Al-Mina'a SC

Al-Mina'a

Full name	Al-Mina'a Sport club
Nickname(s)	Al-Safana (The Sailors)
Founded	22 November 1931 (1931)
Ground	Al-Mina'a Stadium
Ground Capacity	10,000
Chairman	Omran Radhi Thani
Manager	Marin Ion
League	Iraqi Premier League
2015–16	Iraqi Premier League, 6th
Home colours Away colours

Active departments of Al-Mina'a SC
Football	Basketball	Handball
Futsal	Volleyball	Swimming
Athletics	Archery	Wrestling
Boxing	Weightlifting	Bodybuilding
Wushu	Taekwondo

Al-Mina'a Sport Club (Port Sports Club, Arabic: نادي الميناء الرياضي‎‎) is an Iraqi multi-sport club based in Al-Maqal, Basra that participates in the Iraqi Premier League, the top-flight of Iraqi football. They are one of the most popular clubs in Iraq, particularly in the south, and were the first club from outside Baghdad to win the Iraqi Premier League.

Al-Mina'a was founded on November 22, 1931 in Al-Maqal. In 1974, the club was merged with another club called Al-Bareed to form a single club called Al-Muwasalat, and it was a strange situation because the Al-Bareed team were based in Baghdad while Al-Mina'a were based in Basra and the two teams met in Baghdad on the day of the match only, so after just one season the club was dissolved and Al-Mina'a returned in their place. In the 1978, the team won the league title for the first time. After a lean period in the post-war years, the team finished second in the league in the 2004–05 season, and therefore qualified for the 2006 AFC Champions League, becoming the first Iraqi club from outside Baghdad to play in this tournament.

For a long time, the club was considered to be one of the Iraqi football clubs that had its own style of play, and the team practiced only under the supervision and training of coaches who graduated from the club, until the beginning of 2011, when the club started to depend on foreign coaches.

History

Foundation and early years (1931–1951)

Al-Mina'a Sports Club was formed by some of the British sailors and workers serving in the Marine Transportation Company in Basra on the banks of the Shatt Al-Arab after Mandatory Iraq, where Colonel Sir Ward was the director of company in the 1920s. When they were forming gatherings, sports were practiced and football was the most important.

After the founding of Al-Maqal City and establishment the General Company for Ports on March 1, 1931 by Colonel Sir John Ward under the auspices of King Faisal, and the transfer of employees in the company to Al-Maqal, the club coordinated with the company's management to make the green squares in the park located there to be a playing field for them, and after a few months, the company announced the establishment of the club officially, and Mr. C. F. Nickel was chosen as the first president of the club. The first football team consisted of Markar Avadician, Dehjat Ohaness, Liu Steven, Samuel Akesh, Aziz Hormuz, Rashad Al-Mufti, Khudair Abbas and others.

In 1945, Al-Mina'a played its first match outside the country, aganist Sanat Naft Abadan, and Al-Mina'a won. The team was composed of these players: Karim Allawi Al-Homaidawi, Mahdi Mohammed Zaki, Mustafa Hameed, Jassim Bader, Karim Jaber, Mohsin Faradj, Subhi Mohammed Zaki, Hameed Majeed, Sabeeh Darwish, Abdul Razzak Taher and Shaker Ismael. Al-Mina'a participated in the first ever national football league in Iraq, the 1948–49 Iraq Championship, but were knocked out in the group stage.

In 1950, Al-Mina'a played several friendly matches with Iranian clubs in Iran. They played against Shahin and the result was 2–2, they played against Arteshe and the game ended in a 2–1 victory for Al-Mina'a, and they played against Taj Ahvaz and won that match 5–1. They also played against Khorramshahr and won 3–1, and they faced Sanat Naft Abadan and won that game too. The team benefited greatly from those matches. In 1951, the team won the Hanna Al-Sheikh Championship, which was organized for Basra-based teams.

Matches with foreign teams (1952–1972)

The 1950s and 1960s were periods of preparation for Al-Mina'a, and the team played several friendly matches with different teams in this period; some of these clubs were strong European teams, and other were strong Asian teams. These matches helped the club develop the qualities of the players in terms of tactics and technique and other aspects. In 1956, Al-Mina'a played with Tehran and won 3–0, and after a year they played with a number of English sailors teams, who were arriving in Basra in those years. In 1961, the team played with a number of Iranian teams, beating Sanat Naft Abadan 4–3 and losing to Shahin 1–0, and in 1962, the Romanian club; Steaua București visited Iraq and Al-Mina'a played with them and lost 4–1. Then, Al-Mina'a played with the Syrian team Damascus and won 2–0. In February 1963, the team played with another Romanian club, Petrolul Ploiești, and lost 2–0 to them, and in November 1965, the team played the Kuwaiti club Al-Qadsia and the match ended in a 3–3 draw. In September 1968, the team traveled to Syria and played with some its teams, and the results were good, and in 1969 the team played against Bahraini club Al-Nasr and beat them 4–1; they then played against the Soviet club Neftçi and lost 1–0.

