Kalba FC

{{Short description|Emirati professional football club}}

{{One source|date=July 2020}}

{{Infobox football club

| clubname = Kalba
نادي كلباء

| image =

| upright = 0.7

| alt = Logo

| fullname = Kalba Football Club

| nickname = The Tigers

| founded = {{Start date and age|1945}} as Ittihad Kalba
{{Start date and age|2024}} as Kalba

| ground = Ittihad Kalba Stadium

| capacity = 7,701

| owner =Zayed sulaiman alsharari alzaabi

| chairman = Zayed sulaiman alsharari alzaabi

| manager = Vuk Rašović

| mgrtitle = Head coach

| league = UAE Pro League

| season = 2023–24

| position = UAE Pro-League, 10th

| current = 2023–24 UAE Pro League

| website = {{URL|https://www.ittihadkalbafc.ae/}}

| pattern_la1 = _yellowborder

| pattern_b1 = _castanhal1415h

| pattern_ra1 = _yellowborder

| leftarm1 = 000000

| body1 = FFFF00

| rightarm1 = 000000

| shorts1 = FFFF00

| socks1 = FFFF00

| pattern_la2 = _yellowborder

| pattern_b2 =

| pattern_ra2 = _yellowborder

| leftarm2 = DC143C

| body2 = DC143C

| rightarm2 = DC143C

| shorts2 = DC143C

| socks2 = 111111

}}

Kalba Football Club (Arabic: نادي كلباء الرياضي الثقافي), more colloquially abbreviated as Al-Ittihad, is a professional football club founded in 1972 and based in the city of Kalba, in the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The team competes in the UAE Pro League, the top tier of Emirati football.

History

Kalba Football Club was established in 1972 through the merger of three clubs: Al Shabab, Al Rooba, and Al Riyadiya.

Kalba has won a record breaking 7 Division 1 titles with their last one being in the 2013-14 season.

From 2009 to 2018 the team spent these years jumping up and down between divisions; since the 2018-19 season they have managed to consistently compete in the top tier, and in the 2020-21 season they reached the UAE League Cup Semi-finals, where they were eliminated by Al-Nasr Dubai on penalties after a draw on aggregate.

League record

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
bgcolor="#efefef"

! Season

! Position

! Number of teams

! Tier

!President's Cup

!League Cup

2008–09

|5th

|16

|2

| rowspan="2" |Round of 16

| rowspan="2" |—

2009–10

| bgcolor="#ACE1AF" |1st

|8

|2

2010–11

| bgcolor="#FFCCCC" |11th

|12

|1

|Preliminary Round

|First Round

2011–12

| bgcolor="#ACE1AF" |1st

|8

|2

|Quarter-Finals

|—

2012–13

| bgcolor="#FFCCCC" |14th

|14

|1

|Round of 16

|First Round

2013–14

| bgcolor="#ACE1AF" |1st

|13

|2

|Preliminary Round

|—

2014–15

| bgcolor="#FFCCCC" |14th

|14

|1

| rowspan="5" |Round of 16

|First Round

2015–16

| bgcolor="#ACE1AF" |2nd

|9

|2

|—

2016–17

| bgcolor="#FFCCCC" |13th

|14

|1

|First Round

2017–18

| bgcolor="#ACE1AF" |2nd

|12

|2

|—

2018–19

| rowspan="2" |11th

| rowspan="7" |14

| rowspan="7" |1

| rowspan="2" |First Round

2019–20{{ref|a|a|Corona}}

|Quarter-Finals

2020–21

|8th

|Round of 16

|Semi-Finals

2021–22

|11th

|Quarter-Finals

| rowspan="2" |First Round

2022–23

|8th

|Round of 16

2023–24

|11th

2024–25

|th

Notes{{note|a}} 2019–20 UAE football season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates.

Current squad

As of UAE Pro-League:

{{fs start|nonumber=|bg=000000|color=FFFF00|border=FFFF00}}

{{Fs player |no=1|nat=UAE|name=Eisa Hooti |pos=GK}}

{{Fs player |no=2|nat=UAE|name=Farid Abdulla {{small|U23}}|pos=DF}}

{{Fs player |no=3|nat=UAE|name=Mohammed Sabeel|pos=DF}}

{{Fs player |no=4|nat=BRA|name=Michel Dreifke |pos=DF}}

{{Fs player |no=5|nat=UAE|name=Abdalla Faisal {{small|U23}}|pos=DF}}

{{Fs player |no=6|nat=ALB|name=Rejan Alivoda {{small|U23}}|pos=MF}}

{{Fs player |no=7|nat=UAE|name=Habib Al Fardan|pos=MF}}

{{Fs player |no=8|nat=BRA|name=Caio Eduardo |pos=MF}}

{{Fs player |no=9|nat=UAE|name=Fahad Barout|pos=MF}}

{{Fs player |no=10|nat=IRN|name=Mehdi Ghayedi |pos=MF|other={{small|on loan from Shabab Al-Ahli}}}}

