Al-Wehdat Sports Club (Arabic: نادي الوحدات الرياضي) is a Jordanian sports club founded in 1956. The club is based in and represents the Amman New Camp, a Palestinian refugee camp which is also known as Al-Wehdat. Al-Wehdat's home games are played at King Abdullah II Stadium (cap. 13,000), also known as the Stadium of fire and victory. There are several other sports offered in the club, such as volleyball, and basketball.
Al-Wehdat
Full name
Al-Wehdat Sports Club
Nickname(s)
المارد الأخضر (The Green Giant)
Short name
WEH
Founded
February 8, 1956; 65 years ago (1956-02-08), as Al-Wehdat Youth Center
The club was founded in 1956[2] under the name Al-Wehdat Youth Center. In 1974, they changed their name to Al-Wehdat Sports Club and have been called that since then (with the exception of 1986–1989 when it was named Al-Diffatain Sports Club.)
Al-Wehdat has 50 local trophies from 1980 and appears in 11 AFC Cup but did not achieve the title. Al-Wehdat won the second division in 1975 and were promoted to the first division for the first time ever, but were relegated in their first season. The next season, the club was promoted again and has not been relegated since then. In the last 15 years from 2005 to 2020 Al-Wehdat won the league 10 times . Since 2005, Al-Faisaly won the league 4 times which made Al-Wehdat the dominant team in Jordanian football in the last 15 years , Al-Wehdat is the only Jordanian team that has won the four Jordanian competitions (Jordan League , FA Cup , Super Cup , FA Shield ) in a single season in the 2008–09, 2010–11 seasons.
Ever since the club's foundation, the traditional and primary colors of Al-Wehdat are green and red. The kit has varied over the years. Currently the away kit is a full white. The home kit however is a green top with white socks and red shorts.
After a 1–0 win in the Derby of Jordan versus Al-Faisaly on 10 December 2010, rioting broke out following the game between rival Amman clubs. Some Al-Faisaly fans threw bottles at Al-Wehdat players and their fans. About 250 people were injured. 243 of them Al-Wehdat fans, according to senior officials from the hospitals. A similar riot occurred in 2009.[3]
Al Wehdat has one of the largest number of fans in Jordan and the club has fans in almost every city in Jordan. There are about 3 million Al Wehdat fans in Jordan. The fan's most popular chant is "Allah, Wehdat, Al Quds Arabiya" (God, Wehdat, Jerusalem is Arabian).[9]
Al-Wehdat has an ultras named Wehdaty Group (WG) that was founded on 13 September 2012. Their motto is "We support until death".[10]
Derby of Jordan is a football traditional game between Al-Wehdat and Al-Faisaly. These games receive great interest among the sports community on the Domestic and Arab level due to its intensity and a long history between the two teams. According to Al Jazeera, supporters of Al-Wehdat are generally of Palestinian origin, while Faisaly fans are of Jordanian origin. The Derby is as known for its intensity on the pitch as it is for the tensions off the pitch. The two clubs first met on 28 November 1976.[11]