Al-Fayha FC

Al Fayha
Full name	ALFAYHA CLUB
Nickname(s)	Al Burtuqali (The Orange); Tawahin Sudair (The Mills of Sudair)
Founded	1953; 71 years ago
Ground	Al Majma'ah Sports City
Capacity	7,000
Chairman	Tawfiq Al-Modaiheem
Manager	Christos Kontis
League	Saudi Pro League
2023-24	Pro League, 9th of 18
Website	https://www.alfiha.com/en
	Current season

Al Fayha FC (Arabic: نادي الفيحاء السعودي) is a professional football club based in Al Majma'ah, that plays in the Saudi Pro League, the first tier of Saudi football. It was founded in 1953.

Al Fayha's colors are orange and blue, hence the nickname "Al-Burtuqali." Al-Fayha have won the Saudi Second Division once in the 2013–14 season and have finished runners-up once in the 2003–04. On 29 April 2017, Al-Fayha won their first promotion to the Pro League, winning their first First Division title on 5 May 2017. They won the King Cup for the first time in 2022.^[1]

The club plays their home games at Al Majma'ah Sports City in Al Majma'ah, sharing the stadium with city rivals Al-Faisaly and Al-Mujazzel.^[2]

History

Al Fayha (Arabic: الفيحاء, romanized: al-fayḥāʿ, lit. 'wide, extensive')^[3] was founded in 1953 in Al Majma'ah and were officially registered on August 15, 1966. Al Fayha is one of the oldest clubs in the country and the oldest club in Al Majma'ah. Al Fayha is a merging of two different clubs, Minikh and Al-Fayha, who joined to become the only representative of Al Majma'ah.

Since the formation of the club, Al Fayha has played a continuous role in the service of the youth in Al-Majma'ah. Al Fayha is considered to be one of the most active and interactive clubs in the city, often acting as a safe haven for the youth.^[4]

First piece of silverware

Al Fayha won their first promotion to the First Division in 1985 and spent five consecutive seasons in the First Division before getting relegated at the end of the 1989–90 season. After an absence of 14 years, Al-Fayha returned to the First Division after finishing as runners-up in the 2003–04 Second Division. Al Fayha spent 4 consecutive seasons in the First Division before getting relegated at the end of the 2007–08 season. They were then promoted once again during the 2013–14 season when they won the Second Division title. On 29 April 2017, Al-Fayha won promotion to the Pro League for the first time in their history following their 2–1 home win against Ohod.^[5] They were crowned champions of the 2016–17 Saudi First Division for the first time on 5 May 2017 after drawing Wej 1–1 away from home.^[6]

Al Fayha spent three consecutive seasons in the Saudi top flight, performing above expectations in their debut season and barely escaping relegation in their second season, however they couldn't avoid relegation in the 2019–20 season, losing 0–1 to Al-Taawoun in the final matchday. In their first season back in the Saudi First Division Al-Fayha managed to achieve promotion back to the top flight following a 0–0 home draw with Al-Tai on the 20th of May 2021, as well as finishing the season as runners-up with 81 points. In their first season back in the Pro League Al Fayha acquired the services of players such as; veteran Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Stojković, Greek midfielder Panagiotis Tachtsidis and Macedonian international Aleksandar Trajkovski. Vuk Rašović managed his squad with a direct play approach along with disciplined organisation, and as a result the club has had the best defensive record in the 2021–22 league.

