Duhok SC

For the basketball team, see Duhok SC (basketball).

Duhok Sports Club (Kurdish: Yana Dihok ya Werzişî, Arabic: نادي دهوك الرياضي) is an Iraqi professional sports club, based in Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. Founded in 1970, the club competes in the Iraq Stars League. Duhok SC's biggest rivals are also their neighbours Zakho, producing passionate and fierce matches every season, with whom they contest the "Badinan Derby".

Duhok SC

Full name	Duhok Sports Club
Founded	1970; 55 years ago (1970)
Ground	Duhok Stadium
Capacity	22,800
Chairman	Abdullah Jalal
Manager	Sulamin Ramadan
League	Iraq Stars League
2024–25	Iraq Stars League, 7th of 20
Website	https://scduhok.com
Home colours Away colours

Duhok has won the Iraq Stars League once and the Iraq FA Cup once. Duhok became the first Iraqi club to both participate in and win the AGCFF Gulf Club Champions League, having been crowned champions in the 2024–25 season.

Club history

Duhok Football Club (Duhok FC) was founded by the youth of Duhok city when three teams joined together to establish the club on 14 December 1970.

Duhok Football Club began its football journey in rural league competitions until the 1974–75 season, when the club decided to suspend its activities to support the post-nationalistic struggle to defend the rights of the Kurdish people in Iraq. In 1976, Duhok Football Team participated in the Iraqi Third Division, and by 1978, the team had moved up to the Iraqi Second Division. During the 1990–91 season, the team did not participate in the league due to a major uprising. The club resumed participation in the 1992–93 season in the Iraqi Fourth Division, earning promotion to the Third Division a year later. In the 1993–94 season, Duhok SC played in the Third Division and was once again promoted, this time to the Second Division.

During the 1980s, Duhok SC had several talented players, one of the most notable being Wahid Kovli. Around 1985, he emerged as a key striker for the team, known for his goal-scoring abilities and impact on the squad’s performance. His skills made him a feared forward in the league and a crucial player for Duhok SC.

The 1994–95 season was a defining moment for Duhok SC, as they claimed the Second Division title and secured a spot in the Iraqi First Division for the 1995–96 season. Duhok SC remained in the First Division throughout the 1996–97 season.

In the 1997–98 season, Duhok SC secured promotion to the Iraqi Premier League by winning the First Division. Since then, the club spent many years in mid-table, occasionally challenging the top Iraqi teams. However, everything changed after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which brought new opportunities and freedom for Kurdish sports teams and athletes, allowing them to excel in both national and international competitions.

Duhok SC finally realized its full potential during the 2009–10 season when they won their first-ever Iraqi Premier League championship, defeating Talaba SC 1–0 to claim the title. In the 2011–12 season, Duhok SC finished as runners-up, qualifying for the AFC Cup for the second time in its history. The last time Duhok SC played in the AFC Cup was in the 2010–11 season, where they reached the quarter-finals.

Official sponsors

• Asia cell 2006/2007.
• Korek Telecom 2009/2010.
• Newroz Telecom 2012/2013.
• Adidas, even though it is not a legitimate sponsor, because the club only took one of the Adidas World Cup designs 2013/2014
• Fastpay 2022/2023
• First Iraqi Bank 2024/Present

Stadium

Duhok Stadium is the stadium where Duhok Sport Club play their home games. It is a multiuse stadium in Duhok, Kurdistan. The stadium originally held 10,000 people, but after reconstruction it now holds 25,000 people, making it one of the largest in Iraq. It was built in 1992. It is located on Raza Road, Duhok.

Rivalries

Duhok FC fans consider Zakho FC and Erbil SC to be their main rivals. Zakho FC are the club's traditional rivals with whom they contest the "Duhok Derby" but differing fortunes have somewhat diluted the clubs' dislike of each other, even though now Zakho FC are back in the Iraqi Premier League and the rivalry is set to continue and to be more heated than ever. Erbil SC and Duhok SC also share very heated rivalries, as the two main Kurdish teams in the Iraqi league both teams are very much still rivals, even though these clubs are bitter rivals, the number of incidents and violence has decreased incredibly now these clubs share very safe but still heated encounters.

Crest and Nickname

The Duhok SC logo features the club's primary colors, yellow and blue. It depicts a hawk, symbolizing the club's nickname, "Mountains' Hawks" (صقور الجبال). The logo also includes the letters "DSC" at the top, representing Duhok Sports Club, and displays the year of the club's founding at the bottom.

Kits

Playing kit

Duhok's home shirts are now always yellow and blue, in 2012 Duhok Sc introduced a new home kit for the season 2012/2013, a yellow kit with sky blue hoops. Traditionally the home kit has always been yellow, the away kit would usually be blue or blue and white. Duhok SC has made the colours yellow and blue the club's prime colours.

