The Bahraini Premier League is the main domestic

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

competition in the kingdom of

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

. Currently known as the Nasser bin Hamad Premier League, the first season was held in 1956-1957. The winners of the domestic championship qualify for the

AFC Champions League Two The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC Ch ...

. The championship is currently contested by 12 clubs.

Structure

Current structure

12 clubs currently play a two round robin set of fixtures totaling 22 games in order to determine the league champions. Although games are theoretically to be played on a home and away basis, almost all games are played at the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

. The eleventh and twelfth-placed clubs are relegated with the ninth and tenth entering the relegation play-offs.

Previous structures

In earlier seasons, the league has been radically overhauled to feature all the professional clubs of Bahrain. Instances being the 2008–09 and

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

league seasons. The leagues featuring up to 19 teams would play each other on one occasion with the top 10 teams staying in the Premier League top flight and the bottom sides (from 11 to 19) forming the next seasons Second Division. Between the seasons of 2002 and 2009, the top four sides of the league would also play in the

Crown Prince Cup The Saudi Crown Prince's Cup () was the oldest Saudi Arabian annual cup competition. History The cup was the oldest and first domestic football competition in Saudi Arabia; the first edition was held in 1956–57; five editions were played betwe ...

Clubs (2024–25)

A'Ali A'ali () is a major town in northern Bahrain. It is a part of the Northern Governorate, although from 2001 to 2014 it lay within the Central Governorate (Bahrain), Central Governorate. A'ali is famous for its Dilmun Burial Mounds, ancient burial ...

* Al-Ahli * Al-Khaldiya *

Al-Muharraq Muharraq () is Bahrain's List of cities in Bahrain, third most populous city and served as its capital until 1932 when it was replaced by Manama. The population of Muharraq in 2020 was 263,373. Muharraq served as the country’s capital until ...

* Al-Najma * Al-Riffa * Al-Shabab *

Bahrain SC Al-Bahrain Sports Club (), simply known as Bahrain, is a Bahraini multi-sports club best known for its football section, based in the island-governorate of Al-Muharraq. Their home stadium is Al Muharraq Stadium, which they share with local rivals ...

* East Riffa * Malkiya *

Manama Manama ( ', Bahrani Arabic, Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and List of cities in Bahrain, largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 297,502 as of 2012. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is ...

Sitra Sitra ( or , ''As-Sitra''), also known as Sitrah or Sitra Island ( ), is an island in Bahrain situated approximately south of the capital, Manama, which is on Bahrain Island. History The island of Sitra has witnessed various conflicts. One ...

Team re-structuring

In 2002, a host of clubs were amalgamated: * Bahrain is an amalgamation of Bahrain and Al-Khaleej. * Riffa is an amalgamation of West Riffa and Zallaq. * Al-Najma is an amalgamation of Al-Hilal, Al-Qadisiya and Ras Al-Rumman. * Al-Sahel is an amalgamation of Qalali and Hadd. * Al-Tadamun is an amalgamation of Boori, Karazkan, Hamla, Reef Union and Damastan. * Al-Shabab is an amalgamation of Deyya, Sanabis, Jadd Hafs, Naeem, Karrana, Sahla and Karbabad. * Al-Ittifaq is an amalgamation of Al-Arabi, Maqaba and Bani Jumra.

List of champions

Champions are:

Total championships

The number of national championships that clubs in Bahrain have attained.

Top scorers

References

External links

Bahrain Premiere League

goalzz.com – Bahraini Premiere League

Soccerway – Bahrain Premier League
{{AFC Leagues Football competitions in Bahrain Top-level football leagues in Asia Sports leagues established in 1956