Al-Ittihad SC Aleppo

The club was founded on 20 January 1949 under the name Halab Al-Ahli Club, by the merge of three smaller football teams in Aleppo: Al-Janah (The Wing), Assad Al-Shahba (Lions of Shahba) and Al-Nejmeh (The Star), before getting recognized officially by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on 24 September 1953. Prior to the foundation of the Syrian official football league, the club have competed in various regional competitions in the Aleppo Governorate such as the regional league of Aleppo and the Aleppo Municipality Shield. The first major success in the club's history was winning the Syrian Cup in the 1964–65 season, when they beat Barada SC 4–1 in the final.^[6]

The club have participated in the first ever Syrian football league in 1966–67 when they became champions.^[7] In the following league season, the club managed to defend the title. In 1972, the name of the club was changed to Al-Ittihad SC Aleppo by the decision of the Syrian government.^[8] Since then, they have never relegated to the bottom level.^{[citation needed]}

The 1972–73 season was also success, as despite the league being suspended, the club managed to win the Syrian Cup.^[6] Despite being among the most successful clubs in the country, they only managed to win the league title in the 1976–77 season when they overtook their later rivals Al-Karamah SC. Until 1982, Al-Ahli regularly placed third in the league.^{[citation needed]}

Everything changed in the 1981–82 season when Al-Ahli won the Syrian Cup and reached the final of the Syrian Super Cup, losing 1–2 to Al-Karamah SC. The same success in the cup was recorded by the club in 1984 and 1985.^[6] In the 1985–86 season, the club made its first appearance in an Asian competition, advancing from the group stage at the Asian Club Championship and finishing in 4th place after losing to Krama Yudha Tiga Berlian.^[9] In the following seasons, the club managed to finish second at most.^{[citation needed]}

The last time in this period, the club managed to achieve the league championship in 1993 and 1995, beating long standing rival Al-Karamah. In addition to both league titles, they also won the Cup in 1994 over Jableh SC.^[6] After this seasons, the club experienced a loss of quality, which was reflected in the club's poor results in domestic competitions.^[10]

In the 2004–05 season, after a successful group stage of the league, the club took part in the title, and then, after winning the cup final over Al-Majd SC, also the Syrian Cup victory.^[11][6] In the 2005–2006 season, Al-Ahli managed to win the Syrian Cup after they dominated the final against Tishreen SC 3–0.^[12] For the first time in their history, they took part in the AFC Champions League, where they took third place in the group after defeating Pakhtakor and Foolad.^[13] In the 2007–08 season, the club finished third overall in the league behind Al Karamah and Al Majd SC. The club also participated in the 2008 AFC Champions League, defeating Sepahan twice in the group stage (2–1, 2–0).^[14] In April 2009, after two years, the club sacked its Romanian coach Valeriu Tița.^[15]

In the 2010 season, during its first participation in the AFC Cup, Al-Ittihad was able to go from second place in the group to the playoffs.^[16] In the round of 16 of the competition, they met Kuwait SC, which they defeated 5–4 on penalties after a 1–1 draw in regular time. In the quarter-finals, they advanced over Kazma SC, which they defeated 3–2 and 1–0. In the semi-finals, they beat Muangthong United 2–1 on the score after a close double-header.^[17] In the final of the AFC Cup, they met with Qadsia SC, with whom they drew 1–1 after regular time (Dyab scored a goal for Ittihad) and beat them 4–2 after penalties (Radwan Kalaji scored the decisive penalty).^[18] They became only the second Syrian football club to win the Asian club competition.^[19]

In the 2010–11 season, the club won the Syrian Cup, defeating Al-Wathba SC 3–1 in the final. In the same season, the club failed to reach the AFC Champions League play-offs, losing to Al Sadd SC 1–5.^[20] In the group stage of the 2011 AFC Cup, they first beat Al-Saqr 2–1, but then lost to Qadsia SC 0–2.^[21] In other matches, they drew Shurtan Guzar 1–1 and 0–0, won against Al-Saqr SC 2–0 and lost to Qadsia 2–3.^[21]

In the 2011–12 season, the club was playing to stay in the Syrian Premier League and withdrew from the 2012 Syrian Cup in the semi-finals due to the conflict in the country.^[22] The club also participated in the 2012 AFC Cup, despite not being able to play at home ground, they beat Qadsia 1–0 and drew with Al-Faisaly SC 0–0.^[23]

