Al Nahda SC (Lebanon)
Founded on
February 3rd, 1926, by three men, Elias Nakhle Boutrous, Emile
Raffoul Boutrous and Elias Moubarak, Al Nahda SC became Lebanon’s first
football club. In a country were religion was a huge part of people’s lives, it
is no surprise that the football club got most of It’s backing from the
Orthodox community, within the Mar Elias district of Beirut. The club adopted
the colours black and white, which led to their nickname being ‘Les Diables
Noirs’ or ‘The Black Devils’ when translated into English. Their stadium,
unknown as to what it was called back then, was situated in the Mar Elias
district and they played in it from 1927 onwards, with various work done on it
throughout history.
Al Nahda was
forced to play friendlies against neighbouring towns who started to establish
football clubs themselves. They also ventured outside Lebanon a few times to
play in other countries, but again these were just friendly matches or
exhibition games. This all changed on 22nd March, 1933, when the
representatives of thirteen football clubs met in the Minet El Hosn district in
Beirut to form the Lebanese Football Association. In May 1934, the Lebanese
Premier League was formed. It was known as the Edmond Rubeiz Cup, in honour of
the Nahda’s player who had died a year previously from typhoid. The
competition, whilst known as a ‘League’ was played in a knock-out format. Nahda
got to the final, and connivingly beating ASDPHB, 7-1 in the final.
The 1934-35
season was won by AUB, while DPHB won it the following year. AUB came back to
win their second ever title in the 1936-37 and then won consecutive titles by
retaining their crown in the 1937-38 season. It was in this season that the
Lebanese FA Cup was set-up, and just like the first Lebanese Premier League, Al
Nahda went on to win it, beating Hilmi-Sport in a two legged final, drawing the
first leg 1-1 whilst wining the second leg 3-2.
DPHB won their
second title in the 1938-39 season, whilst the next year saw the Lebanese
Premier League cancelled due to the World War. Despite the ongoing war, the
league commenced for the 1940-41 season and DPHB won their third title, and
their second in a row. Al Nahda won their second Lebanese FA Cup that year but
It wouldn’t be until the 1941-42 season that Al Nahda would lift the Lebanese
Premier League title again. That’s what they did and they followed it up again
in the 1942-43 season, winning the league for the third time in their history.
In the first decade of Lebanese football, it was quickly established that there
were three clubs dominating the league. Between them, Al Nahda, AUB and DPHB
had won the league in the first nine seasons. However, the monopoly was about
to be broken when Homenetmen, won the league in the 1943-44 season. A club with
strong political beliefs, as shown when they refused to play Israeli club,
Hopoel Tel Aviv in the Asian Champions Club Tournament in 1970, would become
only the fourth club to win the Lebanese Premier League. The fifth club,
Homenmen, won it the next season in 1944-45, while Homenetmen won it for a
second time in 1945-46. Al Nahda was to retore the norm of the first decade
when they won their fourth title in 1946-47, while also securing a league and
cup double that year, winning the Lebanese FA Cup by beating Pagramian, 2-1 and
winning the cup back-to-back, having won it in the 1944-45 season after beating
Racing Beirut, 5-4 on aggregate. In what would be seen as a bit of power
sharing, the title was shared by the two clubs over the next decade, with
Homenmen popping in twice to shake things up. (1944-45, 1953-54). Homenetmen won
the Premier League in 1947-48, Nahda won it in the 1948-49 season but this
would be the last time The Black Devils would ever lift the Lebanese Premier
League title, and indeed, it would be the last ever major trophy the club would
win.
In what can
only be said as a difficult period for Lebanese football, the 1949-50 season
was cancelled, but when football resumed, Homenetmen made sure that the season
off didn’t affect them, and they took the 1950-51 title. The Lebanese Premier
League was not in operation for two years, from 1951-53 due to political unrest
and other situations arising outside of football at the time, and while some
seasons were fulfilled, it was the theme for the next the next two decades that
would see the football season just not take place for one reason or another. From
1957 to 1975 a total of nine seasons did not take place, and then in 1975 the
Lebanese Premier League stopped completely due to the Civil War that took place
in the country, only to resume in 1985. By this time, a new footballing power
had come to the stage in Lebanon, a club named Ansar, who at one point won
eleven consecutive league titles from between 1989-90 to 1998-99. They,
alongside Ahed, are now the powerhouses of Lebanese football, while the likes
of ASDPHB, Al Nahda and AUB are no longer around, and Homenmen and Homenetmen
are no playing in the lower leagues of the Lebanese football pyramid.
