Al-Arabi SC (Irbid)

This article is about the Jordanian football club based in Irbid. For other clubs, see Al-Arabi.

Al-Arabi Irbid Sports Club (Arabic: نادي العربي إِربِد الرياضي) is a football club based in Irbid, Jordan which currently competes in the Jordanian First Division League, the second tier of Jordanian football.^[2]

Al-Arabi Irbid

Full name	Al-Arabi Irbid Sports Club
Founded	1945; 80 years ago (1945)
Ground	Al-Hassan Stadium
Capacity	15,000
Chairman	Habes Al-Zinati
Manager	Imad Rashad[1]
League	Jordanian First Division League
2024–25	Jordanian First Division League, 3rd of 14
Home colours Away colours
Current season

The previous logo of Al-Arabi SC (Irbid)

History

Al-Arabi Sports Club's origins began when a group of 22 young intellectuals were interested in establishing a place, where they could gather and practice their various hobbies. Thus, the Acting and Music Club was formed in 1945.^[3] The club began as one that focused on youth culture and music, and sports was not a focus of the club at the time. It established its sports branch in 1955, under the current name Al-Arabi SC.^[4] Al-Arabi SC is considered to be one of the oldest football clubs formed in Jordan, and the oldest club in Northern Jordan.^[5]

According to Fayez Salim, the football team rose to the ranks of the Premier League team and was the first team from Irbid to win the Jordan FA Cup in 1986 and is still the only team from the city of Irbid to have won it^[6] as of 2024.

Al-Arabi was also famous for its handball team,^[7][8] as it dominated the Kingdom’s championships for nearly 16 consecutive years, between 1983 and ending in 1991, as well as hosting other sports such as tennis, volleyball, cycling and athletics.^[9] A peculiarity within the club during the domination of its handball team was that some of their players switched between representing Al-Arabi in handball and Al-Arabi in football.^[10]

Recent history

Al-Arabi finished as runners-up of the 2009–10 Jordan FA Cup, where they narrowly lost 1-0 to Al-Wehdat at the King Abdullah II Stadium.^[11]

On 8 November 2017, Al-Arabi was threatened with collapse as it faced a difficult financial situation, owing a debt of over 1 million dinars.^[12]

On 1 July 2019, various properties of Al-Arabi were put up for sale that amounted to approximately $10.4 million.^[13]

On 17 December 2019, Al-Arabi and Al-Hussein began renovating a football stadium in the Zabada area of Irbid. It would be used as a training ground for both clubs, as opposed to go all the way to Ar-Ramtha to conduct their training.^[14]

Current squad

As of 22 September 2024^[15]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player —  JOR Rami Al-Mayouf [16] —  JOR Ali Deiraniyeh [17] —  JOR Qusai Al-Yassin (on loan from Al-Sareeh)[18] — FW  JOR Nahar Al-Rashoud [19] —  JOR Mohammad Hussein Dhiyab [20] —  JOR Murad Al-Qadoumi [21] — GK  JOR Ahmed Malkawi [22] —  JOR Hassan Al-Safouri [23] —  JOR Ali Al-Attar [24] —  JOR Hashem Sawalha [25] —  JOR Hamza Younes Bani Yaseen —  JOR Majd Al-Din Mohammad Al-Hamdoun —  JOR Mohammad Yousef Bani Domi — MF  JOR Mahmoud Bassoul —  JOR Nahar Mohammad Al-Rashoud — MF  JOR Yanal Al-Mahmoud

Personnel

Current staff

Position	Name
President	Habes Al-Zinati[26]
Vice-president	Abdullah Al-Akour[27]
Director	Ayman Al-Naimi Abu Al-Abd[28]
Secretary	Khaled Abu Zaid
Manager	Fathi Al-Dhawahra[29]
Technical director / Head-coach	Imad Rashad
Assistant coaches	Hadi Al-Maharmeh[30] Abdel-Ilah Al-Hanahneh[31]
U-19 head coach	Tariq Salah[32]
U-13, U-15, U17 technical director	Abdul Rahman Suleiman[33]
Goalkeeping coach	Mohamed Badarna[34]
U-13 head coach and physical trainer	Moamen Hamed[35]
U-17 head coach and U-15 assistant coach	Mohamed Ahmed Al-Azayda[36]
U-15 assistant coach	Mustafa Al-Turkmani[37]

Notable players

The following players have either played at the professional or international level, either before, during or after playing for Al-Arabi SC (Irbid):

• Mustafa Abu Musameh
• Ammar Abu-Aleeqa
• Saed Al-Rosan
• Hatem Aqel
• Omar Athamneh
• Mohammad Balas
• Anas Bani Yaseen
• Bashar Bani Yaseen^[38]
• Ihsan Haddad
• Ahmed Hatamleh
• Salah Massad
• Saeed Murjan
• Abdel-Ru'ouf Al-Rawabdeh
• Yasser Al-Rawashdeh
• Yousef Al-Rawashdeh
• Yousef Al-Thodan
• Mahmoud Za'tara
• Anas Al-Zboun
• Mohammad Zureiqat
• Musa Ouattara
• Mohammad Hussein
• Firas Al Ali
• Ibrahim Al Hasan
• Maher Al Sayed
• Ahmad Deeb
• Ahmed Idrees

Managerial history

• Fares Shdifat (?–2009)
• Kadhim Khalaf (2009–2010)
• Osama Qasem (2010)
• Muneer Masbah (2010–2011)
• Mustafa Al-Lubani (2011–2012)
• Hisham Khalf (2011)
• Issa Al-Turk (2012)
• Maher Bahri (2012–2013)
• Ahmed Sobh (2013)
• Kadhim Khalaf (2013–2014)
• Bega (2014)
• Mohammad Al-Ababneh (2014)

Honours

• Jordan FA Cup
  • Winners (1): 1986

Kit Providers

• Adidas
• Uhlsport
• Adidas F50
• Jako
• Puma