Al-Ahli Saudi FC

See also: Al-Ahli Jeddah (basketball)

Al-Ahli Saudi Football Club (Arabic: النادي الاهلی السعودي‎ ) is a Saudi Arabian professional football club based in Jeddah, that competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top flight of Saudi Arabian football. The club was founded in 1937.

Al-Ahli Saudi FC

Full name	Al-Ahli Football Club
Nickname(s)	Al Malaki (The Royal) Qale'at Al Ku'us (Fortress of Trophies) Al Raqi (The Elegant)
Founded	17 March 1937 (1937-03-17)
Ground	King Abdullah Sports City
Capacity	62,345
Chairman	Ahmed Al-Sayegh
Manager	Branko Ivanković
League	Pro League
2018–19	Pro League, 4th of 16
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Domestically, Al-Ahli have won 9 Professional League titles and 10 unofficial league titles, 13 King Cups, 6 Crown Prince Cups, and 1 Super Cup. In international club football, Al-Ahli have won 3 GCC Champions League and 1 Arab Club Championship and have reached two AFC Champions League finals. The first Saudi club combined the league and the King's Cup in the same season in 1968, the only club that did it 3 times in 1978, 1984, 2016.

Al-Ahli is one of the four founding members of the Saudi Pro League that have never been relegated from the top flight, along with Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad, and Al-Nassr. Al-Ahli have a record-breaking 51-match unbeaten run from 2014 to 2016.

Al Ahli's home games are played at King Abdullah Sports City, also known as the KASC Stadium. The stadium, which is shared with long-lasting city rivals Al-Ittihad, is the second largest stadium in Saudi Arabia, with a total capacity of 62,000.

The club's most famous Saudi players are Taisir Al-Jassim, Khalid Massad, Amin Dabo, Mohamed Abd Al-Jawad, Malek Mouath, and Yasser Al Mosailem. And the most famous foreign players are Omar Al Soma, Victor Simões, Nabil Maâloul, Imad Al Hosni and Mohamed Barakat.

Contents

History

Al-Ahli v FC Barcelona in 2016

Founded in 1355 AH in 1937 by four young men, Al Ahli Club is located in the heart of Jeddah's dream city and is the largest sports beacon in its strategic location on its largest street Prince Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz Street (Tahlia). The idea of establishing was founded among a number of students in Al-Falah school. The oldest school in the city of Jeddah was the beginning of the launch of Ahli towards a wider horizons and progress to lead gradually to become in the past and present a giant name pioneer and successful ambassador to the sport of homeland in many games, and the culmination of this success called the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, may God have mercy on him Ambassador of the nation on Friday, 10/7/1430 July 3, 2009.

Royal Highness Prince Khalid bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Chairman of the Honorary Members and Honorary Members of the club throughout its history received management of the club headed by Abdul Aziz Al Anqari and the club's players on a historic day that will not be forgotten in general and especially for Al Ahlawi as the biggest honor achieved by Al-Ahli club in its history after achieving a unique achievement in the same year in 2008, where he achieved four foreign championships the handball team who won the Asian Club League Handball Championship and then the Gulf Cup. The first football team and Volleyball team also won the Gulf Cup.

Former and famous Brazilian coach Telê Santana coached Al-Ahli from 1983 to 1985 and won 2 titles, one is league 1984 and the second is King Cup in 1983. Al Ahli has played eighteen King Cup finals, won thirteen and lost only five.

From 2014 to 2016, under the management of Swiss coach Christian Gross, the team won four titles with him. 2014–15 Saudi Crown Prince Cup, 2015–16 Saudi Professional League and 2016 King Cup. Al Ahli has won every major competition in which it has competed, with the exception of the AFC Champions League (in this competition they have lost two finals, in 1985–86 Asian Club Championship and 2012 AFC Champions League. They are also the first Saudi Club who played the Asian Final. Al Ahli is one of the big 4 clubs at Saudi Arabia along with Al Hilal, Al Nasser, and the local rivals Al Ittihad.

Shield of Sports Excellence and the title of ambassador of the homeland

In 2009, the club completed its seventy-five years with a lot of historical and successful achievements. On 3 July 2009, Al-Ahli Club and its fans won't forget the day when the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz received the heads and members of the honor of the club and its board of directors after winning four International titles in 2008. The club was awarded the highest honor, where he was presented with the shield of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for sports excellence and the title "Ambassador of the Homeland".

