Safa SC

This article is about the men's football club from Beirut, Lebanon. For other uses, see Safa.

Safa

Full name	Safa Sporting Club
Nickname(s)	النسور (The Eagles) [1]
Short name	Safa
Founded	31 March 1939;85 years ago (31 March 1939)
Ground	Safa Stadium [a]
Capacity	4,000
Chairman	Riad Atallah
Manager	Bassem Marmar
League	Lebanese Premier League
2023–24	Lebanese Premier League, 4th of 12
Website	safasc.com
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Safa Sporting Club (Arabic : نادي الصفاء الرياضي, lit.  'The Purity Sporting Club') is a football club based in Wata El Msaytbeh, a district in Beirut, Lebanon, that competes in the Lebanese Premier League. Founded in 1939, they have won three league titles, three domestic cups, one Super Cup, and two Elite Cups; they also reached the 2008 AFC Cup final. ^[2]

Safa is primarily supported by the Druze community. ^{[3] [4] [5]} Given their fanbase extends well in Mount Lebanon, including the city of Aley, they play the Mountain derby with Akhaa Ahli Aley.

History

Early history (1933–1961)

Founded in 1933 at an amateur level in the Wata El-Museitbeh of Beirut, Safa Sporting Club was officially established in 1939 by seven people: Maher Wahab, Anis Naaim, Hasib Al-Jerdi, Amin Haidar, Chafik Nader, Toufik Al-Zouhairy and Adib Haidar. ^[6]

On 23 December 1948, Safa obtained the official membership and license from the government as a private association. ^[6] In the same year, the club was affiliated to the Lebanese Football Association and was ranked within the Second Division. ^[7] In 1961, Safa was promoted to the First Division.^{[ citation needed ]}

Recent history (2021–present)

After finishing the 2021–22 Lebanese Premier League in 11th place, Safa were due to be relegated to the Second Division for the first time. ^[8] However, following Shabab Bourj's withdrawal from the league, they were relegated in place of Safa. ^[9] Safa also narrowly avoided relegation the following season, finishing 10th above Salam Zgharta on account of their positive head-to-head record. ^[10]

Kit manufacturers

The following is a list of kit manufacturers worn by Safa.

Period	Kit manufacturer
1999–2008	Puma
2008–2010	Adidas
2010–2011	Lotto
2011–2015	Joma
2016–2017	Sportika SA
2017–2018	Jako
2018–present	Joma

Stadium

Safa Stadium

ملعب نادي الصفاء الرياضي
Location	Wata El-Museitbeh
Coordinates	33°52′29″N35°29′31″E / 33.87472°N 35.49194°E / 33.87472; 35.49194
Capacity	4,000
Opened	1948

Main article: Safa Stadium

The Safa Stadium opened in 1948, and has a capacity of 4,000 spectators. Located in the Wata El-Museitbeh district of Beirut, the stadium is five minutes from the Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport. While the stadium is of Safa's property, the club plays in various other stadiums around the country.^{[ citation needed ]}

Club rivalries

Safa has important rivalries with Ansar and Nejmeh, both being based in Beirut. Safa also plays the Mountain derby with Akhaa Ahli, ^[11] as Akhaa is based in Aley, a city in Mount Lebanon, and Safa's support comes from the Druze community in Lebanon, who mainly live in Chouf and Aley districts.^{[ citation needed ]}

Players

Current squad

As of 31 August 2024 ^[12]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 3 DF   LBN Hussein El Dor 6 MF   LBN Kassem Hayek 8 MF   LBN Ghazi Honeine 16 DF   LBN Hassan Chaitou 20 FW   LBN Khaled Takaji 30 DF   LBN Hussein Sharafeddine 33 DF   LBN Andrew Sawaya — MF   LBN Houssein Rida — GK   LBN Christian Awkar — FW   LBN Hussein Haydar — DF   LBN Khalil Khamis — DF   LBN Hussein Zein — MF   LBN Felix Michel Melki — GK   LBN Mostafa Matar

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF   LBN Abbas Assi — MF   LBN Jihad Ayoub — FW   PLE Islam Batran — MF   SLE Rodney Michael — MF   TUN Houssem Louati — MF   CMR Guy Claude Eke — FW   CMR Jerome Etame — FW   KEN Benson Omala — FW   LBN Ali Kassas — GK   LBN Ali Hallal — GK   LBN Hussein Hajj Hasan —   LBN Sajed Faraj — DF   LBN Mohammed Hayek

