# Al-Gharafa SC

Al-Gharafa Sports Club (Arabic: نادي الغرافة الرياضي) is a Qatari multi-sports club based in the Al Gharrafa district of Al Rayyan municipality. The club is best known for its football team, although it also has teams for other sports. The club was established on 6 June 1979 as Al-Ittihad and later officially incorporated into the Qatar Football Association on 23 September of that same year. The club was officially renamed to its current form in 2004 to better represent the district of Al-Gharafa, where the club is located.
The club was founded by Sheikh Mohammed bin Jassim Al-Thani, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani, Sheikh Hamad bin Faisal Al-Thani, Sheikh Ali bin Abdullah Al-Thani and Saad Mohammed Al-Rumaihi. In a documentary produced by Al Kass sports channel about the history of the club, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim mentioned that the idea was initially suggested by Saad Al-Rumaihi who was working as a sports journalist at the Al Raya newspaper.

## History
### 1980–2000

Al-Gharafa Sports Club was founded on 6 June 1979 and was formally created on 23 September 1979 as Al-Ittihad by the first president of the board of directors, Khalifa Bin Fahad Bin Mohammed Al-Thani (1979–1982) under resolution no. 9. Al-Gharafa was founded with the intent of creating sports facilities for the youth in the Al Gharrafa region. It did not occur to the leaders that Al-Gharafa would become as tremendously successful as it is today. The name "Al-Ittihad", which when translated into English, means "United", was chosen in the spirit of the brotherhood and solidarity that characterized the club and its leaders. Yellow and blue were selected as the club colors due to the founders' endearment towards the Brazil national team. Al-Gharafa owes much of its success in the early years to the financial and material support of its Sheikh leaders.
As Al-Gharafa was established relatively late compared to other Qatari clubs at the time, it was sent to the Qatari 2nd Division. It dominated the league and won the title on its debut in the 1979/80 season with Egyptian coach Mahmoud Abu Rujaila, as well three more times, the second by defending the championship in the 1980/81 season, and the third in the 1983/84 season, which, subsequently, was the year that their youth team had also won the league. Their first foreign player was Faisal Hannan, a Sudanese footballer who agreed to a contract one year prior to the club's establishment. Additionally, they won the 1986/87 season of the 2nd Division, allowing them to play in the 1987–88 season of the Qatar Stars League. The club ended up winning its first Stars League title in 1991–92, breaking the 16-year deadlock between the three dominant Qatari clubs Al-Arabi, Al Sadd, and Al-Rayyan. Al-Gharafa's youth team also won the league a year later in the 1992/93 season. The club were runners-up in 1994 to Al-Arabi, before winning the Emir of Qatar Cup 4 times in a row, from 1995 to 1998, under coach Jamal Haji.
The club won the league for the second time in the 1997/98 season with 32 points after they edged Al-Rayyan by a margin of 3 points. Al-Rayyan finished runners-up, with Al Sadd in third place. The very next year they finished runners-up to Al-Wakrah SC, however, Al-Gharafa had the best goal difference.

### 2000–2005

On Friday, 28 April 2000, at Khalifa International Stadium, Al-Gharafa won their first Qatar Crown Prince Cup. The match had ended goalless before they beat Al-Rayyan 9–8 in a dramatic penalty shoot-out. They were led by Adel Khamis, the long-time captain of the team. Al-Gharafa also won the Crown Prince Cup in 2010 and 2011.
They won the league championship in the 2000–01 season by defeating Al Sadd in their last game on 1 May 2001 by a scoreline of 1–0. After the match, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, then chairman of the olympic committee, delivered an award to Adel Khamis, as well as gold medals to the whole team and a sum of 500,000 Qatari riyals to the club. Rachid Amrane also won the league top goalscorer with a tally of 16 goals.

