Akhaa Ahli Aley FC

Akhaa Ahli Aley Football Club (Arabic: نادي الإخاء الأهلي الرياضي عاليه, lit. 'National Brotherhood of Aley Sporting Club'), commonly referred to as Akhaa Ahli Aley, Akhaa Ahli or simply Akhaa, is a football club based in Aley, Lebanon, that competes in the Lebanese Second Division, and is primarily supported by the Druze community.^[2]

Akhaa Ahli Aley

Full name	Akhaa Ahli Aley Football Club
Short name	Akhaa
Founded	1962; 62 years ago (1962), as Akhaa Club 1990; 34 years ago (1990), as Akhaa Ahli Aley Football Club
Ground	Amin AbdelNour Stadium
Capacity	3,500
Chairman	Samer Khalaf[1]
Manager	Ahmad Atwi
League	Lebanese Second Division
2023–24	Lebanese Second Division, 6th of 12
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Akhaa have played in the Lebanese Premier League since 2010–11 season, after gaining promotion from the Lebanese Second Division. They won the Lebanese Challenge Cup in 2022. The club is supported by the Lebanese MP Arkram Chehayeb, who was the key person to ratify the merging of the two clubs Ahli and Akhaa in the city of Aley.^{[citation needed]}

History

Origins: Akhaa and Ahli

Akhaa was first founded in 1962 by Adel Baz, who led the club till the early 1980s amid the Lebanese Civil War. The club obtained its license in 1966 and was close to promotion in 1971, failing to reach the Lebanese Premier League in the last match. The club halted its activities in 1982 during the Lebanese war and resumed in 1989.^{[citation needed]}

Ahli Club was established in the 1970s by Ahmad Radwan, an educator and the owner of a school in Aley. Ahli Club obtained its license later and joined the Lebanese Third Division in 1987. Various players who would go on to play in the Lebanese Premier League played for Ahli Club, such as Walid Zeineddine, Fouad Sayegh, Riad Al Halabi, Yazeed Halimi and others. Ahli Club was ranked first in the American University of Beirut Football Cup twice in a row, in 1987 and 1988.^{[citation needed]}

Formation of Akhaa Ahli

In 1990, Bahij Abou Hamzeh, the president of Akhaa, realized that promotion to the Lebanese Premier League would be difficult, so he decided to merge with Ahli Club. The merger added extra value to Akhaa Club as Ahli's team was full of young players of Aley, such as Zaher Andary, who represented the Lebanon national football from 1994 to 2001, Said Abu Muna and Raji Abi Said, who was elected captain of Ahkaa Ahli. Ahli's management found the merger to be of mutual interest as they needed physical and logistical support to get promoted to the Lebanese Second Division.^{[citation needed]}

Promotion and stay in the Premier League

Akhaa won the Lebanese Second Division in 1992–93. The team managed to hit excellent results during its stay in the Lebanese Premier League, especially in its first appearance.^{[citation needed]} It returned to the first division in 2010–11.^{[citation needed]}

On 21 August 2022, after defeating rivals Safa 1–0 in the final, Akhaa were crowned 2022 Lebanese Challenge Cup champions.^[3] Akhaa were relegated to the Lebanese Second Division, after finishing last in 2022–23.^[4]

Club rivalries

Akhaa plays the "Mountain derby" with Safa.^[5]

Players

Current squad

As of 14 December 2023^[6]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  LBN Youssef Jechi 4 DF  LBN Ahmad El Khatib 5 DF  LBN Saeed Fayad 6 MF  LBN M Rammal 7 FW  LBN Ibrahim Abou Hamdan 8 MF  LBN Haidar Alaweyye 9 FW  LBN Dani Al Jurdi 10 MF  LBN "Mouma" Mohammad 11 FW  LBN Ribal Awar 12 MF  LBN Shadi Abdulkhalek 13 MF  LBN Wassim Abdulkhalek 14 FW  LBN Cesar Abo Shakra 15 DF  LBN Ali Faroukh 16 DF  LBN N. Atwi 17 MF  LBN Arij Hilal 18 GK  LBN A. Hilal

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 FW  LBN Hikmat Al Zein 21 DF  LBN T. Ballout 24 GK  LBN Rabih Salha 30 MF  LBN Ali Tawbe 31 MF  LBN Sari Chehayeb (captain) 43 FW  LBN H. Hassoun 44 DF  LBN Rayan Bou Chahine 66 DF  LBN Abbass Babeer 70 DF  LBN Ali Hakim 80 FW  LBN Wassim Ayach — FW  LBN Akram Moghrabi — DF  LBN Ahmad Al Masri 90 FW  CGO Mougbaya Beni de Dieu

Notable players

See also: Category:Akhaa Ahli Aley FC players

Players in international competitions

Competition	Player	National team
2000 AFC Asian Cup	Abdul-Wahab Abu Al-Hail	Iraq
	Gilberto	Lebanon
	Marcílio	Lebanon

Retired numbers

See also: List of retired numbers in association football

In 2020, Akhaa Ahli Aley retired the squad number 20 for two seasons, in memory of Mohamad Atwi who died on 18 September 2020 from a stray bullet to the head.^[7]

• 20 Mohamad Atwi, midfielder (2018–2020) – posthumous honour (2020–2022)

Honours

• Lebanese Challenge Cup (defunct)
  • Winners (1): 2022
• Lebanese Second Division
  • Winners (2): 1992–93, 2002–03
• Lebanese Elite Cup (defunct)
  • Runners-up (1): 2018

See also

• List of football clubs in Lebanon

References

1. Haroun, Ali (26 December 2020). "بيان صادر عن رئيس نادي الاخاء الاهلي عاليه سامر خلف". El Maestro Sport (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 10 September 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
2. Maugendre, Axel (31 August 2018), "Ethnography of the Lebanese Football Clubs" (PDF), Athens Journal of Sports, 5 (3): 213–226, doi:10.30958/AJSPO.5-3-3, archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2019
3. "بالصور: الإخاء الأهلي عاليه يتوج بلقب كأس التحدي". كووورة. 21 August 2022. Archived from the original on 22 August 2022. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
4. "بالصور.. الحكمة يهزم الإخاء ويدفعه للدرجة الثانية". كووورة. 10 March 2023. Archived from the original on 29 May 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
5. "جولة دربي الجبل... وملامسة اللقب". Al-Joumhouria (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 19 June 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
6. "Al Akhaa Al Ahli SC Aley". Global Sports Archive. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
7. Mahfoud, Maroun (14 October 2020). "Akhaa Ahli Aley retires number 20". FA Lebanon. Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 14 October 2020.

External links

• Akhaa Ahli Aley FC at LebanonFG