2009–10 Saudi Pro League

The 2009–10 Saudi Professional League (known as the Zain Professional League for sponsorship reasons) was the 34th season of the Saudi Professional League, the top Saudi professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1976. The season began on 18 August 2009, and ended on 18 March 2010.[2] Al-Ittihad were the defending champions.[3]

Professional League
Season2009–10
Dates18 August 2009 – 18 March 2010
ChampionsAl Hilal (12th title)
Champions LeagueAl Hilal
Al-Ittihad
Al Nassr
Al Shabab
Matches played132
Goals scored377 (2.86 per match)
Top goalscorerMohammad Al-Shalhoub (12 goals)
Biggest home winAl-Ittihad 7–1 Al-Qadisiyah
(26 August 2009)
Biggest away winNajran 0–5 Al Wehda
(7 January 2010)
Highest scoringAl-Ittihad 7–1 Al-Qadisiyah
(26 August 2009)
Longest winning run6 games[1]
Al Hilal
Longest unbeaten run14 games[1]
Al Hilal
Longest winless run14 games[1]
Al-Raed
Longest losing run8 games[1]
Najran

Al Hilal secured the title with a 2–0 win away to Al-Hazem on 24 January 2010.[4] Al-Hilal won the league with three games to spare. Al Hilal, Al-Ittihad, Al Shabab and Al Nassr all secured a berth for the 2011 AFC Champions League. No teams were relegated at the end of the season following the decision to increase the number of teams from 12 to 14.[5]

Name sponsorship edit

On 16 June 2009, the Saudi Professional League announced a sponsorship with telecommunication company Zain. As part of the sponsorship deal the Saudi Professional League would be known as the Zain Professional League for the next 4 seasons.[6]

Qualification and Prize Money edit

The League champions, runners-up and third-placed team, as well as the winners of the King Cup of Champions, qualify for the 2011 AFC Champions League.

The top six teams, and the Crown Prince Cup winners and runners-up qualify for King Cup of Champions.

  • Prize money:
    • First place: 2.5 million Saudi Riyals
    • Second place: 1.5 million Saudi Riyals
    • Third place: 1 million Saudi Riyals

Teams edit

Twelve teams competed in the league – the top nine teams from the previous season, the relegation play-off winner and the two teams promoted from the First Division. Al-Raed defeated Abha 4–3 on aggregate to confirm their top-flight status.[7] The promoted teams were Al-Qadisiyah (returning after a season's absence) and Al-Fateh (playing top-flight football for the first time ever). They replaced Abha (relegated after a season's presence) and Al-Watani (ending their two-year top-flight spell).

Stadiums and locations edit

Club Location Stadium
Al-Ahli Jeddah Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium
Al-Ettifaq Dammam Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium
Al-Fateh Al-Hasa Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium
Al-Hazem Ar Rass Al-Hazem Club Stadium
Al Hilal Riyadh King Fahd Stadium
Al-Ittihad Jeddah Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium
Al Nassr Riyadh King Fahd Stadium
Al-Qadisiyah Al Khubar Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium
Al-Raed Buraydah King Abdullah Sport City Stadium
Al Shabab Riyadh King Fahd Stadium
Al Wehda Mecca King Abdul Aziz Stadium
Najran Najran Al Akhdoud Club Stadium

