Al-Shorta SC

Al-Shorta

Full name	Al-Shorta Sports Club
Nickname(s)	Al-Qeetharah (The Harps) Al-Khadra (The Greens) Al-Shortawiyah (The Policemen)
Founded	14 November 1932 (1932) as Montakhab Al-Shorta
Ground	Al-Shaab Stadium (temporary), Baghdad
Ground Capacity	34,000
Owner	Ministry of Interior
President	Ayad Abdul-Rahman
Manager	Mohamed Youssef
League	Iraqi Premier League
2015–16	Iraqi Premier League, 7th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Active departments of Al-Shorta SC
Football	Basketball	Handball
Futsal	Volleyball	Swimming
Athletics	Archery	Wrestling
Boxing	Weightlifting	Bodybuilding
Wushu	Taekwondo

Al-Shorta Sports Club (Police Sports Club, Arabic: نادي الشرطة الرياضي‎‎) is an Iraqi multi-sport club based in Rusafa District, East Districts of the Tigris River, Baghdad. It has teams in many different sports including football, basketball, handball, futsal, volleyball, swimming, athletics, archery, wrestling, boxing, weightlifting, bodybuilding, wushu and taekwondo. The oldest and best known section of the club is the football team.

They are widely regarded as Iraq's best team and they are one of only three Iraqi teams to ever win any major continental club competition, having won the Arab Club Championship in 1982. They have won ten League of the Institutes and Iraqi Premier League titles, and most recently won the league in both the 2012–13 and 2013–14 seasons. Al-Shorta are one of five teams in Iraqi Premier League history to go an entire league season unbeaten, achieving this monumental feat in the 1980–81 season, and have won a joint record three Umm Al-Ma'arak Cups (in 2000, 2001 and 2002), being the only team to win that trophy three consecutive times.

Al-Shorta were founded in 1932 under the name Montakhab Al-Shorta and are the third-oldest existing football club in the country. The club was separated into a number of different teams in the 1960s and early 1970s, before merging back into one single team in 1974. In 1971, one of these teams (Aliyat Al-Shorta) reached the final of what is now the AFC Champions League but refused to play the final against Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv for political reasons. Despite this, the club has won four different international club competitions: the aforementioned Arab Club Championship, the Al-Quds International Championship, the Arab Police Championship (five times) and the President's Gold Cup.

In 2013, Nike signed an official deal with Al-Shorta and made their kits for the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons as Al-Shorta became the first Iraqi club in history to have an official kit supplier.^[1]

History

Early years (1932–1962)

Montakhab Al-Shorta players lining up before a match in 1937.

Al-Shorta were founded on 14 November 1932, and are the third-oldest existing team in Iraq. They were founded under the name 'Montakhab Al-Shorta' (Police Select XI) and this name lasted until 1962. In Montakhab Al-Shorta's early years, the squad was formed of policemen in Iraq who were chosen to represent the Iraqi police force in football tournaments. The first three tournaments that they competed in were the 1932–33, 1933–34 and 1934–35 editions of the Prince Ghazi Cup, but they failed to win any of them. Their first four recorded matches in history were a 1–1 draw with Al-Lasilki, a 1–1 draw with Al-Jadeed, a 3–2 win over Al-Ashbal and a 1–0 loss to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, all in the 1932–33 Prince Ghazi Cup.

Overall, Al-Shorta have won 32 trophies since their foundation. The first of them came in 1938, when Montakhab Al-Shorta won the Taha Hashemi Cup after defeating Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 1–0 thanks to Harbi Shabaa’s goal. Montakhab Al-Shorta then defeated Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya again a year later, this time it was 2–0, in the final of the Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Cup, a tournament created by the runners-up themselves. In the same year, Montakhab Al-Shorta crushed Al-Karkh 5–1 in the final of the Olympic Club Cup to secure their third piece of silverware in two years.

Five league titles and Champions League final (1962–1974)

In 1962, two years after the foundation of the Police Games Directorate, the club was split into a number of teams, all organised by the Police Games Directorate. These teams included Madrasa Al-Shorta (Police School), Aliyat Al-Shorta (Police Machinery), Kuliya Al-Shorta (Police Academy), Shorta Al-Najda (Police Debuties), Shorta Al-Murour (Police Traffic) and Quwa Al-Siyara (Car Forces).

The League of the Institutes began with the 1961–62 season, but Police teams did not enter the competition until the 1962–63 season, with Madrasa Al-Shorta (coached by Fahmi Al-Qaimaqchi) winning the title in that season. However, after just two seasons, Madrasa Al-Shorta were relegated to the second division after finishing bottom of the league and a new Police team began to dominate Iraqi football. Under the management of Mohammed Najib Kaban, Aliyat Al-Shorta won the Iraqi third division in 1962, and were promoted to the League of the Institutes after winning the second division in 1963 by defeating Al-Omma 2–0 in the final game. They impressed in their first season in the top flight in 1963–64, finishing in third place, before a second-place finish in 1965. They were on course to win their first title in the 1966–67 season, but the competition was cancelled due to the Six-Day War in 1967 with Aliyat Al-Shorta on top of the league.