Past kit

Early kit worn during 1970s

kit from 1979

first use of yellow in 1980

green strip 1991

kit from 2000s

First AFC Cup kit

kits from 2022 and 2023 "league iraq

Current squad

First-team squad

As of 12 February 2025

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 95 GK  IRQ Mohammed Salih 12 GK  IRQ Ahmed Bashar 33 GK  IRQ Zana Jawzal 2 DF  IRQ Najm Shwan 3 DF  IRQ Masies Artien 52 DF  BRA Moisés 96 DF  BRA Lucas Turci 27 DF  IRQ Bayar Abubakir (captain) 23 DF  IRQ Rebaz Raheem 20 DF  IRQ Mohammed Saeed 30 DF  IRQ Mustafa Owaid 55 MF  IRQ Ali Mohsin 5 MF  IRQ Ako Hzair

No. Pos. Nation Player 10 MF  IRQ Haron Ahmed Zubair 25 MF  IRQ Zana Allée 21 MF  IRQ Bewar Fariq 17 MF  IRQ Hassan Emad 99 FW  IRQ Siyaband Ageed 7 FW  IRQ Peter Gwargis 80 FW  CIV Yannick Zakri 29 FW  BRA Marlon 18 FW  IRQ Dhulfiqar Younis 28 FW  LBN Karim Darwiche 88 FW  IRQ Ibrahim Ghazi 11 FW  IRQ Pashang Abdulla — FW  IRQ Mustafa Nawaf

Club managers

• Sulaiman Ramadhan (2025-)
• Mesut Meral (2024-2025)
• Ahmed Khalaf (2023-2024)
• Sulaiman Ramadhan (2020-2023)
• Thair Jassam (2014-2015), (2015-2016)
• Basim Qasim (2007–2011), (2014-2015)
• Fajr Ibrahim (2013–2014)
• Jamal Ali (2012–2013)
• Ayman Hakeem (2011–2012)
• Akram Salman (2010–2011)
• Nadhim Shaker (1996–1997), (2004–2005)
• Namat Mahmoud
• Hamid Mahmoud
• Hussain Hassan
• Ameer Abdul-Aziz
• Rasan Bunian
• Hadi Mutansh
• Mohammed Tabra
• Natiq Hashim
• Faisal Aziz
• Shaker Mahmoud
• Kadhim Mutashar

Recent history

Season	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	AFCCL	AFCC	FA Cup	Notes
2000–01	5	30	16	7	7	44	24	55
2001–02	7	38	19	13	6	61	38	70			Round 1
2002–03	—	27	9	7	11	30	40	34			Round 3	League abandoned due to war
2003–04	—	7	4	0	3	10	6					League abandoned due to war
2004–05	2nd round	20	9	6	5	25	16
2005–06	2nd round	16	6	6	4	13	10
2006–07	2nd round	17	6	6	5	18	21
2007–08	4th Place	24	14	6	4	22	13
2008–09	3rd Place	27	19	7	1	48	11
2009–10	1	42	26	8	8	71	29
2010–11	1st round	26	12	4	10	36	28			Quarter-finals
2011–12	2	38	21	13	4	57	21	76
2012–13	5	34	16	10	8	54	35	58		Round of 16	Abandoned
2013–14	7	23	7	10	6	30	32	31
2014–15	2nd round	22	6	8	8	22	28
2015–16	Relegated	9	2	1	6	8	15				Semi-finals

• From 2004/05 season, the competition changed from League system to various rounds including table and knockout rounds.
• From 2011/12 season, the competition went back to the single league system.
• From 2014/15 season, the competition returned to a system with various rounds.

Backroom staff and club officials

Name	Position
Sulayman Ramadhan	coach
Harjang Babaker	Fitness coach
Maan Jameel	Goalkeeping coach
	Physiotherapist

Boardroom positions

Position	Name	Nationality
Chairman:	Abdullah Jalal
Club Secretary / supervisor:	Jassim Mohammed Haji
Director :	Khalid Mushir
Member of the administrative board:	Millat Jamal

Honours

Type	Competition	Titles	Seasons
Domestic (national)	Iraq Stars League	1	2009–10
	Iraq FA Cup	1	2024–25
	Iraqi Premier Division League (second tier)	1	1997–98
	Iraqi First Division League (third tier)	1	1994–95
Domestic (regional)	Kurdistan Premier League	1	2006–07
International	AGCFF Gulf Club Champions League	1	2024–25

Performance in international competitions

• AFC Cup: 2 appearances

2011: Quarter-finals

2013: Round of 16

• AGCFF Gulf Club Champions League: 1 appearance

2024–25: Winners

Individual honours

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup

The following players have played in the FIFA Confederations Cup whilst playing for Dohuk :

• 2009 – Uday Taleb