Al-Ittihad SC Aleppo

the Syrian football team

Al Ittihad Ahli of Aleppo SC active sectionsFootballBasketballWomen’s Basketball
Al Ittihad Ahli of Aleppo Sports Club (نادي الاتحاد أهلي حلب الرياضي) is a professional multi sports club based in the Syrian city of Aleppo, mostly known for its football team which competes in the Syrian Premier League, the top league of Syrian football. Al Ittihad is one of the most successful clubs in Syrian football history, having won six Syrian football league titles and ten Syrian Cups. Al Ittihad is a sole founding member of Syrian Premier League that has never been relegated from the top division since its debut in 1966. In Asia, their best performance was in 2010 when they became champions of the AFC Cup competition. The club was founded in 1949 and received its license in 1953. They play their home games at the Aleppo International Stadium since its inauguration in 2007. Due to the reconstruction of the main Aleppo International Stadium, they are temporarily playing at the Al Hamadaniah Stadium from 2021. The club have their own ground; Al Ittihad Stadium with a capacity of 10,000 spectators. Al Ittihad are also known for their basketball team. In general, 20 types of sports including volleyball and handball are being practiced by the club.

The club was founded on 20 January 1949 under the name Halab Al Ahli Club, by the merge of three smaller football teams in Aleppo: Al Janah (The Wing), Assad Al Shahba (Lions of Shahba) and Al Nejmeh (The Star), before getting recognized officially by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on 24 September 1953. Prior to the foundation of the Syrian official football league, the club have competed in various regional competitions in the Aleppo Governorate such as the regional league of Aleppo and the Aleppo Municipality Shield. The first major success in the club's history was winning the Syrian Cup in the 1964–65 season, when they beat Barada SC 4–1 in the final. The club have participated in the first ever Syrian football league in 1966–67 when they became champions. In the following league season, the club managed to defend the title. In 1972, the name of the club was changed to Al Ittihad SC Aleppo by the decision of the Syrian government. Since then, they have never relegated to the bottom level.

The 1972–73 season was also success, as despite the league being suspended, the club managed to win the Syrian Cup. In the following seasons, the club managed to finish second at most. The last time in this period, the club managed to achieve the league championship in 1993 and 1995, beating long standing rival Al Karamah. In addition to both league titles, they also won the Cup in 1994 over Jableh SC.

In the 2004–05 season, after a successful group stage of the league, the club took part in the title, and then, after winning the cup final over Al Majd SC, also the Syrian Cup victory. For the first time in their history, they took part in the AFC Champions League, where they took third place in the group after defeating Pakhtakor and Foolad. In the 2007–08 season, the club finished third overall in the league behind Al Karamah and Al Majd SC. The club also participated in the 2008 AFC Champions League, defeating Sepahan twice in the group stage (2–1, 2–0). In April 2009, after two years, the club sacked its Romanian coach Valeriu Tița. In the 2010 season, during its first participation in the AFC Cup, Al Ittihad was able to go from second place in the group to the playoffs. In the round of 16 of the competition, they met Kuwait SC, which they defeated 5–4 on penalties after a 1–1 draw in regular time. In the quarter finals, they advanced over Kazma SC, which they defeated 3–2 and 1–0. In the semi finals, they beat Muangthong United 2–1 on the score after a close double header. In the final of the AFC Cup, they met with Qadsia SC, with whom they drew 1–1 after regular time (Dyab scored a goal for Ittihad) and beat them 4–2 after penalties (Radwan Kalaji scored the decisive penalty). They became only the second Syrian football club to win the Asian club competition. In the 2010–11 season, the club won the Syrian Cup, defeating Al Wathba SC 3–1 in the final. In the same season, the club failed to reach the AFC Champions League play offs, losing to Al Sadd SC 1–5. In the group stage of the 2011 AFC Cup, they first beat Al Saqr 2–1, but then lost to Qadsia SC 0–2. In the 2011–12 season, the club was playing to stay in the Syrian Premier League and withdrew from the 2012 Syrian Cup in the semi finals due to the conflict in the country. The club also participated in the 2012 AFC Cup, despite not being able to play at home ground, they beat Qadsia 1–0 and drew with Al Faisaly SC 0–0.

The club had to play the entire 2012–13 season in Damascus due to security reasons arising from the beginning of the Battle of Aleppo. Despite this, it placed in mid table in the league and retained its league affiliation. Due to the security situation, Al Ittihad also had to withdraw from the 2013 Syrian Cup, for which it was threatened with a two year ban from participating in domestic competitions, but it finally received an exemption from the federation. In the 2013–14 season, the club also played in Damascus and finished in the relegation place in the league, it was saved from relegation by the fact that the clubs in the first division were not interested in entering the SPL. The club achieved little success in the 2014 Syrian Cup, where they advanced to the semi finals, where they lost to Baniyas SC 0–2. In the 2014–15 season, the club was placed in the bottom half of the league table of Group A. In the 2015–16 season, Al Ittihad Ahli of Aleppo SC achieved unexpected success by finishing second in Group B of the SPL, advancing to the Championship group where they finished just three points behind Al Wahda and Al Jaish in third place. The 2016–17 season was a breakthrough from the club's point of view. On 28 January 2017, Al Ahli finally returned to Aleppo, defeating Hurriya SC 2–1 in a derby match at Ri'ayet al Shabab Stadium.

Financially and infrastructurally stabilized Al Ittihad finished in second place in the 2017–18 season, after losing a tie breaker to Al Jaish with whom they were level on points. They lost to Al Jaish 0–1 as league vice champions in the 2018 Syrian Super Cup. In the 2018–19 season, they participated as Syrian runners up in the group stage of the 2019 AFC Cup. Unfortunately, the team managed only one positive result, a 0–0 draw with Al Najma. They lost the other matches with Al Jazeera SC and Kuwait SC. In the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons, the Al Ittihad finished sixth and eighth respectively in the Syrian Premier League. Therefore, due to the negative results, the club management gradually dismissed the coaches Ahmad Hawash and Artur Bernardes. A new Croatian coach, Igor Tkalčević, came in their place, but the results of the football team did not improve, as they were only playing for survival in the league until the spring of 2022. The situation culminated in the resignation of the long time chairman of the club Bassel Hamwi in March 2022, who was replaced by the new chairman Rasen Martini and the new coach Maher Bahri. The team, stabilized financially and in play, ended up in fifth place in the SPL. In the same 2021–22 season, Al Ahli achieved historic success, after defeating Al Hurriya and Al Jaish, the team reached the final of the Syrian Cup, beating Al Wathba SC 4–3 on penalties. In 2022, the Syrian General Sports Federation approved the club's name change to Al Ittihad Ahli of Aleppo SC, inspired by the club's original name Halab Al Ahli Club; following pleas by the fans to restore the club's original name.

The training grounds of al Ittihad are located in the al Shahbaa district of Aleppo. The complex is home to the Al Ittihad Stadium with a capacity of 10,000 spectators, a nearby indoor training pitch and many other small pitches.

Al Ittihad are rivals with fellow Aleppine clubs Hurriya, Al Jalaa, Al Herafyeen, Ouroube and Al Yarmouk.

Since its foundation, the traditional colour of Al Ittihad's home kit is red with various designs over the years. Therefore, the club is nicknamed The Red Castle by the fans as a reference to the city's main landmark; the Citadel of Aleppo. The away kit may vary between a full white kit and a white kit with red stripes on the shirt.