Gulf United FC

Gulf United Football Club (Arabic: نادي جلف يونايتد لكرة القدم) is an Emirati professional football club that started as an academy in Al Jaddaf, Dubai. They currently play in the UAE First Division League, after promotion from the UAE Second Division in the 2022–23 season.[1] The club is well known for nurturing young talent, playing exhibition matches against professional overseas teams and for being one of leading football brands in the Middle-East.[2][3][4]

Gulf United FC
Full nameGulf United Football Club
Nickname(s)The Eagles
Founded2019 (2019)
GroundDubai Club
ManagerNeil Taylor
LeagueUAE First Division League
2022–231st (Promoted)
WebsiteClub website

History

Founding

In 2019, the Gulf United academy was founded by a group of English football coaches from Manchester, and has since become one of the market leaders.[5] The club has youth teams from ages 7-23 in the academy, as well as being a professional club. Gulf United brings expert coaches from all around the world to Dubai and describes itself as a club 'driven on player development'.[6]

UAE Third Division

In the 2021–22 season, Gulf United entered the UAE Third Division, a league that allows privately owned clubs and academies to join the UAE Football Pyramid.[7] Soon after Steven Taylor was announced as the manager.[4][8][9]

The 2021-22 UAE Third Division Season was formatted as two groups, where the winner of each group would face the runner-up of the other group in a play-off for promotion. Gulf United went unbeaten in the group stages finishing first in Group A. They faced Abtal Al Khaeej in the semi-final's, which was in a home & away format. Gulf United lost the first leg 1-0, and won the second leg 2-0, officially securing promotion to the UAE Second Division.

Gulf United then faced Group B winners Fleetwood United in the UAE Third Division final and were crowned eventual champions of the Third Division after beating Fleetwood United, sister club of Fleetwood Town 3-1 in the final of the inaugural season, with 2 goals from Cédrick Nana and 1 from Bonet Bobai, cementing them as UAE Third Division Champions. [10][11]

UAE Second Division

The 2022-23 season was the clubs first in the UAE Second Division. The squad was strengthened with signings such as Devonte Redmond, Soheil Varahram and Max Johnstone as well as further signings in the January transfer window with former Real Madrid player Mink Peeters and former Celtic & Norwich City striker Gary Hooper.

After drawing their first game, Gulf United went on to win 5 games in a row, going into the Christmas period at the top of the league. [12]

Gulf United went on to be crowned the champions of the 2022-23 UAE Second Division, and winning promotion to UAE First Division and making history by achieving the first ever back-to-back promotion in the history of UAE Football.[13]

International Friendlies

The club regularly plays in exhibition matches against global opponents showcasing the clubs young talent. In January 2022, Gulf United played with 7-time Slovakian Super Liga winners MSK Zilina.[14] In February 2022, Gulf United played a friendly fixture against FC Riga,[15] a game in which Gulf United player Manyumow Achol was subsequently scouted and signed for FK Auda.[16][17]

Gulf United also played Premier League side Newcastle United in a friendly match at NAS Sports Complex on the 24 March 2022,[18] in which Newcastle won 5–0 with goals from Allan Saint-Maximin, Joelinton and Dwight Gayle.[19][20]

On 6 January 2023, Gulf United played a friendly against Al Ain FC, the 21-22 UAE Pro League defending champions, and who are widely recognised as being the most successful club in the UAE. The match ended 1-0 to Al Ain FC with a goal scored by UAE international Bandar Al-Ahbabi.[21]

Partnerships

In September 2021, Gulf United signed a deal with Adidas,[22][23] making them the first grassroots football academy in the Middle East to partner with Adidas.[24] In November 2021, they built the regions' first ever floating football pitch at the #NoFilterDXB event in Dubai Harbour, Dubai[25][26][27] The event drew regional and global attention after featuring on a Sidemen video.[28]

In December 2021, Zinedine Zidane visited Gulf United to feature in an 'Impossible Is Nothing' campaign.[29]