{{Fs player |no=11|nat=ITA|name=Daniel Bessa |pos=MF}}

{{Fs player |no=12|nat=UAE|name=Salem Rashid|pos=DF}}

{{Fs player |no=15|nat=UAE|name=Abdulaziz Al-Hamhami |pos=DF}}

{{Fs player |no=16|nat=SLO|name=Miha Blažič |pos=DF}}

{{Fs player |no=17|nat=UAE|name=Saif Yousif {{small|U23}}|pos=GK}}

{{Fs player |no=18|nat=YEM|name=Khaled Al-Asbahi |pos=MF}}

{{Fs player |no=19|nat=UAE|name=Ahmed Al-Naqbi|pos=FW}}

{{Fs player |no=20|nat=UAE|name=Abdulaziz Al-Kaabi |pos=DF}}

{{fs mid|nonumber=|bg=000000|color=FFFF00|border=FFFF00}}

{{Fs player |no=22|nat=UAE|name=Mohamed Ali |pos=FW}}

{{Fs player |no=23|nat=UAE|name=Waleed Rashid {{small|U23}}|pos=DF}}

{{Fs player |no=24|nat=UAE|name=Khalid Al-Darmaki|pos=MF}}

{{Fs player |no=25|nat=UAE|name=Abdusalam Mohammed|pos=DF}}

{{Fs player |no=27|nat=UAE|name=Yaser Al-Blooshi {{small|U23}}|pos=FW}}

{{Fs player |no=33|nat=UAE|name=Sultan Al-Mantheri|pos=GK}}

{{Fs player |no=37|nat=CIV|name=Kouadjo Koffi {{small|U23}}|pos=DF}}

{{Fs player |no=39|nat=BRA|name=Gustavo {{small|U23}}|pos=MF|other={{small|on loan from Shabab Al-Ahli}}}}

{{Fs player |no=42|nat=PLE|name=Ahmed Abunamous |pos=FW}}

{{Fs player |no=44|nat=IRN|name=Saman Ghoddos |pos=MF}}

{{Fs player |no=55|nat=UAE|name=Hamad Al-Mansoori|pos=GK}}

{{Fs player |no=70|nat=IRN|name=Shahriyar Moghanlou |pos=FW}}

{{Fs player |no=77|nat=BRA|name=Leandro Spadacio |pos=MF}}

{{Fs player |no=80|nat=SER|name=Nemanja Jović {{small|U23}}|pos=FW}}

{{Fs player |no=88|nat=UAE|name=Saif Obaid {{small|U23}}|pos=MF}}

{{Fs player |no=95|nat=UAE|name=Ali Salmeen |pos=MF|other={{small|on loan from Al Wasl}}}}

{{Fs player |no=97|nat=MAR|name=Anas Radi |pos=DF}}

{{Fs player |no=99|nat=GHA|name=Cornelius Agbenyegah {{small|U23}}|pos=FW}}

{{fs end|nonumber=|bg=000000|color=FFFF00|border=FFFF00}}

=Unregistered players=

{{fs start|nonumber=|bg=000000|color=FFFF00|border=FFFF00}}

{{Fs player |no=14|nat=SVK|name=Filip Kiss |pos=MF}}

{{fs end|nonumber=|bg=000000|color=FFFF00|border=FFFF00}}

=Out on loan=

{{fs start|nonumber=|bg=000000|color=FFFF00|border=FFFF00}}

{{Fs player |no=34|nat=UAE|name=Khalid Al Zari|pos=DF|other={{small|on loan to Dubai United}}}}

{{fs mid|nonumber=|bg=000000|color=FFFF00|border=FFFF00}}

{{Fs player |no=|nat=UAE|name=Jamal Abdalla|pos=GK|other={{small|on loan to Al Urooba}}}}

{{fs end|nonumber=|bg=000000|color=FFFF00|border=FFFF00}}

Honors

  • UAE Division One
  • Champions (7): 1979–80, 1988–89, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14

Club staff

class="wikitable"
style="color:Yellow; background: Black; border:2px solid Yellow;"|Position

! style="color:Yellow; background: Black; border:2px solid Yellow;"|Name

Head coach

|{{flagicon|SRB}} Vuk Rašović

rowspan="3" |Assistant coach

|{{flagicon|ITA}} Gabriele Pin

{{flagicon|UAE}} Saeed Fawaz
{{flagicon|UAE}} Musa Abdulbassit
Youth Coach

|{{flagicon|CRO}} Ervin Boban

Fitness Coach

|{{flagicon|UAE}} Mounir Marzooq

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

{{Kalba FC squad}}

{{Arabian Gulf League teamlist}}

Kalba

Kalba

Category:Association football clubs established in 1972

Category:Organisations based in the Emirate of Sharjah

Category:Sport in the Emirate of Sharjah

{{UnitedArabEmirates-footyclub-stub}}