Al MANAMA

Al Manama is a club side from the capital of Bahrain. They were promoted to the top level last season. Although they have yet to win a national title, they have been important players in the Bahraini football establishment.

Initial Years

From the inception of the Bahrain league in 1957 till the start of 90s, Manama did not make an important impact on the national stage. While rivals Al Ahli were winning three national titles, Manama were struggling to maintain their status among the elite.

The Last Decade

In 1994/95 season, the top level consisted of 10 sides and unfortunately for Manama, they propped up the table meaning relegation to the second level. Their extremely poor displays led to only 2 wins in 18 games and finishing with single digits in the points table. They didnt make an immediate comeback. Things didnt improve in the Amir Cup. In 1996/97, they were kicked out of the Cup 1st round by Budaia. Next season, they suffered even more humiliation at the hands of West Riffa, losing 7-0 in the first round. They did manage to beat fellow lower level opponents Al Arabi and Qalali in the preliminaries before losing to West Riffa again in 98/99 Amir Cup. In the final season of the decade, they lost to Setra on penalties in the first round. In the FA cup too, they finished near the bottom of their first round group. Things were looking bleak for this feeble outfit from the capital.

New Millenium

The turn of the century did not bring any good news. They failed to gain promotion and went out of the Crown Prince Cup before the quarters. 2002 saw the league structure in Bahrain totally revamped. Top level was expanded to 18 clubs from the previous 12. But that still did not save Manama from utter humiliation and misery as the club performed dismally to finish rock bottom of the standings. In fact they managed to take only a meagre 6 points from 17 games and tellingly only won one game all season, against Sahel. The end of the season could not come any sooner. In their last games, results went from bad to worse and in the penultimate game, they lost 6-0 to East Riffa. Worse was to follow as Manama bowed out of the top level with a morale sapping 12-0 drubbing at the hands of the other Riffa side, West. They compounded a horror season by withdrawing from the King's Cup.

Resurgence

Having hit rock bottom, Manama vowed to better their fortunes and subsequently mounted a valiant, yet failed attempt at immediate promotion. Local rivals Al Najma prevented them in a high scoring playoff. They did finish in their now customary last place in the FA Cup first round.
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