### 2005–present

The Qatar Stars League was revamped in the 2004/05 season, with many clubs changing their names (including Al-Gharafa), as well as changing the number of games played each season from 18 to 27. The club won the league this year, with only 1 loss from 27 games, bringing their point tally to 66, which was 14 more than the runners-up, Al-Rayyan. They also won their first Sheikh Jassem Cup that year, on 12 September 2005, after defeating Al Ahli 2–1, courtesy of goals from Rodrigo and Fahad Al Shammari.
The next year they were unsuccessful in retaining the league championship, only finishing runners-up to Al Sadd. Although the next season, they won the league once more, besides scoring the highest number of goals in a season with 72 goals, mainly thanks to the efforts of Araújo, who scored 27 goals that season, shattering Gabriel Batistuta's record of 25. Last competition win for Al Gharafa was Qatari stars cup in 18/19

## Stadium

Al Gharafa plays its home games at Thani bin Jassim Stadium which is situated in the Al Gharafa suburb of Al Rayyan. The stadium holds 27,000 people and was built in 2003. The stadium hosted 2011 AFC Asian Cup and other international competitions. It is planned to expand the existing 27,000 capacity to 44,740 for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

## Youth development

Al Gharafa has one of the largest youth development programmes in the country. It recruits youth players for every age bracket available, and has produced national team players from its academy. They regularly visit local schools, as well as hold school tournaments, and offer students trials. Currently there are approximately 350 players in the club's youth ranks, with 100 players in its academy, and 240 players in grass roots. Break-up is as follows (as of 2013):

### Break-up of all youth players

| Total number of youth players | Playing in national teams | In ASPIRE |
| 350 | 35 | 45 |

### Break-up of academy players

| Category | U–19 | U–17 | U–15 | U–14 | Total no. of players |
| Number of players | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 100 |
| Number of trainers | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 100 |
| Training sessions/week | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 100 |

### Break-up of grass–roots players

| Category | U–12 | U–11 | U–10 | U–9 | U–8 | U–7 | U–6 | U–15 | Total no. of players |
| Number of players | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 20 | 240 |
| Number of trainers | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 240 |
| Training sessions/week | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 240 |

## Honours

* Qatari Stars League
** Winners (7): 1991–92, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10
* Qatari Second Division
** Winners (4): 1979–80, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1986–87
* Emir of Qatar Cup
** Winners (7): 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2009, 2012
* Qatar Crown Prince Cup
** Winners (3): 2000, 2010, 2011
* Qatari Stars Cup
** Winners (3): 2009, 2017–18, 2018–19 (Record)
* Sheikh Jassim Cup
** Winners (2): 2005, 2007
* Arab Cup Winners' Cup
** Winners (1): 1999

### Records & statistics
#### Other records

    Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA GD P Domestic cups AFC Other Competitions 1995–96 QSL5164482221+116 1996–97 QSL3168532214+829 1997–98 QSL11610512313+1032 1998–99 QSL21610423211+2134 1999–2000 QSL4165832415+923 2000–01 QSL5168442719+828 2001–02 QSL11613214218+2441 2002–03 QSL2188822921+832 2003–04 QSL6187563324+926 2004–05 QSL12720617123+4866 2005–06 QSL62781092930-134 2006–07 QSL227111065141+1043 2007–08 QSL12720257235+3762 2008–09 QSL12717555633+2356 2009–10 QSL12216515516+3953 2010–11 QSL22214175131+2043 2011–12 QSL6228772627-131 2012–13 QSL6228682628-230

