Al-Shorta

 

Name: Al-Shorta (meaning Police in English)
Nickname: Al-Qeetharah (meaning The Harps in English)
City: Baghdad
Year of foundation: 1932

Number of Iraqi Premier League titles: 5
1979/80, 1997/98, 2012/13, 2013/14, 2018/19
Number of Iraqi Central FA League titles: 5
1962/63, 1967/68, 1968/69, 1969/70, 1971/72
Number of Iraqi FA Cup titles: 0
Number of Iraqi Elite Cup titles: 3
2000/01, 2001/02, 2002/03
Number of Iraqi Super Cup titles: 1
2019/20
Number of major continental titles: 1
1981/82 Arab Club Champions Cup (also reached the final of the AFC Champions League in 1971 where they refused to face an Israeli club)

Al-Shorta, founded in 1932, are the third-oldest existing football club in Iraq. They, along with Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya, have participated in every single Iraqi Premier League season since it was founded in 1974. Their first Premier League title was in the 1979/80 season, before they went through the next season undefeated in a run that eventually reached 31 games. They won the league again in the 1997/98 season in the most exciting title race in Iraqi football history, before further titles in 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2018/19. They also became the only club to win the Iraqi Elite Cup three times in a row when they won it in 2000/01, 2001/02 and 2002/03. The Harps were the first Iraqi club to win a major honour on the continental stage when they won the Arab Club Champions Cup in 1982 with a 4-2 aggregate win over Lebanese side Al-Nejmeh. Also, Al-Shorta are the only existing Iraqi club to have reached the final of the AFC Champions League which they did in 1971, and they consider themselves to be the tournament’s winners after refusing to play an Israeli side in the final, with Israeli clubs later being expelled from AFC competitions.

Season-by-season record in the Iraqi Premier League:
1974/75: 5th
1975/76: 3rd
1976/77: 3rd
1977/78: 6th
1978/79: 2nd
1979/80: 1st
1980/81: 2nd
1981/82: 6th
1982/83: 6th
1983/84: 8th
1984/85: Season abandoned
1985/86: 6th
1986/87: 5th
1987/88: 9th
1988/89: 11th
1989/90: 3rd
1990/91: 3rd
1991/92: 5th
1992/93: 4th
1993/94: 5th
1994/95: 6th
1995/96: 3rd
1996/97: 5th
1997/98: 1st
1998/99: 5th
1999/2000: 3rd
2000/01: 3rd
2001/02: 3rd
2002/03: Season abandoned
2003/04: Season abandoned
2004/05: 11th
2005/06: 9th
2006/07: 11th
2007/08: 9th
2008/09: 15th
2009/10: 6th
2010/11: 16th
2011/12: 7th
2012/13: 1st
2013/14: 1st
2014/15: 3rd
2015/16: 7th
2016/17: 3rd
2017/18: 4th
2018/19: 1st
2019/20: Season abandoned