View source for Al Dhafra FC

{{Short description|Emirati professional football club}}
{{Redirects here|Al Dhafra|the region in the United Arab Emirates|Al Dhafra, Abu Dhabi}}
{{Infobox football club
| clubname = Al Dhafra
| image = Al Dhafra FC.png
| upright = 0.7
| alt = logo
| fullname = Al Dhafra Football Club
| nickname = Al Fursan Al Gharib <br>(The Western Knights)
| shortname = 
| founded = 2000
| dissolved = 
| ground = [[Al Dhafra Stadium]]
| capacity = 5,020
| chrtitle = 
| chairman = 
| owner = [[Hamdan bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan]]
| mgrtitle = Manager
| manager = [[Alen Horvat]]
| league = [[UAE Pro League]]
| season = [[2024–25 UAE Division 1|2024–25]]
| position = 1st of 14 (promoted)
| website = {{URL|http://www.dfsc.ae/dhafra}}
| pattern_la1 = _dhafra2021h
| pattern_b1 = _dhafra2021h
| pattern_ra1 = _dhafra2021h
| pattern_sh1 = _dhafra2021h
| pattern_so1 = _dhafra2021h
| leftarm1 = 65b7ec
| body1 = 65b7ec
| rightarm1 = 65b7ec
| shorts1 = FFFF00
| socks1 = FFFF00
| pattern_la2 = _dhafra2021a
| pattern_b2 = _dhafra2021a
| pattern_ra2 = _dhafra2021a
| pattern_sh2 = _dhafra2021a
| pattern_so2 = _color_3_stripes_gold
| leftarm2 = 003050
| body2 = 003050
| rightarm2 = 003050
| shorts2 = 003050
| socks2 = 003050|
}}

'''Al Dhafra FC''' ({{Langx|ar|نادي الظفرة لكرة القدم}}) is an Emirati professional [[Association football|football]] club based in [[Madinat Zayed]] that competes in the [[UAE First Division League]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://int.soccerway.com/teams/united-arab-emirates/al-dhafra/|title=Al Dhafra SCC|work=Soccerway|publisher=Perform|access-date=16 May 2014}}</ref>

Their [[Al Dhafra FC (futsal)|futsal club]] participated in [[AFC Futsal Club Championship]].

==History== 
Al Dhafra FC was established in 2000, as part of a policy to promote sports across the country and the [[Al Dhafra, Abu Dhabi|Al Dhafra]] region of [[Emirate of Abu Dhabi|Abu Dhabi]] had no team, so Al Dhafra is the first and only club to be located in the western region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dfsc.ae/dhafra/history/a|title=Al Dhafra History|work=Al Dhafra|publisher=Al Dhafra FC|access-date=10 November 2014}}</ref> For most of its history the club was classified as a semi-professional club according to the UAE Pro League committee and did not have licenses to compete in the AFC competitions but the team had continued to appeal for a license since qualifying for the [[UAE President's Cup]] for the first time in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.albayan.ae/sports/emirates/2019-06-28-1.3593165|title=الظفرة يستأنف ضد عدم منحه ترخيص المحترفين|date=27 June 2019 |language=ar|publisher=البيان|access-date=28 June 2019}}</ref> Around 2020 the club finally obtained their licenses, thus all pro league teams can compete in AFC competitions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.albayan.ae/sports/emirates/2020-10-20-1.3991047|title=14 نادياً تحصل على الترخيص الآسيوي|date=19 October 2020 |publisher=البيان|access-date=20 October 2020|language=ar}}</ref>

==Honours==
*'''[[UAE President's Cup|President's Cup]]''' 
**Runners-up (1): [[2018–19 UAE President's Cup|2018–19]]
**Finalist (1): [[2019–20 UAE President's Cup|2019–20]]
* '''[[UAE First Division League]]'''
**Champions (2): 2001–02, 2006–07
* '''[[UAE Vice Presidents Cup]]'''
**Champions (1): 2012

