Al-Karkh SC


Al-Karkh Educational Sports Club, commonly known as Al-Karkh SC, is an Iraqi sports club based in Karkh, Baghdad. Its professional football team plays in the Iraq Stars League, the top tier of the Iraqi football. The club's home stadium is Sharar Haidar Stadium.
Founded in 1963, Al-Karkh was not successful in reaching the top flight of Iraqi football until Al-Rasheed SC's properties and place in the top division were transferred to Al-Karkh when Al-Rasheed were dissolved in 1990. In 2022, Al-Karkh achieved its first Iraq FA Cup title with a 2–1 victory over Al-Kahrabaa in the final.

History

In the late-1940s, a basketball club was established under the name of Al-Mansour Club, where a lot of national basketball players started. The team won the 1958 Adhamiya Tournament with thousands of people either celebrating in the court or crowding outside of it. In 1974, the club was merged with Al-Karkh Sports Club.
Since it was founded in 1963, Al-Karkh were unsuccessful to get promoted to the Iraq Central FA Premier League or later the Iraqi Premier League. For 27 years, they had been languishing in the lower divisions.
Taking the Al-Mansour Local Administration Stadium as his club's, on 23 November 1983, Uday Hussein founded a new sports club named Al-Rasheed. Al-Rasheed soon won the lower division in their first season followed by three top division league titles, two FA Cups, three Arab Club Champions Cup trophies and a runners-up spot at the AFC Champions League, all between 1983 and 1990.
On 18 August 1990, the Iraqi Olympic Committee decided to dissolve Al-Rasheed Sports Club, transferring all of its properties to Al-Karkh Sports Club, and replaced Al-Rasheed with Al-Karkh in the Iraqi Premier League.
When Al-Karkh replaced Al-Rasheed's place in the Iraqi Premier League, the team for the first time in their history played in the top tier of Iraqi football. Most of the Iraq national team players left, retiring, like Adnan Dirjal, Haris Mohammed, and Samir Shaker, or transferring to other teams, like Ahmed Radhi, Laith Hussein, and Habib Jafar. In their first season in the senior division, 1990–91, they finished in 4th place at 38 points.
Being coached by Adnan Dirjal, Al-Karkh, on Dirjal's first season as a coach, finished in the furthest place they have ever been in the league, which is 3rd place in the 1991–92 season, three points away from the leaders. Dirjal received the best Iraqi coach award for the team's performance through the season, while Saad Qais Noaman received the best player award. Al-Karkh also finished in 4th place in the 1st Umm al-Ma'arik Championship.
In the seasons of 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1995–96, Al-Karkh managed to keep an average of 9th place in the league, where Ammo Baba, in the 1994–95 season, made the team reach the lowest he had ever reached with an Iraqi team through his entire managing career, which was 7th place. The Iraq FA Cup editions from 1992 to 1996 didn't witness Al-Karkh succeeding in passing the round of 16, while in the Umm al-Ma'arik Championship, Al-Karkh reached 4th place in the 1993–94 season.
In 1996, they participated in the 102nd edition of the IFA Shield, a competition in India. They finished as runners-up, losing 1–0 after extra time to JCT Mills. In the 1996–97 season, Al-Karkh finished in the relegation zone's 14th place at 27 points from 30 matches. The team was relegated to the Iraqi First Division League for the first time since they have replaced Al-Rasheed in 1990. They were promoted back to the Iraqi Premier League in the 1997–98 season. They maintained an average of 7th place throughout the five seasons after promotion. In the 1999–00 Iraq FA Cup, Al-Karkh reached the semifinals after beating Al-Talaba and Samarra FC, but they lost to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 1–0 in both the first and second legs. The team also reached the semifinals in the 9th Umm al-Ma'arik Championship, where they were beaten by Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya. They won the third place match. A season after, Al-Karkh achieved the Umm al-Ma'arik Championship 3rd place again.
In the 2003–04 season, after Sharar Haidar was appointed as the new president of the club, Al-Karkh didn't qualify for the second phase while in the season after, the team only qualified to the second phase. They participated in the Arab Istiqlal Championship in 2005 but were knocked out at the group stage. In the 2005–06 season, Al-Karkh finished in the relegation zone with 12 points out of 12 matches, one point away from Diyala FC that had 13 points, being relegated for the second time to the Iraqi First Division League. The team stayed in the First Division League until the 2009–10 season, where they were among the six clubs that were elected to play the last two Iraqi Premier League places playoff. Under the management of Nasrat Nassir, Al-Karkh won promotion and returned to the Premier League. After two seasons, Al-Karkh was relegated again before returning once again to the Premier League after winning First Division League in the 2012–13 season.
In the 2021–22 season, Al-Karkh won their first Iraq FA Cup title with a 2–1 victory over Al-Kahrabaa in the final.

Stadium

At first, Al-Mansour club took an old building that oversees the Tigris in Al-Karkh and turned it into a basketball court and a place to manage the club. In the late-1960s, the building started to collapse which was the main reason for the club being banished. In 1963, a new club with the same administrative board was formed in Mansour neighbourhood, Mansour district, Karkh after Al-Mansour Local Administration Stadium was built.
In 1984, Al-Rasheed took over the stadium and turned it into theirs after renovating it and allowing shops to be opened around it, and renamed it to Al-Rasheed Stadium. In the dissolving of Al-Rasheed, the stadium was renamed to Al-Karkh Stadium as the stadium of Al-Karkh SC. In June 2020, following the death of former Iraqi and Al-Rasheed player Ahmed Radhi, the stadium was renamed to Al-Saher Ahmed Radhi Stadium. In January 2026, the stadium was renamed again to Captain Sharar Haidar Stadium. It is named after the club's former president Sharar Haidar who died in 2023.

Statistics

Recent seasons

The season-by-season performance of the club over the recent years:
SeasonLeagueRankPWDLFAGDPtsCup
2000–01Iraqi Elite League730148848341450
2001–02Iraqi Elite League8381591452421054
2002–03Iraqi First Division League—2791082921837
2003–04Iraqi Premier League—84[|1]31211113
2004–05Iraqi Premier League3 – Group 2198472014628
2005–06Iraqi Premier League6 – Group 312336914−512
2006–07Iraqi First Division League
2007–08Iraqi First Division League
2008–09Iraqi First Division League1 – Promotion Round541072513
2009–10Iraqi Premier League11 – Group B34914103135−441
2010–11Iraqi Elite League5 – Group A26101153527841
2011–12Iraqi Elite League1738810203249−1734
2012–13Iraqi First Division League130207362243867
2013–14Iraqi Premier League122274112025−525
2014–15Iraqi Premier League5 – Group 1187562018226
2015–16Iraqi Premier League8 – Group 1172691120−912
2016–17Iraqi Premier League1936311222465−4120
2017–18Iraqi First Division League1
2018–19Iraqi Premier League6381512114435+957
2019–20Iraqi Premier LeagueWithdrew311157−24
2020–21Iraqi Premier League10381112153540−545
2021–22Iraqi Premier League1438819113236−443
2022–23Iraqi Premier League12381312134036+451
2023–24Iraq Stars League1538718133645−939
2024–25Iraq Stars League15381210164049−946

.
Rank = Rank in the league; P = Played; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points; Cup = Iraq FA Cup.

in = Still in competition; — = Not attended; 1R = 1st round; 2R = 2nd round; 3R = 3rd round; R16 = Round of sixteen; QF = Quarterfinals; SF = Semifinals.
1 The league was not completed and was cancelled.