional sports club based in Zakho, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.

## History

Football in Zakho was played unofficially from the early 1920s with many local amateur games as well as school competitions regularly being held in Zakho or nearby districts. This eventually led to the formation of the first ever football team in Zakho in 1948. This was made up of local workers and young men.

### Beginnings

In 1986 the management team of the Zakho Youth Sporting Center which consisted of president Yousef Dawad Jabo as well as members: Ali Omran, Bashar Rahmallah, Khaled Hussein, Neshan Kerob, Khalat Ramadan and Khwaste Furman came up with the idea of starting Zakho Football Club to replace the Sporting Center or to be a part of it. According to the National Olympic Committee of Iraq one of the requirements for the creation of the club was that there was to be actual participation of the Sporting Center in sports competitions for at least one year before the club could be registered. So the sporting committee set up teams for different age groups and started competing in different friendly matches.

### Regional Championship

In 1986 Zakho competed in a regional tournament in Duhok under the name of Zakho Youth Center against Duhok Police, Duhok Youth Center, Duhok students and Duhok SC. Zakho went on to win the competition after defeating all the participants, including Duhok FC on penalties. In addition to the regional tournament that the Sporting Center achieved, they also found success in other sports such as basketball, wrestling, weightlifting and bodybuilding which improved their establishment bid significantly. Finally, on June 3, 1987 the club was officially registered.

### Debut season

Since the club's inception in 1987 the club did not participate in any competition mandated by the Iraqi FA until 1990 for various reasons. Eventually they participated in the 1990/91 Third Division where they were in the Northern Group alongside At-Ta'mim club, Serwan club, Alkarma and Qurqosh. Each team would play home and away where the winner would go to the final of the 3rd league - the winner of this would be promoted to the Second Division. Zakho would top the group with 15 points but the 1991 uprisings in Iraq led to the cancellation of the remainder of the Iraqi football calendar. Zakho fans everywhere were upset.

### 1991–92 season

The following season saw Zakho to return to sporting activities after head of the Olympic Committee Uday Hussein guaranteed not to interfere with any Northern Iraqi sportsmen. Zakho were once again in the Northern group after being drawn with Duhok SC, Qaraqosh, Al Karama and Tel Afar. Zakho topped the group after 5 wins and 3 draws and qualified to the final round.
In the final round Zakho were to play each of Samawa FC, The Neighborhood and Al Hillah. The format was each team to play each other in a single-legged tie. Zakho won the group with 7 points and were crowned Iraqi Third Division champions and qualified to the second division.

### New stadium

On June 3, 2015 Zakho FC celebrated the opening of their new stadium, known as Zakho International Stadium with an unofficial friendly against the Iraqi national team. The match was notable as Shwan Jalal made his Iraq debut and kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 victory for Iraq. Despite this, the new stadium has been a success and the club's fans hope there will be bright times ahead for Zakho FC.

### Premier League

Zakho continued to compete in the Iraqi Premier League. In 2015-16 the club narrowly missed out on progression to the elite league, finishing 5th in their area group just one point behind the final elite league spot.
Zakho now competes in the unified Iraqi Premier League which has eliminated the initial stages based on area for one league containing all clubs. Zakho finished 16th in the 2016-17 season having won twice and drawn 16 times during the seasons 32 games. Zakho lost the other 14 games.

## Rivalries

Zakho SC's biggest rivals are their neighbours Duhok SC, with whom they contest the Bahdinan Derby. Also, the rivalry between Zakho SC and Erbil SC is known as the "Kurdish derby".

