Al-Wehda SCC

Jump now to Yemen and do Al-Wehda SCC the honour of looking behind them and their remarkably historic home city, Sana’a, and #GetTheBadgeIn!

First, the name. Al-Wehda—we’ve seen this before across the Arab world—it means ‘United’. There is an Al Wahda in Abu Dhabi, an Al Wehda in Saudi Arabia, and an Al Wahda in Damascus—and I’m sure dozens more. Formed in 1954, they have played a huge role in Yemeni football and cultivated a fierce cross-city rivalry with Al-Ahli (‘The National’ or ‘The People’). The team have been crowned Yemeni champions four times and have appeared in the regional AFC competition on four occasions as a result (hence the 4 stars on their crest).

Their stadium is named after Ali Mohsen, a famous Yemeni footballer born in 1940 who moved to Egypt, playing for the well-known Zamalek and becoming the first foreigner in Egypt to claim the golden boot in the top Egyptian league. After his career, he managed the Yemeni national youth team. A really wholesome and worthy player to name a stadium after. In a world dominated by stadiums named after local rulers or rich sponsors, this is great to see.

Second, the badge and nickname. They’re called the Falcons. Fitting, as the national bird of Yemen (and much of Arabia) is the Saker Falcon—the third fastest animal on Earth. Domesticated and used for hunting for millennia, they can reach speeds of up to 120mph and can be cross-bred with the peregrine to create a bird used to hunt smaller species considered pests. They are also a symbol of royalty in the region, with wealthy sheikhs flown out into the desert to hunt with their falcons.

Yet, while displaying the badge of an animal associated with the deep desert, it is Sana’a’s rich urban heritage that really sets this team—and their city—apart.

Sana'a, high in the cool mountains of Yemen, has the feel of a very old, continuously lived-in city, where tall, narrow tower houses built from mud brick and stone are decorated with white patterns and stained-glass qamariya windows (arched windows filled with coloured glass that let in soft, filtered light); from a distance, the Old City appears like a cluster of gingerbread houses, with multi-storey buildings closely packed together, and at its centre is Bab al-Yemen, an ancient gate leading into a network of narrow streets and busy souks, where the smell of spices, coffee, and bread mixes with the hustle and bustle of traders selling silver jewellery, fabrics, and traditional jambiyas (those curved daggers you see sheikhs wearing around their belts). It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and contains historic mosques, including the Great Mosque, with its long-preserved layout recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

All in all—an absolutely perfect away day, if only the locals could sort their situation out and stop the cycles of conflict. Many of the population are Shia (like Iran), while others are Sunni (like Saudi Arabia and the UAE), and this division has caused significant issues. The Shia group known as the Houthis, backed by Iran, control Sana’a, while the internationally recognised government is now headquartered in the southern port city of Aden.

However, Sana’a’s remarkable history goes much, much deeper, with countless fascinating interludes.

Going back to before the birth of the Prophet Mohammed and the establishment of Islam, Sana’a was part of a kingdom ruled by the infamous King Dhu Nuwas, who, in trying to extend his control across the region, attacked Christian cities and persecuted some of those within his realm.

Unsurprisingly, this angered the Christian Kingdom of Aksum in Ethiopia. They launched an invasion across the narrow straits of Bab el-Mandeb (the ‘Gate of Tears’, supposedly named for the treacherous waters) and advanced on Sana’a. The city fell, and over the next 50 years it became an important centre under Aksumite rule, with a large church built at its heart.

This leads to one final story, at least for now. Around 570, the ruler of Sana’a, a man called Abraha, wanted to expand his city’s influence and spotted an opportunity. To the north lay a smaller settlement known as Mecca. Its inhabitants made a fortune each year from the thousands of pilgrims who travelled to its ancient holy site, the Kaaba—the small black structure at the centre of the town, believed by many to have been built by Abraham, the first prophet in the Abrahamic tradition (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all recognise him).

At this time, before Islam, the Kaaba had become a shared religious site, housing idols and objects from various Arabian tribes. Abraha, seeing both its wealth and influence, wanted to divert this flow of pilgrims to his own city and his newly built church.

So he gathered an army and marched north. At the front were war elephants—animals from Africa rarely seen in Arabia, let alone used in battle. This was intended to be a campaign of shock and awe.

Except… something went wrong.

As the elephants approached the Kaaba, they are said to have stopped, refusing to move forward despite their riders’ commands. According to the Qur’an, flocks of small birds appeared, dropping stones onto the army. Confused and panicked, the elephants turned and fled, throwing the invading force into disarray and saving the city.

That same year, in Mecca, a child was born into the Quraysh tribe. A boy who would become the Prophet Mohammed. His city, tradition holds, had been saved before he could even speak.

Legend? Reality? Either way, the story of the elephants and the ruler of Sana’a has endured for centuries. The image of small birds defeating a mighty army carries a powerful message.

Add that to the speed and precision of the falcon, and thousands of years of culture and architecture, and the footballing Falcons of Al-Wehda SCC tell an incredible story.

Hopefully, one day soon, footballing pilgrims will descend on this remarkable city once more, filling the Ali Mohsen Stadium as Yemen—and its footballing future—takes its place again among the Arab world’s game.