Al-Naft

 

Name: Al-Naft (meaning Oil in English)
City: Baghdad
Year of foundation: 1979

Number of Iraqi Premier League titles: 0
Number of Iraqi FA Cup titles: 0
Number of Iraqi Elite Cup titles: 0
Number of Iraqi Super Cup titles: 0
Number of major continental titles: 0

Al-Naft were founded in 1979, replacing a club called Al-Omma. They spent six years in the lower divisions before reaching the top-flight in 1985. Impressively, they have never been relegated since their first season in the Iraqi Premier League. Before the 2016/17 season, they had never finished higher than fourth, but they recently underwent a transformation under coach Hassan Ahmed, finishing second and third in the 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons and playing continental football for the first time. The closest they have got to winning a cup title was in 1998 when they reached the final of the Iraqi Elite Cup, but they lost 3-0 to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya.

Season-by-season record in the Iraqi Premier League:
1985/86: 15th
1986/87: 11th
1987/88: 7th
1988/89: 16th
1989/90: 5th
1990/91: 5th
1991/92: 8th
1992/93: 7th
1993/94: 6th
1994/95: 5th
1995/96: 5th
1996/97: 9th
1997/98: 8th
1998/99: 10th
1999/2000: 17th
2000/01: 11th
2001/02: 13th
2002/03: Season abandoned
2003/04: Season abandoned
2004/05: 7th
2005/06: 13th
2006/07: 9th
2007/08: 18th
2008/09: 8th
2009/10: 15th
2010/11: 14th
2011/12: 10th
2012/13: 9th
2013/14: 9th
2014/15: 16th
2015/16: 5th
2016/17: 2nd
2017/18: 3rd
2018/19: 4th
2019/20: Season abandoned