Honours

Al-Ahli holds 28 honours officially recognized by FIFA

Domestic

• Saudi Professional League:
  • Champions (9)1973, 1972, 1971, 1970, 1966, 1963, 1977–78, 1983–84, 2015–16
  • Runners-up (8) : 1989–90, 1995-96, 1999-2000, 2002-03, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18
• King Cup:
  • Winners (13) Record : 1962, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1983, 2011, 2012, 2016
  • Runners-up (5) : 1974, 1976, 1984, 2014, 2017
• Saudi Super Cup:
  • Winners (1) : 2016
• Crown Prince Cup:
  • Winners (6) : 1957, 1970, 1998, 2002, 2007, 2014–15
  • Runners-up (7) : 1958, 1974, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009–10, 2015–16
• Saudi Federation Cup (Youth):
  • Winners (4) : 2001, 2002, 2007,2012
  • Runners-up (6) : 1976, 1989, 1991, 1996, 2003, 2006
• Saudi Founder's Cup:
  • Runners-up (1) : 1999

Continental Tournaments

• AFC Champions League:
  • Runners-up (2) : 1985–86, 2012
• Arab Champions League:
  • Winners (1) : 2002-03
• Gulf Club Champions Cup:
  • Winners (3) : 1985, 2002, 2008

Friendly

*Massef Cup: Champions (3):1966, 1974, 1982

*Cup of the Regions of Mecca and Medina:

Champions (1): 1967

*League of Jeddah: Champions (2): 1961, 1962

*Western Region Championship:

Champions (10): 1962, 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976

• Al Jazeera International Championship:
  • Winners (1) : 2013
• International Friendship Championship:
  • Winners (2) : 2002, 2003

Performance in AFC competitions

• AFC Champions League: 11 appearances

Players

As of Saudi Professional League:

As of 4 March 2018

No	Position	Player	Nation
1	Goalkeeper	Yasser Al Mosailem (vice-captain)	Saudi Arabia
2	Defender	Saeed Al Mowalad	Saudi Arabia
3	Defender	Mohammed Al Fatil	Saudi Arabia
4	Defender	Khaled Al-Barakah	Saudi Arabia
5	Defender	Mohammed Al-Khabrani	Saudi Arabia
6	Midfielder	Josef de Souza	Brazil
7	Midfielder	Salman Al-Moasher	Saudi Arabia
8	Midfielder	Elvis Sarić	Bosnia and Herzegovina
9	Forward	Omar Al Somah	Syria
10	Midfielder	Abdulfattah Asiri	Saudi Arabia
11	Midfielder	Housain Al-Mogahwi	Saudi Arabia
13	Defender	Yazeed Al-Bakr	Saudi Arabia
14	Forward	Muhannad Assiri	Saudi Arabia
16	Midfielder	Nooh Al-Mousa	Saudi Arabia
18	Forward	Othman Alhaj	Chad
21	Forward	Djaniny	Cape Verde
22	Midfielder	Danijel Aleksić	Serbia
23	Defender	Abdullah Tarmin	Saudi Arabia
24	Defender	Hussein Abdulghani (captain)	Saudi Arabia
25	Defender	Motaz Hawsawi	Saudi Arabia
27	Midfielder	Sultan Mendash	Saudi Arabia
29	Forward	Abdulrahman Ghareeb	Saudi Arabia&
33	Goalkeeper	Mohammed Al-Owais	Saudi Arabia
35	Midfielder	Yousef Al-Harbi	Saudi Arabia
37	Defender	Abdulbassit Hindi	Saudi Arabia
40	Midfielder	Ali Al-Asmari	Saudi Arabia
44	Goalkeeper	Mohammed Al-Robeai	Saudi Arabia
47	Midfielder	Mustafa Bassas	Saudi Arabia
66	Goalkeeper	Basem Atallah	Saudi Arabia
70	Defender	Mohammed Bassas	Saudi Arabia
77	Midfielder	Omar Al-Zayni	Saudi Arabia
87	Defender	Ervin Zukanović	Bosnia and Herzegovina

For recent transfers, see 2018–19 Al-Ahli Saudi FC season.

Other players under contract

No	Position	Player	Nation
26	Midfielder	Ali Awagi	Saudi Arabia
32	Defender	Abdullah Al-Khateeb	Saudi Arabia
55	Goalkeeper	Bakr Eisa	Saudi Arabia