## Performance in AFC competitions

AFC Champions League :
| Season | Round | Results | Team 2 | Venue | Scorer(s) |
| 8 March 2006 | Group Round | 0 – 2 | Saba Battery | Doha, Qatar | |
| 22 March 2006 | Group Round | 0 – 2 | Al-Wahda | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | |
| 12 April 2006 | Group Round | 4 – 0 | Al-Karamah | Doha, Qatar | A'ala Hubail (2), Lawrence Quaye, Ismaiel Ali |
| 26 April 2006 | Group Round | 1 – 3 | Al-Karamah | Homs, Syria | Lawrence Quaye |
| 3 May 2006 | Group Round | 1 – 4 | Saba Battery | Tehran, Iran | Abdulla Al-Mazroa |
| 17 May 2006 | Group Round | 5 – 3 | Al-Wahda | Doha, Qatar | A'ala Hubail (3), Fahad Al Shammari, Sergio Ricardo |
| 12 March 2008 | Group Round | 1 – 1 | Arbil | Zarqa, Jordan | Araújo |
| 19 March 2008 | Group Round | 2 – 2 | Pakhtakor | Doha, Qatar | Younis Mahmoud, Araújo |
| 9 April 2008 | Group Round | 0 – 1 | Al Qadisiya Kuwait | Kuwait City, Kuwait | |
| 23 April 2008 | Group Round | 0 – 1 | Al Qadisiya Kuwait | Doha, Qatar | |
| 7 May 2008 | Group Round | 0 – 1 | Arbil | Doha, Qatar | |
| 21 May 2008 | Group Round | 0 – 2 | Pakhtakor | Tashkent, Uzbekistan | |
| 10 March 2009 | Group Round | 1 – 3 | Al-Shabab | Doha, Qatar | Araújo |
| 17 March 2009 | Group Round | 2 – 0 | Sharjah | Sharjah, United Arab Emirates | Nasser Kamil, Araújo |
| 8 April 2009 | Group Round | 1 – 3 | Persepolis | Tehran, Iran | Fernandão |
| 21 April 2009 | Group Round | 5 – 1 | Persepolis | Doha, Qatar | Fernandão, Araújo (3), Nashat Akram |
| 6 May 2009 | Group Round | 0 – 1 | Al-Shabab | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | |
| 23 February 2010 | Group Round | 2 – 1 | Al-Jazira | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | Otmane El Assas, Younis Mahmoud |
| 9 March 2010 | Group Round | 3 – 2 | Al-Ahli | Doha, Qatar | Mirghani Al Zain, Saad Al-Shammari, Araújo |
| 23 March 2010 | Group Round | 0 – 3 | Esteghlal | Tehran, Iran | |
| 31 March 2010 | Group Round | 1 – 1 | Esteghlal | Doha, Qatar | Younis Mahmoud |
| 14 April 2010 | Group Round | 4 – 2 | Al-Jazira | Doha, Qatar | Araújo (3), Otmane El Assas |
| 28 April 2010 | Group Round | 1 – 0 | Al-Ahli | Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | Nasser Kamil |
| 11 May 2010 | Round of 16 | 1 – 0 | Pakhtakor | Doha, Qatar | Araújo |
| 15 September 2010 | Quarter-final | 0 – 3 | Al-Hilal | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | |
| 22 September 2010 | Quarter-final | 4 – 2 | Al-Hilal | Doha, Qatar | Mirghani Al Zain, Younis Mahmoud (2), Otmane El Assas |
| 1 March 2011 | Group Round | 0 – 0 | Al-Jazira | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | |
| 15 March 2011 | Group Round | 0 – 1 | Al-Hilal | Doha, Qatar | |
| 5 April 2011 | Group Round | 0 – 2 | Sepahan | Isfahan, Iran | |
| 29 April 2011 | Group Round | 1 – 0 | Sepahan | Doha, Qatar | Amara Diané |
| 4 May 2011 | Group Round | 5 – 2 | Al-Jazira | Doha, Qatar | Younis Mahmoud (3), Amara Diané, Mirghani Al Zain |
| 11 May 2011 | Group Round | 0 – 2 | Al-Hilal | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | |

