Falah Hassan

Falah Hassan was born in 1951 in the village of Mimouna, in a district of Qal'at Saleh. His father was a farmer and after the 1958 Revolution, his family moved to Al-Thawra (now Al-Sadr) in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, taking advantage of the new government’s initiative in building low cost housing for families wanting to move to Baghdad, it was there he first played the game on the streets of the city.

During the 1970s, Falah Hassan was seen as one of the greatest players in Asia, and was offered lucrative contracts to play professionally abroad, in 1978 he received two offers one from Belgium and the other from the Emirates. Al-Shaab from the UAE reportedly offered Falah and teammate Ali Kadhim a contract to play for them in 1978, while after the arrival of Belgium’s army team in Baghdad, the delegation nearly reached an agreement for a move to a club in Belgium however the officials at the Iraqi FA turned it down saying that Falah Hassan was a national treasure, and that he should not be sold abroad. A year earlier in a dire 0–0 draw with English club Derby County in Baghdad, the player ran rings around the opposition defence.

After a dispute with the Iraq FA that led to a suspension from the national side in 1978, Falah returned the following year to guide Iraq to their first Gulf Cup victory, and then went on to lift the 1979 CISM World Military Championship in Kuwait, beating Italy 4–3 on penalties.

Falah Hassan has been the president of Al-Zawraa SC since 2010. The club has been into lots of success under Hassan's regime, winning many trophies and playing in Asian competitions.

• List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps

• The Legends Training page at Soccer City of Shelby Township.