Al-Riffa SC

Al-Riffa Sports Club (Arabic: نادي الرفاع الرياضي) is a Bahraini professional football club based in Riffa, that competes in the Bahraini Premier League, the top flight of Bahraini football.^[1]

Al-Riffa SC

Full name	Al-Riffa Sports Club
Short name	Riffa
Founded	1953; 72 years ago (1953)
Ground	Khalifa Sports City Stadium Riffa
Capacity	15,000
Chairman	Sh. Abdulla bin Khalid Al-Khalifa
Manager	Carlos Inarejos
League	Premier League
2023–24	Premier League, 2nd of 12
Current season

History

The club was founded in 1953 as West Riffa Sports Club. In 2001, the club changed its name to Al-Riffa Sports Club.

Stadium

Riffa use Bahrain National Stadium as their home ground, which has the capacity for nearly 24,000 spectators.^[2]

Current squad

First-team squad

As of 12 June 2024

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 2 MF  BHR Saud Al-Asam 3 DF  BHR Salman Al-Qadhaib 4 DF  BHR Sayed Baqer 6 DF  BHR Ali Faraj 7 FW  BHR Abdulaziz Khalid 11 MF  BHR Abdulla Al Thawadi 12 DF  SRB Lazar Đorđević 13 MF  BHR Jasim Al-Shaikh 14 MF  BHR Ali Haram 15 DF  BHR Hamad Al-Shamsan 16 DF  BHR Sayed Redha Isa 17 FW  BHR Hashim Sayed Isa

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 FW  BHR Ali Hasan Isa 19 DF  BHR Husein Al–Eker 20 FW  TUN Aymen Harzi 21 MF  BHR Yassine Benmansour 22 MF  BHR Fahad Jassim 23 MF  BHR Hamad Yasser 24 GK  BHR Kareem Fardan 25 MF  BHR Mohammed Qayoom 26 MF  BHR Abdullah Al Jazeeri 28 DF  BHR Hazza Ali 29 GK  BHR Abdullah Al-Ahmad 30 MF  BHR Saleh Mohamed 31 MF  BHR Ahmad Al Ashban 36 GK  BHR Omar Ghalam Mohammad 45 MF  BHR Abdullah Al Rahman Al Ebedili

Achievements

The club's first international achievement was in 1982 when Riffa placed second in the GCC Club Cup. This was an important achievement for the club and Bahraini football in general as it helped the region take notice of the talent available in Bahrain.

Domestic

• Bahraini Premier League: 14
  • 1982, 1987, 1990, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2021, 2022.
• Bahraini King's Cup: 7
  • 1973, 1985, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2019, 2021.
• Bahraini FA Cup: 4
  • 2000, 2001, 2004, 2014.
• Bahraini Crown Prince Cup: 4
  • 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005.
• Bahraini Super Cup: 2
  • 2019, 2021.

Friendly international

• Scissors Cup: 1
  • 1997^[3][4]

Performance in GCC competitions (As West Riffa SC)

GCC Club Championship

10 appearances

1992: Group stage

1995: Group stage

1999: Group stage

2001: Group stage

2005: Group stage

2006: Group stage

2009–10: Group stage

2011: Quarter-finals

2012: Quarter-finals

2024–25:

Performance in AFC competitions

AFC Champions League

1 appearance

2004: Group stage

Asian Club Championship

5 appearances

1989: Qualifying stage

1992: Qualifying – 1st round

1995: Second round

1997: withdrew in First round

1999: First round

AFC Cup

7 appearances

2010: Semi-final

2013: Round of 16

2014: Round of 16

2015: Group stage

2020: Cancelled

2022: Zonal finals

2023–24: Zonal semifinals

Notable managers

• Theo Laseroms (1982–84)
• Uli Maslo (1985–88), (1993–94)
• Rodion Gačanin (July 1, 2003 – June 30, 2005)
• Dragan Talajić (July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2006)
• Eelco Schattorie (2006–07)
• Srećko Juričić (July 1, 2007 – Dec 31, 2007)
• Wilco van Buuren (Youth Team Director)
• Julio Peixoto
• Stefano Impagliazzo (2011–13)
• Florin Motroc (June 1, 2013 – 2014)
• Ali Ashoor (2018–2022)
• Carlos Inarejos (2024–2025)