What happened
to Al Nahda? Well, they were relegated to the Lebanese Second division in 1956
when they lost a relegation play-off to Second Division winners, Sagesse. It
was a straightforward 10-0 victory for the Second Division champions, and Al
Nahda never came back up. The club remained there until the 1990’s, and after once
being one of Lebanese football’s powerhouse clubs, they were declared bankrupt
and as a result folded. Lebanon’s first ever football club was no more.
To get an
understanding of Lebanese football, I spoke to Lebanese FA administrator,
Maroun Mahfoud, a man who was full of knowledge when it came to the subject.
Here is what he had to say.
Hi Maroun,
thank you for answering my questions on Al Nahda and Lebanese football. First,
Al Nahda, what can you tell me about them and why did they go bankrupt? A club
that was so successful in their early years, how did it end like that?
Maroun: That’s the problem of amateur football.
The sustainability of a certain club is relative to the support it gets from a
wealthy individual or political party. Throughout the years, the caretakers of
Nahda switched to other interests and left it to its destiny
There isn’t
much to find when doing research on individual players who played for Al Nahda
or indeed any of the big clubs that dominated in the early years of Lebanese
football. Can you tell me about any player that would have stood out back then.
Who was the big player back then. And who is the big player in Lebanese
football in todays game?
Maroun: Oscar Dana (GK) Muhieddine Jaroudi,
Georges Chaderavian, Joseph Abou Nader, Emile Nassar. I have a picture of the
team if needed. There are always someone who stood out, most of them played
between Nahda and Homenemtmen. Just some names on top of my head: Joseph
Nalbdandian, Camille Kordahi, Manuel, Vartivar and lots more. Today’s best
player is without hesitation Hassan Maatouk, 99 international caps and 21 goals
(joint top-scorer since 1971)
Most people
around the world would be unaware of Lebanese football. I know, through my
research, that the big clubs would be Ansar, who won the league eleven years in
a row and more recently, Ahed. In Lebanon, is football well supported? What are
the fan bases and crowds like on a matchday?
Maroun: Football is the #1 sport in Lebanon. The
biggest fanbase is for Nejmeh SC, the big club #3 in Lebanon. Usually the games
are the highlight of the week. When it’s a game that includes those 3 teams,
the stadiums are packed, not that the stadiums can host big numbers. A marching
band is usually present and the cheering is non-stop, although opposing teams
can take taunting to the next level.
A few
Lebanese clubs have gone like Al Nahda throughout history. Why is that? What is
the problem in Lebanese football or is there a underlying problem?
Maroun: I think it’s the same answer as question
1. The game is at amateur level still, from an administrative point of view.
Also, the 15-year civil war didn’t help. There is a clear break between
football in 1975 and 1990’s.
In your
opinion, will we ever see Al Nahda return to the Lebanese football league in
anyway shape or form?
Maroun: Sadly no, I think we’ve seen the latest
of Al Nahda.
Lebanon as a
football nation. Can you ever envisage a time where they may qualify for a
World Cup in the future? Are their plans in place to even compete at that level
in the future?
Maroun: How could a nation qualify to world cup
without at least one proper stadium? With the financial situation in the
country, I see it a dream that grows farthest and farthest from reach. At the
moment, the plan is to survive not to evolve
A question I
ask everyone, but in your opinion, who is the best ever Lebanese player to play
the game? And who is your favourite Lebanese player to ever play the game? It
can be the same player.
Maroun: I don’t like the “GOAT” question, but I
can name some players that are eligible to such status: Mardik Tchaparian,
Levon Altonian, Joseph Abou Mrad, Vardan Ghazarian, Moussa Hojeij, Roda Antar,
Youssef Mohammad, Hassan Maatouk…
A short story
about a club who started out as one of the biggest clubs in their country to
becoming just a memory. It always fascinates me when I cover clubs like this,
the ones that were so successful in their early years, winning league titles
and winning their domestic cups on a yearly basis. Al Nahda are probably one of
the most successful clubs to feature in this book, winning five league titles
and four domestic cups. I’ve no doubt other issues in the country of Lebanon
contributed to their downfall, while it just seems they never had a plan should
they have gotten relegated. Maybe they never thought it would happen to them? I
suppose it’s a timeless lesson in football, that no club is too big to be
relegated, and in this case, no club is too big to being a ‘Forgotten Club’.
Trust me, there have been bigger clubs than Al Nahda SC, and in a footballing
world where money seems to triumph over history and prestige, it may be the
case that more of the bigger clubs, who were once successful, may fall the same
way as Al Nahda SC.