Media

'We are Gulf United' is a YouTube docuseries which followed the club in their first season in professional football during the 2021-22 UAE Third Division season. Debuted on the 1st April 2022, the series has amassed over 2,000,000 views.[30] With the final episode with gaining over 1,000,000 views, making it the single highest viewed Youtube video of any club in all the UAE Football Leagues.[24]

Current squad
As of 23 October 2022[31]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK United Arab Emirates UAE Sulaiman Al-Hosani
2 DF United Arab Emirates UAE Khamis Nasser
3 DF England ENG Jay Baisley
4 DF United Arab Emirates UAE Hamad Hassan
5 DF England ENG Jack Shiels (captain)
6 MF England ENG Jamal Bartley
7 MF Nigeria NGA Prosper Ojanomare
8 MF United Arab Emirates UAE Adel Saqr
9 FW Wales WAL Richard Peniket (vice-captain)
10 FW Scotland SCO Josh Fowler
11 MF Cameroon CMR Cédrick Nana
12 GK United Arab Emirates UAE Ali Al-Qallaf
14 MF United Arab Emirates UAE Saif Al-Hameli
16 DF Democratic Republic of the Congo COD Joel Bikola
17 FW United Arab Emirates UAE Rashed Hassan
18 MF United Arab Emirates UAE Rashed Foaad
19 FW Germany GER Mike Gbajie
No. Pos. Nation Player
20 MF Gabon GAB Hants Mboumbath
22 DF Jordan JOR Ahmed Salam
23 MF Iran IRN Barbod Mazloumian
24 MF United Arab Emirates UAE Sulaiman Nasser
26 FW Gabon GAB Ben Kabinambele
27 DF United Arab Emirates UAE Rashed Mohammed
31 GK United Arab Emirates UAE Ali Abbas
66 DF United Arab Emirates UAE Omran Hussain
70 MF United Arab Emirates UAE Mahir Jasem
77 MF United Arab Emirates UAE Mohammed Jamal
87 DF United Arab Emirates UAE Abdullah Al-Ajmani
97 GK Pakistan PAK Hamza Zahid
— DF South Africa RSA Boikanyo Mararela
— MF India IND Aaryan Badoni
— MF Japan JPN Hayato Wakino
— FW Mexico MEX Jose Melgarejo
— FW England ENG Miles Fenton