The club had to play the entire 2012–13 season in Damascus due to security reasons arising from the beginning of the Battle of Aleppo. Despite this, it placed in mid-table in the league and retained its league affiliation.^[24] Due to the security situation, Al-Ittihad also had to withdraw from the 2013 Syrian Cup, for which it was threatened with a two-year ban from participating in domestic competitions, but it finally received an exemption from the federation.^[25]

In the 2013–14 season, the club also played in Damascus and finished in the relegation place in the league, it was saved from relegation by the fact that the clubs in the first division were not interested in entering the SPL.^[26] The club achieved little success in the 2014 Syrian Cup, where they advanced to the semi-finals, where they lost to Baniyas SC 0–2.^[27] In the 2014–15 season, the club was placed in the bottom half of the league table of Group A.^[28]

In the 2015–16 season, Al-Ittihad Ahli of Aleppo SC achieved unexpected success by finishing second in Group B of the SPL, advancing to the Championship group where they finished just three points behind Al-Wahda and Al-Jaish in third place.^[29] The 2016–17 season was a breakthrough from the club's point of view. On 28 January 2017, Al-Ahli finally returned to Aleppo, defeating Hurriya SC 2–1 in a derby match at Ri'ayet al-Shabab Stadium.^[30]

Financially and infrastructurally stabilized Al-Ittihad finished in second place in the 2017–18 season, after losing a tie-breaker to Al-Jaish with whom they were level on points.^[31] They lost to Al-Jaish 0–1 as league vice-champions in the 2018 Syrian Super Cup.^[32]

In the 2018–19 season, they participated as Syrian runners-up in the group stage of the 2019 AFC Cup. Unfortunately, the team managed only one positive result, a 0–0 draw with Al-Najma. They lost the other matches with Al-Jazeera SC and Kuwait SC.^[33]

In the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons, the Al-Ittihad finished sixth and eighth respectively in the Syrian Premier League. Therefore, due to the negative results, the club management gradually dismissed the coaches Ahmad Hawash and Artur Bernardes. A new Croatian coach, Igor Tkalčević, came in their place, but the results of the football team did not improve, as they were only playing for survival in the league until the spring of 2022.^{[citation needed]}

The situation culminated in the resignation of the long-time chairman of the club Bassel Hamwi in March 2022, who was replaced by the new chairman Rasen Martini and the new coach Maher Bahri.^[34] The team, stabilized financially and in play, ended up in fifth place in the SPL.^[35] In the same 2021–22 season, Al-Ahli achieved historic success, after defeating Al-Hurriya and Al-Jaish, the team reached the final of the Syrian Cup, beating Al-Wathba SC 4–3 on penalties.^[36] In 2022, the Syrian General Sports Federation approved the club's name change to Al-Ittihad Ahli of Aleppo SC, inspired by the club's original name Halab Al-Ahli Club; following pleas by the fans to restore the club's original name.^[37]

Al-Ittihad's original home ground since the early 1950s was the Aleppo Municipal Stadium which is considered one of the most historic stadiums in Syria.^[38] At the beginning of the 1990s the club moved to the newly built Al-Hamadaniah Stadium. After the inauguration of the Aleppo International Stadium in 2007, the club decided to play their home games at the Syrian league and AFC competitions in the modern stadium which can host around 53,000 spectators. Al-Hamadaniah Stadium is still used as an alternative venue.^{[citation needed]}

The training grounds of al-Ittihad are located in the al-Shahbaa district of Aleppo. The complex is home to the Al-Ittihad Stadium with a capacity of 10,000 spectators, a nearby indoor training pitch and many other small pitches.^{[citation needed]}

Al-Ittihad are rivals with fellow Aleppine clubs Hurriya, Al-Jalaa, Al-Herafyeen, Ouroube and Al-Yarmouk.^[30]

Since its foundation, the traditional colour of Al-Ittihad's home kit is red with various designs over the years. Therefore, the club is nicknamed The Red Castle by the fans as a reference to the city's main landmark; the Citadel of Aleppo. The away kit may vary between a full white kit and a white kit with red stripes on the shirt.^[39]

• Syrian Premier League: 6

Winners: 1967, 1968, 1977, 1993, 1995, 2005

• Syrian Cup: 10

Winners: 1965, 1973, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1994, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2022

