Sharjah FC
Sharjah Football Club (Arabic: نادي الشارقة لكرة القدم) is an Emirati professional football club based in Sharjah that competes in the UAE Pro League. Their home stadium is Sharjah Stadium.
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Full name | Sharjah Football Club | ||
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Nickname(s) | Al-Malik (The King) | ||
Founded | 1966[1] | ||
Ground | Sharjah Stadium | ||
Capacity | 18,000[2] | ||
Owner | Sultan Al Qasimi | ||
Chairman | Ali Salim Almidfa | ||
Manager | Cosmin Olăroiu | ||
League | UAE Pro League | ||
2021–22 | UAE Pro League, 2nd | ||
Website | Club website | ||
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Founded in 1966, it has been the most successful team in the Emirate of Sharjah, winning 6 pro league titles, 9 presidents cups and 3 super cups. The club was also the first official UAE league champion since its establishment in 1974.
Sharjah FC is a professional football club based in Sharjah, Sharjah City, UAE. The club competes in the UAE Adnoc League, the top division in the UAE football league system. Nicknamed the King.
Sharjah have won a 6 League titles, 9 President Cups, 3 Super Cups. In 1990 world cup 8 Player from Sharjah FC were Selected to present the UAE.
Sharjah FC is known as the most supported football club in the UAE. Sharjah fans have medium rivalries with Al Ain, and Shabab Al Ahli Dubai given the number of trophies the 3 teams have won. In May 2020, Sharjah Club won the title of "the most supported club" in the Arab Gulf League, beating Al-Wahda Club in the referendum launched by (Emirates Today) newspaper,
Sharjah Club also won the title of the most popular club in the Emirates through the vote of the Asian Football Confederation, which aims to identify the most popular game clubs in West Asia. Sharjah Club dissolved first, with 51% votes
History
Golden Age

Sharjah FC was founded in 1966 under the name of Al Oruba Club, they were the first official champions of the UAE League winning it in 1974 after beating Al Ahli and Oman. The club would merge with Al Khaleej in 1974 to form Al Sharjah SCC and relocate their headquarters in Sharjah City. The club would later see itself win the league in 4 more occasions during the 80s and 90s and 8 out of the 22 players in the UAE's 1990 squad were players from Sharjah, more than any other club at the time.[3]
Decline
During the mid-2000s however, Sharjah would see a decline as they would finish in mid-table consecutively and in 2012, the club got relegated for the first time in their history. However, the club managed to quickly get promoted back to the top tier division in 2013.
New Era
Sharjah has managed to win its first title since 1996 in 2019 with a record of only one loss. The Coach, Mr Abdul Aziz Al Anbary who also was Sharjah player managed to have 6-7 players among the squad From Sharjah football school. Igor Coronado, Adel Al Hosani, Wilton Suarez, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Alhassan Saleh and Ryan Mendes managed to be among the top players of the team in that Season participating nearly in all matches.
On 14 September 2019, Sharjah managed to win their first UAE Super Cup title since 1994 after beating Shabab Al Ahli in penalties 4-3. Sharjah played with 10 players for more than 70 minutes due to the red card of Al Hassan Saleh. The last penalty is scored by Ryan Mendes.
From 2019 to 2022 Sharjah team managed to be top 4 in the UAE league table maintaining consistency and proofing that the golden era is back for Sharjah FC.
In 2022, Sharjah football team was crowned champion of His Highness the President's Football Cup for the ninth time in its history, after defeating Al Wahda 1-0 on Friday night. Sharjah won the Cup in the final match that was held at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain in the midst of a large audience of 20,000 spectators. The Spanish Paco Alcácer scored the only goal of the match from a free kick in the 53rd minute, before he was substituted. The "king" returned to the podium after an absence of 19 years, specifically since they won the eighth title in 2003, and interestingly enough, won that edition over Al-Wahda as well, but on penalties
In 25 Feb, 2023 Sharjah beat Al Ain 1-0 in a pulsating UAE Super Cup clash at the Al Maktoum Stadium in front of a capacity 15,000 crowd to win the first title of 2023. Sharjah went ahead in the 29th minute with an own goal from Laba Kodjo, who inadvertently turned Caio Lucas' header into his net.
