Saudi_Professional_League

Saudi Pro League

Saudi Pro League

Top division association football league in Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Pro League (SPL),[lower-alpha 1] known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL)[lower-alpha 2] for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of association football in the Saudi league system.

Quick Facts Organising body, Founded ...

The first season of competition was the 1976–77 season.[1] The league had been operating as a round-robin tournament from its inaugural season until the 1989–90 season, after that the Saudi Federation decided to merge the football League with the King's Cup in one tournament and the addition of the Golden Box. The Golden Box would be an end of season knockout competition played between the top four teams of the regular league season. These teams would play at a semi-final stage to crown the champions of Saudi Arabia. The league reverted to a round-robin system in the 2007–08 season.

The association is also regularly ranked with the highest coefficient in Asia due to successful and consistent performances in the AFC Champions League by its clubs. Al-Hilal is the most successful team, holding 18 titles in its history and most recently winning the title in 2021–22. Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad and Al-Nassr are also some of the most successful teams in the league.

Beginning in 2023, the league started experiencing widespread international exposure due to attracting numerous top level players from European leagues through financially lucrative contracts, immediately becoming a star-studded league. The nation's Public Investment Fund took 75% stakes in four founding members (Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal, and Al-Nassr) in the same year as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 program.

History

Up until the late 1950s, football in Saudi Arabia was organized on a regional basis, with the King's Cup being the only nationwide tournament. In 1957, the first qualification process consolidated the regional tournaments of the Central, West, East, and North regions. Clubs competed in their regional leagues to qualify for the King's Cup, which was the final stage of the competition. The winner of the King's Cup was not the league winner.[2]

1976 saw the start of the first-ever professional football league in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with eight teams, the following season the number of clubs increased to ten. The 1981–82 season saw the merger of both the Saudi Premier League and the Saudi First Division for that season exclusively to the concern of the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification process. Twenty teams were divided into two groups, A and B. The top two in each group would enter a semi-final stage to determine the overall champions. In the following season which reverted back to regular round-robin competition, the number of first-division clubs was later increased to 12 in the 1984–85 season.[citation needed]

In December 1990, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation decided to merge the league with the King Cup in one tournament, it was decided to revamp local competitions and introduce professional football. A new league championship was formed called "The Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques League Cup", which was a two-stage championship. The first stage was a regular double round-robin league competition with the top 4 qualifying for the final knockout stage, called the golden box. Clubs were allowed to sign players on a professional basis making the league semi-professional. This system lasted for seventeen seasons before reverting to a regular round-robin competition. The league became fully professional in 2007.[3]

As of 2008, depending on the nation's coefficient, four teams from Saudi Arabia qualify for the AFC Champions League annually. This includes the top three positions of the league, together with the winner of the King Cup. If the winner of the King Cup is also among the top three teams then the fourth-best team qualifies for the play-offs, and if the winner of the King Cup is not in the top three league positions in the league, the top two will qualify directly for the group stages while the third team will qualify for the AFC Champions League play-offs.[citation needed]

2023 Saudi "Revolution"

The Saudi Pro League made international headlines in 2023 due to many players from other leagues, particularly those in Europe, transferring to clubs for the 2023–24 season. Cristiano Ronaldo was the first star signing to the league, with the BBC deeming that he led this "revolution" in Asian football.[4] Upon his move to Al-Hilal, Neymar also credited Ronaldo for the immediate transformation of the league.[5] Other players who joined the league include Ballon d'Or-holder Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kanté, Roberto Firmino, Sergej Milinković-Savić, Sadio Mané, Riyad Mahrez and Jordan Henderson.[6][7] According to Spanish publication Marca the league has "shaken up the European transfer market".[8] The nation's Public Investment Fund took 75% stakes in four founding members (Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal, and Al-Nassr) in June 2023 as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 program.[9] These actions have been critcised by many sporting journalists and who have described the transfers as part of a sportswashing scheme by the Saudi government.[6][10]

Sponsorship

Starting in the 2009–10 season until the 2012-13 season, the league was sponsored by Zain Group.and was known as "Zain league"[11] From the 2013–14 season until the 2017–18 season, Abdul Latif Jameel was the sponsor and the league was known as "Jameel league", from the 2018–19 season until the 2021-22 season major restructuring of Saudi football, under which the league's name reverted to the "Saudi Pro League".[12][11][13] From the 2022-23 season, for a five-year period, the sponsor of the league is Roshn and the league is known as "Roshn Saudi league", Roshn is a real estate division of the Public Investment Fund.[14]

Competition format

Competition

There are 18 clubs in the Saudi Pro League. During the course of a season (usually from August to May) each club plays the other clubs twice (a double round-robin system), once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for 34 games. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by position on the league table depending on points, then the head-to-head record between the tied teams is taken into consideration, and then goal difference.[citation needed]

Promotion and relegation

A system of promotion and relegation exists between the Saudi Pro League and Saudi First Division League. The three lowest-placed teams in the Saudi Pro League are relegated to the First Division and the top three teams from the First Division are promoted to the Saudi Pro League.[citation needed]

Current teams

For details on the 2023–24 Saudi Pro League season, see here.

Locations of teams in the 2023–24 Saudi Pro League
Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
More information Team, Location ...