==Season-by-season record==
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-bgcolor="#efefef"
! Season
! {{Abbr|Lvl.|Level}}
! {{Abbr|Tms.|Number of teams}}
! {{Abbr|Pos.|League position}}
![[UAE President's Cup|President's Cup]]
![[UAE League Cup|League Cup]]
|-
|[[2008–09 UAE Pro League|2008–09]]
|[[UAE Pro League|1]]
|12
|8th 
|Semi-Finals
|First Round
|-
|[[2009–10 UAE Pro League|2009–10]]
|1
|12
|9th
|Quarter-Finals
|First Round
|-
|[[2010–11 UAE Pro League|2010–11]]
|1
|12
|bgcolor="#FFCCCC"|12th
|Round of 16
|First Round
|-
|[[2011–12 UAE Division 1|2011–12]]
|[[UAE Division One|2]]
|8
|bgcolor="#ACE1AF"|4th
|Round of 16
|—
|-
|[[2012–13 UAE Pro League|2012–13]]
|1
|14
|8th
|Round of 16
|First Round
|-
|[[2013–14 UAE Pro League|2013–14]]
|1
|14
|8th
|Semi-Finals
|Semi-Finals
|-
|[[2014–15 UAE Pro League|2014–15]]
|1
|14
|11th
|Semi-Finals
|First Round
|-
|[[2015–16 UAE Pro League|2015–16]]
|1
|14
|8th
|Round of 16
|First Round
|-
|[[2016–17 UAE Pro League|2016–17]]
|1
|14
|7th
|Round of 16
|First Round
|-
|[[2017–18 UAE Pro League|2017–18]]
|1
|12
|10th
|Round of 16
|First Round
|-
|[[2018–19 UAE Pro League|2018–19]]
|1
|14
|10th
|bgcolor=Silver|Runner-ups
|First Round
|-
|[[2019–20 UAE Pro League|2019–20]]{{ref|a|a|Corona}}
|1
|14
|7th
|''Finalists''
|First Round
|-
|[[2020–21 UAE Pro League|2020–21]]
|1
|14
|11th
|Quarter-Finals
|First Round
|-
|[[2021–22 UAE Pro League|2021–22]]
|1
|14
|12th
|Round of 16
|First Round
|-
|[[2022–23 UAE Pro League|2022–23]]
|1
|14
|bgcolor="#FFCCCC"|14th
|Round of 16 
|Quarter-Finals
|}
<sub>'''Notes'''{{note|a}} 2019–20 UAE football season was cancelled due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates]].</sub>