Notable players

See also: Category:Safa SC players

Players in international competitions

Competition	Player	National team
1996 AFC Asian Cup	Yasser Sibai	Syria
2000 AFC Asian Cup	Youssef Mohamad	Lebanon
	Ahmad Naamani	Lebanon
2019 AFC Asian Cup	Ahmad Taktouk	Lebanon
	Mohamed Zein Tahan	Lebanon
2023 AFC Asian Cup	Hassan Chaitou	Lebanon

Honours

Domestic

• Lebanese Premier League
  • Winners (3): 2011–12, 2012–13, 2015–16
• Lebanese FA Cup
  • Winners (3): 1964–65, 1986–87, 2012–13
  • Runners-up (8): 1970–71, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1994–95, 1999–2000, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2016–17
• Lebanese Elite Cup (defunct)
  • Winners (2): 2009, 2012
  • Runners-up (3): 2011, 2014, 2015
• Lebanese Super Cup
  • Winners (1): 2013
  • Runners-up (3): 2011, 2012, 2016
• Lebanese Second Division
  • Winners (1): 1960–61 (Beirut)

Continental

• AFC Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 2008

Other achievements

• Lebanese Challenge Cup (defunct)
  • Runners-up (1): 2022

Performance in AFC competitions

• AFC Cup: 5 appearances

2008: Final

2009: Round of 16

2012: Group stage

2013: Group stage

2014: Round of 16

• Asian Cup Winners' Cup: 2 appearances

1992–93: Withdrew in first round

2000–01: Withdrew in first round

Managerial history

• Walid Zeineddine
• Mahmoud Saad
• Akram Salman
• Ghassan Abou Diab
• Samir Saad
• Emile Rustom
• Valeriu Tița (2013–2014)
• Emile Rustom (2015–2018)
• Valeriu Tița (2018–2019)
• Tarek Jarraya (2019)
• Robert Jaspert (2019–2020)
• Emile Rustom (2020)
• Mohammad Dakka (2020–2021) ^[13]
• Fadi Oumari (2021–22)
• Malek Hassoun (2022)
• Youssef Jawhari (2022–2023)
• Moussa Hojeij (2023)
• Johnny Jansen (2023)
• Jan de Jonge (2023)
• Bassem Marmar (2023–present)

See also

• Safa WFC, defunct women's team
• List of football clubs in Lebanon

Notes

1. Only used as a training ground

References

1. Arab-Sport.net | (13 October 2017). "بعزيمة النسور | الصفاء يعود من صيدا بثوب البطل". عرب سبورتس. Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
2. "AFC Cup 2017: Match day one - Playoff and group stage preview | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
3. Maugendre, Axel (31 August 2018), "Ethnography of the Lebanese Football Clubs" (PDF), Athens Journal of Sports, 5 (3): 213–226, doi:10.30958/AJSPO.5-3-3, archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2019
4. Montague, James (24 October 2007). "In Lebanon, even soccer is tainted by sectarian strife". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
5. Alami, Mona (1 September 2009). "Religious about football". Archived from the original on 19 April 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
6. "فريق: الصفاء بيروت". www.kooora.com. Archived from the original on 5 April 2018. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
7. "منتديات كووورة". forum.kooora.com. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
8. "بالصور: الصفاء اللبناني يهبط لأول مرة في تاريخه". كووورة. 17 May 2022. Archived from the original on 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.
9. "شطب كافة نتائج شباب البرج وإسقاطه إلى الدرجة الثانية". Elsport News (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 17 July 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
10. "اتحاد كرة القدم اللبناني يصدر قرارات حاسمة". كووورة. 22 March 2023. Archived from the original on 29 May 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
11. "جولة دربي الجبل... وملامسة اللقب". Al-Joumhouria. Archived from the original on 19 June 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
12. "Safa SC". Global Sports Archive. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
13. Diab, Rami Abou (9 November 2020). "Safa SC appoint new coach". FA Lebanon. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 9 November 2020.

External links

• Official website
• Safa SC at the AFC
• Safa SC at FA Lebanon
• Safa SC on Twitter