Champions

List of champions

More information No, Season ...

Performance by club

More information #, Club ...

Total titles won by city

More information City, Number of titles ...

League participation

As of 2023, 38 clubs have participated in the Saudi football top division.

Note: The tallies below include up to the 2023–24 season. Teams denoted in bold are current participants.[citation needed]

Top scorers

See also: List of Saudi Professional League hat-tricks

All-time top scorers

As of matches played 30 March 2024[22][23]

Boldface indicates a player still active in the Pro League.

More information Rank, Player ...

Top scorers by season

Season Nat. Top scorer(s) Club(s) Goals
1975–76 Saudi ArabiaMohammad S. AbdeliAl-Nassr13
1976–77 Saudi ArabiaNasser EidAl-Qadsiah7
1977–78 Saudi ArabiaMotamad KhojaliAl-Ahli14
1978–79 Saudi ArabiaMajed AbdullahAl-Nassr18
1979–80 Saudi ArabiaMajed AbdullahAl-Nassr17
1980–81 Saudi ArabiaMajed AbdullahAl-Nassr21
1981–82 Saudi ArabiaKhalid Al-Ma'ajilAl-Shabab22
1982–83 Saudi ArabiaMajed AbdullahAl-Nassr14
1983–84 Saudi ArabiaHussam Abu DawoodAl-Ahli14
1984–85 Saudi ArabiaHathal DosariAl-Hilal15
1985–86 Saudi ArabiaMajed AbdullahAl-Nassr15
1986–87 Saudi ArabiaMohammad SuwaidiAl-Ittihad17
1987–88 Saudi ArabiaKhalid Al-Ma'ajilAl-Shabab12
1988–89 Saudi ArabiaMajed AbdullahAl-Nassr19
1989–90 Saudi ArabiaSami Al-JaberAl-Hilal16
1990–91 Saudi ArabiaFahad Al-MehallelAl-Shabab20
1991–92 Saudi ArabiaSaeed Al-OwairanAl-Shabab16
1992–93 Saudi ArabiaSami Al-JaberAl-Hilal18
1993–94 SenegalMoussa N'DawAl-Hilal15
1994–95 Saudi ArabiaFahd Al-HamdanAl-Riyadh15
1995–96 GhanaOhene KennedyAl-Nassr14
1996–97 MoroccoAhmed BahjaAl-Ittihad21
1997–98 Saudi ArabiaSulaiman Al-HadaithyAl-Najma15
1998–99 Saudi ArabiaObeid Al-DosariAl-Wehda20
1999–00 Saudi ArabiaHamzah IdrisAl-Ittihad33
2000–01 AngolaPaulo da SilvaAl-Ettifaq13
2001–02 SenegalDiene FayeAl-Riyadh10
2002–03 EcuadorCarlos TenorioAl-Nassr15
2003–04 Ghana
Ivory Coast		Godwin Attram
Kandia Traoré		Al-Shabab
Al-Hilal		15
2004–05 SenegalMohammed MangaAl-Shabab15
2005–06 Saudi ArabiaEssa Al-MehyaniAl-Wehda16
2006–07 GhanaGodwin AttramAl-Shabab13
2007–08 Saudi ArabiaNasser Al-ShamraniAl-Shabab18
2008–09 Saudi Arabia
Morocco		Nasser Al-Shamrani
Hicham Aboucherouane		Al-Shabab
Al-Ittihad		12
2009–10 Saudi ArabiaMohammad Al-ShalhoubAl-Hilal12
2010–11 Saudi ArabiaNasser Al-ShamraniAl-Shabab17
2011–12 Saudi Arabia
Brazil		Nasser Al-Shamrani
Victor Simões		Al-Shabab
Al-Ahli		21
2012–13 United Arab EmiratesSebastián TagliabuéAl-Shabab19
2013–14 Saudi ArabiaNasser Al-ShamraniAl-Hilal21
2014–15 SyriaOmar Al SomahAl-Ahli22
2015–16 SyriaOmar Al SomahAl-Ahli27
2016–17 SyriaOmar Al SomahAl-Ahli24
2017–18 ChileRonnie FernándezAl-Fayha13
2018–19 MoroccoAbderrazak HamdallahAl-Nassr34
2019–20 MoroccoAbderrazak HamdallahAl-Nassr29
2020–21 FranceBafétimbi GomisAl-Hilal24
2021–22 NigeriaOdion IghaloAl-Hilal24
2022–23 MoroccoAbderrazak HamdallahAl-Ittihad21

Broadcasters

As of 26 December 2023
More information Country, Broadcaster ...

Notes

  1. Arabic: دوري المحترفين السعودي; The logo also used "MBS" as an abbreviation for the MBS Pro League (Prince Mohammad Bin Salman Professional League) until the 2021-22 season.
  2. Arabic: دوري روشن السعودي; Dawri Rushan as-Suʿūdī

See also

References

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    Amin Sawati. موسوعة تاريخ الحركة الرياضية في المملكة العربية السع ودية: بمناسبة مرور مائة عام على تأسيس المملكة العربية السعودية. مدينة الطيبات العالمية للعلوم والمعرفة،. ISBN 9789960351148.
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