==Current squad==
''As of 2023''
{{fs start|nonumber=|bg=FFFF00|color=0000FF|border=0000FF}}
{{Fs player |no=1|nat=OMA|name=Mazen Al-Harasi |pos=GK}}
{{Fs player |no=2|nat=UAE|name=[[Ali Moustafa]]|pos=DF}}
{{Fs player |no=5|nat=UAE|name=[[Mansoor Al-Harbi (footballer, born 1999)|Mansoor Al-Harbi]] |pos=MF}}
{{Fs player |no=6|nat=TOG|name=Ezeckiel Noumonvi|pos=DF}}
{{Fs player |no=7|nat=OMA|name=Fares Al-Jabri|pos=FW}}
{{Fs player |no=8|nat=GHA|name=[[Zackariah Mohammed]] |pos=MF}}
{{Fs player |no=9|nat=UAE|name=[[Ahmed Al Attas]]|pos=FW}}
{{Fs player |no=10|nat=UAE|name=[[Khalil Ibrahim (footballer)|Khalil Ibrahim]]|pos=MF}}
{{Fs player |no=11|nat=SER|name=[[Slavoljub Srnić]]|pos=MF}}
{{Fs player |no=12|nat=UAE|name=[[Sultan Husain]] |pos=DF}}
{{Fs player |no=14|nat=EGY|name=[[Hossam Loutfy]]|pos=MF}}
{{Fs player |no=15|nat=UAE|name=[[Hamad Al-Marzouqi]]|pos=DF}}
{{Fs player |no=17|nat=UAE|name=[[Ibrahim Al-Hammadi]] |pos=DF}}
{{Fs player |no=18|nat=UAE|name=[[Yousef Ayman]] |pos=MF}}
{{Fs player |no=19|nat=GUI|name=[[Mohamed Yattara]]|pos=FW}}
{{fs mid|nonumber=|bg=FFFF00|color=0000FF|border=0000FF}}
{{Fs player |no=20|nat=GHA|name=[[Leonard Amesimeku]] |pos=DF}}
{{Fs player |no=21|nat=CMR|name=[[Rostand Djooh]]|pos=MF}}
{{Fs player |no=22|nat=UAE|name=[[Rayan Yaslam]] |pos=MF}}
{{Fs player |no=27|nat=OMA|name=[[Nashid Abdul Qadir]] |pos=DF}}
{{Fs player |no=28|nat=BRA|name=[[Pernambuco (footballer)|Pernambuco]] |pos=MF}}
{{Fs player |no=29|nat=UAE|name=[[Abdullah Al-Hammadi]] |pos=FW}}
{{Fs player |no=30|nat=UAE|name=[[Abdullah Sultan (footballer)|Abdullah Sultan]]|pos=GK}}
{{Fs player |no=31|nat=BRA|name=Vitor Moura |pos=MF}}
{{Fs player |no=44|nat=SYR|name=Amjad Al-Sayed|pos=GK}}
{{Fs player |no=50|nat=UAE|name=[[Ibrahim Saeed (footballer)|Ibrahim Saeed]]|pos=DF}}
{{Fs player |no=55|nat=GRE|name=[[Adam Tzanetopoulos]]|pos=DF}}
{{Fs player |no=70|nat=UAE|name=Jarah Al-Hammadi |pos=GK}}
{{Fs player |no=71|nat=UAE|name=[[Saleh Al-Hosani]] {{small|<sup>'''U21'''</sup>}}|pos=FW}}
{{Fs player |no=77|nat=UAE|name=[[Abdullah Fadaaq]] |pos=MF|other={{small|on loan from [[Al Jazira Club|Al-Jazira]]}}}}
{{Fs player |no=|nat=UKR|name=Aghyad Al-Bekri|pos=MF}}
{{fs end|nonumber=|bg=FFFF00|color=0000FF|border=0000FF}}

