The 2010–11 Saudi Professional League (known as the Zain Professional League for sponsorship reasons) was the 35th season of the

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

, the top Saudi professional league for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

clubs, since its establishment in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

. The season began on 14 August 2010, and ended on 20 May 2011. Al-Hilal were the defending champions. The league was contested by the 12 teams from the 2009–10 season as well as Al-Faisaly and Al-Taawoun, who joined as the promoted clubs from the 2009–10 First Division. No teams were relegated the previous season following the decision to increase the number of teams from 12 to 14. On 29 April, defending champions Al-Hilal won their thirteenth League title with two games to spare after a 1–0 home win over Al-Raed. Al-Hilal ended the season without a single defeat – the first team ever to do so in a 26-game league season and the second team overall (the first was

Al-Ettifaq Al Ettifaq Football Club ( ar, نادي الاتفاق لكرة القدم) is a professional football club in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Al-Ettifaq was established after the merging of three clubs in the city of Dammam at the year 1944. Al Ettifaq i ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

, during an 18-game league season). Al-Hazem were the first team to be relegated following a 2–0 away defeat to Al-Taawoun. Al-Wehda became the second and final team to be relegated following the decision to dock 3 points from them.

Overview

Changes

The Saudi FF announced that the number of teams in the league would be increased from 12 to 14.

Qualification and Prize money

The League champions, runners-up and third place as well as the winner of the

King Cup of Champions The King Cup (sometimes spelled King's), officially known as The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Cup ( ar, كأس خادم الحرمين الشريفين), is the Saudi Arabian football knockout cup competition, run by the Saudi Arabian Footba ...

qualified for the

2012 AFC Champions League The 2012 AFC Champions League was the 31st edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 10th under the current AFC Champions League title. Ulsan Hyundai from South Korea wo ...

. The top six teams, and the

Crown Prince Cup The Saudi Crown Prince's Cup ( ar, كأس ولي العهد) was the Saudi Arabian annual cup competition. It was the oldest domestic football competition in Saudi Arabia, its first edition was held in 1956–57, but was not crowned from 1975 unti ...

winners and runners-up qualified for

. Prize money: * First place: 2.5 million

SAR SAR or Sar may refer to: Places * Sar (river), Galicia, Spain * Sar, Bahrain, a residential district * Sar, Iran (disambiguation), several places in Iran * Sar, Tibet, Tibet Autonomous Region of China * Šar Mountains, in southeastern Europe ...

* Second place: 1.5 million

* Third place: 1 million

Teams

Fourteen teams competed in the league – the twelve teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the First Division. No teams were relegated the previous season following the decision to increase the number of teams from 12 to 14. The promoted teams were Al-Faisaly (returning after an absence of three years) and Al-Taawoun (returning after an absence of thirteen years).

Stadiums and locations

Personnel

Managerial changes

Foreign players

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.

League table

Results

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

Hat-tricks

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

Most assists

Clean sheets

Discipline

Player

* Most yellow cards: 10 ** Ahmed Mubarak Kano (Al-Fateh) * Most red cards: 2 ** Fuad Al-Mutairi (Al-Hazem) ** Moïne Chaâbani (Al-Qadisiyah) ** Juliano Mineiro (Najran)

Club

* Most yellow cards: 71 ** Al-Ettifaq * Most red cards: 11 ** Al-Hazem

Attendances

By team

Awards

Arriyadiyah and Mobily Awards for Sports Excellence

The Arriyadiyah and

Mobily Etihad Etisalat Company ( ar, شركة إتحاد إتصالات) is a Saudi Arabian telecommunications services company that offers fixed line, mobile telephony, and Internet services under the brand name Mobily ( ar, موبايلي). The comp ...

Awards for Sports Excellence were awarded at the conclusion of the season for the fifth time since its inception in 2007. The awards were sponsored by Saudi newspaper Arriyadiyah and Saudi telecommunication company

. The awards were presented on 11 September 2011.

Al-Riyadiya Awards

The Al-Riyadiya Awards were awarded for the second time since its inception last year. The awards were presented on 15 June 2011. *Best Goalkeeper: Hassan Al-Otaibi (Al-Hilal) *Best Defender:

Osama Hawsawi Osama Hawsawi ( ar, أسامة هوساوي, born 31 March 1984) is a retired Saudi Arabian footballer who played as a central defender. After starting out at Al-Wehda, he went on to spend the vast majority of his career with Al-Hilal and Al-Ah ...

(Al-Hilal) *Best Midfielder:

Mohammed Noor Mohammed Bin Mohammed Noor Adam Hawsawi ( ar, محمد نور; born 26 February 1978), commonly known as Mohammed Noor (), also known by his short name Noor, is a retired footballer from Saudi Arabia who played as an attacking midfielder. He pla ...

(Al-Ittihad) *Best Attacker:

Nasser Al-Shamrani Nasser Al-Shamrani ( ar, ناصر الشمراني) (born 23 November 1983) is a Saudi Arabian footballer who plays former the Saudi Arabia national team as a forward. Often considered one of the most versatile, effective Saudi Arabian striker ...

(Al-Shabab) *Player of the Year: Hassan Al-Otaibi (Al-Hilal)

References

External links

Saudi Arabia Football Federation

Saudi League Statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saudi Professional League 2010-11 2010–11 in Asian association football leagues

Professional League Professional sports, Professional sports leagues are organized in numerous ways. The two most significant types are one that developed in Europe, characterized by a tiered structure using promotion and relegation in order to determine participati ...