The next few years would bring great success to Aliyat Al-Shorta. They became the first team to win the title three times in a row, storming to the 1967–68, 1968–69 and 1969–70 League of the Institutes titles, and lifted the Republics Cup twice in a row in 1968 and 1969, after losing the 1966 final 2–1 to Maslaha Naqil Al-Rakab. In 1971, Aliyat Al-Shorta participated in and reached the final of what is now known as the AFC Champions League, in Bangkok. They changed their name from Aliyat Al-Shorta to Al-Shorta for this tournament, and changed it back after the tournament was over. They were scheduled to face Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv in the final, but rather than trying to become the only Iraqi team to win an AFC competition, they decided to withdraw from the final due to political reasons but received a heroes' welcome on their return to Baghdad due to their heroics in the tournament and pride in refusing to play the Israeli club in a decision that is still hotly debated today among supporters. Most Arab football fans consider Al-Shorta to be the true champions of Asia in 1971 for their heroic actions. That season, they finished second in the league; they would have been champions for the fourth straight season had they defeated Al-Sikak Al-Hadeed, however in the absence of Abid Kadhim who was out injured with a broken foot, Aliyat Al-Shorta drew the game 2–2 and therefore handed the title to Maslaha Naqil Al-Rakab. Aliyat Al-Shorta reclaimed their title the next season though, winning the league for the fourth time in their history and for the fifth time in the history of the Police clubs (still under the management of Mohammed Najib Kaban), before two consecutive second-place finishes in 1972–73 and 1973–74 (they also took part in a special Baghdad League in 1973 where they finished as runners-up behind Al-Sikak Al-Hadeed after a 3–1 defeat). Meanwhile, Kuliya Al-Shorta won the Iraqi second division in the 1973–74 season, adding another trophy to the long list of Al-Shorta’s honours.

New era and Champions League triumph (1974–1992)

In 1974, the Iraqi Football Association decided to form the Iraqi National League, an official league for clubs from all around Iraq in what was a new beginning for Iraqi club football. This also saw a new beginning for the representation of the Iraqi Police force in football. Aliyat Al-Shorta, Shorta Al-Najda and Kuliya Al-Shorta were all merged to form one club – Al-Shorta Sports Club, the same club we know today. However, the Police Games Directorate were strongly against the formation of this new league system, and in protest decided to send a weak team to the competition. The famous faces of Aliyat Al-Shorta were nowhere to be seen in the side, replaced by a plethora of unknown, inexperienced, amateur players. Unsurprisingly, the team lost its first game 3–0 against Al-Muwasalat, before embarrassingly conceding eleven goals in a humiliating defeat to Al-Naqil in the following game. This resulted in an outrage among Al-Shorta supporters, and after talks between the IFA and the Police Games Directorate, it was decided that all players from the side would be released, and replaced by players who had previously been representing Shorta Al-Najda and Kuliya Al-Shorta. The club managed to bounce back from the terrible start to the season and earned a respectable fifth-place finish. The following season saw the return of the great Aliyat Al-Shorta players (the likes of captain Abid Kadhim and Douglas Aziz), which hugely improved the team and saw them improve on their fifth-place finish the previous season and earn a third-place finish.

Al-Shorta won their first international tournament when they won the 1976 Arab Police Championship, defeating Al-Shorta (Syria) and Al-Shorta (Sudan) on their way to winning the competition. They repeated the feat two years later, winning the Arab Police Championship for the second time by defeating Al-Shorta (Kuwait) 2–0 in the final. 1978 also saw Al-Shorta reach the final of the Iraq FA Cup for the first time, but they were defeated by Al-Tayaran (later to be known as Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya) on penalties in the final. This was to be their first of five FA Cup final defeats.

In the 1979–80 season, legendary player Douglas Aziz became the manager of the club in his first ever managerial job and led the club to their first Iraqi National League title in that season as they leapfrogged Al-Zawraa into first place on the final round of the season due to Al-Zawraa drawing 1–1 with Al-Shabab on the last day. Al-Shorta thought they had won the league for the second time in a row in the 1980–81 season as they ended the campaign unbeaten with equal points and goal difference to Al-Talaba and more goals scored. However, the IFA decided to change the rules so that the number of wins would be the tiebreaker and Al-Talaba had two more wins than Al-Shorta, meaning that they were handed the title. This rule had never been used before and has never been used again, and many fans believe that there must have been a conspiracy against Al-Shorta for such a decision to be made.

1982 saw the greatest achievement in the club’s great history. Led by Douglas Aziz, Al-Shorta won the first ever Arab Club Championship, known as the Arab Club Champions Cup at the time, and later known as the Arab Champions League. Al-Nejmeh of Lebanon defeated Al-Ahli of Saudi Arabia 2–1 to earn a two-legged tie with Al-Shorta to battle it out for the title, with Ali Hussein Mahmoud’s brace winning the first leg 2–0 for Al-Shorta before the second leg ended 2–2, meaning that Al-Shorta had won 4–2 on aggregate and were crowned champions of the Arab Club Championship, something only one other Iraqi team has done since. Al-Shorta won another competition outside of Iraq in 1983 when they won the President’s Gold Cup by defeating the Malaysia national team 2–0 in the final through goals from Nasir Jasem and Adnan Khatom either side of half-time. That same year, the club moved into a new home as construction of the new Al-Shorta Stadium had been completed. The club changed their name to Quwat Al-Emen Al-Dakhili (Internal Security Forces) for the 1983–84 season while Iraq was at war; that name only lasted for that one season before the club was renamed to Al-Shorta and the name has remained the same ever since. In 1985, Al-Shorta won the Arab Police Championship for the third time, with Mohammed Khalaf’s goal enough to defeat Al-Shorta (Saudi Arabia) 1–0 in the final and secure the title. A year later, Al-Shorta entered the Saddam International Tournament but failed to advance past the group stages before winning the Arab Police Championship again in 1988. Al-Shorta won the Al-Nasr Al-Adheem Cup in the 1987–88 season, and followed this by winning the Arab Police Championship for the fourth time in 1988.

