Dire Dawa City S.C.

Dire Dawa City
Full nameDire Dawa City Sport Club
Nickname(s)ምስራቃውያን (The Easterners)
ቡርትካናማዎቹ (The Orange Ones)
Short nameDire Dawa Kenema
Founded1982 (1975 E.C.)
GroundDire Dawa Stadium
Capacity18,000
ManagerAsrat Abate
LeagueEthiopian Premier League
2023–24Ethiopian Premier League, 12th of 16
Current season

Dire Dawa City Sport Club (Amharic: ድሬዳዋ ከተማ ስፖርት ክለብ), also known as Dire Dawa Kenema, is a professional Ethiopian football club based in Dire Dawa previously knownas issa and gurgura awraja. They play in the top division of Ethiopian football, the Ethiopian Premier League

History

Foundation (1982–2003)

Dire Dawa Kenema was originally founded in 1982 (1975 E.C.) until the club went defunct.

New beginning (2003–present)

The club was reestablished in 2003 (1996 EC) with the hopes of restoring Dire Dawa's historic place in Ethiopian football. The following year (2004–05) the club played in a regional league (then considered the third tier of Ethiopian football).[1] In 2005–06 the club entered the second tier of Ethiopian football called the Ethiopian National League (now called the Ethiopian Higher League).[1] The club entered the Ethiopian Premier League for the first time in 2007–08 season.[2]

Dire Dawa Kenema spent the first few season in the top division battling relegation.[1] The club lost its best player from the 2009–10 season, Ashenafi Girma, to Meta Abo Beer F.C. during the 2010–11 season.[1] Dire Dawa Kenema was relegated from the Premier League after the 2011–12 season.

Dire Dawa Kenema was promoted back to the Ethiopian Premier League after the 2014–15 season and managed to finish 11th in the 2015–16 season avoiding relegation. The club battled relegation in the two seasons since then and avoided relegation each time. The club signed Yosef Dengeto to a contract in March 2018.[3] Former coach of the Ethiopian National team Yohannes Sahle signed on to coach the club on August 3, 2018.[4]

Fisseha Teumelisan was sacked as manager of the club on February 12, 2021.[5] After his firing, Fisseha sued the club saying that he hadn't been paid the amount that was owned to him after the termination of his contract.[6]

Stadiums

The club plays in home matches at the Dire Dawa Stadium.[7]

Departments

Dire Dawa Sport Club Academy consists of the U20 team. Players from the U20 team are often picked to fill a few roster spots at the senior level from time to time.[8] Dire Dawa Women's Football Club plays in the first division of the Ethiopian Women's Premier League.

Active departments

  • Boxing Team
  • Women's Football team[9]
  • Football team (U-20)[10]

Players

First-team squad

As of 8 January 2021[11]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Ethiopia ETH Abiyu Kassaye
2 MF Ethiopia ETH Zenebe Kebede
3 DF Ethiopia ETH Yasen Jemal
4 DF Ethiopia ETH Henok Isaias
5 DF Ethiopia ETH Daniel Demssie
6 MF Ethiopia ETH Awot Gebremikael
6 DF Ethiopia ETH Fikadu Deneke
7 MF Ethiopia ETH Biniam Tesomelisan
8 MF Ethiopia ETH Surafel Getachew
9 MF Ethiopia ETH Henok Gemtessa
10 MF Ethiopia ETH Remeden Nassir
11 MF Ethiopia ETH Endale Kebede
12 DF Ghana GHA Kweku Andoh
13 FW Namibia NAM Itamunua Kemuine
14 MF Ethiopia ETH Yared Zewdneh
15 DF Ethiopia ETH Bereket Samuel
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF Ethiopia ETH Minyamer Petros
17 FW Ethiopia ETH Aschalew Girma
18 DF Ethiopia ETH Wondwossen Dereje
20 FW Namibia NAM Junias Nandjebo
21 DF Ethiopia ETH Frezer Kassa
22 FW Ghana GHA Richmond Adongo
25 GK Ethiopia ETH Hamdi Tofik
27 MF Ethiopia ETH Aschenacki Lucas
28 DF Ethiopia ETH Muluken Aydagn
30 GK Ethiopia ETH Firew Getahun
33 GK Ethiopia ETH Mintesinot Yegile
44 MF Ethiopia ETH Mikias Kassahun
77 FW Ethiopia ETH Samuel Zerihun
99 FW Ethiopia ETH Mudin Mussa
GK Ethiopia ETH Wondwossen Ashenafi

Club officials

President:Ethiopia Eng. JEMAL IVRAHIM

Vice President:Ethiopia Sultan Ali

General Manager:Ethiopia Fitsum Kinfishe

Coaching and medical staff

As of 12 March 2021

Team Leader: Ethiopia Tofek Hassien

Manager/Head Coach: Ethiopia Zemariam Woldegiorgis

First assistant coach: Ethiopia Tofek Edris

Second assistant coach: Ethiopia Ephrem Getahun

First-team goalkeeper coach: Ethiopia Abaye Befekadu

Team Doctor: Ethiopia Asrat Legesse

Former players

  • Ethiopia Simon Abay

Former coaches

  • Ethiopia Yohannes Sahle (2018)
  • Ethiopia Fisseha Teumelisan (2017–2021) – as assistant & head coach
  • Ethiopia Fisseha Teumelisan[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "ድሬዳዋ ከነማ". Hattricksport. Archived from the original on September 11, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  2. ^ "Diredawa City: Team Profile". ethiofootball. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
  3. ^ Takele, Tewodros (March 16, 2018). "ዮሴፍ ድንገቶ ድሬዳዋ ከተማን ተቀላቅሏል". Soccer Ethiopia.
  4. ^ Taddele, Omna (August 3, 2018). "ዮሃንስ ሳህሌ የድሬዳዋ ከተማ አሰልጣኝ ሆነዋል". Soccer Ethiopia.
  5. ^ Mesfin, Daniel (February 12, 2021). "ድሬዳዋ ከተማ ከአሰልጣኙ ጋር ተለያየ". Soccer Ethiopia.
  6. ^ Mesfin, Daniel (April 24, 2021). "አሰልጣኝ ፍስሀ ጥዑመልሳን ወደ ክስ አምርተዋል". Soccer Ethiopia.
  7. ^ "Dire Dawa City". int.soccerway.com/. Retrieved 2013-08-29.
  8. ^ Takele, Tewodros (August 29, 2018). "ድሬ ዳዋ ከተማ ግብ ጠባቂ አስፈርሟል". Soccer Ethiopia.
  9. ^ "Diredawa Ketema [W]". Soccer Ethiopia. Archived from the original on 2021-04-13. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  10. ^ "U-20 Premier League". Soccer Ethiopia. Archived from the original on 2021-02-27. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Dire Dawa Ketema". Soccer Ethiopia. Archived from the original on 2021-01-11.