Honours

See also

References
  1. جلف يوناتيد يُتوج بطلاُ للنسخة الأولى من دوري الدرجة الثالثة. UAE Football Association (in Arabic). Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  2. "DONE DEAL: Mohammad Abdullah commits to Wilmington". www.twitter.com. Instagram (Gulf United Football Club). 15 March 2021. Archived from the original on 28 October 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. "🚨⚽️👏Congratulations to Soham Bhagawati on being called up to a training camp with the India Youth National Team". Facebook. Gulf United FC. 12 January 2021. Archived from the original on 25 July 2022. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  4. Rollo, Phillip (2022-01-28). "Former Phoenix captain Steven Taylor begins coaching career in the Middle East". Stuff. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  5. "Gulf United FC Talks Scouting and Scholarships". Gulf Youth Sport. 2020-08-05. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  6. "Gulf United win UAE Second Division title". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  7. قطار "دوري الدرجة الثالثة" يصل محطة "الجولة 8". UAE Football Association (in Arabic). Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  8. English Players Abroad [@EnglishAbroad1] (23 January 2022). "🇦🇪 #NUFC stalwart Steven Taylor has been announced as the new first team manager of Gulf United FC. The club describe themselves as the "UAE's leading academy for young footballers." The men's team play in the 3rd tier. The moves comes after Taylor retired back in September. t.co/NPONl2wsnm" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 26 October 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022 – via Twitter.
  9. Rollo, Phillip [@ByPhillipRollo] (22 January 2022). "Former Wellington Phoenix defender Steven Taylor has been announced as the manager of Gulf United, a top academy in the United Arab Emirates that is set to enter a team in the country's 3rd division this season" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022 – via Twitter.
  10. ""Gulf United" Is The Champion Of The First Edition Of The Third Division". thenewsglory.com. 2022-05-27. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  11. جلف يوناتيد بطل «دوري الثالثة». AD Sports (in Arabic). Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  12. UAE FA. "UAE FA Second Division Match Results".
  13. "Gulf United win UAE Second Division title". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  14. MSK, Zilina FC (23 January 2022). "In the second match on Sunday, the first win in preparation against the home Gulf FC". MSK Zilina Official.
  15. "Third victory in Dubai – Riga Football Club". rigafc.lv. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  16. Wellington Phoenix Academy [@WgtnPhoenixAcad] (15 March 2022). "The Academy is delighted to announce that graduate Manyumow Achol has signed his first professional contract with FK Auda in Latvia. This comes after a brief but successful stint with Gulf United in Dubai. Congratulations to Manny who has worked so hard for this opportunity. t.co/75DaVpI1Ix" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 21 June 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022 – via Twitter.
  17. UAE Football Media [@UAEfootMedia] (6 May 2022). "How is the @uaefa_ae 3rd Division competitive environment and Gulf United FC's toughest opponent this season? Steven Taylor - @NUFC & @England was on the @uaefootballshow and told us all about it t.co/CcCZxIDWf2 #UAEFootballShow Watch it here: t.co/C6dor7KpKk t.co/aOaautw7SW" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 28 October 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022 – via Twitter.
  18. Dixon, Joe (2022-03-24). "Newcastle United end Dubai warm weather trip with five goal friendly win". NUFC The Mag. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  19. Ryder, Lee (2022-03-24). "Newcastle end week in Dubai with rout of locals as Gayle and Saint-Maximin score". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  20. "Newcastle win 5–0 against Gulf United in behind closed doors friendly". Geordie Boot Boys. 2022-03-24. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  21. Al Ain FC [@alainfcae_en] (6 January 2023). "End of the Friendly Match @alainfcae 1 and Gulf United FC 0 Al Ain Goal Scored By @bandar_a70 #alainclub t.co/9zhlpkyhKn" (Tweet). Retrieved 14 February 2023 – via Twitter.
  22. "Gulf United F.C. on Instagram: "🚨 Thrilled to announce Gulf United FC x @adidasmena ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ Big things coming… ⚽️⏳ #TheNextGen #ImpossibleIsNothing"". Instagram. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  23. "adidas MENA on Instagram: ". الجيل القادم جاهز للانطلاق. Next gen pending ⚽⏳ @gulfunitedfc"". Instagram. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  24. THE FINAL - ALL TO PLAY FOR - GULF UNITED vs FLEETWOOD - 'We are Gulf United' - Episode 13. Gulf United FC. 7 August 2022. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022 – via YouTube.
  25. NOFILTERDXB [@NOFILTERDXB] (23 November 2021). "#NoFilterDXB x @adidas and Gulf United Football Club The region's first floating football pitch and so much more are coming your way at #NOFILTERDXB. Be there to witness amazing games, running tournaments with Gulf United Football Club and join in on all the fun. t.co/ZwBwPBjK5o" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 23 November 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2022 – via Twitter.
  26. "What to expect at #NoFilterDXB this weekend". What's On. 2021-11-24. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  27. uaenews247 (2021-10-27). "ADIDAS KICKS OFF DUBAI FITNESS CHALLENGE". UAE News 24/7. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  28. SIDEMEN $100,000 HOT VS COLD HOLIDAY. Sidemen. 12 December 2021. Archived from the original on 25 October 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022 – via YouTube.
  29. "A football legend comes to Gulf United with Adidas DXB Play to change the game. Not just to win it. Zindine Zidane #ImpossibleIsNothing | By Gulf United | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
  30. "Gulf United FC - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2022-10-25.
  31. "Gulf United". UAE Football Association.
  32. "UAE Football Association: GULF UNITED CROWNED CHAMPION OF THE FIRST EDITION OF THE THIRD DIVISION". www.uaefa.ae. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
  33. البيان), (دبي-. ""غلف يونايتد" بطل النسخة الأولى لدوري الدرجة الثالثة". www.albayan.ae (in Arabic). Retrieved 2022-07-18.
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