Seven trophies but seven cup final defeats (1992–2003)

Al-Shorta reached the 1992 Al-Nasr Wal-Salam Cup final, beating Salahaddin, Al-Jaish and Al-Diwaniya on the way but lost the decisive match 2–0 to Al-Najaf. Al-Shorta bounced back by winning the Al-Nasr Al-Adheem Cup again in 1996 thanks to a 1–0 win over Al-Zawraa (the goal being scored by Shaker Sabbar), a 2–2 draw with Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya (with Qais Issa scoring Al-Shorta's goals) and a 3–1 win over Al-Talaba (with Al-Shorta's goals being scored by Ahmed Khudhair, Sattar Jabbar and Mahir Ogla). Al-Shorta suffered a lot of heartache in the 1990s, losing the 1996 Iraq FA Cup final 2–1 to Al-Zawraa, the 1997 Iraq FA Cup final to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya on penalties and the 1997 Umm Al-Ma’arak Cup final 4–0 to Al-Najaf. They ended the streak of disappointment in the 1997–98 season. Managed by Abdelilah Abdel-Hamed, Al-Shorta won the newly-named Iraqi Premier League for the second time in one of the closest, most exciting endings to a season in the history of football. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Al-Shorta and Al-Zawraa were all in the running for the title on the final day. Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya were top of the league, and played out a 1–1 draw with third-placed Al-Zawraa. This point was enough to win them the league provided Al-Shorta did not defeat Al-Sulaikh in a game that was going on at the same time. With the scores locked at 2–2 going into injury time, Al-Shorta won a penalty and Mahmoud Majeed rolled it home to win the league for Al-Shorta in the dying seconds of the season, leaving the celebrating Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya players distraught and embarrassed. This qualified Al-Shorta to the Al-Muthabara Cup (now known as Iraqi Super Cup) final where they would play cup winners Al-Zawraa but they were defeated 1–0. This season also saw them reach the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup Winners' Cup, earning wins over Al-Seeb and Bargh Shiraz before their quarter-final exit.

Al-Shorta also reached the quarter-finals of the 1999–2000 Asian Club Championship (later to be known as the AFC Champions League), just missing out on a semi-final spot in what was another respectable tournament for the club. The first few years of the 2000s brought both joy and pain to Al-Shorta fans. Al-Shorta became the first side to win the Umm Al-Ma’arak Cup three times in a row in 2000, 2001 and 2002, but also lost their fourth and fifth Iraq FA Cup finals in 2002 and 2003, both against Al-Talaba. 2002 also saw Al-Shorta win two more international competitions: the Arab Police Championship and the Al-Quds International Championship. But the greatest joy of this period came when Al-Shorta were crowned champions of Iraq again in the 2002–03 season; the second stage of the league had to be abandoned midway through due to the war situation at the time but Al-Shorta were awarded the title as they were on top of the league after the end of the first stage (i.e. first 19 games).

Ten-year trophy drought (2003–2013)

In April 2003, legendary goalkeeper Raad Hammoudi became Al-Shorta's club president. Al-Shorta participated in the 2003 edition of the Arab Club Championship and the 2004 and 2005 editions of the AFC Champions Leagues but failed to win a game in any of the three competitions and were knocked out in the group stages in all three years. However, 2004 did see a better tournament for Al-Shorta as they finished fourth in the Algomhuria International Cup, losing the third-place play off on penalties to Egyptian club Al-Ittihad Al-Sakandary. They also participated in the Sheikh Rashid bin Mohammed Ramadan International Football Championship that year, but the tournament was abandoned midway through after the death of Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

In the 2004–05 Iraqi Premier League, Al-Shorta qualified to the elite stage but were knocked out after losing to Al-Zawraa and Al-Najaf. In the 2005–06 Iraqi Premier League they finished top of their group in the first stage without losing any matches, but were knocked out again at the elite stage after defeats to Karbalaa and Al-Najaf. The 2006–07 season was a similar story for Al-Shorta as they won every match in their first group but lost to Al-Talaba, Karbalaa and Erbil in the elite stage. The 2007–08 Iraqi Premier League campaign for Al-Shorta was once again very similar to the previous two – they finished top of their group in the first stage with just one loss from 22 matches, but were knocked out at the elite stage after to losing to Al-Najaf and Al-Zawraa. In the 2008–09 season there was no elite stage, which meant that Al-Shorta had to top their first group (like they had in each of the last three seasons) to advance but this time they only managed an 8th-place finish in their group. The format of the league returned to include an elite stage in the 2009–10 Iraqi Premier League, and Al-Shorta once again managed to reach the elite stage. They were 2–0 up against Al-Najaf in their final elite stage game, knowing that a win would qualify them to the semi-finals, but they threw away their lead to draw 2–2 and were knocked out of the elite stage yet again.

In the 2010–11 season, Al-Shorta had one of the worst seasons in their history. They were not a force to be reckoned with at all in this season and under the guidance of legendary striker Younis Abid Ali, Al-Shorta were almost relegated, finishing approximately 16th in the league and surviving the drop on goal difference thanks to Amjad Kalaf’s heroics on the final day of the season as he scored both goals in a 2–0 win over Al-Naft. The 2011–12 Iraqi Premier League returned to the normal league system of each team playing the other teams in their league home and away (without any elite stages or knockout rounds) and former Al-Shorta player Basim Qasim took over the club for that season. Unlike the previous season, Al-Shorta were one of the top-performing teams in the league for the majority of the season and were battling to finish in the top two positions to qualify for the 2013 AFC Cup, but they went on a terrible run of six defeats in their final seven matches which saw them drop all the way down to seventh place, which was still a great improvement on the previous season. Midway through the campaign, Ayad Bunyan became Al-Shorta’s president: a man who would change the club significantly in the next few years.

Bunyan brings back glory days (2013–)

Basim Qasim left the club with Iraqi manager Thair Jassam taking over for the 2012–13 season, and the club immediately began to see improvements in their performances and results. Al-Shorta managed to win their first trophy for ten years when they defeated Al-Zawraa 1–0 to win the Baghdad Cup in 2013, and just two years after narrowly avoiding relegation, Al-Shorta won their fourth ever Iraqi Premier League title to secure the double. Despite being on top of the table for the majority of the season, the 2012–13 title was not secured until the final day when Al-Shorta thrashed Al-Talaba 3–0 at Al-Shaab Stadium to finish two points ahead of Erbil and three ahead of Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya.

The next season, Al-Shorta successfully defended their Iraqi Premier League title for the first time as they pipped Erbil to the title by just a point, and Brazilian Lorival Santos became only the second foreign manager ever to win the Iraqi Premier League; Al-Shorta also appeared in the AFC Champions League qualifiers, losing 1–0 to Al-Kuwait. This meant that they would play in the AFC Cup but after four goalless draws from six games, Al-Shorta failed to reach the knockout stage of the tournament. They managed to get to the knockout stage of that tournament in the next season but were knocked out at the round of 16 stage by Al-Kuwait and the club finished in third in the league that season.