Personnel edit

Club Coach Nationality City Stadium Capacity 2008–09 season Notes
Al-Ahli Sergio Farias   Jeddah Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium 24,000 3rd Qualified to the 2010 AFC Champions League
Al-Ettifaq Marin Ion   Dammam Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium 30,000 6th Qualified to the 2009–10 Gulf Club Champions Cup
Al-Fateh Fathi Al-Jabal   Al-Hasa Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium 20,000 First Division runners-up
Al-Hazem Lula   Ar Rass Al-Hazem Club Stadium 11,000 8th
Al Hilal Eric Gerets   Riyadh King Fahd Stadium 69,000 2nd Qualified to the 2010 AFC Champions League
Al-Ittihad Enzo Trossero   Jeddah Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium 24,000 1st Qualified to the 2010 AFC Champions League
Al Nassr Jorge da Silva   Riyadh King Fahd Stadium 69,000 5th Qualified to the 2009–10 Gulf Club Champions Cup
Al-Qadisiyah Dimitar Dimitrov   Al Khubar Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium 10,000 First Division champions
Al-Raed Edison Mario Souza   Buraydah King Abdullah Sport City Stadium 35,000 10th
Al Shabab Edgar Parreira   Riyadh King Fahd Stadium 69,000 4th Qualified to the 2009–10 Gulf Club Champions Cup
Al Wehda Eurico Gomes   Mecca King Abdul Aziz Stadium 28,550 7th
Najran Mourad Okbi   Najran Al Akhdoud Club Stadium 10,000 9th

Managerial changes edit

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Replaced by Date
Al Hilal   Georges Leekens Sacked[8]   Eric Gerets May 2009
Al-Ahli   Stoycho Mladenov Sacked[9]   Gustavo Alfaro June 2009
Al-Raed   Luiz Antonio End of contract[10]   Acácio Casimiro June 2009
Al-Hazem   Ammar Souayah End of contract[11]   Mohsen Saleh July 2009
Al Nassr   Edgardo Bauza End of contract[12]   Jorge da Silva July 2009
Al Shabab   Enzo Trossero End of contract[13]   Jaime Pacheco July 2009
Al-Qadisiyah   Daniel Lanata Sacked[14]   Ammar Souayah September 2009
Al-Raed   Acácio Casimiro Sacked[15]   Edison Mario Souza October 2009
Najran   Marcelo Javier Zuleta Sacked[16]   Samir Jouili October 2009
Al-Ettifaq   Stoycho Mladenov Sacked[17]   Saber Eid (caretaker) October 2009
Al-Ettifaq   Saber Eid (caretaker) End of caretaker period[18]   Marin Ion October 2009
Al-Ahli   Gustavo Alfaro Resigned[19]   Alan Guido (caretaker) November 2009
Al-Qadisiyah   Ammar Souayah Resigned[20]   Anas Al Zerqati (caretaker) November 2009
Al-Hazem   Mohsen Saleh Resigned[21]   Emad Al Solami (caretaker) November 2009
Al-Hazem   Emad Al Solami (caretaker) End of caretaker period[22]   Lula December 2009
Al-Ahli   Alan Guido (caretaker) End of caretaker period[23]   Sergio Farias December 2009
Al-Qadisiyah   Anas Al Zerqati (caretaker) End of caretaker period[24]   Dimitar Dimitrov December 2009
Najran   Samir Jouili Sacked[25]   Mourad Okbi January 2010
Al-Ittihad   Gabriel Calderón Sacked[26]   Hassan Khalifah (caretaker) January 2010
Al-Ittihad   Hassan Khalifah (caretaker) End of caretaker period[27]   Enzo Trossero January 2010
Al Shabab   Jaime Pacheco Sacked[28]   Edgar Parreira April 2010

Foreign players edit

The number of foreign players is restricted to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries.

Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC Player Former Players
Al-Ahli   Marcinho   Victor Simões   Saïf Ghezal   Ahmed Kano   Sebastián Rusculleda
  Javier Toledo
  Josimar Mosquera
Al-Ettifaq   Cristian Dănălache   Dorel Stoica   Jeremiah White   Badar Al-Maimani   Youness Mankari
  Khalifa Ayil
  José Luis Garcés
Al-Fateh   Emmanuel Emmanuel   Ramzi Ben Younès   Naïm Berrabet
Al-Hazem   Salaheddine Aqqal   Hamad Ji   Mohamed Roubize   Bashar Bani Yaseen
Al Hilal   Thiago Neves   Mirel Rădoi   Christian Wilhelmsson   Lee Young-pyo
Al-Ittihad   Abdelmalek Ziaya   Hicham Aboucherouane   Amine Chermiti   Ahmed Hadid   Luciano Leguizamón
Al Nassr   Víctor Figueroa   Hossam Ghaly   Pascal Feindouno   Lee Chun-soo   Éder Gaúcho
Al-Qadisiyah   Nasigba John-Jumbo   Nelson Figueredo   Juan Cominges   Rubén Gigena
  Said Al-Shoon
Al-Raed   Bruno Luiz   Felipe Campos   Sérgio Ricardo   Hatem Aqel   Mário Sérgio
  Sédonoudé Abouta
Al Shabab   Flávio Amado   Marcelo Camacho   Tarik El Taib   Hussain Ali Baba   Adam Griffiths
Al Wehda   Abdelkarim Benhania   Youssef Kaddioui   Abdessamad Rafik   Eli Felton
Najran   Abdessamad Ouarrad   Yves Diba Ilunga   Moussa Soulaimane   Anas Bani Yaseen   Cédric Kisamba
  Ibrahim Kamara

League table edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Al Hilal (C) 22 18 2 2 56 18 +38 56 Qualification for the Champions League group stage
and the King Cup of Champions[a]
2 Al-Ittihad 22 14 3 5 46 30 +16 45
3 Al Nassr 22 12 7 3 38 23 +15 43
4 Al Shabab 22 11 7 4 36 23 +13 40
5 Al Wehda 22 7 7 8 34 27 +7 28 Qualification for the King Cup of Champions
6 Al-Ahli 22 7 7 8 28 29 −1 28
7 Al-Hazem 22 6 6 10 29 38 −9 24
8 Al-Fateh 22 6 6 10 26 38 −12 24
9 Al-Ettifaq 22 5 7 10 24 30 −6 22
10 Al-Qadisiyah 22 5 5 12 20 40 −20 20
11 Al-Raed 22 3 7 12 18 35 −17 16
12 Najran 22 4 4 14 22 46 −24 16
Source: SLstat
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Total goal difference; 3) Total goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Play-off (only for deciding champion, relegation and AFC competitions participation).
(C) Champions
Notes:
  1. ^ Since the winners of the King Cup of Champions, Al-Ittihad, qualified for the Champions League, the spot given to the King Cup of Champions winners (Champions League group stage) was passed to the fourth-placed team.

Results edit

Home \ Away AHL ETT FAT HAZ HIL ITT NSR QAD RAE SHB WHD NAJ
Al-Ahli 2–0 1–1 2–1 1–2 0–1 3–3 3–2 1–0 1–1 2–0 0–1
Al-Ettifaq 0–0 0–2 2–3 0–2 2–1 1–1 0–2 3–0 0–0 1–3 3–1
Al-Fateh 3–1 0–3 1–1 0–4 1–2 0–2 5–0 2–0 2–1 0–0 0–1
Al-Hazem 1–1 0–2 2–1 0–2 1–2 2–2 1–1 2–1 1–2 1–2 3–1
Al Hilal 3–1 1–0 5–1 4–0 5–0 2–2 2–1 2–1 2–2 3–1 5–0
Al-Ittihad 2–1 1–1 1–1 5–2 2–1 1–2 7–1 3–2 1–2 2–0 3–1
Al Nassr 1–1 1–0 3–1 1–0 2–1 0–1 3–0 4–2 0–2 1–0 3–2
Al-Qadisiyah 1–2 1–1 0–1 3–1 1–2 3–3 0–2 0–0 0–3 1–0 1–0
Al-Raed 1–2 0–0 2–1 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 2–2
Al Shabab 2–1 4–1 2–2 0–2 1–2 1–0 3–2 0–1 2–1 2–2 1–0
Al Wehda 1–1 2–2 6–0 0–0 1–2 1–3 0–2 2–1 4–1 1–1 2–0
Najran 2–1 3–2 1–1 2–4 1–2 2–3 1–1 0–0 0–1 1–3 0–5
Updated to match(es) played on 18 March 2010. Source: Slstat.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics edit

