Al-Nasr SC (Dubai)

History

Pre–UAE League era (1945–1973)

Al Nasr Sports Club was founded by a group of young men in a Al Ghubaiba, Dubai in 1945, making it the oldest club in UAE footballing history. The team played in an empty playground near a highschool for three years until in 1948 were they finally decided to establish modern rules of football. In 1951, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum chose the headquarters to be in a cafe close to a fish market, the cafe had a room for rent so the club would rent the room for meetings, gatherings and studying. The club would later move their headquarters to Shindagha. During this period the club went on with the name Al Ahli until in the 1960s where the players traveled to Qatar to face Al Ahli and lose, after their loss in Qatar, the players proposed to change the name to Al Nasr which would later become official. The club decided to move their headquarters to a larger house in Shindagha and invited Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan to meet the club in their new headquarters, Sheikh Zayed decided to donate 60,000 AED as a gift to the club, they would use the money to develop the club.

Rise of competition (1973–1990)

In 1973, the UAE Pro League was established and neighboring teams emerged forcing Al Nasr to start building a proper venue, so the construction of Al Maktoum Stadium began, however the team would join the league in 1974 so the club played their home games in Rashid Stadium until the completion of Al Makhtoum stadium in 1980, the club would win 3 UAE league, 3 presidents cup titles and a UAE federation cups during this time. The club would also be noted for hosting games with big clubs like Arsenal, Liverpool and Santos.

Modern era (1990–present)

After the end of the eighties, the club has yet to win the league but won notable cup competitions such as the president's cup, league cup and the GCC Champions League, around 2018 the team would renovate the Al Makhtoum Stadium for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup and host another friendly with Arsenal in 2019. Al Nasr removed coach Caio Zanardi and replaced him with former Dinamo Zagreb player and national Croatian player Krunoslav Jurčić, but he left Al Nasr in February 2021 after mediocre results in the league, and Jurcic was replaced with former River Plate coach Ramón Díaz.

Rivalries

The team has a big rivalry with Al Wasl, often called the Bur Dubai Derby or just simply Dubai Derby, both teams have competed to see which club is the best team in Bur Dubai area. It also has a rivalry with Shabab Al Ahli which is also based in the same city but not in the same area.

Honours

Domestic competitions

• UAE Pro League
  • Winners (3): 1977–78, 1978–79, 1985–86
  • Runners-up (4): 1980–81, 1984–85, 1999–2000, 2011–12
• UAE President's Cup
  • Winners (4): 1984–85, 1985–86, 1988–89, 2014–15
  • Runners-up (8): 1974–75, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1991–92, 1996–97, 2016–17, 2020–21, 2023–24
• UAE Super Cup
  • Winners (2): 1990, 1996
  • Runners-up (1): 2015
• UAE Federation Cup
  • Winners (3): 1987–88, 1999–2000, 2001–02
• UAE League Cup
  • Winners (2): 2015, 2020
• Joint League Cup
  • Winners (1): 1984–85
• ADNOC Championship Cup
  • Winners (1): 1993

Regional competitions

• GCC Champions League
  • Winners (1): 2014
• Qatar–UAE Super Cup
  • Winners (1): 2025

Performance in AFC competitions

Main article: Al Nasr FC in Asian football

• AFC Champions League: 4 appearances ::2012: Group Stage ::2013: Group Stage ::2016: Quarter-finals ::2019: Play off Round

• Asian Club Championship: 2 appearances ::1987: Group Stage ::1998: Withdrew (first round)

• Asian Cup Winners Cup: 1 appearance ::1993–94: Withdrew

Staff

Board of directors

Coaching Staff

Players

Current squad

As of UAE Pro-League:

Reserve team

Unregistered players

Out on loan

Notable players

;Argentina

• Argentina Andrés Guglielminpietro
• Argentina Mauro Zárate

;Australia

• Australia Mark Bresciano
• Australia Brett Holman

;Bosnia and Herzegovina

• BIH Samir Memišević

;Brazil

• Brazil Careca
• Brazil Renato
• Brazil Valder
• Brazil Élton
• Brazil Léo Lima
• Brazil Renan Garcia
• Brazil Wanderley
• Brazil Nilmar
• Brazil Marcelo Cirino
• Brazil Iury
• Brazil Junior Dutra
• Brazil Gabriel Valentini
• Brazil Marquinhos Gabriel
• Brazil Gláuber

;Burkina Faso

• Burkina Faso Jonathan Pitroipa

;Burundi

• Burundi Juma Mossi

;Bulgaria

• Bulgaria Marcelinho

;Cape Verde

• Cape Verde Ryan Mendes

;Chile

• Chile Esteban Pavez
• Chile Luis Jiménez
• Chile Ronnie Fernández

;Côte d'Ivoire

• Côte d'Ivoire Amara Diané
• Côte d'Ivoire Youssouf Falikou Fofana

;Curaçao

• Curacao Brandley Kuwas

;DR Congo

• DR Congo Isaac Tshibangu

;Ecuador

• Ecuador Carlos Tenorio

;France

• France Yohan Cabaye
• France Jirès Kembo Ekoko

;Gambia

• Gambia Dembo Darboe

;Ghana

• GHA Felix Aboagye

;Guinea

• Guinea Ismaël Bangoura

;Iran

• Iran Khodadad Azizi
• Iran Karim Bagheri
• Iran Arash Borhani
• Iran Reza Enayati
• Iran Ebrahim Ghasempour
• Iran Sattar Hamedani
• Iran Mehrzad Madanchi
• Iran Farhad Majidi
• Iran Iman Mobali
• Iran Mohammad Nosrati