• Syrian Super Cup:

Runners-up: 1982, 1985, 2018

• AFC Cup: 1

Winners: 2010

• Arab Club Champions Cup:

Round of 16: 2009

• Asian Club Championship: 1 appearance

1985: 4th place

• AFC Champions League: 5 appearances

2002–03: Qualifying West – 3rd Round

2006: Group Stage

2007: Group Stage

2008: Group Stage

2011: Qualifying Play-off – West Semi-final

• AFC Cup: 5 appearances

2010: Champions

2011: Group Stage

2012: Group Stage

2019: Group Stage

2023: TBD

Accurate as of 22 August 2023

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away
1985–86	Asian Club Championship	Group	Bangkok Bank	3–0
			Daewoo Royals	0–1
		Semifinals	Al Ahli Jeddah	0–1
		3rd place match	Krama Yudha Tiga Berlian	0–1
2002–03	AFC Champions League	2nd Round	Khujand	w/o[b]
		3rd Round	Al-Arabi	0–1	0–3
2005–06	AFC Champions League	Group	Pakhtakor	2–1	0–2
			Foolad	0–0	2–1
			Qadsia	2–2	0–1
2006–07	AFC Champions League	Group	Sepahan	0–5	1–2
			Al Ain	0–0	1–1
			Al Shabab	1–1	0–4
2007–08	AFC Champions League	Group	Sepahan	2–1	2–0
			Al-Ittihad	0–1	0–3
			Bunyodkor	0–2	0–1
2010	AFC Cup	Group	East Bengal	2–1	4–1
			Qadsia	0–0	0–3
			Nejmeh	4–2	0–1
		Round of 16	Kuwait	1–1 (5–4 pen.)
		Quarterfinals	Kazma	3–2	1–0
		Semifinals	Muangthong	2–0	0–1
		Final	Qadsia	1–1 (4–2 pen.)
2010–11	AFC Champions League	Qualifying play-off round	Al Sadd	1–5
2011	AFC Cup	Group	Al-Saqr SC	2–0	2–1
			Qadsia	0–2	2–3
			Shurtan Guzan	0–0	1–1
2012	AFC Cup	Group	Qadsia	1–0[c]	2–5
			Al-Faisaly	1–4[d]	1–1
			Suwaiq	0–2[e]	0–2
2019	AFC Cup	Group	Kuwait	0–2[f]	0–0
			Najma	1–2[g]	1–2
			Al-Jazeera	0–2[h]	0–4
2023	AFC Cup	Qualifying play-off	Shabab Al-Khalil	2–1

• Arab Champions Cup: 2 appearances

2004: 1st Round

2009: Round of 16

• Arab Cup Winners' Cup: 1 appearance

1995: Group Stage

Accurate as of 12 June 2022

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away
1994–95	Arab Cup Winners' Cup	Group	Club Africain	0–1
			Al-Nasr	3–0
			Al Ahly	0–1
			Al-Riyadh	0–2
2003–04	Arab Club Champions Cup	1st Round	Al-Ittihad Jeddah	0–0	0–2
2008–09	Arab Club Champions Cup	Round of 32	USM Annaba	0–0	0–0 (4–2 pen.)
		Round of 16	Wydad AC	1–0	0–2

As of 12 June 2024

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	FW	SYR	Anas Al Dahan
19	MF	SYR	Zakaria Aziz
20	FW	NGA	Shadrach Chidubem
21	MF	SYR	Mahmoud Nayef
22	GK	SYR	Mohamad Hassouni
23	MF	SYR	Mohammed Al Abdo
30	MF	SYR	Hamza Haj Deebo
47	MF	SYR	Mahmoud Al Omar
48	DF	SYR	Alaa Homsi
50	DF	SYR	Rasheed Beto
55	GK	SYR	Shaher Al Shakhir
60	DF	GUI	Aboubacar Camara
66	MF	SYR	Ahmad Al Kaloo
88	FW	SYR	Hamza Sawas

Administrative Board of Al-Ittihad Aleppo Club:

• Al-Ittihad SC Aleppo (men's basketball)
• Al-Ittihad SC Aleppo (women's basketball)

• (in Arabic) Al Ittihad Fans society website Archived 8 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine