Iraq Super League
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| Iraq Super League |
|---|
 2007 - 2008 |
| Founded |
| 1974 |
| Nation |
 Iraq |
| Relegation To |
| 2nd division |
| Number of Teams |
| 29 |
| Asian Qualification |
| AFC Cup |
| Arabian Qualification |
| Arab Champions League |
| Current Champions (2007/2008) |
| Arbil FC |
| Most Successful Club |
| Al-Zawraa (11) |
| Website |
| www.iraq-football.net |
Dawri Al-Nokhba (Arabic: دوري "السوبر" العراقي أو الدوري العراقي الأول) is the highest league in the league system of Iraqi football and currently contains the top 29 Iraqi football clubs. It is translated into english as "The Premier League". It was founded in 1974 and is controlled by the Iraq Football Federation.
Contents |
[edit] Before the expansion beyond Baghdad
Prior to 1974, the league contained only Baghdad based teams. The league was named "Baghdad Super League" and began its first season in 1962. During its 11 years, the Baghdad league was dominated by the Al-Shorta club as it won over half of the championships.
[edit] Current competition
Since the toppling of the Saddam Hussein regime, the Iraqi league has made some dramatic changes. The league now starts in October and ends in July. Unlike the upper division of most countries' football leagues, Iraq's first league are split into 3 groups as planned in the beginning of the season. But by February 15, 2007, the league split the Baghdad group into two groups since teams could not coordinate games due to violence in the capital. In the first postwar year, the league split 28 teams into 4 groups of seven, based on region: North, South, and 2 Baghdad groups. In the 2006 - 2007 season, the league shrunk to 4 groups with a total of 23 teams.
The top 4 teams from each group moves on to the next round, while the last team of each group is relegated to the Iraq's 2nd division league (in the 2004-05 season, each group was forced to relegate 3 teams because the league had too many teams (35)). The 12 advancing teams are then split into 4 groups of 3, where each team plays the other twice, once home and once away. The first team in each of the 4 groups advances to the next round (the semi-finals.) Each of the 4 remaining teams is then paired with another team, where they will play a home and away match. The 2 winners advance to the championship for a single Baghdad venue match, while the two losing teams play for 3rd place.
The two finalist teams also advance to play in the Asian Club Championship, while the third place team qualifies to the Arab Champions League.
[edit] 2007 - 2008 League
|
Baghdad Division |
North Division |
South Division |
[edit] Previous Winners
[edit] Baghdad League Winners
| Year | Team | Top Score |
| 1962-63 | Al Shurta | |
| 1963-64 | Al Quwa Al Jawiya | |
| 1964-65 | Maslaha Naqil Al-Rakab | |
| 1965-66 | Maslaha Naqil Al-Rakab | |
| 1966-67 | cancelled | |
| 1967-68 | Al Shurta | |
| 1968-69 | Al Shurta | |
| 1969-70 | Al Shurta | |
| 1970-71 | Maslaha Naqil Al-Rakab | |
| 1971-72 | Al Shurta | |
| 1972-73 | Al Shurta |
[edit] Iraq Super League Winners
| Year | Team | Top Goal Scorer |
| 1974-75 | Al Quwa Al Jawiya - Al Tayran | Thamir Yosif (13) |
| 1975-76 | Al Zawraa | Thamir Yosif (13) |
| 1976-77 | Al Zawraa | Zahrawi Jabir (6) |
| 1977-78 | Al Minaa | Jalil Hanoon (11) |
| 1978-79 | Al Zawraa | Falah Hassan (7) |
| 1979-80 | Al Shurta | Ali Husain Mahmud (18) |
| 1980-81 | Al Talaba | Husain Saeed (11) |
| 1981-82 | Al Talaba | Thamir Yosif (14) |
| 1982-83 | Salah Al-Deen | Husain Saeed (17) |
| 1983-84 | Al Jaish | Raheem Hameed (11) |
| 1984-85 | Abandoned due to Iran-Iraq War | |
| 1985-86 | Al Talaba | Husain Saeed, Ahmed Radhi and Raheem Hameed (9) |
| 1986-87 | Al Rasheed -Al Karkh | Raheem Hameed (14) |
| 1987-88 | Al Rasheed -Al Karkh | Raheem Hameed (14) |
| 1988-89 | Al Rasheed -Al Karkh | Kareem Saddam (22) |
| 1989-90 | Al Quwa Al Jawiya | Kareem Saddam and Majeed Abdul Rida (13) |
| 1990-91 | Al Zawraa | Kareem Saddam (20) |
| 1991-92 | Al Quwa Al Jawiya | Ahmed Radhi (34) |
| 1992-93 | Al Talaba | Kareem Saddam (33) |
| 1993-94 | Al Zawraa | Younis Abid-Ali (36) |
| 1994-95 | Al Zawraa | Muyad Joodi (30) |
| 1995-96 | Al Zawraa | Ali Hassan, Hussam Fawzi (11) |
| 1996-97 | Al Quwa Al Jawiya | Ali Hashim (19) |
| 1997-98 | Al Shurta | Mahmoud Majid (22) |
| 1998-99 | Al Zawraa | Hashim Ridha (19) |
| 1999-00 | Al Zawraa | Haidar Ayad (28) |
| 2000-01 | Al Zawraa | Hussein Abdullah (22) |
| 2001-02 | Al Talaba | Hashim Ridha (32) |
| 2002-03 | Abandoned due to War | |
| 2003-04 | Abandoned due to War | |
| 2004-05 | Al Quwa Al Jawiya | Mostafa Karim (16) |
| 2005-06 | Al Zawraa | Sahib Abbas (17) |
| 2006-07 | Arbil FC | Ahmad Salah Alwan (11) |
[edit] Performance by club
| Club | Titles |
|---|---|
| Al Zawraa | 11 |
| Al Quwa Al Jawiya | 5 |
| Al Talaba | 5 |
| Al Karkh | 3 |
| Al Shurta | 2 |
| Al Jaish | 1 |
| Al Minaa | 1 |
| Arbil FC | 1 |
| Salah Al-Deen | 1 |
