Al Ahli (Saudi Arabia)

Al-Ahli Saudi Football Club ( ar, النادي الأهلي السعودي) is a Saudi Arabian professional football club based in Jeddah, that competes in the second division of Saudi Arabian football, following their relegation from the Saudi Professional League in the 2021–22 season. The club was founded in 1937.

Domestically, Al-Ahli has won three Saudi Professional Leagues, holds record of 13 King's Cups, six Crown Prince Cups, one General League Shield, and one Super Cup. In international club football, they have won a record shared of 3 GCC Champions League and 1 Arab Club Championship. The first Saudi club combined the league and the King's Cup in the same season in 1968, and is the only club to do it twice - in 1978 and 2016.

Until the 2021-22 season, Al-Ahli was one of the four founding members of the Saudi Pro League had never been relegated from the top flight. The other three are Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad, and Al-Nassr. Al-Ahli hold the record for the longest unbeaten run in the league with their 51-match streak 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 over 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, the most famous foreign players are Omar Al Soma, Victor Simões, Nabil Maâloul, Imad Al Hosni and Mohamed Barakat.

History

Founded in 1937 by four young men, the Al Ahli Club is located in the heart of Jeddah, and serves as a sports beacon. It's strategically located on Jeddahs largest street, Prince Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz Street. The idea of Al-Ahli was conceived by students in Al-Falah school. Al-Falah is the oldest school in the city of Jeddah.

Prince Khalid bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Chairman of the Honorary Members and Honorary Members of the club throughout its history, became manager or the club while it was headed by Abdul Aziz Al Anqari. This was a historic day in Al Ahli Saudi FC's history, especially for Al Ahlawy, Al-Ahlis ultras. This was considered an honor, and happened shortly after the coach's unique achievement in the same year, 2008. He achieved four foreign championships with the handball team that won the Asian Club League Handball Championship.

The former Brazilian coach, Telê Santana coached Al-Ahli from 1983 to 1985 and won two titles, the League in 1984 and the King Cup in 1983. Al-Ahli has played eighteen King Cup finals. They've won thirteen of them, and lost 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 were also the first Saudi Club to play in the Asian Final. Al Ahli is one of the big four clubs in Saudi Arabia along with Al Hilal, Al Nasser, and their local rivals Al Ittihad.

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

In 2009, the club celebrated 75 years of historical achievements. On 3 July 2009, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz received the heads and members of the honor of the club and it's board of directors, on the occasion of Al-Ahli winning four International titles in 2008. The club was awarded the highest honor; it was presented with the shield of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for sports excellence, and the title "Ambassador of the Homeland".

Honours

Domestic

* Saudi Professional League:
**Champions: 1977–78, 1983–84, 2015–16
**Runners-up: 1989–90, 1995–96, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2002–03, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18
*King Cup:
**Winners: 1962, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1983, 2011, 2012, 2016
**Runners-up: 1974, 1976, 1984, 2014, 2017
* Saudi Super Cup:
**Winners: 2016
* Crown Prince Cup:
**Winners: 1957, 1970, 1998, 2002, 2006–07, 2014–15
**Runners-up: 1958, 1974, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009–10, 2015–16
* Saudi Federation Cup:
**Winners: 2001, 2002, 2007
**Runners-up: 1976, 1989, 1991, 1997
* General League Shield
**Winners: 1969
*Saudi Founder's Cup:
**Runners-up: 1999
* Domestic Treble
**Winners: 2016
* Double
**Winners: 1970, 1978, 2007

International

*AFC Champions League:
**Runners-up: 1985–86, 2012
* Arab Champions League:
**Winners: 2002–03
* Gulf Club Champions Cup:
**Winners: 1985, 2002, 2008

Kits and crest

Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors

Players

''As of 25 September 2020:''

Out on loan

Records

Asian record

Overview

Record by country

Matches

Notes

* QR: Qualifying round
* 1Q: First qualifying round
* 2Q: Second qualifying round
* 3Q: Third qualifying round
* PO: Play-off round
* A After extra time.

