Salam Zgharta FC

Salam Achrafieh was a club established in Ashrafieh, a district in the northern Beirut. This club is considered one of the founders of the Lebanese Football Association as Georges Slim represented the club in the first general assembly of the association in 22 March 1933.

In May 1933, Salam Achrafieh hosted a game against Arax and fielded a player called "Spiro" who wasn't living in Achrafieh. This was considered illegal at the time and the LFA disqualified Salam from the match. This decision was not welcomed by Georges Slim, who was a well-known media personality, and tried to change the executive committee but ended up failing because Al Nahda SC, the dominating team at the time, did approve of the change.

Salam Achrafieh played in the first ever Lebanese Second Division season and ended up winning the trophy after winning 2-0 against Ararat Club in the final game.

Salam Zgharta was founded in 1971, after a group of football enthusiasts bought the licence of former club Salam Achrafieh (Arabic: نادي السلام الأشرفية‎), based in the Achrafieh district of Beirut.[3] The club's first board of administrators was elected on 15 August 1971, with Father Semaan Douaihy as the club's honorary president, and Youssef Zeidan as the executive president.

The club remained in Achrafieh until 1974, when they moved to Zgharta, in North Lebanon. They competed in the Lebanese Premier League, with Sassine Ghazale funding the club after the move. During the 1974–75 season, Antoine "Al Shakra" Fenianos was the club's first manager. Salam Zgharta's first game was at the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium against Nejmeh, in which Salam Zgharta lost 5–2.

While football in Lebanon was affected by the Civil War, the Lebanese Football Association (LFA) split into two entities, with each organizing its own competitions in the latter stage of the war. Salam Zgharta joined the Eastern Federation and won the Lebanese FA Cup on 12 April 1987, after beating Homentmen in the final (0–0, and 1–0 in the replay). However, following the war, the two federations re-merged and the FA Cup win was voided. During the war, Salam Zgharta played against numerous clubs from Syria, Cyprus, and Romania.

Following the end of the Civil War, Salam Zgharta were one of the best teams in the league with a core of good players like Fawzi Yammine, Elias Bou Nassif and others. The start of the 90's was very good for the northern club, finishing third in the 90–91 season with 35 points.[4] Following the expansion of the Premier League to 20 teams divided into two groups, Salam Zgharta finished the 91–92 season as second of their group and fourth in the league standing after securing 23 points in 20 games.[4] In 1992, Kabalan Yammine became the Salam Zgharta's president. The club was not able to replicate past success and it stayed the following two seasons in the top flight but then it struggled to maintain its position in the Lebanese Premier League for financial reasons and therefore the club regularly played in the Lebanese Second Division. In the 1999–2000 season, Salam Zgharta finished fifth in the Lebanese Premier League, their best result under the presidency of Kabalan Yammine. In the mid-2000's Kabalan lost interest in the club; an election took place in October 2006, 3 games after the start of the 2006-07 season and Estephan Frangieh became the president.[3]

In the first season under Estephan Frangieh's presidency (2006–07), the club was relegated to the Second Division. Following their relegation, Frangieh invested heavily in the club and they were promoted right back into the first division in the 2007-08 season. Their stay in the first division only lasted 1 season as they were relegated again in the 2008-09 season. In 2009, the Merdeshiyeh Stadium was fully renovated, using donations from the fans, and was renamed Zgharta Sports Complex. Salam Zgharta also established its own academy the same year. The club eventually won the 2012–13 Lebanese Second Division after topping Group A, gaining promotion to the Premier League.

In their return to the Premier League in the 2013–14 season, Salam Zgharta hired Peter Meindertsma as their head coach. While the club struggled to avoid relegation in the league, they won the 2013–14 Lebanese FA Cup, after beating AC Tripoli 1–0 after extra time in the final. In 2015, Salam Zgharta participated for the first time in the AFC Cup after winning the one-legged qualifying play-off round match against Khayr Vahdat 3–0 at home. They went on to win one match, against Al-Nahda, in 6 games in the group stage.

In the 2016–17 season, Salam Zgharta started the campaign with a 5–2 win at home against Al Ansar, the league's record title holders. The season ended with Salam in second position, their best ever finish to date, winning 10 games out of 11 at home. They qualified to the 2018–19 Arab Club Champions Cup for the first time, losing 3–2 on aggregate against Raja Casablanca in the round of 32.

As of 20 April 2020[8]

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 Mahmoud Saidawi 2 DF Hamza Kheir 3 DF Yehya Kahil 5 MF Amer Mahfoud 6 FW Taha Al Hussein 7 MF Jean Jacques Yammine (captain) 9 FW Hassan Kadi 10 MF Oscar Ghantous 12 MF Imad Karime 13 DF Ali Hamam

No. Position Player 16 DF Ahmad Masri 17 MF Hicham Naboulsi 20 FW Walid Fatouh 21 FW Samir Abdulrahman 22 DF Hamza El Ali 30 DF Ibrahim El Cheikh 70 MF Philipe Ayoub 95 GK Mostafa Matar 99 GK Antoine Douaihy