Al-Shorta’s recent successes are largely down to the influence of Ayad Bunyan who was able to attract both professional foreign players and top Iraqi players to the club. Not only did he help the club to win trophies, but he also changed the club’s logo, proposed an idea for a new stadium which is currently in construction and got Al-Shorta both a kit manufacturer in Nike and a kit sponsor in Royal Arena Sport among other achievements and he is now regarded as a true club legend. Ayad Bunyan was replaced as club president by Riyadh Abdul-Abbas during the 2014–15 season, but Riyadh left midway through the 2015–16 campaign with Ayad Abdul-Rahman taking on the role on an interim basis. In the 2015–16 Iraqi Premier League, Al-Shorta qualified for the elite stage, where a six-game winless run saw them finish the season in seventh place. In that season, they had four different managers. On 28 May 2016, the elections for club president saw Abdul-Rahman become the president on a permanent basis.

^[2]

Emblem

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  Aliyat Al-Shorta's crest from 1962 to 1974.
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  Al-Shorta's crest from August 1974 to August 2002.
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  Al-Shorta's crest from August 2002 to February 2004 (without the white background and green outline) and from March 2006 to February 2007.
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  Al-Shorta's crest from February 2004 to October 2005.
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  Al-Shorta's crest from October 2005 to March 2006, from February 2007 to February 2012 and from April 2012 to October 2012.
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  Al-Shorta's crest from February 2012 to April 2012, from October 2012 to December 2012 and from October 2013 to December 2013.
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  Al-Shorta's crest from December 2012 to October 2013.

From 1962 to 1974, Al-Shorta were split into multiple teams and the most prominent of these teams was Aliyat Al-Shorta. Their logo consisted of a star with the words Iraqi Police written in the centre in Arabic. Surrounding the star were laurel leaves. In August 1974, Aliyat Al-Shorta merged with the other Police teams to form Al-Shorta Sports Club. Since then, Al-Shorta have had seven different emblems and have changed between emblems a huge 11 times. The logo they adopted in 1974 was simply a green harp, reflective of the club's nickname. This was used up until the 2002–03 season when a new crest was adopted. This emblem consisted of a green harp on top of the Olympic rings (which were there to signify that Al-Shorta were a sports club as opposed to just a football club), surrounded by green laurel leaves. Al-Shorta changed their logo again in 2004, and this new logo was circular and was based on the Iraq flag. The word Police (the club's English name) was written on the red band of the flag and the word Iraq was written in capitals on the black band of the flag. Al-Shorta adopted a brand new crest from 2005 featuring mainly the colours blue and green. On the top and bottom of the logo was written the club's name in Arabic and English respectively, whilst a green harp featured in the centre of the logo with the year 1975 (the first full year of Al-Shorta Sports Club's existence) written on either side in Arabic and English. In 2006, they reverted back to using the logo that they had used in the 2002–03 season, although this time the logo was inside a white shield-like shape with a green outline.

That logo lasted for almost a year before they changed back to the blue and green logo. This remained Al-Shorta's logo for the next five years until 2012 when the club changed again; the new logo featured mainly green as opposed to blue but just like the previous logo also featured a green harp in the middle. The three bands of the Iraq flag made up the harp's strings, whilst the club's name and year of foundation were displayed at the bottom. However, just two months later, Al-Shorta reverted back to the blue and green logo. They reverted yet again before the start of the 2012–13 season, using the all-green logo again, before they changed to a new white circular logo with a golden outline just before the end of 2012. The club's year of foundation as well as their Arabic and English names featured at the bottom of the logo, below the Olympic rings. Again, a green harp surrounded by green laurel leaves featured in the centre of the logo.

Al-Shorta decided to change their emblem once more before the start of the 2013–14 season, reverting back to the all-green logo again. Finally, Al-Shorta adopted the logo that they currently use in December 2013, just before the start of 2014 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off. As opposed to the previous logos, the harp in the centre of the logo is gold rather than green, and gold is a prevalent colour in the current crest. The foundation year of the club is at the top with the Iraqi flag at the bottom, below the words Al-Shorta Sports Club. The gold star above the crest represents their 1982 Arab Club Championship victory which made them the first Iraqi club to win a major continental trophy.^[3]

Kits

Traditionally, Al-Shorta's home kits are green (although they have been turquoise, as well as dark green, before), with white designs (although black, sky blue, grey, yellow and gold designs have featured before). Their away kits are traditionally white, with green designs, but colours such as red, grey and yellow have all featured too in past seasons. Their third kits are traditionally purple, a colour which has been used ever since the days of Aliyat Al-Shorta in the 1960s and 1970s who used to wear purple home kits. The third kits are usually accompanied with white designs although green designs have also featured in the past. Al-Shorta's current kits are manufactured by Adidas.

Shirt sponsors

Al-Shorta's shirts have featured a number of different sponsors' logos over the years:

^* Goalkeeper kit only.

Past kits

Purple Aliyat Al-Shorta kit from 1969	Purple and green kit worn in 1977	Home kit in both the 1978 Arab Police Championship and the successful 1979–80 Iraqi National League campaign	Away kit in the successful 1979–80 Iraqi National League campaign (also worn with red socks)	Kit worn during the 1983 President's Gold Cup	Kit worn in 1993	1997–98 Asian Cup Winners' Cup strip
Championship-winning kit in 1997–98	Home kit worn in Prince Faisal bin Fahd Tournament for Arab Clubs in 2003	Away kit worn in Prince Faisal bin Fahd Tournament for Arab Clubs in 2003	2004 AFC Champions League home kit	2004 AFC Champions League away kit	2005 AFC Champions League kit	Home kit at start of 2005–06 season
Baghdad Cup 2013 kit	Championship-winning kit in 2012–13	Kit worn in 2014 AFC Champions League qualifier	2014 AFC Cup kit and championship-winning home kit in 2013–14	Third kit in championship-winning 2013–14 season	2015 AFC Cup home kit	2015 AFC Cup away kit

Supporters

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  Ultras Green Harp's logo from 2012–2013.
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  Ultras Green Harp's logo from 2013–2015.
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  Ultras Green Harp's logo from 2015–present.