Honours
19 Official Championships
Domestic
Leagues
- Champions: 1992–93
Club officials
Position | Staff |
---|---|
Manager | ![]() |
Assistant Manager | ![]() |
First Team Coach | ![]() |
Goalkeeper Coach | ![]() |
Technical Staff | ![]() |
Sports Director | ![]() |
Current squad
Out on loan
No | Position | Player | Nation |
---|---|---|---|
5 | DF | Hamad Jassim (on loan to Al Bataeh) | ![]() |
11 | MF | Saif Rashid (on loan to Al Bataeh) | ![]() |
12 | GK | Humood Howaij (on loan to Al Dhaid) | ![]() |
— | DF | Ali Al-Dhanhani (on loan to Khor Fakkan) | ![]() |
Performance in AFC competitions
- AFC Champions League: 5 appearances
AFC Champions League history
Season | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | Group C | ![]() |
2–0 | 3–2 | 1st |
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5–2 | 0–0 | |||
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3–0 | 3–0 | |||
Quarter-finals | ![]() |
2–5 | 0–6 | 2–11 | |
2020 | Group C | ![]() |
0–1 | 6–0 | 4th |
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2–2 | 0–4 | |||
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4–2 | 1–2 | |||
2021 | Group B | ![]() |
1–0 | 3–2 | 1st |
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0–2 | 0–0 | |||
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4–1 | 1–1 | |||
Round of 16 | ![]() |
1–1 (p) (4–5) | |||
2022 | Playoffs | ![]() |
1–1 (p) (6–5) | ||
Group A | ![]() |
2–2 | 1–2 | 3rd | |
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1–1 | 1–3 | |||
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2–1 | 0–2 |
- Asian Club Championship: 2 appearances
Asian Club Championship history
Season | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1989 | Group 2 | ![]() |
0–1 | 3rd | |
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2–0 | ||||
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0–3 | ||||
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4–1 | ||||
1994 | First Round | ![]() |
1–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 |
Record By Country
Country | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 60.00 |
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4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 0.00 |
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5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 80.00 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 0.00 |
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1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 100.00 |
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4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 25.00 |
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7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 8 | +6 | 28.57 |
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2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 11 | −9 | 0.00 |
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2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 50.00 |
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1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 0.00 |
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2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 50.00 |
Club managers
Joe Kinnear (1978)
Djalma Alves (1981–83)
Procópio Cardoso (1984)
Yury Mozorov (1992–93)
Faouzi Benzarti (2000–Dec 01)
Waheed Al Tuweiri (Dec 2001)
Dragan Jolgina (Dec 2001–June 2)
Paul Dolezar (June 2002–??)
Ghazi Ghrairi
Srećko Juričić (July 1, 2006 – Nov 1, 2006)
Rainer Zobel (2006)
Gerard van der Lem (July 1, 2007 – May 1, 2008)
Manuel Cajuda (July 13, 2009 – May 21, 2011)
Abdulmajid (May 22, 2011 – June 16, 2011)
Carlos Azenha (June 17, 2011 – Nov 14, 2011)
Valeriu Tiţa (Sept 18, 2011 – Dec 14, 2011)
Jorvan Vieira (Dec 16, 2011 – Feb 2, 2012)
Valeriu Tiţa (2012)
Faouzi Benzarti (2013)
Paulo Bonamigo (May 25, 2013 – 2015)
Abdulaziz Mohamed (2015 – 2016)
Giorgos Donis (July 2016 – Dec 2016 )
José Peseiro (Jan 2017 – Oct 2017)
Abdulaziz Al Yassi (Oct 2017 – Oct 2021)
Cosmin Olăroiu (Nov 2021 – present)
Pro-League record
Season | Div. | Tms. | Pos. | President's Cup | League Cup |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2008–09 | 1 | 12 | 10th | Quarter-Finals | First Round |
2009–10 | 1 | 12 | 6th | Round of 16 | First Round |
2010–11 | 1 | 12 | 7th | Preliminary Round | First Round |
2011–12 | 1 | 12 | 12th | Semi-Finals | First Round |
2012–13 | 2 | 14 | 2nd | Quarter-Finals | — |
2013–14 | 1 | 14 | 7th | Round of 16 | Semi-Finals |
2014–15 | 1 | 14 | 12th | Round of 16 | Runner-ups |
2015–16 | 1 | 14 | 11th | Quarter-Finals | First Round |
2016–17 | 1 | 14 | 9th | Semi-Finals | First Round |
2017–18 | 1 | 12 | 6th | Quarter-Finals | First Round |
2018–19 | 1 | 14 | 1st | Semi-Finals | First Round |
2019–20a | 1 | 14 | 4th | Semi-Finals | Quarter-Finals |
2020–21 | 1 | 14 | 4th | Semi-Finals | Quarter-Finals |
2021–22 | 1 | 14 | 2nd | Champions | First Round |
Notes^ 2019–20 UAE football season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates.
Key
- Pos. = Position
- Tms. = Number of teams
- Lvl. = League
References
- "Sharjah". UAE Pro League Committee. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
- "2019 AFC Asian Cup Welcome Guide". Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- https://www.sharjahfc.gov.ae/تأريخ-تأسيس-النادي/
- "Joint League" (in Arabic). UAEFA.ae.