Out on loan

No Position Player Nation 15 Midfielder Abdulaziz Al-Shahrani (on loan to Damac) Saudi Arabia 20 Defender Ali Al-Zubaidi (on loan to Al-Wehda) Saudi Arabia 30 Defender Hani Al-Sebyani (on loan to Al-Fayha) Saudi Arabia 75 Defender Aderlan Santos (on loan to Rio Ave) Brazil — Defender Faisal Darisi (on loan to Al-Raed) Saudi Arabia — Defender Mohammed Al-Zubaidi (on loan to Al-Hazem) Saudi Arabia — Midfielder Nasser Al-Daajani (on loan to Al-Taawoun) Saudi Arabia — Midfielder Abdulrahman Al-Harthi (on loan to Al-Khaleej) Saudi Arabia — Midfielder Yahya Al-Qarni (on loan to Ohod) Saudi Arabia Recent seasons Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA GD P CC CPC PFC ARCL CL GCC Saudi Super Cup Top scorer Manager 2000–01 SPL 1 22 15 6 1 50 19 31+ 51  – Quarter-final Winner Semi-final  –  –  –  –  – Lucca 2001–02 SPL 4 22 12 4 6 39 26 13+ 40  – Winner Winner  –  – Winner  –  –  – Lucca, Anbar 2002–03 SPL 2 22 15 2 5 54 23 31+ 47  – Runner-up Runner-up Winner QW-3rd Round  –  – Barakat 10 Eilian, Dmitry 2003–04 SPL 4 22 10 8 4 31 21 10+ 38  – Runner-up Group Stage Group Stage  –  –  – Kim 7 Lechantre 2004–05 SPL 5 22 10 8 4 41 21 20+ 34  – Round 16 Semi-final Semi-final Quarter-final  –  – Perera 13 Geninho, Vučković 2005–06 SPL 4 22 9 9 4 45 23 22+ 36  – Runner-up Runner-up  –  –  –  – Mouath 8 Vučković 2006–07 SPL 5 22 7 8 7 29 33 −4 29  – Winner Winner Semi-final  –  –  – Mouath 20 Vučković 2007–08 SPL 8 22 7 5 10 30 31 −1 26 Quarter-final Semi-final Semi-final  – Group Stage  –  – Mouath 14 Vučković 2008–09 SPL 3 22 11 7 4 33 20 +13 40 Quarter-final Round 16 Group Stage  –  – Winner  – Al-Raheb 10 Mladenov 2009–10 SPL 6 22 7 7 8 28 29 −1 28 Quarter-final Runner-up Semi-final  – Group Stage  –  – Victor Simões 13 Alfaro, Farias 2010–11 SPL 6 26 11 4 11 48 41 +7 37 Winner Quarter-final Runner-up  –  –  –  – Victor Simões 20 Rajevac, Ilić 2011–12 SPL 2 26 19 5 2 60 22 +38 62 Winner Semi-final Winner  – Runner-up  –  – Victor Simões 27 Jarolím 2012–13 SPL 5 26 12 8 6 51 33 +18 44 Semi-final Quarter-finals Winner  – Quarter-finals  –  – Victor Simões 17 Jarolím, Ilić 2013–14 ALJ 3 26 12 9 5 48 24 +24 45 Runner-up Quarter Finals Runner-up  –  –  –  – Taisir Al-Jassim 9 Vítor Pereira 2014–15 ALJ 2 26 17 9 0 59 22 +37 60 Round 16 Winner  – Round 16  –  – Omar Al Soma 31 Christian Gross 2015–16 ALJ 1 26 19 6 1 55 21 +34 63 Winner Runner-up  –  – Group Stages  –  – Omar Al Soma 34 Christian Gross 2016–17 ALJ 2 26 17 4 5 57 30 +27 55 Runner-up Semi-finals  –  – Quarter-finals  – Winner Omar Al Soma 40 José Manuel Gomes, Christian Gross 2017–18 SPL 2 26 16 7 3 59 26 +33 55 Semi-final  –  –  – Round of 16  –  – Muhannad Assiri 13 Serhiy Rebrov 2018–19 SPL 4 30 17 4 9 68 41 +27 55 Round of 16  –  – Semi-final Round of 16  –  – Omar Al Somah 27 Pablo Guede, Jorge Fossati, Yousef Anbar Player of the Year Year Winner 2009–10 Abdulrahim Jaizawi 2010–11 Victor Simões 2011–12 Taisir Al-Jassim 2012–13 Mustafa Al-Bassas 2013–14 Taisir Al-Jassim 2014–15 Omar Al Soma 2015–16 Omar Al Soma 2016–17 Omar Al Soma Technical Staff Current Technical Staff Position Staff Head coach Branko Ivanković Assistant coaches Zlatko Ivanković Yousef Anbar Goalkeeping coach Igor Panadić Fitness coach Marko Stilinović Management Current Board of Directors and Administrators Office Name President Majed Al-Nefaie Vice-president Waleed Muath Director of Football Bassem Abo Dawood Director