Ultras Green Harp is an ultras group that was formed in 2012 at the start of the 2012–13 season and grew to about 3,000 members in its first three months. That number has since risen to over 12,000 and the ultras group is now one of Asia's most recognised and respected fan groups.^[4] The idea of starting an ultras group came from Al-Shorta fans discussing the idea on Facebook and eventually coming together to create the group. They named it Ultras Green Harp as the club's nickname is the Green Harps. The number of members gradually increased with every passing game of the 2012–13 campaign until it was the biggest fans group in the Iraqi Premier League. Al-Shorta won the league in the ultras group's first season in existence. The group leads the chants inside the stadium and provides flags and banners for fans to wave during the game to create an exciting atmosphere.^[5] It is a self-financed group that travels to both home and away matches in cities all over Iraq.

Before kickoff, the Ultras Green Harp members (who always wear green shirts during matches) usually hold up a large banner to intimidate the opposition. This banner changes with every match depending on the opposition. For example, before a match with rivals Al-Talaba in April 2016, fans held a banner showing a man in an Al-Shorta shirt grabbing a man in an Al-Talaba shirt by the neck, whilst before a match with Naft Al-Wasat, fans held up a banner saying "Revenge" after Naft Al-Wasat had pipped them to the title the previous season by beating them twice. They are known for setting off fireworks when Al-Shorta score a goal and using flares before and during games. During the match, they typically wave flags and chant songs to inspire their team to victory, and often use instruments such as drums and air horns to create a lively atmosphere.^[6][7]

Rivalries

Al-Shorta are one of the top four clubs in Baghdad. The club compete in Baghdad derbies with the other three big clubs in Baghdad: Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, Al-Zawraa, and Al-Talaba. Of the three teams, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya are the most local to Al-Shorta, as their stadium is located mere metres away from Al-Shorta's, on the opposite side of Falastin Street.

Current squad

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Ahmed Basil 9 MF Mahdi Kamel (3rd captain) 10 FW Marwan Hussein 14 FW Amjad Kalaf (captain) 16 FW Ahmed Salam 17 MF Nabeel Sabah 19 MF Ahmad Ayad 23 DF Waleed Salem (vice-captain) 32 DF Ahmed Mohammed GK Mohammed Abbas Ali GK Noor Sabri DF Ahmad Ibrahim DF Ali Lateef DF Essam Yassin

No. Position Player DF Faisal Jassim DF Hamdi Al Masri DF Kosrat Baez MF Ahmed Magdy (on loan from Petrojet) MF Amjad Waleed MF Hussein Abdul-Wahed MF Jawad Kadhim MF Miran Khesro MF Saif Salman FW Abdul-Qadir Tariq FW Jassim Mohammed FW Karrar Hameed FW Rafid Muayad

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player 8 FW Hassan Ali (on loan at Al-Kahraba until the end of the 2016–17 season)

Personnel

Technical Staff

Position	Name	Nationality
Manager:	Mohamed Youssef
Assistant manager:	Saif Omar
Assistant manager:	Adel Mustafa
Goalkeeping coach:	Imam Abdullal
Fitness coach:	Mohammed Al-Najjar
Administrative director:	Hashim Ridha

Management

Position	Name	Nationality
President:	Ayad Abdul-Rahman
Vice-president:	Sadiq Faraj
Member of the Board:	Ghazi Faisal
Member of the Board:	Nihad Anwar
Member of the Board:	Alaa Bahar Al-Uloom
Member of the Board:	Ali Juayed
Member of the Board:	Uday Al-Rubaie
Member of the Board:	Tahseen Al-Yassri

^[8]

Domestic record since 1974

Season	League	Rank	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	FA Cup	Umm Al-Ma'arak Cup	Super Cup
1974–75	Iraqi National League	5	18	8	3	7	29	23	+6	19	—	—	—
1975–76	Iraqi National League	3	24	14	5	5	41	16	+25	33	R16	—	—
1976–77	Iraqi National League	3	11							14	—	—	—
1977–78	Iraqi National League	6	13	5	7	1	11	5	+6	17	RU	—	—
1978–79	Iraqi National League	2	12							15	QF	—	—
1979–80	Iraqi National League	1	22	14	7	1	41	15	+26	35	QF	—	—
1980–81	Iraqi National League	2	11	6	5	0	21	7	+14	17		—	—
1981–82	Iraqi National League	6	22							23		—	—
1982–83	Iraqi National League	6	22							23		—	—
1983–84	Iraqi National League	8	24							20		—	—
1984–85[a]	Iraqi National League	—	14	5	4	5	19	18	+1	14	—	—	—
1985–86	Iraqi National League	6	15	5	8	2	15	12	+3	18	—	—	—
1986–87	Iraqi National League	5	44							49		—	—
1987–88	Iraqi National League	9	30	10	9	11	23	28	−5	29		—	—
1988–89	Iraqi National League	11	20						—	—	QF	—	—
1989–90	Iraqi National League	3	26	15	6	5	31	13	+18	36	QF	—	—
1990–91	Iraqi National League	3	28	15	9	4	39	18	+21	39	QF	—	—
1991–92	Iraqi National League	5	38	17	12	9	33	21	+12	46	QF	GS	—
1992–93	Iraqi National League	4	69	33	22	14	102	51	+51	88	1R	GS	—
1993–94	Iraqi National League	5	50	30	11	9	87	33	+54	71	SF	GS	—
1994–95	Iraqi National League	6	46	26	12	8	92	49	+43	98		GS	—
1995–96	Iraqi Advanced League	3	22	11	4	7	27	17	+10	37	RU	GS	—
1996–97	Iraqi Premier League	5	30	12	10	8	48	33	+15	46	RU	4th	—
1997–98	Iraqi Premier League	1	30	23	4	3	71	30	+41	73	SF	RU	RU
1998–99	Iraqi Premier League	5	30	13	10	7	55	40	+15	49	SF	GS	—
1999–00	Iraqi First Division League	3	50	33	11	6	97	34	+63	110	R16	GS	—
2000–01	Iraqi Elite League	3	30	19	3	8	60	26	+34	60	—	W	—
2001–02	Iraqi Elite League	3	38	24	8	6	85	35	+50	80	RU	W	—
2002–03	Iraqi First Division League	1	19	15	3	1	46	12	+34	48	RU	W	—
2003–04[a]	Iraqi Premier League	—	8	6	2	0	23	7	—	—	—	SF	—
2004–05	Iraqi Premier League	11	18	7	3	8	26	19	—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Iraqi Premier League	9	16	10	4	2	29	9	—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Iraqi Premier League	11	11	7	1	3	14	8	—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Iraqi Premier League	9	28	14	10	4	45	23	—	—	—	—	—
2008–09	Iraqi Premier League	15	26	8	10	8	29	29	—	—	—	—	—
2009–10	Iraqi Premier League	6	40	19	14	7	54	38	—	—	—	—	—
2010–11	Iraqi Premier League	16	26	8	11	7	28	23	—	—	—	—	—
2011–12	Iraqi Premier League	7	38	16	11	11	45	37	+8	59	—	—	—
2012–13	Iraqi Premier League	1	34	20	12	2	62	29	+32	72	—	—	—
2013–14	Iraqi Premier League	1	21	12	7	2	29	13	+16	43	—	—	—
2014–15	Iraqi Premier League	3	23	16	5	2	44	12	—	—	—	—	—
2015–16	Iraqi Premier League	7	25	10	4	11	26	31	—	—	—	—	—