==Managerial history==
{|class="wikitable"
!Name
!Nat.
!From
!To
!Ref.
|-
|[[Piet Hamberg]]
|{{flagicon|NED}}
|style="text-align:center"|2003
|style="text-align:center"|2004
|
|-
|[[Sebastião Rocha (football manager)|Sebastião Rocha]]
|{{flagicon|BRA}}
|style="text-align:center"|2005
|style="text-align:center"|2006
|
|-
|[[Ammar Souayah]]
|{{flagicon|TUN}}
|style="text-align:center"|May 2007
|style="text-align:center"|November 2007
|<ref>[https://www.albayan.ae/five-senses/2007-05-24-1.771112 التونسي عمار السويح مدرباً للظفرة]</ref><ref>[https://elaph.com/Web/Sports/2007/11/280980.html الظفرة الاماراتي يقيل مدربه التونسي السويح]</ref>
|-
|[[Ayman El Ramadi]]
|{{flagicon|EGY}}
|style="text-align:center"|November 2007
|style="text-align:center"|August 2008
|<ref>[https://www.emaratalyoum.com/local-section/2008-08-31-1.176480 الرمادي: استقلت من الظفرة احتراماً لمهنة التدريب]</ref>
|-
|[[Mohammad Kwid]]
|{{flagicon|SYR}}
|style="text-align:center"|September 2008
|style="text-align:center"|December 2008
|<ref>[https://www.albayan.ae/sports/2008-09-01-1.670947 الظفرة يتعاقد مع السوري قويض لقيادة فريق الكرة]</ref>
|-
|[[Eid Baroot]]
|{{flagicon|UAE}}
|style="text-align:center"|December 2008
|style="text-align:center"|June 2009
|<ref>[https://www.albayan.ae/sports/2008-12-24-1.821893 عيد باروت مدرباً للظفرة محل قويض]</ref>
|-
|[[Laurent Banide]]
|{{flagicon|FRA|1974}}
|style="text-align:center"|July 2009
|style="text-align:center"|February 2010
|<ref>[https://www.albayan.ae/sports/2010-02-14-1.219172 إقالة لوران بانيد مدرب الظفرة]</ref>
|-
|[[Slobodan Halilović]]
|{{flagicon|SRB}}
|style="text-align:center"|February 2010
|style="text-align:center"|March 2010
|
|-
|[[Michel Decastel]]
|{{flagicon|SWI}}
|style="text-align:center"|March 2010
|style="text-align:center"|November 2010
|<ref>[https://www.albayan.ae/sports/2010-11-24-1.589701 الظفرة ينهي تعاقده مع السويسري دي كاستال]</ref>
|-
|[[Alexandre Guimarães]]
|{{flagicon|CRC}}
|style="text-align:center"|November 2010
|style="text-align:center"|April 2011
|
|-
|Mohammad Kwid
|{{flagicon|SYR}}
|style="text-align:center"|April 2011
|style="text-align:center"|June 2011
|<ref>[https://elaph.com/Web/Sports/2011/4/644492.html السوري القويض مدربا للظفرة الإماراتي]</ref>
|-
|[[Baltemar Brito]]
|{{flagicon|BRA}}
|style="text-align:center"|June 2011
|style="text-align:center"|December 2011
|<ref>[https://www.emaratalyoum.com/sports/local/2011-06-29-1.406609 مساعد مورينيو مدرباً للظفــرة]</ref><ref>[https://www.albayan.ae/sports/first/2011-12-07-1.1550480 مساعد مورينيو مدرباً للظفــرة]</ref>
|-
|[[Magdy Mostafa]]
|{{flagicon|EGY}}
|style="text-align:center"|December 2011
|style="text-align:center"|May 2012
|
|-
|[[Džemal Hadžiabdić]]
|{{flagicon|BIH}}
|style="text-align:center"|May 2012
|style="text-align:center"|December 2012
|<ref>[https://www.albayan.ae/sports/emirates/2012-12-06-1.1779860 الظفرة يقيل حاجي وبانيد بديلاً]</ref>
|-
|Laurent Banide
|{{flagicon|FRA|1974}}
|style="text-align:center"|December 2012
|style="text-align:center"|April 2013
|<ref>[https://www.albayan.ae/sports/emirates/2012-12-08-1.1780973 بانيد مدرب الظفرة الجديد يجتمع مع الإدارة واللاعبين اليوم]</ref>
|-
|[[Abdullah Mesfer]]
|{{flagicon|UAE}}
|style="text-align:center"|April 2013
|style="text-align:center"|May 2014
|
|-
|[[Anel Karabeg]]
|{{flagicon|BIH}}
|style="text-align:center"|May 2014
|style="text-align:center"|September 2014
