From 1987 onwards, Al Najaf slowly established itself as an important team in the Iraqi league, moving gradually from mid table towards title-contention.

[4] In the Elite stage, Al Najaf finished second in their group, behind Al-Zawraa, and failed to qualify to the championship playoffs.

Abdul Ghani Shahad led the team to a second place finish in the Central Group A, which meant the qualified to the Elite stage for the second season running.

[6] In the Elite stage, Al Najaf managed to finish first in their group and qualifying to the championship playoff,[7] they beat Erbil in the semifinal 5-2 on aggregate.

His first season ended on a disappointing note after Al Najaf finished in 6th place and were 18 points behind playoff contention.

[22] Despite the undesirable results, Al Najaf decided to keep faith with their man, the following season saw the league return to a Round-robin tournament.

[24] Following that season, Abdul-Ghani moved to a new team founded in Al-Najaf playing in the second division named Naft Al-Wasat.

Abdul-Ghani Shahad took a gamble and signed for second division side Naft Al Wasat in August 2013.

[35] In the Olympic games, Shahad was applauded by fans and pundits for his defensive formations that led to a 0-0 draw with heavyweights Brazil.

Following the 2-2 draw vs Thailand,[39] Yahya Alwan resigned as manager of the national side,[40] Abdul-Ghani was brought on as an interim coach.

[42] In July 2016, Naft Al Wasat reached an agreement with Abdul-Ghani to manage both the club and the U23 side simultaneously.

The competition was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, Al Shorta still had to complete their 2020 AFC Champions League campaign.

[48] However the deal also collapse due to interest from another one of his former clubs Naft Al Wasat and his desire to stay in Najaf[49]