Top scorers in Asian competitions

Recent seasons

:

Player of the Year

Staff and management

Technical staff

Source:

Board members

Source:

Presidents

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)
* Jorge Vieira (1980–81)
* Carlos the Jackal (1981–82)
* Telê Santana (1983–85)
* Mahmoud El-Gohary (1985)
* Ahmed Bouajila (1985–1986)
* Mahmoud El-Gohary (1986–88)
* Eckhard Krautzun (1988–89)
* 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)
* Vantuir (1996–97)
* Zanata (1997)
* Cabralzinho (3 Oct 1998 – 3 Dec 1998)
* Amin Dabo (3 Dec 1998 – 21 Nov 1999)
* Zanata (21 Nov 1999 – 31 May 2000)
* Miguel Ángel López (22 Jun 2000 – 11 Oct 2000)
* Luka Peruzović (12 Oct 2000 – 11 Apr 2002)
* Yousef Anbar (caretaker) (11 Apr 2002 – 31 May 2002)
* Dimitri Davidovic (21 Jun 2002 – 4 Jan 2003)
* Ilija Lukić (4 Jan 2003 – 1 Jun 2003)
* Pierre Lechantre (15 Jul 2003 – 30 Sep 2003)
* Valmir Louruz (6 Oct 2003 – 20 Dec 2004)
* Geninho (25 Dec 2004 – 17 Jul 2005)
* Ilija Lukić (30 Jul 2005 – 19 Nov 2005)
* Yousef Anbar (caretaker) (19 Nov 2005 – 22 Dec 2005)
* Nebojsa Vučković (22 Dec 2005 – 22 May 2007)
* Theo Bücker (30 May 2007 – 2 Oct 2007)
* Yousef Anbar (caretaker) (2 Oct 2007 – 22 Oct 2007)
* Nebojsa Vučković (22 Oct 2007 – 6 Apr 2008)
* Yousef Anbar (6 Apr 2008 – 22 May 2008)
* Stoycho Mladenov (7 July 2008 – 8 May 2009)
* Gustavo Alfaro (1 June 2009 – 25 Nov 2009)
* Alan Guido (caretaker) (25 Nov 2009 – 25 Dec 2009)
* Sérgio Farias (25 Dec 2009 – 1 Jul 2010)
* Trond Sollied (1 Jul 2010 – 28 Aug 2010)
* Khaled Badra (caretaker) (28 Aug 2010 – Sept 10, 2010)
* Milovan Rajevac (Sept 10, 2010 – 20 Feb 2011)
* Aleksandar Ilić (24 Feb 2011 – 30 Jun 2011)
* Karel Jarolím (5 Aug 2011 – 28 Feb 2013)
* Aleksandar Ilić (28 Feb 2013 – 31 May 2013)
* Vítor Pereira (9 Jun 2013 – 5 May 2014)
* Christian Gross (16 Jun 2014 – 30 May 2016)
* José Manuel Gomes (31 May 2016 – 30 Sep 2016)
* Christian Gross (3 Oct 2016 – 31 May 2017)
* Serhii Rebrov (21 Jun 2017 – 19 Apr 2018)
* Fathi Al-Jabal (19 Apr 2018 – 15 May 2018)
* Pablo Guede (15 May 2018 – 5 Feb 2019)
* Jorge Fossati (8 Feb 2019 – 17 Apr 2019)
* Yousef Anbar (17 Apr 2019 – 21 May 2019)
* Branko Ivanković (18 Jun 2019 – 16 Sep 2019)
* Saleh Al-Mohammadi (caretaker) (16 Sep 2019 – 16 Oct 2019)
* Christian Gross (16 Oct 2019 – 17 Feb 2020)
* Mazen Bahkali (caretaker) (17 Feb 2020 – 28 Feb 2020)
* Vladan Milojević (28 Feb 2020 – 24 Mar 2021)
* Faiçal Gormi (caretaker) (24 Mar 2021 – 31 Mar 2021)
* Laurențiu Reghecampf (31 Mar 2021 – 31 May 2021)
* Besnik Hasi (6 Jun 2021 – 4 Mar 2022)
* Robert Siboldi (5 Mar 2022 – 4 Sep 2022)
* Yousef Anbar (caretaker) (4 Sep 2022 – 25 Sep 2022)
* Pitso Mosimane (25 Sep 2022 – )

References

External links

Official website

{{Saudi League, group=clubs

Ahli
Association football clubs established in 1937
Football clubs in Jeddah
1937 establishments in Saudi Arabia