King Cup winners and AFC Champions League debut

Al Fayha partook in the 2021–22 King Cup, with their first match being against Abha whom they routed 4–0 to progress to the quarter-finals. In the quarter-final they faced Al-Batin, whom they beat 2–1. In the semi-final they were up against Al Ittihad in a highly contested and hard-fought match in which Al Fayha came up on top to win 1–0 and advance to a historic cup final. Al Fayha would face Al Hilal in the final.The two sides were locked at 1–1 after extra time with Al Fayha prevailing in the penalty shootout thanks to a superb performance from their Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic to clinch their maiden Saudi King's Cup at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium and also qualified them to the first 2023–24 AFC Champions League group stage.^[7] On 3 October 2023 in the AFC Champions League group stage fixtures, Al-Fayha recorded their first win in a 2–0 victory against Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan with both goal scored by Abdelhamid Sabiri. Al Fayha finished as group runners-up with 9 points which send the club to the Round of 16 fixtures against Al Nassr. However the club bowed out from the AFC Champions League after a 3–0 defeat on aggregate.

Honours

League

Saudi First Division
- Winners (1): 2016–17
- Runners-up (1): 2020–21
Saudi Second Division
- Winners (2): 1984–85, 2013–14
- Runners-up (1): 2003–04 ^[1]

Cup

King Cup
- Winners (1): 2021–22
Saudi Super Cup
- Runners-up (1): 2022

Current squad

As of 3 September 2024:^[8]^[9]

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	KSA	Abdulraouf Al-Duqayl
2	DF	KSA	Mukhair Al-Rashidi
3	DF	BRA	Rangel
4	DF	KSA	Sami Al-Khaibari (captain)
5	DF	ENG	Chris Smalling
6	MF	KSA	Saud Zidan
7	FW	NGA	Henry Onyekuru
8	MF	ESP	Alejandro Pozuelo
9	FW	URU	Renzo López
10	FW	ZAM	Fashion Sakala
11	MF	VEN	Aldry Contreras (on loan from Angostura)
13	MF	BIH	Gojko Cimirot
14	MF	KSA	Mansor Al-Beshe
15	MF	KSA	Abdulhadi Al-Harajin
20	MF	UZB	Otabek Shukurov
22	DF	KSA	Mohammed Al-Baqawi
25	DF	KSA	Faris Abdi


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
27	FW	KSA	Redha Al-Abdullah ^U19 (on loan from Al-Ettifaq)
29	MF	KSA	Nawaf Al-Harthi
31	GK	KSA	Osama Al-Thumairy ^U19
33	GK	KSA	Sattam Al-Shammari
37	DF	KSA	Naif Almas
46	DF	KSA	Osama Al-Turki ^U19
47	DF	KSA	Mohammed Al-Dowaish
52	GK	PAN	Orlando Mosquera
55	FW	KSA	Ali Al-Hussain ^U19
66	MF	KSA	Rakan Kaabi
71	FW	KSA	Sabri Dahal ^U19
72	MF	KSA	Abdullah Al-Aklabi ^U19
75	DF	KSA	Khalid Al-Rammah ^U19
77	MF	KSA	Khalid Kaabi
99	FW	KSA	Malek Al-Abdulmenem
—	MF	KSA	Mohammed Al-Moqbali ^U19

Other players under contract

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
38	MF	KSA	Yahya Al Surur
41	MF	KSA	Saud Al-Muqbil
51	FW	KSA	Abdulaziz Al-Burayk
53	DF	KSA	Abdullah Aman


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
61	MF	KSA	Eyad Badri
62	DF	KSA	Hossam Majrashi
81	MF	KSA	Yazid Jadhami
96	GK	KSA	Abdulaziz Al-Murdih

Out on loan

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	DF	KSA	Muteb Al-Khaldi (on loan to Al-Ain)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
70	DF	KSA	Abdulrahman Al-Anazi (on loan to Al-Orobah)

Management staff

Position	Name
Manager	Christos Kontis
Assistant Managers	Alexandros Tziolis
Goalkeeping Coach	Dionysis Chiotis
Fitness Coach	Efthymios Kyprianou
Video Analyst	Charis Tselemponis
Performance Analyst	Faris Al-Dowaish
Sporting Director	Khalid Al-Shammari
Doctor	Ibrahim Al-Rashidi
Physiotherapist	Makram Majrashi
Director of Development	Alioua Mohamed Lamine