Al-Bahrain Sports Club , otherwise simply known as Bahrain, is primarily a Bahrain

Bahrain

' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...

i football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 club based in the island-governorate of Al-Muharraq

Muharraq

Muharraq , is Bahrain's third largest city, and served as its capital until 1923. The city is located on Muharraq Island and has long been a centre of religiosity...

. Their football team currently play in the Bahrain first division league. Their home football stadium is the Al Muharraq Stadium

Al Muharraq Stadium

Al Muharraq Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Arad, Bahrain. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Muharraq Club. The stadium holds 20,000 people....

, which they share along with their local island rivals, Al-Muharraq Sports Club. Bahrain Club also have teams for other sports, such as Basketball, Team Handball and Volleyball.

Foundations

Al-Bahrain sporting club was established as a result of an internal dispute between several members of Al-Muharraq sporting club, during the mid 1950s. Its exact date of establishment is unclear or unknown, and varies between different sources. The most accepted and conservative view is that Al-Bahrain sporting club was established some time in 1958, although it can still be disputed, since some people tend to give it an earlier date. The founders of Al-Bahrain decided on the club's name and colors. The name 'Al-Bahrain' was chosen in order to better represent the country and be more inclusive of other areas of Bahrain, including areas that are outside Muharraq island. This was seen as an attempt to increase fan support, since most inhabitants of Muharraq island prefer Al-Muharraq club, for historic reasons. Another reason for naming the club Al-Bahrain was that the name Muharraq was already taken, and the club founders did not want to name their club something close to (or resembling) Al-Muharraq SC. The green color is claimed to have been chosen as an inspiration from the most successful and famous Brazilian football club, Palmeiras FC. But others would argue that the colors were taken as inspiration from Portugal's Sporting Lisbon football club instead. Others would say both Palmeiras and Sporting Club inspired Al-Bahrain. It is thought that just as Al-Ahli's yellow-black colors inspired Kuwait's Qadsia colors, Al-Bahrain's green-white colours also inspired Kuwait's Al-Arabi to adopt similar colors. The club has three different nicknames: Al-Nadi Al-Watani (the national club), Nadi Al-Dawla (the country club) and Al-Ghazal Al-Akhdhar (the green gazelles). The national club and country club nicknames are used interchangeably. These nicknames originated as a result of Al-Bahrain's all-inclusive name, which represents the name of the country (Bahrain). The Green Gazelles nickname however was derived from the club logo. The club logo of a gazelle is meant to represent speed and is also meant to represent the national symbol of Bahrain. Gazelles are the symbolic wildlife animals of the country.

Initial Rise

Al-Bahrain Sporting Club grew significantly in the 60s, just when operations commenced. In 1968, the club won its first league title and overall title. 2 and 3 years later it was followed by back to back Ameer Cup wins (prince cup wins, before Bahrain became a kingdom, and now the tournament is known as the King's Cup). The club should also be noted for reaching 4 consecutive King's cup finals between 1970 and 1973, having won the first two and lost the second two.

Early Decline and Comeback

In 1975, Al-Bahrain reached their 5th King's cup final, meeting their local island rivals Al-Muharraq for the second time. In this match, Al-Bahrain lost humiliatingly, 5-1. This score was seen detrimental to their reputation and initial climb. The score also initiated the intensity of the Al-Bahrain versus Al-Muharraq rivalry, dubbed as the Green gazelles versus Red wolves. Another final in 1976 made them lose to Al-Hala. This series of disappointments was put behind them 2 years later, in 1978, as Al-Bahrain clinched their second league title and a birth of a new era occurred.

Golden Era

The club's greatest footballing success came in most of the late 1970s and 1980s, when they won 4 national championship titles (Bahrain first division league). This era was known as the 'golden era' in the club's history, both from an official standpoint and supporters' view. The club managed to attract many local fans from Muharraq and around Bahrain, many of whom were growing tired of the dominance seen by clubs such as Al-Ahli and Al-Muharraq throughout Bahrain's competitive sporting history, which was especially seen/noticed during the 1960s. The increase in parity, all thanks to Al-Bahrain's success in the post-1960s, helped inspire many aspiring clubs to strive for the same success. Unfortunately, however, Al-Bahrain's attempt to remain a top contender for the first division football league failed miserably and the club were not able to maintain themselves at the top end for long. Al-Bahrain tried its best to recreate the same glory of old times back in the 1990s and 2000s but failed to do so, as Al-Riffa sports club became the new competitor to Al-Muharraq's reign, while both Bahrain club and Al-Ahli club disappeared into history books.

The club's pinnacle of triumph came in the late 1980s, after they secured a fourth title in 2 decades and a fifth title in their overall history. At this period of time, Bahrain club was seen as the alternative team to support from the local Muharraq islanders' point of view. However, the locals continued to favor Al-Muharraq club a lot more than the green counterparts, mostly due to the fact Al-Muharraq is more consistent in terms of achievements.

End of an Era

Al-Bahrain's biggest defeat was to Al-Najma

Al-Najma

Al-Najma is a Bahraini football club based in Manama. They play in the top division in Bahraini football. Some of their famous players are striker mourad faris ,Rashed Jamal,young Bahrain Olympic team player Hamad Faisal , Yemeni international defender Salem Saeed ,and the main goalkeeper of the...

 in April 2007, as part of the King's Cup

Bahraini King's Cup

The Bahraini King's Cup is Bahrein's premier knockout tournament in men's football .The national cup has had many different names over the years...

 round of 16. The side was humiliated 8-0, which was the highest number of goals they ever conceded in one game. This moment marked the turning point of Al-Bahrain's status as a respected team in the country.

A series of humiliating defeats (6-0, 5-0 and 6-2) by the hands of their local island rivals, Al-Muharraq, between 2007 and 2009 saw Al-Bahrain getting dubbed as a crumbling football establishment.

The worst moment in their football history came in 08/09, when the team was ultimately relegated to the second division.

Achievements

• Bahraini Premier League
  Bahraini Premier League
  The Bahraini Premier League is the main football competition in Bahrain. The first season was held in 1957. The winners of the domestic championship qualify for the AFC Cup. The championship is currently contested by 10 clubs-Current Structure:...
  
  : 5

Winners (5 times) 1968, 1978, 1981, 1985, 1989

• Bahraini King's Cup
  Bahraini King's Cup
  The Bahraini King's Cup is Bahrein's premier knockout tournament in men's football .The national cup has had many different names over the years...
  
  : 2

Winners (2 times) 1970, 1971

Runners Up (8 times) 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1996

• Bahraini Second Division: 1

Winners (1 time) 2011

Performance in AFC competitions

• Asian Club Championship: 1 appearance

1991: Group was cancelled due to the crisis in the region.

• Asian Cup Winners Cup
  Asian Cup Winners Cup
  The Asian Cup Winners' Cup was an association football competition run by the Asian Football Confederation . The competition was started in 1991 as a tournament for all the domestic cup winners from countries affiliated to the AFC...
  
  : 1 appearance

1998 - 1st round

Notable Famous Players

Wolson Noto Sayyed Yusri Razzaq Farhan

Razzaq Farhan

Razzaq Farhan Mussa is an Iraqi footballer and Olympic athlete.Farhan has played for several professional clubs, including Qatar Sports Club and Al-Faisaly...

 Abbas Obeid

Abbas Obeid

Abbas Obeid Jassim , born 1979 in Iraq, is an Iraqi football player. He played for FC Seoul and Pohang Steelers of the South Korean K-League, then known as Anyang LG Cheetahs and Pohang Atoms...

 Haitham Zen Bouchaib El Battachi Ali Mobarak