Scoring edit

Top scorers edit

Rank Scorer Club Goals[29]
1   Mohammad Al-Shalhoub Al Hilal 12
2   Mohammad Al-Sahlawi Al Nassr 11
  Thiago Neves Al Hilal
4   Waleed Al-Gizani Al-Hazem 10
5   Nasser Al-Shamrani Al Shabab 9
  Muhannad Assiri Al Wehda
  Yasser Al-Qahtani Al Hilal
  Ahmed Abo Obaid Al-Fateh
  Christian Wilhelmsson Al Hilal
  Víctor Figueroa Al Nassr

Hat-tricks edit

Player For Against Result Date Ref
  Flávio Amado Al-Shabab Najran 3–1 (A) 19 August 2009 [30]
  Naif Hazazi Al-Ittihad Al-Qadisiyah 7–1 (H) 26 August 2009 [31]
  Thiago Neves Al-Hilal Al-Ittihad 5–0 (H) 10 December 2009 [32]
  Hicham Aboucherouane Al-Ittihad Al-Hazem 5–2 (H) 6 January 2010 [33]
  Muhannad Assiri Al-Wehda Najran 5–0 (A) 7 January 2010 [34]
  Abdelkarim Benhenia4 Al-Wehda Al-Fateh 6–0 (H) 28 January 2010 [35]
Notes

4 Player scored 4 goals
(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team

Most assists edit

Rank Scorer Club Assists
1   Christian Wilhelmsson Al Hilal 10
2   Mohammed Noor Al-Ittihad 7
  Marcelo Camacho Al Shabab
  Thiago Neves Al Hilal
  Manaf Abushgeer Al-Ittihad
6   Youssef Kaddioui Al Wehda 6
7   Mohammad Al-Shalhoub Al Hilal 5
  Moussa Soulaimane Najran

Clean sheets edit

Rank Player Club Clean
sheets
1   Khalid Radhy Al Nassr 8
2   Mohamed Al-Deayea Al Hilal 7
3   Mohammad Khouja Al-Ettifaq 5
  Mohammed Al-Khojali Al-Raed
  Waleed Abdullah Al Shabab
  Mohammad Sharifi Al-Fateh
7   Faisal Al-Merqeb Al Wehda 4
8   Mabrouk Zaid Al-Ittihad 3
  Jaber Al-Ameri Najran

Discipline edit

Player edit

Club edit

  • Most yellow cards: 56[36]
    • Al-Hazem
  • Most red cards: 8[36]
    • Al-Ittihad

Awards edit

Arriyadiyah and Mobily Awards for Sports Excellence edit

The Arriyadiyah and Mobily Awards for Sports Excellence were awarded at the conclusion of the season for the fourth time since its inception in 2007. The awards were sponsored by Saudi newspaper Arriyadiyah and Saudi telecommunication company Mobily. The awards were presented on 13 May 2010.[37]

Award Winner Club
Player of the Season     Christian Wilhelmsson
    Osama Hawsawi
    Mohammad Al-Sahlawi
Al-Hilal
Al-Hilal
Al-Nassr
Young Player of the Season     Ibrahim Ghaleb
    Nawaf Al-Abed
    Khaled Al-Mutairi
Al-Nassr
Al-Hilal
Al-Hazem
Goldent Boot   Mohammad Al-Shalhoub Al-Hilal

