 The 1980s was a very dire period for the club, as their own failure, coupled with Al Ittihad's success, meant that their rivals went into the 1990s with six titles to their own five.However, they reach the final of the African Cup Winners' Cup in 1984, where they withdrew from facing Al-Ahly Cairo, as the bad Libyan relationship with Egypt at that time meant that Libyan clubs were banned from facing Egyptian clubs.In the middle of the 20th century, Libya, a country still looking for its independence, started to found many sporting clubs and youth clubs in a political move to unite the youth of the country in order to fight for its independence, and drive out the British forces.