On 17 January 1970, Al-Mina'a played against Yugoslavian club Sarajevo and lost 3–1, and over a year later on January 19, 1971 they played with Czechoslovak club Spartak Trnava and won 2–0; Walid Daoud and Abdul Razzak Ahmed scored. And on December 20, 1972, Al-Mina'a played with the China national football team lost 1–0. These matches had a significant impact in making Al-Mina'a a stronger team.

Golden years and League title (1973–1979)

In 1973–74 season, Al-Mina'a played in the League of the Institutes under the leadership of coach Hamza Qasim, and finished the season in third place.

After this season, in the 1974–75, they were merged with another club called Al-Bareed to form a club called Al-Muwasalat which finished third place in the league. Al-Mina'a began to participate in the Iraqi Premier League as an independent club in the 1975–76 season under the leadership of coach Najem Abdullah, and finished the season in fourth place. The team was not well under coach Faleh Hassan Wasfi in the 1976–77 season, and finished in sixth place.

The 1977–78 season was the golden season for the team when they won the league title, and the title moved for the first time from the clubs of the capital, Baghdad, to Basra under coach Jamil Hanoon. The team collected 21 points by winning eight matches and drawing in five matches; they did not lose any matches in this season. The Al-Mina'a player Jalil Hanoon won the top scorer award with 11 goals in the league. The champions' squad included the following players: Sattar Farhan, Sameer Nori, Aziz Abdullah, Sabeeh Abed Ali, Abdul Redha Hussein, Rahim Karim, Khalil Ibrahim, Hadi Ahmed, Alaa Ahmed, Ali Abdul Zahra, Abdul Razzak Ahmed (C), Jalil Hanoon, Hassan Abdul Hussein, Adnan Saddam, Raǎd Abdullah and Hadi Jabbar. Before the league start, Al-Mina'a played in a pre-season football friendly tournament in Arbil, and the team played against Arbil and won 0–6, and won against Salahaddin in two matches 7–0 and 8–0.

The first match of this league season was on October 1, 1977, and the last match was on March 31, 1978. Al-Mina'a started the first two matches under coach leadership Faleh Hassan Wasfi, who resigned after being drawn against Salahaddin 0–0 and Al-Sinaa 0–0, the team played after that under the leadership of coach Jamil Hanoon, who took over the job, and led the team to a series of successes, began to win against defending champions Al-Zawraa 2–3 in Baghdad. In the final, Al-Mina'a played against Al-Shorta at Al-Mina'a Stadium in Basra, and Al-Mina'a won 1–0, thanks to Jalil Hanoon's goal on 50 minutes. The Al-Mina'a goalkeeper, Sattar Farhan, saved a penalty kick obtained by Al-Shorta in the final minutes of the match.

In 1978–79 season, The team played under the leadership of coaches Sabeeh Abed Ali and Abdul Mahdi Hadi, and finished the season in fourth place, after being equated with second-placed (Al-Shurta) and third (Al-Talaba) in the number of points (15 points), who applied it on goals difference.

Years of War and Chaos (1980–2003)

At the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war in 1980, Basra became a battleground, and the eight-year war broke all areas of life in Basra, including the field of sports. Al-Mina'a in particular had many players recruited and transported to the battlefield, and the team lost their playing field, and did not find a training ground. Their financial allocations were significantly reduced, and the stars of the team left to play in the big clubs of Baghdad. In this period, the Iraqi Ba'athist government worked on the separation of the club and GCPI in terms of funding, so the club has become dependent on self-financing, which was very poor, and as a result the team was composed of 11 players only (players without substitutes).

In the 1985–86 season, Al-Mina'a were not able to play in Basra, due to the fall of the bombs and the lack of safe stadiums, so their matches were moved to Amarah, and because of these harsh conditions, the team finished in 14th place and were relegated to the Iraq Division One for the first time in its history. But the team was determined to return to play in the Iraqi Premier League, and they managed to win the Iraq Division One title in 1987, and thus were able to return to play in the Premier League again in the 1987–88 season. The club remained unstable after the Second Gulf War, which began in 1991, and Sanctions against Iraq later (1991-2003), which destroyed the sport in the whole of Iraq.