Al-Riyadiya Awards edit

Another set of awards were awarded at the end of the season. It was announced that Al-Riyadiya were presenting their awards for the first time. The awards were known as Al-Riyadiya Awards and were presented on 8 May 2010.[38]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d "All Statistics:Teams". Archived from the original on 11 June 2017.
  2. ^ "جدول الدوري". Archived from the original on 22 April 2016.
  3. ^ "الاتحاد بطلا لدوري المحترفين السعودي بفوزه على الهلال".
  4. ^ "الهلال بطلاً للدوري السعودي 2010".
  5. ^ "هل ستتغير خارطة دوري "زين"؟".
  6. ^ "تغيير مسمى دوري المحترفين السعودي إلى "دوري زين"".
  7. ^ ""رائد التحدي" يعلن البقاء في دوري الأضواء".
  8. ^ "رسمياً..البلجيكي غيرتس مدرباً للهلال لموسمين مقبلين".
  9. ^ "الأرجنتيني جوستافو الفارو يقود الأهلي الموسم المقبل مع خمسة مساعدين".
  10. ^ "البرتغالي أكاسيو الفريدو مدربا للرائد".
  11. ^ "الحزم يوقع مع محسن صالح رسمياً".
  12. ^ http://www.the-afc.com/en/news-centre/member-association-news/222-west-asia-/24671-nasr-turn-to-uruguayan-da-silva-to-end-coaching-woes Nasr turn to Uruguayan Da Silva to end coaching woes
  13. ^ http://www.the-afc.com/en/member-association-news/west-asia-news/24762-pacheco-is-new-shabab-coach Pacheco is new Shabab coach
  14. ^ "دانيال يرفض حضور اجتماع القادسية.. والإدارة تقيله رسمياً".
  15. ^ "الرائد يقيل البرتغالي أكاسيو.. والبديل البرازيلي ماريو".
  16. ^ "شرط جزائي يحول تعاقد نجران من الغرايري إلى الجويلي".
  17. ^ "الاتفاق أقال ملادينوف أمس .. ورئيسه يؤكد".
  18. ^ "الروماني إيوان مدربا للاتفاق.. ويبدأ مهمته أمام العروبة".
  19. ^ "أفضل مدرب في إفريقيا لعام 2008 يقود الأهلي خلفاً للفارو".
  20. ^ "السويح يترك القادسية ويعود للحزم".
  21. ^ "الحزم يودع محسن صالح والسلمي يبدأ مهمته".
  22. ^ "رسمياً لولا بيريرا مدرباً للحزم".
  23. ^ "فارياس يصل جدة والأمير عبدالله بن فيصل يفتتح المركز الإعلامي".
  24. ^ "ديمتروف وقَّع للقادسية ودجلاس وصل البحرين".
  25. ^ "العقبي يخلف الجويلي في نجران".
  26. ^ "الاتحاد يقيل (كالديرون) ويعين خليفة مدربا مؤقتا".
  27. ^ "الاتحاد يتعاقد مع (هيكتور) حتى نهاية الموسم".
  28. ^ [1] Shabab, Al Ain boot out their coaches
  29. ^ "Zain Saudi Professional League 2009/2010 – scorers".
  30. ^ "Najran 1 – 3 Al Shabab". Archived from the original on 27 May 2016.
  31. ^ "Al Ittihad 7 – 1 Al Qadisiyah". Archived from the original on 20 May 2016.
  32. ^ "Al Hilal 5 – 0 Al Ittihad". Archived from the original on 22 June 2016.
  33. ^ "Al Ittihad 5 – 2 Al Hazem". Archived from the original on 21 May 2016.
  34. ^ "Najran 0 – 5 Al Wehda". Archived from the original on 21 May 2016.
  35. ^ "Al Wehda 6 – 0 Al Fateh". Archived from the original on 21 May 2016.
  36. ^ a b c d "الكروت". Archived from the original on 27 April 2016.
  37. ^ "الراجحي يتوج بجائزة الرياضية وموبايلي للتميز الرياضي".
  38. ^ "أسامة هوساوي أفضل لاعب في الموسم الرياضي السعودي".

External links edit