As of 21 May 2016. Rank = Rank in the league; P = Played; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points.
in = Still in competition; — = Not attended; 1R = 1st round; 2R = 2nd round; 3R = 3rd round; R16 = Round of sixteen; QF = Quarterfinals; SF = Semifinals.

^[a] The league was abandoned midway through with no champion declared.

• The 1988–89, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons were all played in a group stage system with multiple rounds, therefore the position in these seasons is not official but approximated based on positions in the groups.
• Wins started counting for 3 points (as opposed to 2) from the 1994–95 season. In that particular season only, wins by 3 goals or more counted for 4 points.

Continental record

Main article: Al-Shorta SC in continental club competitions

Stadiums

Al-Shorta Stadium

Main article: Al-Shorta Stadium

Al-Shorta Stadium was the name of Al-Shorta's old home ground. It held approximately 7,000 people. The white hall on the side of the field could hold approximately 2,000 people. The stadium had no seats, but instead there were stairs on each side of the playing field and spectators sat or stood on these stairs. It was home to many great matches for Al-Shorta. It was built by volunteers and Al-Shorta fans and staff at the club, making the stadium even more special. Abdul-Kadir Zeinal, Al-Shorta's manager from 1975 to 1979, was the man who came up with the idea of building the stadium and the supporters approved of the idea and helped to build the stadium. After a few years of construction, the stadium was opened in 1983. In 2008, the stands were painted green and white to match the club's colours. It was demolished in 2014 to make way for Al-Shorta Sports City.

Al-Shorta Sports City

Early in the 2012–13 season, Al-Shorta's president at the time, Ayad Bunyan, announced plans to build a new stadium with plastic seats and other sports facilities around it. On 20 December 2013, the chairman of Nordic Sport (the Swedish company who is building the stadium) announced the initiation of construction of Al-Shorta Sports City. Rather than being just a stadium, it is a 'sports city' because of the many more sports facilities, sports halls, buildings and entertainment at the venue.

The sports city includes an all-seater stadium with a capacity of over 10,000 as well as other sports facilities and the whole project is expected to take about 810 days from when construction begins in October 2014, which is about two years and three months. However, the construction of the all-seater stadium on its own should take six or seven months to complete, meaning that Al-Shorta will be able to use the stadium in the 2016–17 season. The project will cost over 22 million pounds.

On 7 January 2015, AKG Engineering released a video showing what Al-Shorta Sports City should look like once construction is completed.^[9] The stands will have purple and green seats (a testament to the great Aliyat Al-Shorta team of the 1960s and 1970s) and some white seats on the main stand will spell out the words 'Police Club' alongside the club's name in Arabic. The main stand will have a roof over it. Next to the stadium will be a training field where players will train every week and this training field will have an athletics track around it. Also at the sports city will be an indoor swimming pool with 1,500 seats, a multi-purpose closed hall with 2,500 seats, a full-quality relaxation club (with sports facilities), restaurants, theatres, meeting areas and a shopping centre among other things.^[10]

Statistics and records

Al-Shorta's tally of five Iraqi Premier League titles is the joint-second highest in history and their tally of five overall League of the Institutes titles is the joint-highest in Iraqi football history. Their total of three Umm Al-Ma'arak Cups is also the highest, joint with Al-Zawraa, Al-Talaba and Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, and they are the only team to have won the tournament three times in a row.^[11] Al-Shorta are one of only three Iraqi clubs to have ever won a major international club competition when they won the first ever Arab Club Championship in 1982. They are also one of two Iraqi clubs to reach the final of the AFC Champions League. Al-Shorta and Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya are the only two sides to have featured in every Iraqi Premier League season since its inception in 1974.

Abid Kadhim holds the record for the most appearances for Al-Shorta, and he also managed the club two different times after his playing career. Younis Abid Ali has scored the most goals for Al-Shorta in their history, and his tally of 153 Iraqi Premier League goals is the fourth highest in the history of the league. His tally of 36 goals in the 1993–94 season is the highest number of goals that a player has scored in a single Iraqi Premier League season. Al-Shorta's biggest ever win is an 11–1 victory over Al-Samawa in the Iraq FA Cup; their record defeat is an 11–0 defeat to Al-Naqil in the 1974–75 Iraqi National League.