Gradual return and Asian prominence (2004–2006)

With the change that took place after the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the overthrowing of Saddam Hussein, General Company for Ports took care of the club, and started to bring the team back to their natural position slowly, and the 2004–05 season was the distinctive season. Under the leadership of coach Abdul Karim Jassim Bader (Jombi), Al-Mina'a won the Southern Group in the First Stage, and advanced to the Elite Stage where they won Group A. In the semi-finals, they managed to beat Al-Zawraa in Baghdad 1–0 and tied 0–0 with them in Basra to advance to the final, where they played against Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya. The match was played in Baghdad which gave Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya an advantage. Al-Mina'a lost the match 2–0 to take the runner-up title, and the opportunity to represent Iraq in the next AFC Champions League; the team became the first team from outside Baghdad to represent Iraq in the continental championship.

After the return of the Iran–Iraq relations, Al-Mina'a participated in the 2004–05 Khuzestan Tournament, has won the tournament, having played against Iranian clubs have won it, in semi-final, the team played against Esteghlal Ahvaz B and won 2–1, in final played against Foolad Khuzestan B and won 1–0.

The team under the leadership of coach Aqeel Hato did not enter the 2006 AFC Champions League to compete for the title, given the weaknesses of the team (most of them were young and they needed experience in matches like this), but as a chance to play with strong teams and prepare for the Iraqi Premier League. But Al-Mina'a embarrassed some of the big teams in Asia and by earning draws against the likes of Mash'al and Al-Hilal.

Last five years of local accreditation (2006–2011)

After the team were knocked out of the AFC Champions League, the experienced players joined other clubs, and thus began a new era for the club under the leadership of young coach Asǎad Abdul Razzak for two seasons with and the young players who have grown up in the club. The team entered the 2006–07 season and managed to finish second in their First Stage group behind Al-Najaf to qualify for the Elite Stage, but team was not able to get to the semi-finals as they finished fourth behind Arbil, Al-Talaba and Karbalaa. In the 2007–08 season, a similar thing repeated under the same coach, where the team finished in 3rd place in their First Stage group behind Karbalaa and Al-Najaf, having won eight matches, drawn six and lost two, but could not go beyond the Elite Stage, where they finished in fourth place in Group A behind Arbil, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya and Kirkuk.

In the following three seasons, the team was under the leadership of young coach Adel Nasser, and these were not good seasons, as they were knocked out in the First Stage in all three seasons. In the 2008–09 season, the team finished in sixth place in their group, where team won ten matches, drew six and lost eight matches, and in the 2009–10 season, the team ended up in seventh place in the group stage where they won 16 matches, drew 11 and lost seven. In the third season, 2010–11, the team under the same coach finished in fourth place in their First Stage group with 12 wins, nine draws and five defeats.

Eight coaches for three seasons (2011–2014)

The club was always praised for depending on coaches and players that had graduated from the club itself, but since the 2011–12 season, the club went a different way by contracting with a professional coach of Swiss nationality (Iraqi origin) called Younis Al-Qattan. But the club's management did not settle on one coach during the season, so they changed the coach seven times during these three years. In the 2011–12 season, the team under the leadership of Al-Qattan was not successful with two wins, two losses and six draws, so the manager was changed. The team began playing under the leadership of Rahim Hameed and they ended the Premier League in 11th place, and in the 2012-2013 season, the club returned to the local coach Aqeel Hato, but this did not last very long as he was sacked having won four matches, drawn four matches and lost two matches, and the team played under the leadership of the young coach Ghazi Fahad afterwards but this also did not last long as he was fired having won five matches, drawn one match and lost five matches. The club then appointed coach Asǎad Abdul Razzak, who led the team to finish the season in eighth place, having won eight matches and lost six with one draw, and the team began the season relying on foreign players. Al-Mina'a used five foreign professionals from Europe, Africa and Asia in this season.

In the 2013–14 season, the same thing happened as happened in the previous season, where three coaches led the team in a row. They started the season led by coach Jamal Ali and who resigned because the results were not good, especially after the 2–1 loss to Al-Karkh. Ali won two matches as coach, drew four and lost three, so the club turned the leadership of the team to his assistant Ammar Hussein, who also did not remain long; he resigned after the 3–0 loss to Al-Zawra'a, and he won three matches, drew four and lost three. The club then appointed coach Hassan Mawla, who finished the season in 11th place, and he led the team for just four matches, winning one, losing one and drawing two, and he could not continue the rest of the matches because of Iraq Football Association suspended the Premier League and considered it finished on 18 June.

