Al Ahed

Early history (1964–1989)

Ahed were founded in 1964 as Al Ahed Al Jadeed (Arabic: العهد الجديد) in Dahieh, a southern suburb of Beirut. Under the presidency of Muhieddine Anouti, the club played in the Lebanese Third Division. During the 1970s, Ahed played in Msaytbeh, an area of Beirut, under the name Al Huda Islamic Club (Arabic: نادي الهدى الإسلامي). However, the club stopped playing as a consequence of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

In 1984, Anouti bought a license under the name Nejmet Al Ahed Al Jadeed (Arabic: نادي نجمة العهد الجديد) but did not actually form a club. On 2 May 1985, the Lebanese Football Association granted membership to the club to continue playing football, with Mohammad Assi as president. During the 1988–89 season in the Second Division, the team qualified for a playoff match against Al-Majdi. The match ended 1–1, preventing Ahed from being promoted to the Lebanese Premier League.

Lebanese Premier League (1992–2005)

In 1992, Abdo Saad became the new president and changed the name of the club to Al Ahed (Arabic: العهد) because its leaders wanted a name with a Quranic meaning. In 1996, Amin Sherri became president after Saad resigned even though Ahed had reached the Second Division promotion play-offs. On 20 December 1996, Ahed were promoted to the Lebanese Premier League for the first time in their history. They won their first Premier League game on 18 October 1997, in a 1–0 win against Riada Wal Adab at the Bourj Hammoud Stadium; Moussa Bedyan scored in the 20th minute.

After two seasons in the Premier League, they were relegated to the Second Division, before they earned promotion back to the Premier League. Following the club's second promotion to the Premier League, Sherri resigned as club president and was replaced by Osama Al-Halabawi. Under Al-Halabawi, Ahed reached the finals of the 2001–02 FA Cup, the finals of the 2002 Elite Cup, and third place in the league during the 2002–03 season. Between 2004 and 2005, Ahed won two Lebanese FA Cups, one Federation Cup, and one Super Cup.

Domestic and continental success (2007–present)

The club won their first league title in 2007–08. They went on a 44-match unbeaten streak in the Premier League from 26 October 2008 to 6 November 2010, winning the 2009–10 league without defeats as a consequence. In the 2010–11 season, Ahed won the league, the cup, the Super Cup and the Elite Cup, becoming the first team in Lebanon to accomplish both a domestic treble and a quadruple. On 25 June 2014, Tamim Sleiman was appointed president of the club by unanimous decision. In his first year as president, Ahed won the 2014–15 Premier League, the club's fourth in total. In 2017–18, Ahed won the league unbeaten, and became the first Lebanese team to do so twice. After having won the 2018–19 Premier League, their seventh in total, Ahed became the three-time defending champions, a position held once before by Ansar in 1992.^[]

Ahed reached the AFC Cup final for the first time in 2019, becoming only the third Lebanese team do so after Nejmeh in 2005 and Safa in 2008. On 4 November 2019, Ahed beat North Korean side 25 April 1–0 in the final from a header by Issah Yakubu, becoming the first Lebanese team to win the competition. Ahed conceded only three goals in 11 matches; they had nine clean sheets, including five in a row in all five knockout matches, as they went unbeaten throughout the tournament. In 2021–22, Ahed won their third league title unbeaten, their eighth in total.

The match between Ahed and Racing Beirut in the first matchday of the 2023–24 Lebanese Premier League, on 6 August 2023, was the first to test the use of video assistant referee (VAR).