In 2014, a record number of Al-Shorta players were called up for a matchday squad by the Iraq national team. Ten players in total were called up for a friendly with Kuwait; these players were Mohammed Hameed, Salam Shakir, Ali Bahjat, Waleed Salem, Dhurgham Ismail, Mahdi Karim, Amjad Kalaf, Mahdi Kamel, Alaa Abdul-Zahra and Marwan Hussein. Another record was set when seven Al-Shorta players started the game (the most in history) with those seven being the entire back-four (Ali Bahjat, Salam Shakir, Dhurgham Ismail and Mahdi Karim) and three attacking players (Amjad Kalaf, Alaa Abdul-Zahra and Marwan Hussein). Also, Waleed Salem was substituted onto the field during the game, which ended 1–1.

Younis Abid Ali is Al-Shorta's record goal scorer.

The record for number of Al-Shorta players called up for an Iraq matchday squad was equalled in March 2015 when Mohammed Gassid, Mohammed Hameed, Salam Shakir, Ali Bahjat, Dhurgham Ismail, Hussein Abdul-Wahed, Amjad Kalaf, Mahdi Kamel, Alaa Abdul-Zahra and Marwan Hussein made up ten of the 25 players for the squad chosen for two friendlies against DR Congo.

Iraq called up nine Al-Shorta players for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, setting a new record for the highest number of Al-Shorta players ever called up by Iraq for a major competition. These nine players were Mohammed Hameed, Salam Shakir, Ali Bahjat, Waleed Salem, Dhurgham Ismail, Amjad Kalaf, Mahdi Kamel, Alaa Abdul-Zahra and Marwan Hussein.

Al-Shorta finished the 1980–81 Iraqi National League season without having lost a single game; four other clubs (Al-Zawraa, Al-Minaa, Salahaddin and Al-Jaish) have also achieved this feat since the inception of the Iraqi Premier League in 1974. Al-Shorta were the first team to play 100 Iraqi Premier League games, the first team to play 200 Iraqi Premier League games, the first team to play 300 Iraqi Premier League games and the second team to play 1000 Iraqi Premier League games. Al-Shorta were ranked as the 35th best Asian club of the century (1901–2000),^[12] and the 154th best Asian club in the last decade (2001–2010)^[13] by the IFFHS (International Federation of Football History & Statistics). Al-Shorta were also ranked as the 169th best club in the world by IFFHS from 01/08/2001 to 30/07/2002.^[14] Meanwhile, the Oosterpark Rankings have placed Al-Shorta as the 62nd best Asian club of all-time, the 48th best Arab club of all-time, and the 1044th all-time best club in the world (these three rankings are as of 31/12/2013). The highest Al-Shorta have ever placed in the Oosterpark Rankings for best clubs in the world is 740th, which they achieved in 1982, the year that they won the Arab Club Championship.

^[2]

Managers

Montakhab Al-Shorta Mudhafar Ahmed Dennis Nasrawi Mohammed Saeed Wasif Sabir Lateef Fadhel Al-Samarrai Fahmi Al-Qaimaqchi Ahmed Abdul-Razzaq Madrasa Al-Shorta Fahmi Al-Qaimaqchi

Aliyat Al-Shorta Mohammed Najib Kaban Kuliya Al-Shorta Younis Hussein

Shorta Al-Najda Abdul-Kadir Zeinal Abdul-Kadir Abdul-Nabi Shorta Al-Murour Munthir Al-Waadh

Al-Shorta Sports Club

Younis Hussein (1974–75) Abdul-Kadir Zeinal (1975–79) Douglas Aziz (1979–82) Rajko Menista (1982–83) Abid Kadhim (1983) Munthir Al-Waadh (1983–84) Mohammed Tabra (1984) Thamir Muhsin & Wathiq Naji (1984–85) Mohammed Tabra (1985) Abid Kadhim (1985–87) Douglas Aziz (1987–89) Mohammed Tabra (1989–90) Douglas Aziz (1990–91) Mohammed Tabra (1991–92) Faisal Aziz (1992) Saad Jamil (1992) Douglas Aziz (1992) Ammo Baba (1992) Mudhafar Nouri (1992–93) Basim Qasim & Muwafaq Hussein (1993–94) Saad Jamil (1994–95) Kadhim Al-Rubaie (1995–96) Basim Qasim (1996)

Mudhafar Nouri (1996) Faisal Aziz (1996–97) Adnan Jafar (1997) Ammo Baba (1997) Abdelilah Abdul-Hamed & Ayoub Odisho (1997) Abdelilah Abdul-Hamed (1997–98) Faisal Aziz (1998–99) Najih Humoud (1999) Ahmed Radhi (1999–01) Yassin Amal (2001–02) Ammo Baba (2002) Basim Qasim (2002) Abdelilah Abdul-Hamed (2002–03) Hassan Farhan (2003) Basim Qasim (2003–04) Younis Abid Ali (2004–05) Salih Radhi (2005) Hamed Salman (2005) Kadhim Al-Rubaie (2005–06) Mohammed Khalaf (2006) Yahya Alwan (2006) Shaker Mahmoud (2006–07) Kadhim Khalaf (2007)

Karim Farhan (2007) Thair Ahmed (2007–08) Faisal Aziz (2008) Maitham Mutaab & Muwafaq Hussein (2008–09) Rahim Hameed (2009–10) Hakim Shaker (2010) Younis Abid Ali (2010–11) Hakim Shaker (2011) Nabil Zaki (2011) Basim Qasim (2011–12) Mohammed Tabra (2012) Thair Jassam (2012–13) Lorival Santos (2013–14) Mohamed Youssef (2014–15) Thair Jassam (2015) Hakim Shaker (2015) Qahtan Chathir (2015–16) Radhi Shenaishil (2016) Hashim Ridha (2016) Mohamed Youssef (2016–)

• Iraq national coach Najih Humoud was assigned by the Iraq FA to manage the club during their 1999–2000 Asian Club Championship campaign.

