Al-Rayyan SC

Al-Rayyan Sports Club (Arabic: نادي الريان الرياضي) is a Qatari multi-sports club fielding teams in a number of sports such as football, futsal, basketball, volleyball, handball, athletics, table tennis, and swimming. It is based at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Umm Al Afaei in the city of Al Rayyan. The club was founded in 1967 after merging the old Rayyan team with Nusoor Club. The official team colours are red and black.

They have won numerous titles in all sports, including two Asian championships in basketball, the Arab championship in handball, futsal domestic titles, table tennis, and volleyball, as well as numerous GCC basketball, handball, and volleyball championships. Both the basketball and handball teams have qualified for the world championships. However, the football team gets the most attention from the club officials, media, and fans.^[1][2]

Al Rayyan's history goes back to the mid-1960s when it was known as Old Al Rayyan. Old Al Rayyan, though an amateur football team, competed in matches arranged throughout the whole country, not being limited to the city in which it was based. Their headquarters was in a two-bedroom house, and they played their matches on a football field in a school based in the New Rayyan area. The club relied on donations from the fans during this period.^[3]

In 1967, Al Rayyan began as a combination of two groups called " new Al Rayyan’sons and old al-Rayyan’son". In 1967, Al-Rayyan started its factory. From 1967 until now, Al-Rayyan has won many trophies not only in soccer even in the rest of the games such as handball, basketball and volleyball. The people who contributed to build Al Rayyan knew that this team would not be a regular team, but it will also represent the culture of the city of Al Rayyan outside of Qatar. In 2008, the club established magazine called SOUT AL RAYYAN (The Voice of Al Rayyan) which is the first magazine that cares about Al Rayyan news, and it is the only team's magazine in Qatar.^[4]

They applied to be a member club of the Qatar Football Association, but were rejected with the QFA proposing that they merge with Al Nusoor, a local sports club also based in Al Rayyan. In 1967, after an announcement by the Al Rayyan Sports Committee that Old Al Rayyan would merge with Al Nusoor, Al Rayyan SC was officially founded. A new headquarters was established to accommodate increased size demands as a result of the merger. The first head coach of Al Rayyan was Ashour Salem, a Sudanese national, who, besides working as a local physical education coach, trained the first team and youth team. In the early years, the club branched out to other sports, notably basketball and handball. As a result of donations from the club supporters, Al Rayyan was able to establish their home grounds in Doha Stadium, the largest stadium in Qatar at that time.^[3]

The club had success in the Qatar Stars League within the first decade of its formation, with the club participating in their first official season in 1972–73. In the 1974–75, after a mass brawl between the fans and players of Al Rayyan and Al Sadd, the QFA relegated Al Rayyan, who were in 2nd place at the time, to the second division. They won back promotion the following season and achieved their first league title 1976. In the 1977 season, the QFA annulled the results of Al Rayyan due to actions which took place in a match against Al Arabi. The perpetrator, who was an Al Arabi player by the name of Yassin Mustafa, was banned permanently from all league matches whereas the two clubs were warned.^[5]

In 1983, under the leadership of Mohammed Bin Hammam Al Abdulla, a new club headquarters and home stadium were constructed. They won the league with a negative goal difference in 1983–84, making them one of the only 6 teams in the world and the only Qatari team in history to achieve this feat.^[6]

In the 1987–88 season, much to the surprise of critics and fans, they got relegated for the first time in league history.^[7] The relegation was preceded by a 0–1 loss to Al Sadd, as Hassan Jowhar scored a header goal which would prove to be the final nail in the coffin of Al Rayyan.^[5] They won back promotion to the premier league in their first season in the second division.

They would go on to win the league in 1990, the same season they were promoted back to the first division, beating out rivals Al Sadd. They won an additional league title in 1995.

They inaugurated their home ground, Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, in 2003 during the reign of Sheikh Mishaal Al Thani. The first match held on the grounds was the 2003 Emir Cup finals.

The club has not experienced much league success as of late, with the last successful league campaign being in 1994–95; however they finished third in the 2010–11 season under Paulo Autuori. Nonetheless, they faced great success in the Emir's Cup and Heir Apparent Cup winning eight cups in total in 14 years.

In 2014–15 the club won the Qatargas League and returned to Qatar Stars League. On 28 November 2015, Al-Rayyan Broke the record of most consecutive league matches won to 11.

On 5 March 2016, after 21 years Al-Rayyan won the league once again, and became the first ever team to win both leagues in two years.^[8]

Al-Rayyan is one of the most popular clubs in Qatar and is supported throughout the Gulf region,^[9] as well as other parts of the world due to their high-profile signings.^[2] In 2010, they had the highest attendance in the Qatar Stars League.^[10] The fan club won the QFA-sanctioned award of "best fans" in the 2008–09 season, and shared the award with Al Sadd in the 2012–13 season.^[11]

Since 1994 Updated 26 September 2023

Since 1995 Updated 22 September 2023

Since 1995 Updated 21 September 2023

Updated 21 September 2023

As of 9 May 2023^[12][13]

League

• Qatar Stars League
  • Champions (8): 1975–76, 1977–78, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1989–90, 1994–95, 2015–16

Cup

• Emir of Qatar Cup
  • Champions (6): 1998–99, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2010, 2011, 2013
• Qatar Cup
  • Champions (4): 1995, 1996, 2001, 2012
• Sheikh Jassim Cup
  • Champions (5): 1992, 2000, 2012, 2013, 2018

Key: PO – Play-off round; 1R/2R – First/Second round; R16 – Round of 16; QF – Quarter-final; SF – Semi-final;

Notes

Ahmad bin Ali Stadium (Arabic: ملعب أحمد بن علي), popularly known as the Al-Rayyan Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Al-Rayyan, Qatar which serves as the home stadium for Al Rayyan's football section. It was used as a venue for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.^[14] The construction of the new stadium started in early 2016.^[15] This was done by the joint venture between Al-Balagh and Larsen & Toubro. After the World Cup the stadium will be reduced to 21,000 seats.^[16] The new stadium was built for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which was hosted by Qatar.^[17]

Statistics correct as March 7, 2023

As of Qatar Stars League:

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

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

Last update: August 2023.^[18]

This list includes players whom have made significant contributions to their national team and to the club. At least 90 caps for the club or 100 caps for their national team is needed to be considered for inclusion.

Present and past managers of Al-Rayyan from 1967 (incomplete):

• Ashraf Mehdi (1984–85)
• Saad Abu El Dahab (1985–)^[26]

Notes

• 1. Non-professional coach; worked as local physical education teacher.
• 2. First professional coach.
• 3. First non-Arab coach.

• Official website (in Arabic and English)
• Al Rayyan Club at QFA