;Iraq

• Iraq Hussein Alaa Hussein
• Iraq Mohannad Abdul-Raheem

;Israel

• ISR Dia Saba

;Italy

• Italy Manolo Gabbiadini
• Italy Giuseppe Mascara
• Italy Luca Toni

;Japan

• Japan Takayuki Morimoto

;Lebanon

• Lebanon Joan Oumari

;Morocco

• Morocco Anouar Diba
• Morocco Ali Boussaboun
• Morocco Abdelaziz Barrada
• Morocco Adel Taarabt

;Nigeria

• Nigeria Endurance Idahor

;North Macedonia

• North Macedonia Ivan Trichkovski

;Panama

• Panama Alberto Blanco

;Portugal

• Portugal Tozé
• Portugal Iuri Medeiros

;Romania

• Romania Ionuț Rada

;Saudi Arabia

• Saudi Arabia Mohsin al-Harthi

;Senegal

• Senegal Ibrahima Touré

;Serbia

• Serbia Nenad Jestrović

;Spain

• Spain Álvaro Negredo
• Spain Pablo Hernández

;Tanzania

• Tanzania Sunday Manara

;Togo

• Togo Mamam Cherif Touré
• Togo Mickaël Dogbé
• Togo Peniel Mlapa

;United Arab Emirates

• United Arab Emirates Abdulrahman Mohamed
• United Arab Emirates Abdulaziz Mohamed
• United Arab Emirates Ahmed Shambih
• United Arab Emirates Amer Mubarak
• United Arab Emirates Habib Al Fardan
• United Arab Emirates Hamdan Al-Kamali
• United Arab Emirates Hassan Mubarak
• United Arab Emirates Jassem Yaqoub
• United Arab Emirates Khalid Ismaïl
• United Arab Emirates Khalifa Mubarak
• United Arab Emirates Mohammad Khamis
• United Arab Emirates Mohamed Omar
• United Arab Emirates Salem Saad
• United Arab Emirates Tareq Ahmed

Past managers

• England Don Revie (1980–84)
• Brazil Sebastião Lapola (1983–89)
• Germany Reiner Hollmann (1999–00)
• Brazil Sebastião Lapola (2000–01)
• France René Exbrayat (2003–04)
• Brazil Sebastião Lapola (2004)
• Germany Hagen Reeck (2004)
• Germany Frank Pagelsdorf (Sept 1, 2004–June 30, 2005)
• Brazil Vágner Mancini (2005)
• GER Eduard Geyer (Jan 1, 2005–Jan 20, 2006)
• GER Reiner Hollmann (April 3, 2006–Feb 25, 2007)
• BRA Vágner Mancini (May 1, 2007–Dec 1, 2007)
• CRO Luka Bonačić (Jan 17, 2008–Jan 7, 2009)
• GER Frank Pagelsdorf (Jan 8, 2009–Feb 7, 2010)
• FRA Laurent Banide (Feb 24, 2010–May 31, 2010)
• BRA Hélio dos Anjos (June 01, 2010–Oct 10, 2010)
• UAE Eid Baroot (Oct 13, 2010–Dez 31, 2010)
• ITA Walter Zenga (Jan 1, 2011–June 13, 2013)
• Serbia Ivan Jovanović (June 18, 2013 – October 29, 2016)
• Romania Dan Petrescu (October 29, 2016 – May 26, 2017)
• ITA Cesare Prandelli (May 26, 2017 – January 19, 2018)
• Serbia Ivan Jovanović (January 19, 2018 – December 2, 2018)
• BRA Caio Zanardi (December 2, 2018 – January 2, 2019)
• SPA Beñat San José (January 2, 2019 – May 30, 2019)
• BRA Caio Zanardi (April 1, 2019 – October 14, 2019)
• HRV Krunoslav Jurčić (October 14, 2019 – February 4, 2021)
• ARG Ramón Díaz (February 4, 2021 – February 7, 2022)
• UAE Salem Rabie (February 8, 2022 – May 19, 2022)
• GER Thorsten Fink (May 19, 2022 – November 5, 2022)
• CRO Goran Tomić (November 5, 2022 – June 5, 2023)
• SER Goran Tufegdžić (June 5, 2023 – November 6, 2023)
• ITA Fabrizio Cammarata (November 7, 2023 – November 27, 2023)
• NED Alfred Schreuder (November 27, 2023 – May 24, 2025)
• SRB Slaviša Jokanović (June 8, 2025 – present)

Pro-League record

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

Other sports

Al-Nasr also fields teams in futsal, volleyball, handball, basketball, table tennis, swimming, cycling, athletics, karate, and jujutsu.

References

References

1. "الزمن الجميل". alnasrclub.
2. "النصر انطلق عام 1945 تحت اسم «الأهلي الأدبي»". البيان.
3. "When Pele played Dubai: February 23, 1973, a day the UAE ‘will never forget’". The National.
4. "A trip down memory lane: When 1978 European champions Liverpool visited a Dubai 'most people cannot imagine'". The National.
5. "Arabian Gulf Cup Quarter-finals: Fight breaks out after Bur Dubai Derby between Al Nasr and Al Wasl - Goal.com".
6. "ADNOC Championship recognized by UAE Football Association".
7. "ADNOC Championship recognized by UAE Pro League Committee".
8. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. "Felix Ahmed Aboagye (Player) – National Team Appearances – Club Appearances". National Football Teams.
9. "Multumim, Ionut Rada!". steauafc.com.