Sharjah FC
Emirati professional football club
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sharjah Football Club (Arabic: نادي الشارقة لكرة القدم) is an Emirati professional football club based in Sharjah that competes in the UAE Pro League. Their home stadium is the Sharjah Stadium.
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| Full name | Sharjah Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | The King Sharjawy (supporters) | ||
| Short name | Sharjah | ||
| Founded | 1966[1] | ||
| Ground | Sharjah Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 12,499 | ||
| Owner | Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi | ||
| Chairman | Ali Al Midfa | ||
| Head coach | José Morais | ||
| League | UAE Pro League | ||
| 2024–25 | UAE Pro League, 2nd of 14 | ||
| Website | sharjahclub | ||
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Founded in 1966, Sharjah is considered one of the pioneers of UAE football since its inception. Achieving success through the years has made Sharjah one of the most prestigious clubs in the country. Sharjah FC is also the most successful team in the Emirate of Sharjah, winning 6 Pro League titles, 10 Presidents Cups, 1 League Cup, 3 Super Cups, and 1 AFC Champions League Two title. The club was also the first official UAE league champion since its establishment in 1974.
History
Golden age
Sharjah was founded in 1966 under the name of Al Oruba Club, they were the first official champions of the UAE League winning it in 1974 after beating Al Ahli and Oman. The club would merge with Al Khaleej in 1974 to form Al Sharjah SCC and relocate their headquarters in Sharjah City. The club would later see itself win the league in 4 more occasions during the 80s and 90s and 8 out of the 22 players in the UAE's 1990 squad were players from Sharjah, more than any other club at the time.[2]
Decline
During the mid-2000s however, Sharjah would see a decline as they would finish in mid-table consecutively and in 2012, the club got relegated for the first time in their history. However, the club were quickly promoted back to the top tier division in 2013.
New era
Sharjah won their first title since 1996 in 2019 with a record of only one loss. On 14 September 2019, Sharjah won their first UAE Super Cup title since 1994 after beating Shabab Al Ahli in penalties 4–3. The club went on to win the UAE League Cup in the 2022–23 season for the first time in the clubs history, the club also won two more UAE President's Cups back to back after reaching the final in 2022 and 2023 beating Al Wahda 1–0 and Al Ain 14–13 on penalties, making Sharjah FC the champions a record of 10 times, In the 2024-25 seasons the club ended up winning their first ever continental title which was the AFC Champions League 2 only losing two games, and becoming the second ever UAE club to win a continental trophy.
Honours
Domestic
Leagues
- UAE League
- UAE Division One
- Winners (1): 1992–93
Cups
- UAE President's Cup
- UAE League Cup
- Winners (1): 2022–23
- UAE Super Cup
- Joint League Cup
- Winners (1): 1977[3]
Regional
- GCC Champions League
- Winners (1): 1991
- Qatar–UAE Super Cup
- Winners (1): 2026
Continental
- AFC Cup / AFC Champions League Two
- Winners (1): 2024–25
Season-by-season record
| Season | Lvl. | Tms. | Pos. | President's Cup | League Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | 1 | 12 | 10th | Quarter-Finals | First Round |
| 2009–10 | 1 | 12 | 6th | Round of 16 | First Round |
| 2010–11 | 1 | 12 | 7th | Preliminary Round | First Round |
| 2011–12 | 1 | 12 | 12th | Semi-Finals | First Round |
| 2012–13 | 2 | 14 | 2nd | Quarter-Finals | — |
| 2013–14 | 1 | 14 | 7th | Round of 16 | Semi-Finals |
| 2014–15 | 1 | 14 | 12th | Round of 16 | Runner-ups |
| 2015–16 | 1 | 14 | 11th | Quarter-Finals | First Round |
| 2016–17 | 1 | 14 | 9th | Semi-Finals | First Round |
| 2017–18 | 1 | 12 | 6th | Quarter-Finals | First Round |
| 2018–19 | 1 | 14 | 1st | Semi-Finals | First Round |
| 2019–20a | 1 | 14 | 4th | Semi-Finals | Quarter-Finals |
| 2020–21 | 1 | 14 | 4th | Semi-Finals | Quarter-Finals |
| 2021–22 | 1 | 14 | 2nd | Champions | First Round |
| 2022–23 | 1 | 14 | 7th | Champions | Champions |
| 2023–24 | 1 | 14 | 4th | Quarter-Finals | Quarter-Finals |
| 2024–25 | 1 | 14 | 2nd | Runner-ups |
Notes^ 2019–20 UAE football season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates.