## Players

As of Qatar Stars League:
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 | QAT | Yousef Hassan |
| 2 | DF | QAT | Abdalla Yousif |
| 3 | FW | QAT | Mohammed Muntari |
| 4 | MF | QAT | Assim Madibo |
| 5 | DF | QAT | Mostafa Essam |
| 6 | DF | QAT | Dame Traoré |
| 7 | MF | ROU | Florinel Coman |
| 8 | MF | ALG | Yacine Brahimi |
| 9 | FW | ESP | Joselu |
| 10 | FW | ESP | Rodrigo (on loan from Al-Rayyan) |
| 11 | MF | QAT | Amro Surag |
| 12 | DF | QAT | Hamid Ismail |
| 15 | GK | ESP | Sergio Rico |
| 16 | MF | QAT | Yousef Houssam $^{U21}$ |
| 17 | MF | QAT | Rabh Boussafi |
| 18 | GK | QAT | Khalifa Ababacar |
| 19 | FW | QAT | Yousef Saeed $^{U21}$ |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | DF | KOR | Jang Hyun-soo |
| 21 | DF | QAT | Saifeldeen Fadlalla |
| 22 | GK | QAT | Hamad El-Kahlout $^{U21}$ |
| 24 | MF | ISL | Aron Gunnarsson |
| 25 | MF | QAT | Ibrahim Khalid $^{U21}$ |
| 28 | DF | TUN | Wajdi Kechrida |
| 29 | MF | URU | Fabricio Díaz |
| 31 | MF | TUN | Mohammed Abdelrahman (captain) |
| 32 | DF | ARG | Matías Nani (on loan from Al-Shamal) |
| 33 | DF | QAT | Chalpan Abdulnasir $^{U21}$ |
| 34 | DF | QAT | Ayoub Al-Ouwi $^{U21}$ |
| 37 | DF | IDN | Ali Syahrian Tampo |
| 40 | GK | QAT | Amine Lecomte |
| 42 | DF | SEN | Seydou Sano |
| 45 | FW | QAT | Waleed Al-Ashwal $^{U21}$ |
| 55 | MF | QAT | Nawaf Al-Riyami $^{U21}$ |
| 80 | FW | QAT | Ahmed Al Ganehi |
| 99 | FW | PLE | Jamal Hamed |

### Out on loan

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 |
| 13 | FW | QAT | Ahmed Alaaeldin (on loan to Al-Arabi) |
| 14 | MF | QAT | Andri Syahputra (on loan to Al-Khor) |
| 44 | DF | QAT | Mohammed Mansour (on loan to Al-Kharaitiyat) |
| 74 | MF | QAT | Jamil Friarkh $^{U21}$ (on loan to Júpiter Leonés) |
| — | MF | QAT | Nasser Al Ahrak (on loan to Al-Shahania) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | QAT | Abdullah Al-Saei (on loan to Al-Khor) |
| — | MF | QAT | Othman Al-Yahri (on loan to Umm Salal) |
| — | MF | QAT | Jassim Al-Zarra (on loan to Al-Wakrah) |
| — | FW | CIV | Yohan Boli (on loan to Al-Khor) |

## Notable players

This list includes players whom have made significant contributions to their national team and to the club. At least 100 caps for the club or 70 caps for their national team is needed to be considered for inclusion. Updated 28 March 2016.
| Domestic players Hamad Shami – 242 caps for Al Gharafa Saad Al-Shammari – 229 caps for Al Gharafa Lawrence Quaye – 221 caps for Al Gharafa Fahad Al Shammari – 203 caps for Al Gharafa Bilal Mohammed – 180 caps for Al Gharafa, 108 caps for Qatar Abdulaziz Ali – 147 caps for Al Gharafa George Kwasi – 132 caps for Al Gharafa Qasem Burhan – 121 caps for Al Gharafa Ibrahim Al-Ghanim – 114 caps for Al Gharafa Yousuf Adam Mahmoud – 114 caps for Al Gharafa Adel Khamis – 102 caps for Qatar Sebastián Soria – 123 caps for Qatar | Foreign players Paulo Wanchope – 73 caps for Costa Rica Otmane El Assas – 174 caps for Al Gharafa and 13 caps for Morocco Younis Mahmoud – 148 caps for Iraq (record) Wesley Sneijder – 134 caps for The Netherlands (record) Fawzi Bashir – 124 caps for Oman Marcel Desailly – 116 caps for France Husain Ali – 101 caps for Bahrain Mohamed Husain – 161 caps for Bahrain (record) Mark Bresciano – 84 caps for Australia Ze Roberto – 84 caps for Brazil Juninho Pernambucano – 40 caps for Brazil Vladimír Weiss – 74 caps for Slovakia Radhi Shenaishil – 80 caps for Iraq Hector Moreno – 122 caps for Mexico Araújo – 113 caps for Al Gharafa |