|<ref>[https://www.albayan.ae/sports/emirates/2014-05-22-1.2127643 خميس المنصوري: 8 لاعبين يغادرون الظفرة]</ref>
|-
|[[Marin Ion]]
|{{flagicon|ROU}}
|style="text-align:center"|September 2014
|style="text-align:center"|January 2015
|<ref>[https://sport360.com/article/football/arabian-gulf-league/26837/al-dhafra-appoint-marin-ion-replace-sacked-karabeg Al Dhafra appoint Marin Ion to replace sacked Karabeg]</ref>
|-
|Laurent Banide
|{{flagicon|FRA|1974}}
|style="text-align:center"|January 2015
|style="text-align:center"|November 2015
|<ref>[http://www.alwasatnews.com/news/1051568.html الظفرة الإماراتي يقيل مدربه بانيد ويعين السوري قويض]</ref>
|-
|Mohammad Kwid
|{{flagicon|SYR}}
|style="text-align:center"|November 2015
|style="text-align:center"|January 2018
|
|-
|[[Gjoko Hadžievski]]
|{{flagicon|MKD}}
|style="text-align:center"|January 2018
|style="text-align:center"|May 2018
|<ref>[https://al-ain.com/article/aldhafra-koaid-gokika رحيل قويض عن تدريب الظفرة.. وجوكيكا بديلا]</ref>
|-
|[[Vuk Rašović]]
|{{flagicon|SRB}}
|style="text-align:center"|May 2018
|style="text-align:center"|September 2020
|<ref>[https://gulfnews.com/sport/uae-sport/al-dhafra-appoint-rasovic-1.2220593 Al Dhafra appoint Rasovic]</ref>
|-
|Mohammad Kwid
|{{flagicon|SYR}}
|style="text-align:center"|September 2020
|style="text-align:center"|October 2020
|<ref>[https://alnahdanews.com/article/101449 نادي الظفرة يتعاقد مع المدرب محمد قويض]</ref>
|-
|[[Aleksandar Veselinović]]
|{{flagicon|SRB}}
|style="text-align:center"|October 2020
|style="text-align:center"|January 2021
|
|-
|Mohammad Kwid
|{{flagicon|SYR}}
|style="text-align:center"|January 2021
|style="text-align:center"|October 2021
|
|-
|[[Rogério Micale]]
|{{flagicon|BRA}}
|style="text-align:center"|October 2021
|style="text-align:center"|March 2022
|<ref>[https://www.albayan.ae/sports/emirates/2021-10-02-1.4260564 البرازيلي ميكالي مدرباً للظفرة خلفاً لقويض]</ref>
|-
|[[Badr Al Idrissi]]
|{{flagicon|MAR}}
|style="text-align:center"|March 2022
|style="text-align:center"|May 2022
|<ref>[https://www.albayan.ae/sports/emirates/2022-03-03-1.4382725 الظفرة يقيل ميكالي ويعين المغربي الإدريسي مدرباً للفريق]</ref>
|-
|[[Nebojša Vignjević]]
|{{flagicon|SRB}}
|style="text-align:center"|July 2022
|style="text-align:center"|October 2022
|
|-
|[[Aleksandar Veselinović]]
|{{flagicon|SRB}}
|style="text-align:center"|October 2022
|style="text-align:center"|February 2023
|
|-
|Badr Al Idrissi
|{{flagicon|MAR}}
|style="text-align:center"|February 2023
|style="text-align:center"|August 2023
|
|-
|Abdullah Mesfer
|{{flagicon|UAE}}
|style="text-align:center"|August 2023
|style="text-align:center"|November 2023
|
|-
|[[Paulo Comelli (footballer)|Paulo Comelli]]
|{{flagicon|BRA}}
|style="text-align:center"|December 2023
|style="text-align:center"|February 2024
|
|-
|[[Alen Horvat]]
|{{flagicon|CRO}}
|style="text-align:center"|March 2024
|style="text-align:center"|''Present''
|
|}

==See also==
* [[List of football clubs in the United Arab Emirates]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20140107015219/http://dfsc.ae/}} {{in lang|ar}} (archived)

{{Al Dhafra FC squad}}
{{UAE Pro-League teamlist}}

[[Category:Football clubs in the United Arab Emirates|Dhafra]]
[[Category:Sport in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi]]
[[Category:2000 establishments in the United Arab Emirates]]
[[Category:Association football clubs established in 2000]]
[[Category:Al Dhafra Club| ]]