Dhofar Sports, Cultural and Social Club (Arabic: نادي ظفار الرياضي الثقافي الاجتماعي is an Omani sports club based in Salalah, Oman.[1] The club currently plays in the Oman Professional League, top division of Omani football. Their home ground is Al-Saada Stadium, but they also recognize the older Salalah Sports Complex as their home ground. Both stadiums are government owned, but the club also owns its own personal stadium and sports equipment, as well as their own training facilities.
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| Full name | Dhofar Sports, Cultural and Social Club نادي ظفار الرياضي الثقافي و الاجتماعي | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Al-Za'eem (The Bosses) | ||
| Founded | 1968 (as Al-Shaab) 20 May 1972 (as Dhofar) | ||
| Ground | Al-Saada Stadium Salalah Sports Complex Salalah, Oman | ||
| Capacity | 20,000 8,000 | ||
| Chairman | Badar Ali Said Al-Rawas | ||
| Manager | Rasheed Jaber | ||
| League | Oman Professional League | ||
| 2022–23 | 4th | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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History edit
The idea for the foundation of a club in Salalah began in the 1960s, resulting in various meetings among the town's people. The names considered for the new club were Al-Ahlia, Al-Nahda, Al-Arabi, and Al-Shoala, but the name to be chosen for the club was to be "Al-Shaab", literally translating to "The People",[2] and in 1968 the new club was finally founded.
Two years later, the young club merged with the neighboring club Al-Shoala from the Dahariz district of Salalah and was re-founded as Dhofar in 1970 appointing Salim Al-Kathiri as the club's first president, a position he held until 1975.[3] Officially, the club was founded on 20 May 1972 and was registered on 26 June 2002.
Dhofar is the most successful club in the Omani League with a total of eleven championships[4] and ten Sultan Qaboos Cup titles[5] to their name. Dhofar have also reached the final of the 1995–1996 Gulf Club Champions Cup, only losing to Saudi giants, Al-Nassr. The club has never been relegated to second division. They have a long lasting rivalry with neighbours Al-Nasr S.C. Although being relatively younger in foundation than many other Arab clubs, which generally were founded in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, Dhofar has been ranked as the 30th most successful club title-wise in the Arab World with a total of 19 titles.[6]
Dhofar, along with the neighbours Al-Nasr have been generally labelled as the front runners of the Omani League, but as seen in the recent seasons, both the clubs performed horribly with Dhofar losing many games, and not going far in the Sultan Qaboos Cup, along with Al-Nasr who even got relegated in the 2010–11 season.
The club in the 2009–10 season made a season comeback with their performances in the Sultan Qaboos Cup by reaching the final against a lower-leveled Saham. Saham won the match 7–6 on penalties after the match had ended 2–2 at normal time.
Dhofar also received second place in the 2009–10 Omani League losing only a few points short of first-time winners, Al-Suwaiq,[7] and in the process qualified for the 2011 AFC Cup. After the end of the second-place finish earlier in the 2009–10 season, Dhofar made major signings and re-signings to boost the club's performance in future competitions.[8] Then in the next season, they were placed 4th in the league table securing 30 points from 22 games. Dhofar lost all its last 5 matches in the 2010–11 season. It further went down in the 2011–12 season and was placed 12th in the league. But at the end of the same season they also won their 8th Sultan Qaboos Cup title by winning 1–0 against neighbours Al-Ittihad.[9][10] In the previous season of the Omani League, Dhofar was ranked 6th in the league. This was one of their worst performances in the top division football. In 2013, Dhofar appointed Dragan Talajić of Croatia as their manager.
Before the beginning of the 2014-15 Oman Professional League season, on 4 July 2014 the club appointed Romanian manager Petre Gigiu who had managed Al-Seeb Club and Sur SC in the 2013–14 Oman Professional League. His first triumph as a manager of the club came in the pre-season preparations of the club when he led his side to win the 2014 Baniyas SC International Tournament winning two matches, 2–1 against United Arab Emirates national under-23 football team and 1–0 against Bahraini Premier League club Hidd SCC.[11]
Other sports edit
Although being mainly known for their football, Dhofar S.C.S.C. like many other clubs in Oman, have not only football in their list, but also hockey, volleyball, handball, basketball, badminton and squash. They also have a youth football team competing in the Omani Youth league.