## Personnel

    As of 14 May 2023
Coaching Staff :
| Head Coach | Pedro Martins |
| Assistant Coach | Rui Pedro Saud Sabah |
| Goalkeeper Coach | Peçanha |
| Conditioning Coach | António Henriques |
| Fitness Coach | Omar Al Bustami |
| Chief Analyst | Yousef Daneshyar |
| Match Analyst | Luís Lobo |
| Performance Analyst | Karim Al-Ganehi |
| Doctor | Sultan Al-Khelaifi |
| Physiotherapist | Rui Drumond Abdelkarim Radivojević |
| Sports Scientist | Alex Mendes |
| Masseur | Amilton Apolinário Thadeu Reis |
| Team Administrator | Ibrahim Stanojević |
| Base Camp Coordinator | Jordi Benavent |
| Academy Manager | Gerard Nus |

## Club officials
### Management

| Position | Staff |
| President | Sh. Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani |
| Vice-President | Sh. Khalid bin Ahmed Al Thani |
| Treasurer | Sh. Thani bin Thamer Al Thani |
| General Secretary | Jassem Al Mansouri |
| Vice Secretary | Ahmed Al Shehhi |
| Board member | Sh. Abdulaziz bin Jassim Al-Thani |
| General Secretary | Sh. Hamad bin Mohammed Al Thani |
| General Secretary | Sh. Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Thani |
| General Secretary | Sh. Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani |
Last updated: 18 December 2014 Source: Board of Directors

## Managerial history

    As of 14 May 2023
* Ibrahim Mohammed Ali "Ibrahoma" (1979)
* Mahmoud Abu Rujaila (c. 1979)
* Hassan Afif (1986–87)
* Saeed Al Missned (1989)
* Sérgio Cosme (1989–90)
* Zoran Đorđević (1991)
* Celso Roth (1992)
* Džemal Hadžiabdić (1 Jan 1992 – 30 June 1999)
* René Meulensteen (1 July 1999 – 30 June 2000)
* Mirsad Fazlić (2000–01)
* Josef Hickersberger (1 July 2001 – 30 June 2002)
* Christian Gourcuff (1 July 2002 – 30 June 2003)
* Walter Meeuws (July 2003 – Dec 2003)
* Carlos Alhinho (Dec 2003 – March 2004)
* Remco Boere (March 2004 – 30 June 2004)
* Bruno Metsu (1 July 2004 – 30 June 2005)
* Harres Mohammed (March 2006 – April 2006)
* Michel Rouquette (April 2006 – Oct 2006)
* Wolfgang Sidka (1 December 2006 – March 2007)
* Youssef Zouaoui (March 2007 – July 2007)
* Edi Stöhr (1 July 2007 – 25 March 2008)
* Marcos Paquetá (March 2008 – July 2009)
* Caio Júnior (1 July 2009 – 13 March 2011)
* Leonardo Vitorino (March 2011 – March 2012)
* Bruno Metsu (16 March 2010 – 14 March 2011)
* Paulo Silas (15 March 2012 – 27 November 2012)
* Habib Sadegh (Nov 2012 – Dec 2012)
* Alain Perrin (20 Dec 2012 – 21 February 2013)
* Habib Sadegh (Feb 2013 – Aug 2013)
* Zico (2 Aug 2013 – 29 January 2014)
* Habib Sadegh (29 Jan 2014 – 7 February 2014)
* Diego Aguirre (7 Feb 2014 – 7 June 2014)
* Marcos Paquetá (7 June 2014 – 6 June 2015)
* Péricles Chamusca (6 June 2015 – 30 December 2015)
* Pedro Caixinha (30 Dec 2015 – 9 March 2017)
* Habib Sadegh (2017)
* Jean Fernandez (2017)
* Bülent Uygun (2017–2018)
* Christian Gourcuff (19 May 2018 – 3 June 2019)
* Slaviša Jokanović (17 Jun 2019 – 27 May 2021)
* Andrea Stramaccioni (1 Jul 2021 – 31 Oct 2022)
* Pedro Martins (7 Nov 2022 – present)

### Notes

* Note 1 denotes caretaker role