Al Wasl F.C.

Early years

Al Wasl was founded on 1960 as Zamalek Club when a group of young men gathered in Bakhit Salem's house in Zabeel to establish the club to practice their sporting hobbies.^[3] Members had to rent a small house, each paying 10 AED to support the club's budget. In 1962, the club moved to different house owned by Madia bint Sultan, and elected Ahmed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to be their club president. Around 1966 Zamalek would beat Al Shabab in a Canada dry championship which was their first achievement.^[4] In 1974 Al Orouba agreed to merge with Zamalek to form Al Wasl Club.^[5]

Club of the Century

Al Wasl Club was ranked in 2009 by IFFHS (International Federation of Football for History and Statistics) as the Club of the Century (1901-2000) in UAE because of the club performance in international competitions.^[6]

The Original Clubs

Al-Zamalek

The idea of starting a football club in Zabeel first emerged in 1958, as a result of discussions and meetings by various youths living in the area. The times were very difficult, as there were no grass pitches or fields to play on, as football was still not a popular pastime, so as a result, they relied on pitches made of sand, and in 1960, Al-Zamalek club was founded in Zabeel. Al-Zamalek proved to be a key contender in the city of Dubai, they were considered one of the stronger teams and regularly played in local tournaments. Their first taste of glory came around 1966 where they defeated Al-Shabab Club in the finals of the Canada Dry Challenge Cup.

Al-Shou’la

In 1968, Al-Shou’la in Al Fahidi merged with Al-Zamalek.

Al-Orouba

Al-Orouba Club was founded in the early 1950s in the Jumeirah area of Dubai, it was a key contender in Dubai along with Al-Zamalek. Their team colour was either blue or green

The Merges and the formations of Al-Wasl

In 1974 it would also Merge with Al-Zamalek, and a new board of directors was made from the existing bodies of each club, now joined together. A new name was chosen for the team which was Al-Wasl, which was the old name for the City of Dubai. A new logo was created for the team which essentially was a combination of the two existing club crests of Al-Orouba and Al-Zamalek, and finally, the colour yellow was chosen for the team.

In 1973, A short period before the Orouba-Zamalek Merger, the first generation of footballers began to retire and/or begin their studies abroad or locally, this was a key factor in the merging of Al-Orouba and Al-Zamalek.

The reason which caused many early clubs in Dubai had merged with one another was due to the clubs using the same sand pitches, and due to the moving of players from club to club freely, without official transfer negotiations as those were not done in the area at the time.

Al-Wasl Fanbase

Al-Wasl is known for its dedicated and loyal fans. Widely considered to be the best Fan and supporter base in the United Arab Emirates, and the Arabian Gulf simultaneously. Despite Al-Wasl's absence from championships for 17 years, Al-Wasl's Stands are always mostly full, whether their team is playing its games home or away. A Majority of Dubai's local population supports Al-Wasl, with Shabab Al-Ahli and Al-Nasr coming close behind.

Ultras Junoon

Al-Wasl fans have the achievement of founding the very first Ultras Group in the Arabian Gulf, which was named Ultras Junoon, Junoon meaning craziness/madness in Arabic, a description of the excitement and passion found in Al-Wasl's Stands. Ultras Junoon are also considered to be the most creative fans group in the Arabian Gulf, as their Tifos are made with nothing short of Creativity and Hard work, and frequently make headlines not only in the UAE, but also in the Middle East football scene and even all the way to Japan and Italy. Some of their most popular works include their Iconic Death Note series of tifos displayed against Bur Dubai Derby Rivals Al Nasr Home and Away, Their symbolic Peaky Blinders (TV series) Tifo displayed against Sharjah FC and even 3D fighter Jet soaring in front of the Flag of the UAE to commemorate the UAE Army's efforts.

Ultras Junoon have their very own Clothing line, which are popular amongst match attendees who make sure to back their club and supporters group. Every season they release a new shirt for each respective season.