Crest and colours edit
Like the Oman national football team, Dhofar S.C.S.C. have also long-chosen red as the color to represent them, varying themselves from neighbors Al-Ittihad (Green), Al-Nasr S.C.S.C. (Blue) and Salalah SC (Blue) kits. Historically, they usually wore a red jersey with white shorts, but after the 1990s they began to wear a full red kit.
Over the years, they have had numerous kit providers, ranging from Puma to Lotto and Grand Sport. As of now, Nike provides them with kits. Currently, Oasis Grace L.L.C. is featured on the team's shirt.
They have also had many different sponsors over the years, but rarely featured a shirt sponsor (only during notable matches such as the Sultan Qaboos Cup final). Omani newspaper, Al-Watan, Dhofar Insurance, Al Makan Cafe and Bank Muscat have all been featured on their kit at one point in their history.
Honours edit
National titles edit
- Oman Professional League (11):
- Sultan Qaboos Cup (10):
- Oman Super Cup (3):
- Winners 1999, 2017, 2019
- Runners-up 2000, 2005, 2012
Youth and friendly edit
- Winners 1994
- Winners 2014
Club performance: international competitions edit
AFC competitions edit
- Asian Club Championship : 2 appearances
- Asian Cup Winners' Cup : 1 appearance
- 1991–92 : Second round
- AFC Cup : 6 appearances
UAFA competitions edit
- Arab Champions League : 1 appearance
- GCC Champions League: 10 appearances
Players edit
First-team squad edit
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Personnel edit
Technical staff edit
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Grigore Sichitiu
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| Assistant coach | Alexandru Iliuciuc
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 Saleh Abd-Raboh Ju'man
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| Goalkeeping coach | Cristian Pătru
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| Other team staff | Faisal Al-Rowas
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| Ahmed Sufrar
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| Ahmed Awadh Bashir
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| Said Faraj Al-Salem
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Management edit
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Sheikh Badar Ali Said Al-Rowas |
| Vice-President | Sheikh Ali Farah Al-Hadhri |
| General secretary | Abdullah Al-Mukaddam |
| Board member | Ahmed Awadh Al-Rowas |
| Board member | Hafidh Salim Al-Rowas |
| Board member | Said Ghalib Al-Rowas |
Presidential history edit
Below is the official presidential history of Dhofar S.C.S.C., from when Salim Annou Al-Kathiri took over at the club in 1970, until the present day.[12]
| Name | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Salim Annou Al-Kathiri | 1970 | 1975 |
| Ali Said Badr Al-Rawas | 1975 | 1976 |
| Saif Hafidh Abdullah Al-Rawas | 1976 | 1986 |
| Ahmed Salim Amer Al-Rawas | 1986 | 1997 |
| Ghazi Said Abdullah Al-Rawas | 1997 | 2000 |
| Hamid Ahmed Al-Aajayli | 2000 | 2004 |
| Naif Omar Awadh Al-Rawas | 2004 | 2006 |
| Badr Ali Said Al-Rawas | 2006 | 2014 |
| Ali Said Al-Rawas | 2014 | present |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Dhofar SCSC Salala". national-football-teams.com. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
- ^ https://translate.google.com/#ar%7Cen%7C%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B9%D8%A8 – Archived 2 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine Google translation from Arabic to English of Al-Shaab
- ^ "Dhofar S.C. history". Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
- ^ "Dhofar League titles". Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
- ^ "Dhofar S.Q.C. titles". Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
- ^ "Dhofar ranked as 30th most successful club in West Asia and North Africa (ARCHIVE, must have log-in to view page)". Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
- ^ "09-10 league table". Archived from the original on 27 December 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ^ "(Arabic) Kooora announces signings and re-signings of the 2010 offseason". Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ^ "Dhofar Club to celebrate HM's Cup victory". Oman Tribune. Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ^ "DHUFAR VS. AL ITTEHAD 1 – 0". soccerway.com. Archived from the original on 17 December 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
- ^ "ظفار يتوج ببطولة بني ياس الودية". kooora.com. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
- ^ "History of Dhofar's presidents (bottom of page)". Archived from the original on 12 February 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2010.
External links edit
- Dhofar S.C.S.C. at Soccerway
- Dhofar S.C.S.C. at Goalzz