Al-Sayed and compete for League title (2014–2016)

In the 2014–15 season, the team was under coach Asǎad Abdul Razzak and he was sacked after six matches because the results were not satisfactory; he won one match, lost three and drew two, leaving the team in eighth place in their First Stage group. Al-Mina'a contracted with the Syrian professional coach, Hussam Al-Sayed, who led the team through 13 matches until the end of the group without a loss, where the team move into second place in the group behind Al-Shorta, and in the Elite Stage they played against three teams (Duhok, Naft Al-Janoob and Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya). The team was competing to top the group which would have qualified them for the final, but mistakes from assistant referees shattered that dream, where the assistant referee Maitham Khamat allowed an offside goal to stand in favor of Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya against Naft Al-Janoob, while assistant referee Haider Hameed did not count a legitimate goal for Al-Mina'a against Duhok due to offside, which lost them two points. These cases deprived the team from getting to the final, where the team is equal to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya in the number of points (ten points) but Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya had a better goal difference. In the third place match they were set to play against Al-Shorta but Al-Shorta declared that they pulled out of the match. But strangely, Al-Shorta ended up turning up for the match and Al-Mina'a was not prepared to match them so they withdrew meaning the team finished in fourth place in the Premier League.

In the 2015–16 season, the coach Hussam Al-Sayed led the team to a series of wins against strong teams, defeating the likes Erbil 3–1, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 2–1 and Al-Shorta 1–0. Al-Mina'a were in first place in their First Stage group, with six wins, one draw and two losses, but then a number of problems arose between the club management and some players which caused a decline in the level of the team, although the team still managed to qualify for the Eilte Stage. Their performances in the Elite Stage were not up-to-scratch, so the team ended the season in sixth place.

Stadium

Al-Mina'a Stadium was founded in the 1930s and contained an open field with a stand on one side. In the 1960–61 season, lighting was installed in the stadium and the stadium was considered the second best stadium in the Arab world after the Alexandria Stadium in Egypt.

In the mid-1980s, terraces with three strips were placed around stadium in order to accommodate 4,000 spectators. In 1995, circular strips were built around the ground in order to accommodate 10,000 spectators.

Work has been going on for the construction of New Al-Mina'a Stadium since April 22, 2011 and it has not been completed yet. The new stadium will accommodate 30,000 spectators, and is being built on an area of 52 acres. Al-Mina'a continues to participate in the Iraqi Premier League even without the presence of a regular training ground.

Kit

Al-Mina'a's traditional colors are blue and white. The home kit is blue and the away kit is white. Al-Mina'a's kits are manufactured by Adidas and are sponsored by Fuchs Petrolub.

Ultras Safana

Al-Mina'a has the Promoters Association, which was established at the beginning of the club's starting point, and remained supportive of the team in all their matches, and traveled with them wherever they went.

In June 2014, Al-Mina'a supporters founded a group known as Ultras Safana ("Sailors"). The supporters group has become well-known throughout Iraqi football as one of the most passionate groups of football fans in Iraq and the group's banners and logos can be seen in any stadium that their club play in. The number of group members is increasing. The foundation of this group has significantly increased both the number of Al-Mina'a fans in stadiums and their presence in matches.

Current squad

First-team squad

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Hameed Bakkal 3 DF Hamza Adnan 4 MF Yasser Ammar 5 MF Ahmed Mohsin Ashour 6 MF Hussam Malek 7 MF Hussein Abdul Wahed 8 MF Ali Hosni 9 MF Ammar Abdul Hussein 10 MF Mohammed Jabbar Shokan 11 MF Mustafa Hussein 12 DF Abbas Badea 14 MF Ali Qasim 15 DF Hussein Falah 16 MF Safaa Hadi 17 DF Haidar Sari 19 MF Akwetey Mensah

No. Position Player 20 GK Karrar Ibrahim 21 DF Herdi Siamand 22 GK Yassin Karim 23 DF Mohammed Jabbar Rubat 24 MF Ahmed Mohsin Omega 28 MF Ibrahim Kamil 30 MF Ahmed Jalil Hanoon 31 DF Mustafa Ali Abbas 32 DF Ali Mohammed Alialah 33 MF Hussein Muslim 35 DF Abdullah Mohsin GK Abbas Sabah DF Haider Farhan MF Ali Majed MF Ali Tahseen FW Mohammed Shehab