Club officials
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Head Coach |  José Morais |
| Assistant Coach | David Ribeiro  Vladan Perasevic  Abdulmajid Al Nimer |
| Goalkeeper Coach |  Boban Bajković |
| Technical Staff | Abdulrahman Al-Haddad |
| Fitness Trainer | Milan Dimitric |
| Rehab Trainer |  Leandro Aiub |
| Conditioning coach | Helder Fernandes Soares |
| Analyst | Eduardo Thomaz |
Players
Current squad
As of UAE Pro-League:
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Reserve team
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Unregistered players
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Performance in AFC competitions
AFC Champions League history
- AFC Champions League: 6 appearances
| Season | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Group C |  Al-Shorta |
2–0 | 3–2 | 1st |
 Al-Hilal |
5–2 | 0–0 | |||
 Al-Ahli |
3–0 | 3–0 | |||
| Quarter-finals |  Seongnam |
2–5 | 0–6 | 2–11 | |
| 2020 | Group C | Al Taawoun |
0–1 | 6–0 | 4th |
 Persepolis |
2–2 | 0–4 | |||
 Al-Duhail |
4–2 | 1–2 | |||
| 2021 | Group B | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya |
1–0 | 3–2 | 1st |
| Tractor |
0–2 | 0–0 | |||
 Pakhtakor |
4–1 | 1–1 | |||
| Round of 16 | Al Wahda |
1–1 (p) (4–5) | |||
| 2022 | Playoffs | Al-Zawraa |
1–1 (p) (6–5) | ||
| Group A | Al-Hilal |
2–2 | 1–2 | 3rd | |
| Al-Rayyan |
1–1 | 1–3 | |||
 Istiklol |
2–1 | 0–2 | |||
| 2023–24 | Preliminary round |  Bashundhara Kings |
2–0 | ||
| Play-off | Tractor |
3–1 | |||
| Group B | Al-Sadd |
0–2 | 0–0 | 3rd | |
 Al-Faisaly |
1–0 | 1–2 | |||
| Nasaf |
1–0 | 1–1 | |||
AFC Champions League Two history
- AFC Champions League Two: 1 appearance
- 2024–25: Champions
| Season | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024–25 | Group C | Al Wehdat |
2–2 | 3–1 | 1st |
| Sepahan |
3–1 | 1–3 | |||
| Istiklol |
3–1 | 1–0 | |||
| Round of 16 | Al Hussein |
1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 (3–0 p) | |
| Quarter-finals | Shabab Al Ahli |
1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 (5–4 p) | |
| Semi-finals | Al Taawoun |
2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | |
| Final |  Lion City Sailors |
2–1 | |||
Asian Club Championship history
- Asian Club Championship: 2 appearances
| Season | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Group 2 | Al-Ettifaq |
0–1 | 3rd | |
 West Riffa |
2–0 | ||||
 Kazma |
0–3 | ||||
 Fanja |
4–1 | ||||
| 1994 | First Round | Al-Muharraq |
1–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 |
Record by country
- As of 18 May 2025
| Country | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bahrain |
5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 60.00 |
| Bangladesh |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 100.00 |
| Iran |
7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 28.57 |
| Iraq |
5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 80.00 |
| Jordan |
6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 50.00 |
| Kuwait |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | −3 | 0.00 |
 Oman |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 100.00 |
| Qatar |
6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 10 | −3 | 16.67 |
| Saudi Arabia |
9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 9 | +7 | 33.33 |
| Singapore |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 |
| South Korea |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 11 | −9 | 0.00 |
| Tajikistan |
4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 75.00 |
| United Arab Emirates |
3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | +0 | 0.00 |
| Uzbekistan |
4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 50.00 |
Managerial history
| Name | Nat. | From | To | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Faouzi Benzarti |  |
January 2001 | 2001 | [4] |
| Dragan Gugleta |  |
December 2001 | 2002 | [5] |
| Pavle Dolezar |  |
July 2002 | October 2002 | [6][7] |
| Pedro Rosello |  |
October 2002 | November 2002 | [8] |
| Juma Rabea | |
November 2002 | June 2004 | |
| Youssef Zouaoui | |
June 2004 | 2005 | [9] |
| Henri Stambouli | |
2005 | January 2006 | [10] |
| Wajdi Essid | |
January 2006 | February 2006 | [11] |
| Rainer Zobel |  |
February 2006 | 2006 | [12] |
| Srećko Juričić |  |
June 2006 | October 2006 | [13] |
| Renê Weber | |
October 2006 | May 2007 | [14][15] |
| Juma Rabea | |
May 2007 | May 2007 | [16][17] |
| Gerard van der Lem |  |
July 2007 | March 2008 | [18] |
| Wajdi Essid | |
March 2008 | 2008 | |
| Youssef Zouaoui | |
June 2008 | February 2009 | [19][20] |
| Manuel Cajuda | |
July 2009 | May 2011 | [21] |
| Abdulmajeed Al Nimr | |
May 2011 | 2011 | |
| Carlos Azenha | |
June 2011 | September 2011 | [22][23] |
| Valeriu Tița |  |
September 2011 | December 2011 | [24] |
| Jorvan Vieira | |
December 2011 | February 2012 | [25] |
| Valeriu Tița | |
February 2012 | April 2012 | [26][27] |
| Abdulmajeed Al Nimr | |
April 2012 | June 2012 | |
| Faouzi Benzarti | |
June 2012 | November 2012 | [28] |
| Ayman El Ramadi |  |
November 2012 | 2013 | [29] |
| Paulo Bonamigo | |
June 2013 | November 2015 | [30][31] |
| Abdulaziz Al Anbari | |
November 2015 | 2016 | [32] |
| Georgios Donis |  |
July 2016 | January 2017 | [33] |
| José Peseiro | |
January 2017 | October 2017 | [34] |
| Abdulaziz Al Anbari | |
October 2017 | November 2021 | [35] |
| Cosmin Olăroiu | |
November 2021 | May 2025 | [36] |