^[15]

Captains

This is a list of Al-Shorta's captains since the start of the 21st century.

Years	Position	Captain
2000–2003	Goalkeeper	Emad Hashim
2003–2005	Midfielder	Ayad Abbas
2005–2009	Defender	Mahir Habib
2009–2010	Defender	Ahmed Kadhim Assad
2010–2011	Forward	Hashim Ridha
2011–2013	Goalkeeper	Ali Hussein Jalil
2013–2014	Midfielder	Nashat Akram
2014	Forward	Amjad Kalaf
2014	Midfielder	Hussein Abdul-Wahed
2014–2015	Midfielder	Nashat Akram
2015–	Forward	Amjad Kalaf

^[16]

Club legends

The following 30 players are noted as "greats" by the club's website for their contributions to the club.^[17] Former midfielder Riyadh Abdul-Abbas was in the original list, but was removed and replaced by goalkeeper Ali Hussein Jalil, after Riyadh Abdul-Abbas was caught up in a scandal and removed from his position as club president in October 2015.

Albert Khoshaba Gilbert Sami Abid Kadhim Douglas Aziz Mudhafar Nouri Lateef Shandal Sabah Hatem Mohammed Tabra Riyadh Nouri Ali Hussein Mahmoud

Raad Hammoudi Faisal Aziz Basim Qasim Younis Abid Ali Saad Qais Emad Hashim Mahir Habib Mahmoud Majeed Mufeed Assem Ziyad Tariq

Abbas Rahim Hashim Ridha Amir Mushref Nashat Akram Ali Hussein Jalil Mohammed Gassid Mustafa Karim Amjad Kalaf Hussein Karim Dhurgham Ismail

Honours

Montakhab Al-Shorta players with the Taha Hashemi Cup that they won in 1938.

Major

Domestic

• League of the Institutes (until 1974) and Iraqi Premier League

Winners (10): 1962–63, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1979–80, 1997–98, 2002–03, 2012–13, 2013–14

Runners-up (6): 1964–65, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1978–79, 1980–81

• Iraq FA Cup

Runners-up (5): 1977–78, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2001–02, 2002–03

• Baghdad Championship (Umm Al-Ma'arak Cup before 2003)

Winners (3): 2000, 2001, 2002

Runners-up (1): 1997

• Iraqi Super Cup (Al-Muthabara Cup before 2016)

Runners-up (1): 1998

International

• AFC Champions League (Asian Champion Club Tournament before 1985)

Runners-up (1): 1971

• Arab Club Championship (Arab Club Champions Cup before 2002)

Winners (1): 1982

Minor

Domestic

• Baghdad League

Runners-up (1): 1973

• Baghdad Cup (Al-Nasr Al-Adheem Cup before 2001)

Winners (3): 1987, 1996, 2013

• Republics Cup

Winners (2): 1968, 1969

Runners-up (1): 1966

• Al-Nasr Wal-Salam Cup (Al-Intisar Cup before 1992)

Runners-up (1): 1992

• Olympic Club Cup

Winners (1): 1939

• Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Cup

Winners (1): 1939

• Taha Hashemi Cup

Winners (1): 1938

International

• Arab Police Championship

Winners (5): 1976, 1978, 1985, 1988, 2002

• Al-Quds International Championship

Winners (1): 2002

• President's Gold Cup

Winners (1): 1983

See also

• Iraqi clubs in the AFC Club Competitions

References

1. ↑ "Al-Shorta sign official deal with kit manufacturer Nike (2014–15 season)". Al-Shorta website. Retrieved 2014-12-22. 
2. 1 2 Al-Shorta website. "Al-Shorta – History". Al-Shorta website. Retrieved 2013-10-23. 
3. ↑ "Al Shorta SC Website". Retrieved 26 July 2016. 
4. ↑ "Al Shorta SC Website". Retrieved 26 July 2016. 
5. ↑ "Security Check Required". Retrieved 26 July 2016. 
6. ↑ "ALSHORTA1TV". Retrieved 26 July 2016. 
7. ↑ "SHORTA 2TV". Retrieved 26 July 2016. 
8. ↑ Al-Shorta website. "Al-Shorta – Players and Transfers". Al-Shorta website. Retrieved 2013-10-28. 
9. ↑ AKG Engineering. "Al-Shorta Sports City". AKG Engineering. Retrieved 2015-01-07. 
10. ↑ Al-Shorta website. "Al-Shorta Sports City". Al-Shorta website. Retrieved 2013-12-22. 
11. ↑ Refel Hashim, Hassanin Mubarak and Mohammed Qayed. "Iraq – List of Cup Winners". RSSSF. Retrieved 2013-12-27. 
12. ↑ IFFHS. "Asia's Club of the Century". IFFHS. Archived from the original on 18 March 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-27. 
13. ↑ IFFHS. "Asia's Club of the 1st Decade of the 21st Century". IFFHS. Retrieved 2013-12-27. 
14. ↑ Xtra Time. "Club World Ranking IFFHS". Xtra Time. Retrieved 2002-08-06. 
15. ↑ Mubarak, Hassanin. "Al-Shurta – Coaches". RSSSF. Retrieved 2013-05-10. 
16. ↑ "Al-Shorta Captains". Al-Shorta SC Website. Retrieved 2016-06-20. 
17. ↑ "Greatest 30 Players". Al-Shorta SC Website. Retrieved 27 February 2016. 

External links

• Al-Shorta website
• Al-Shorta TV
• Team info at goalzz.com

Iraqi Premier League
2016–17 clubs	Al-Bahri Al-Hedood Al-Hussein Al-Kahraba Al-Karkh Al-Minaa Al-Naft Al-Najaf Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Samawa Al-Shorta Al-Talaba Al-Zawraa Amanat Baghdad Erbil Karbalaa Naft Al-Janoob Naft Al-Wasat Naft Maysan Zakho
Seasons	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17