U19 Squad

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Abdullah Ghazi 2 DF Saif Amer 3 DF Hussein Abdul Razzak 4 DF Hamza Juma 5 MF Mujtaba Adel 6 MF Ahmed Kadhem 7 FW Ali Muftiya 8 FW Karrar Abdul Sada (Captain) 9 MF Muslim Aqeel Khalaf 10 FW Ali Waleed 11 MF Faeq Sattar

No. Position Player 12 DF Mohammed Shehab 13 DF Abdullah Khalaf 14 MF Hussein Husni 15 MF Saleh Ghazi 16 FW Hassan Kamel 17 DF Haider Farhan 18 DF Ali Mahmood 21 MF Sajjad Hadi 22 GK Abbas Sabah 23 DF Hassanin Nouri

Personnel

Current technical staff

Marin Ion, the current manager of the team.

Position	Name
Coach	Marin Ion
Assistant coach	Gheorghe Mihali
Goalkeeping coach	Ion Răuţă
Fitness coach	Tudor Sebastian
Club doctor	Faris Abdullah
Doctor's assistant	Fuad Mahdi
Under-19s Coach	Mohammed Abdul Hussein
Under-16s Coach	Shaker Shebib
Under-14s Coach	Fadhel Abdul Wahed

Board members

President	Omran Radhi Thani
Vice President	Jalil Hanoon
Amanuensis	Mohammad Jaber Hassan
Board of Directors Member	Naji Abdulla Hassan Al Mosawi
Board of Directors Member	Nazar Taha Humood
Board of Directors Member	Nabeel Abdul Ameer Jamil
Board of Directors Member	Ali Fadhel Hassan
Board of Directors Member	Karim Jasim Hassan
Female Board Member	Ikhlas Naji Jasim

Last updated: 27 July 2016
Source: Al-Minaa Club: Sailors of south

Records

League history

• Iraqi Premier League (1975–2016)

Season	League	Position	Played	Wins	Draws	Losses	Score	Points	Managers
1975–76	Iraqi National League	4						31
1976–77	Iraqi National League	6						12
1977–78	Iraqi National League	1	13	8	5	0	27:10	21
1978–79	Iraqi National League	4						15
1979–80	Iraqi National League	10	22	7	6	9	26:29	20
1980–81	Iraqi National League	8	11	3	4	4	8:14	10
1981–82	Iraqi National League	9						17
1982–83	Iraqi National League	11						12
1983–84	Iraqi National League	12						15
1984–85[a]	Iraqi National League	—	16	5	6	5	17:16	—
1985–86	Iraqi National League↓	14	15	3	3	9	12:22	9
1986–87	Iraq Division One ↑	1
1987–88	Iraqi National League	12						23
1988–89	Iraqi National League	8
1989–90		Exclusion
1990–91	Iraqi National League	8						23
1991–92	Iraqi National League	9	32	12	13	13	39:42	37
1992–93	Iraqi National League	11						70
1993–94	Iraqi National League	17						45
1994–95	Iraqi National League	11						72
1995–96	Iraqi Advanced League	9	22	4	11	7	18:23	23
1996–97	Iraqi Premier League	8	30	9	10	11	22:32	37
1997–98	Iraqi Premier League	7	30	12	3	15	29:40	39
1998–99	Iraqi Premier League	4	30	14	8	8	35:25	50
1999–2000	Iraqi First Division League	8	50	20	24	6	56:28	84
2000–01	Iraqi Elite League	9	30	10	10	10	24:26	40
2001–02	Iraqi Elite League	10	38	13	10	15	38:44	49
2002–03	Iraqi First Division League	6	19	10	2	7	20:15	32
2003–04[a]	Iraqi Premier League	—	7	3	2	2	3:4	—
2004–05	Iraqi Premier League	2	21	13	3	5	31:11	42
2005–06	Iraqi Premier League	10	16	9	4	3	26:16	31
2006–07	Iraqi Premier League	7	17	10	4	3	23:11	34
2007–08	Iraqi Premier League	10	24	10	9	5	15:18	39
2008–09	Iraqi Premier League	11	24	10	6	8	20:24	36
2009–10	Iraqi Premier League	13	34	16	11	7	36:23	59
2010–11	Iraqi Premier League	7	26	12	9	5	33:21	45
2011–12	Iraqi Premier League	11	38	13	11	14	40:44	50
2012–13	Iraqi Premier League	8	34	15	7	12	54:48	52
2013–14	Iraqi Premier League	11	23	6	10	7	26:27	28
2014–15	Iraqi Premier League	4	23	9	8	6	28:22	35
2015–16	Iraqi Premier League	6	25	11	7	7	36:30	40