Sport
Horseed FC: the army club and Somalia's most successful cup side
Horseed FC is a Mogadishu football club founded in 1971 by the Somali Armed Forces Sports Directorate. It won the league seven times in the 1970s and again in 2021, and holds a record nine Somalia Cups. In 1977 it became the first Somali club to reach the final of the CECAFA Club Cup. It stopped playing after 1991 and was revived in 2013.
Founding
Horseed was founded in 1971 by Lieutenant Colonel Mohamed Ahmed Alim, who set up the Somali Armed Forces Sports Directorate and recruited players from the ranks of the army (Horseed FC, Wikipedia). The RSSSF, which keeps football records country by country, says the police and military sides had become the strongest teams in Mogadishu, and that because their matches caused tension they were combined to form Horseed (RSSSF, Somalia champions).
The 1970s
Horseed won the league in its first three seasons, 1971/72, 1972/73 and 1973/74, and then four more in a row from 1976/77 to 1979/80 (RSSSF). It also won the first General Da'ud Cup in 1972 and the cup again in 1975 and 1976 (RSSSF, Somalia cup winners).
In 1977 Horseed became the first Somali club to reach the final of the CECAFA Club Cup, the East and Central African club championship. It lost 2–1 to Luo Union of Kenya. In the next two editions, both held in Somalia, it reached the semi-finals and lost to Simba of Tanzania in 1978 and to Abaluhya of Kenya in 1979 (Wikipedia; RSSSF, CECAFA Club Cup).
The 1980s, the war and the revival
Horseed won further cups in 1982, 1983 and 1987 (RSSSF). After the civil war began in 1991 the club stopped playing. In 2013 General Dahir Aden Elmi, commander of the Somali Armed Forces, revived all of Horseed's teams, with football first, and the club returned to the league. Colonel Ahmed Mohamed Hassan became chairman in 2017 (Wikipedia; WardheerNews).
On 30 June 2020, when Mogadishu Stadium reopened for football, Horseed beat Mogadishu City Club 2–1 in the first match (FIFA, 1 July 2020).
The 2021 title
In 2021 Horseed and Mogadishu City Club both finished on 38 points. Horseed was awarded the play-off on 2 August after Mogadishu City Club declined to play, and beat the same opponent 2–0 in the Super Cup on 5 June 2022 (RSSSF, Somalia 2021). In the 2026 cup final Horseed lost 3–2 to Mogadishu City Club after extra time (RSSSF).
Honours
- Somali league: 8 titles by RSSSF's count (1971/72, 1972/73, 1973/74, 1976/77, 1977/78, 1978/79, 1979/80, 2021). Wikipedia lists the same years and calls it a "seven-time" champion in its opening line (RSSSF; Wikipedia).
- Somalia Cup: 9 (1972, 1975, 1976, 1982, 1983, 1987, 2015, 2019, 2020), the most of any club (RSSSF).
- Somalia Super Cup: 2 (2015, 2021).
- CECAFA Club Cup: runner-up 1977.
Read more
Sources
- Horseed FC, Wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
- RSSSF, Somalia champions · rsssf.org
- RSSSF, Somalia cup winners · rsssf.org
- RSSSF, CECAFA Club Cup · rsssf.org
- WardheerNews · wardheernews.com
- FIFA, 1 July 2020 · ipt.fifa.com
- RSSSF, Somalia 2021 · rsssf.org
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Where this matters
Same era
- Australia18,401 people of Somali ancestry and 8,101 born in Somalia lived in Australia at the 2021 Census, more than half in Victoria. History, work, issues.
- Birmingham (Somali diaspora)About 17,000 to 21,600 Somalis live in Birmingham (Census 2021), mostly in Nechells, Newtown, Small Heath and Alum Rock. History, work, health and ties home.
- Bristol (Somali diaspora)9,167 people in Bristol identified as Somali or Somalilander in Census 2021, the city's largest minority group. Where they live, work, housing, leaders and ties home.
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- DjiboutiAbout 13,900 refugees from Somalia live in Djibouti (Aug 2026): numbers since 1990, Ali Addeh, Holl-Holl, the 2017 refugee law, Arta 2000 and 2025 returns.
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