of Other Sports Yaser Mahrous Secretary-General Mohammed Al Qanb Treasurer Waddah Bakhsh Investment Officer Abdullah A'ajaj Commercial Director Majed Al-Oufi Board Member Mohammed Al-Harthi Presidents No Name From To 1 Hassan Hamood Al-Shams 1937 1940 2 Omar Hamood Al-Shams 1950 1952 3 Hassan Saroor Al-Sabyan 1952 1954 4 Abdullah Bahery 1955 1955 5 Omar Hamood Al-Shams 1956 1956 6 Ali Al-Jassem Al-Na'kly 1957 1957 7 Mohammed Fashlan 1958 1958 8 Abdulrahman bin Saead 1959 1960 9 Jameel Al-Gosani 1961 1961 10 Abdulfatah Abdulrabho 1962 1962 11 Abdullah Al-Bahry 1963 1963 12 Abdulfatah Abdulrabho 1964 1964 13 Omar Yousef 1965 1969 14 Mohammed bin Saleh Hamed 1970 1972 15 Abdullah bin Al-Ganb 1973 1974 16 Abdulmageed Yousef 1975 1975 17 Khaled bin Abdullah 1976 1980 18 Abdullah bin Faisal 1981 1981 19 Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Faisal 1982 1984 20 Abdulraziq Abu Dawod 1985 1986 21 Ahmed Eid Al-Harbi 1987 1987 22 Khaled bin Abdullah 1988 1994 23 Abdullah bin Faisal bin Turki 1994 1995 24 Badr bin Fahd 1995 1996 25 Zaki Raheme 1996 1997 26 Abdulaziz Abdulha'a 1997 1998 27 Salman Al-Sudairy 1998 1998 28 Nawaf bin Abdulaziz bin Turki 1999 2003 29 Ahmed Moahmmed Marzoqi 2004 2005 30 Abdulraziq abu Dawod 2005 2005 31 Aymin Fadel 2005 2007 32 Abdulraziq abu Dawod 2007 2007 33 Ahmed Moahmmed Marzoqi 2007 2008 34 Abdulaziz Mohammed Al-A'aqary 2008 2009 35 Fahd bin Khaled bin Abdullah bin Mohammed 2009 2015 36 Musad Al Zuwaihary 2015 2016 37 Ahmad Al-Marzouqi 2016 2017 38 Fahd bin Khaled bin Abdullah bin Mohammed 2017 2017 39 Turki bin Mohammed 2017 2018 40 Majed Al-Nefaie 2018 2018 Managers Mohammed Amin Hilmi (1937–39), (1950–51) Abdullah Abdul Majid (1961–65), (1969–71), (1976–77) Ahmed Saleh Al Yafei (1961–65), (1976–77) Mr. Michael (1967) Oscar Hold (1967–70) Hassan Sadaqa (1970–xx) Taha Ismail (1972–76) Didi (1978–81) George Vieira (1980–81) Carlos the Jackal (1981–82) Telê Santana (1983–85) Mahmoud El-Gohary (1985) Ahmed Bouajila (1985–1987) Eckhard Krautzun (1987–88) Sebastião Lazaroni (1989–90) Zanata (1990) Xanana (1990–91), (1998–99), (2000–01) Luiz Felipe Scolari (1992–93) Nabil Maaloul (1994) Peter Shtoob (1994) Ahmed Al-Saghir (1994–95) Márcio Máximo (1995) Luís Antônio Zaluar (1995–96) Ramos (1996–97) Zanata (1997) Cabralzinho (1998) Amen Dabu (1999–00) Miguel Ángel López (2000) Luka Peruzović (2000–01) Yousef Anbar (2002), (2008) Eilian (2002) Dimitri Davidovic (2003) Pierre Lechantre (2003) C. Juninho (2004–05) Geninho (Jan 1, 2005 – July 17, 2005) Nebojsa Vučković (2005–07), (2007–08) José Antonio Nogueira (2008) Stoycho Mladenov (June 1, 2008 – April 24, 2009) Gustavo Alfaro (April 22, 2009 – Dec 20, 2009) Sergio Farias (Dec 27, 2009 – July 30, 2010) Trond Sollied (Aug 1, 2010 – Aug 31, 2010) Milovan Rajevac (Sept 10, 2010 – Feb 20, 2011) Aleksandar Ilić (Feb 24, 2011 – Aug 4, 2011) Karel Jarolím (Aug 5, 2011 – May 31, 2013) Aleksandar Ilić (Feb 28, 2013 – May 31, 2013) Vítor Pereira (Jul 1, 2013 – Jun 30, 2014) Christian Gross (Jul 1, 2014 – May 30, 2016) José Manuel Gomes (May 31, 2016 – Sep 30, 2016) Christian Gross (Oct 3, 2016 – May 31, 2017) Serhiy Rebrov (Jun 21, 2017 – Apr 19, 2018) Fathi Al-Jabal (Apr 19, 2018 – May 15, 2018) Pablo Guede (May 15, 2018 – Feb 5, 2019) Jorge Fossati (Feb 8, 2019 – Apr 17, 2019) Yousef Anbar (Apr 17, 2019 – May 21, 2019) Branko Ivanković (June 18, 2019 – ) References External links Official website