Al Wasl's main competitors would be Al Nasr who they compete with in the Bur Dubai Derby and Al Ain who they challenge in the 'UAE Classico'.^[7][8]

As of UAE Pro-League:

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
25	DF	COL	Alexis Pérez
31	MF	ARG	Nicolás Giménez
32	GK	UAE	Mohamed Qayoudhi
33	FW	ALG	Oussama Amar U21
44	DF	UAE	Salem Al-Azizi
53	DF	UAE	Omar Haikal U21
55	GK	UAE	Abdullah Al-Moqademi
59	FW	UAE	Atiq Esam U21
70	FW	BRA	Luizão U21
77	DF	UAE	Hazza Salem
78	MF	UAE	Rabee Hassan U21
85	DF	SRB	Aleksandar Vasiljević
87	MF	BRA	Gabrielzinho
88	MF	UAE	Abdulla Al-Shamsi U21
89	FW	UAE	Mohammed Al-Mehairi U21
90	FW	CIV	Adama Diallo
—	MF	CIV	Jean N'Guessan

Unregistered players

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	BRA	Gabrielzinho
—	FW	UAE	Waleed Al-Hammadi

Out on loan

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
60	MF	UAE	Ghanem Ahmad (on loan to Hatta)
—	GK	UAE	Ibrahim Essa (on loan to Al Bataeh)

Domestic competitions

• UAE Pro League: 7^[9]

Winner: 1981–82, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1991–92, 1996–97, 2006–07

• UAE President's Cup: 2^[10]

Winner: 1987, 2007

• UAE Federation Cup: 1^[10]

Winner: 1992–93

• The IFFHS named Al Wasl as the UAE's Club of the 20th Century.^[11]

Regional competitions

• Gulf Club Champions Cup^[12]

Winner (1) : 2009–10

Runners-up (2): 2005, 2012

• Arab Club Champions Cup

Semi-finals: 1998

Quarter-finals: 2018–19

• AFC Champions League: 3 appearances

2008: Group stage

2018: Group stage

2019: Group stage

• Asian Club Championship: 4 appearances

1986: Qualifying Stage

1989–90: Qualifying Stage

1992–93: Third Place

1994–95: Quarter finals

^* Served as caretaker coach.

Name	Nat.	From	To	Ref.
Bakhit Salem		1960	1970
Ismail Al-Jarman		1971	1971
Zaki Osman		1972	1973
Valinhos		1980	1981
Joel Santana		1981	1986
Hassan Shehata		1986	1988
Antônio Lopes		1988	1989
Gílson Nunes		1989	1990
Dimitri Davidovic		1991	1992
Arthur Bernardes		1996	1998	[13]
Alain Laurier		1998	December 1998
Paulo Campos		January 1999	May 1999
Henryk Kasperczak		September 1999	February 2000
Alain Laurier*		March 2000	May 2000
Josef Hickersberger		June 2000	June 2001
Johan Boskamp		July 2001	2002
Martín Lasarte		2002	2002
Khalifa Al Shamsi*		2002	March 2003
Arthur Bernardes		March 2003	May 2004	[13]
Vinko Begović		2004	2005	[14]
Zé Mário		2006	2007
Miroslav Beránek		2007	2008
Alexandre Guimarães		July 2009	May 2010	[15]
Khalifa Al Shamsi		June 2010	June 2011
Sérgio Farias		August 2010	April 2011	[16]
Diego Maradona		May 2011	July 2012	[17]
Bruno Metsu		July 2012	October 2012
Guy Lacombe		November 2012	February 2013	[18]
Eid Baroot		February 2013	May 2013	[19]
Laurent Banide		June 2013	October 2013	[20]
Héctor Cúper		November 2013	March 2014	[21]
Jorginho*		March 2014	October 2014
Gabriel Calderón		October 2014	May 2016	[22]
Rodolfo Arruabarrena		July 2016	June 2018
Gustavo Quinteros		July 2018	October 2018
Hassan Al Abdouli*		October 2018	December 2018
Laurențiu Reghecampf		December 2018	October 2020	[23]
Salem Rabie*		October 2020	December 2020
Odair Hellmann		December 2020	June 2022	[24]
Juan Antonio Pizzi		July 2022	May 2023
Miloš Milojević		June 2023	present

_{Notes^ 2019–20 UAE football season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates.}

Key

• Pos. = Position
• Tms. = Number of teams
• Lvl. = League

• List of football clubs in the United Arab Emirates

• Official Website