## Current squad
### First-team squad

    As of 21 August 2024
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | IRQ | Omran Zaki |
| 2 | DF | JOR | Mohammad Abu Hashish $^{FGN}$ |
| 3 | DF | BRA | Patrick Marcelino $^{FGN}$ |
| 4 | DF | IRQ | Shivan Jameel |
| 6 | MF | IRQ | Lass Hamawand |
| 7 | MF | YEM | Nasser Al-Gahwashi $^{ARB}$ |
| 10 | FW | SYR | Mahmoud Al-Aswad $^{ARB}$ |
| 12 | GK | IRQ | Ali Kadhim |
| 13 | GK | IRQ | Ali Abdul-Kareem |
| 14 | MF | IRQ | Amjad Attwan |
| 16 | MF | IRQ | Hady Saleh Karim |
| 17 | DF | JOR | Yousef Raed |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | MF | IRQ | Hamid Haji |
| 21 | DF | IRQ | Ramadhan Sediq |
| 23 | MF | BRA | Moisés Wolschick $^{FGN}$ |
| 25 | MF | IRQ | Mohammed Ali Abbood |
| 26 | MF | NGA | Aliyu Yau Adam |
| 29 | FW | BRA | Gustavo Henrique $^{FGN}$ |
| 30 | DF | IRQ | Ahmed Ibrahim (captain) |
| 32 | DF | IRQ | Alaa Raed |
| 33 | DF | IRQ | Ahmed Nadhim |
| 35 | MF | NGA | Echeta Ugonna Deputy |
| 90 | MF | IRQ | Jiloan Hamad |
| 99 | FW | IRQ | Ahmed Yasin |

### Players with dual citizenship

* Yousef Raed
* Mohammad Abu Hashish

## Current technical staff

Updated to match played 28 June 2020 Source: awajelpress.com

## Former players

* Arian Sevok

## Managerial history

* Khodr Wakohdar (1986–1987)
* Amir Abdul Aziz (1987–1990)
* Pauls Quryaquos (1992–1993)
* Nori Zainal (1993–1994)
* Mohammed Ahmed Mulla (1995–1996)
* Sadeq Musa (1996–1997)
* Ali Hilal (1997–1998)
* Saleem Malakh (1998–1999)
* Mohammed Kadhim Mizyad (1999–2000)
* Hadi Mtanesh (2002–2004)
* Saleem Malakh (2004–2005)
* Adel Abdul Qader (2005–2006)
* Tariq Al Hejiya (2006–2007)
* Sabah Abdul Hassan (2007–2008)
* Adel Abdul Qader (2007)
* Talib Fadhel (2007)
* Manaf Shekho (2007)
* Adel Abdul Qader (2008)
* Ammori Ahmed (2009–2010)
* Walid Dhahad (2010)
* Nazar Ashraf (2010)
* Saadi Toma (2010–2011)
* Suleyman Ramadhan (2011)
* Basim Qasim (2011)
* Nadhim Shaker (2011–2012)
* Mohammad Kwid (2012–2014)
* Ali Hadi (2014–2015)
* Ilie Stan (2015)
* Marin Ion (2016)
* Essam Hamad Salem (2016)
* Marian Mihail (2016)
* Ahmed Wali (2016)
* Dorinel Munteanu (2017)
* Hadi Ahmed (2017)
* Emad Aoda (2017)
* Mohammed Yousef (2017)
* Haidar Obeid Jassim (2017)
* Salih Radhi (2017–2018)
* Haidar Obeid Jassim (2018)
* Ahmad Kadhim Assad (2019)
* Abdul-Hafeedh Arbeesh (2019)
* Ali Hadi (2019–2020)
* Ahmad Salah Alwan (2020–2021)
* Haitham Miteb (2021)
* Sami Bahat (2021)
* Abdul-Wahab Abu Al-Hail (2021–2022)
* Firas Al-Khatib (2022)
* Hamza Hadi (2022)
* Haidar Abdul-Amir (2022–2023)
* Talal Al-Bloushi (2023–)

## Honours

League
* Iraqi Premier Division League (second tier)
** Runners-up (2): 2001–02, 2018–19
* Iraqi First Division League (third tier)
** Winners (1): 1991–92
Cup
* Kurdistan Cup
** Winners (2): 2010–11, 2011–12
* Kurdistan Super Cup
** Winners (2): 2010–11, 2011–12