Saudi Professional League

Saudi Professional League
Countries	Saudi Arabia
Confederation	AFC
Founded	1976
Number of teams	14
Levels on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Saudi First Division
Domestic cup(s)	Saudi Champions Cup
International cup(s)	Champions League
Current champions	Al-Hilal; (2010–11)
Most championships	Al-Hilal (13 titles)
TV partners	Al Jazeera Sports,; Saudi Sport,; ART Sport 7,; Line Sport
Website	www.spl.com.sa
	2011–12 season

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The Saudi Professional League, officially known as (Arabic: دوري المحترفين السعودي‎), is the main football competition in Saudi Arabia. The first competition was held in the year of 1976–77. Al-Hilal is the current title-holder (2010–11), and holds the best record in the competition, winning it 13 times.

The league also known for sponsorship reasons as Zain Saudi League, named after the sponsor Zain telecom.

[edit] History

Up until the late seventies, football in Saudi Arabia was organised on a regional basis, with the only nationwide tournament being the King's Cup. In 1976, it was deemed that local football, and transportation links, have improved sufficiently to organise a national league. Hence the Saudi League was launched with 8 clubs participating.

In 1981 it was decided to increase the number of clubs and add a second division. The league competition for the 1981–82, known as the ranking league, featured 18 clubs with the top eight qualifying for the first division and the bottom ten to the new second division. The number of first division clubs was later increased to 12 in the 1984–85 season.

In 1990 it was decided to revamp local competitions and to 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 to the final knockout stage, called the golden square. Clubs were allowed to sign players on a professional basis making the league semi professional.

In 2007 It was decided to split the two stages, with the league reverting to a standard double round-robin competition, and a new domestic competition cup competition formed called "The Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques Champions Cup". This cup will feature the top six finishers in the league plus the winners of the Crown Prince Cup and the Prince Faisal Cup. This format will take effect from the 2007–08 season onwards.

[edit] Qualification and prize money

The top four teams in the league qualify to the AFC Asian Champions League group stage. The top six qualify to Champions Cup.

Prize money:

First place: 2.5 million Saudi Riyals
Second place: 1.5 million Saudi Riyals
Third place: 1 million Saudi Riyals

[edit] List of teams (2011–12 season)

Club	Position in 2010/2011
Al-Ahli, Jeddah	6th
Al-Ansar, Al-Madinah	2nd in the Saudi First Division
Al-Ettifaq, Dammam	3rd
Al-Faisaly, Harmah	7th
Al Fateh, Al-Hasa	9th
Al-Hilal, Riyadh	1st
Al-Ittihad, Jeddah	2nd
Al-Nasr, Riyadh	5th
Al-Qadisiyah FC, Khobar	12th
Al-Raed, Buraydah	10th
Al-Shabab, Riyadh	4th
Al Taawon, Buraydah	8th
Hajer Club, Al-Hasa	1st in the Saudi First Division
Najran SC, Najran	11th

[edit] List of champions

No.	Season	Champion
1	1976–77	Al-Hilal
2	1977–78	Al-Ahli
3	1978–79	Al-Hilal
4	1979–80	Al-Nasr
5	1980–81	Al-Nasr
6	1981–82	Al-Ittihad
7	1982–83	Al-Ettifaq
8	1983–84	Al-Ahli
9	1984–85	Al-Hilal
10	1985–86	Al-Hilal
11	1986–87	Al-Ettifaq
12	1987–88	Al-Hilal
13	1988–89	Al-Nasr
14	1989–90	Al-Hilal
15	1990–91	Al-Shabab
16	1991–92	Al-Shabab
17	1992–93	Al-Shabab

No.	Season	Champion
18	1993–94	Al-Nasr
19	1994–95	Al-Nasr
20	1995–96	Al-Hilal
21	1996–97	Al-Ittihad
22	1997–98	Al-Hilal
23	1998–99	Al-Ittihad
24	1999–2000	Al-Ittihad
25	2000–01	Al-Ittihad
26	2001–02	Al-Hilal
27	2002–03	Al-Ittihad
28	2003–04	Al-Shabab
29	2004–05	Al-Hilal
30	2005–06	Al-Shabab
31	2006–07	Al-Ittihad
32	2007–08	Al-Hilal
33	2008–09	Al-Ittihad
34	2009–10	Al-Hilal

No.	Season	Champion
35	2010–11	Al-Hilal

[edit] Performance by club

[edit] Most successful clubs

No.	Club	Winners	Winning Years
1	Al-Hilal	13	1977, 1979, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011
2	Al-Ittihad	8	1982, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009
3	Al-Nasr	5	1980, 1981, 1989, 1994, 1995
	Al-Shabab	5	1991, 1992, 1993, 2004, 2006
5	Al-Ahli	2	1978 , 1984
	Al-Ettifaq	2	1983, 1987

[edit] Total titles won by town or city

Town or city	Number of titles	Clubs
Riyadh	23	Al-Hilal (13), Al-Nasr (5), Al-Shabab (5)
Jeddah	10	Al-Ittihad (8), Al-Ahli (2)
Dammam	2	Al-Ettifaq (2)

[edit] Topscorers

Year	Best scorers	Team	Goals
1976–77	Nasser Eid	Al-Qadisiya	12
1977–78	Mattamd Khojali	Al-Ahli	14
1978–79	Majed Abdullah	Al-Nassr	13
1979–80	Majed Abdullah	Al-Nassr	17
1980–81	Majed Abdullah	Al-Nassr	21
1981–82	Khalid Al-Ma'ajil	Al-Shabab	22
1982–83	Majed Abdullah	Al-Nassr	14
1983–84	Hussam Abu Dawood	Al-Ahli	14
1984–85	Hathal Dosari	Al-Hilal	15
1985–86	Majed Abdullah	Al-Nassr	15
1986–87	Mohammad Suwaidi	Al-Ittihad	17
1987–88	Khalid Al-Ma'ajil	Al-Shabab	12
1988–89	Majed Abdullah	Al-Nassr	19
1989–90	Sami Al-Jaber	Al-Hilal	16
1990–91	Fahad Al-Mehallel	Al-Shabab	20
1991–92	Saeed Al-Owairan	Al-Shabab	16
1992–93	Sami Al-Jaber	Al-Hilal	18
1993–94	Moussa Ndao	Al-Hilal	15
1994–95	Fahd Al-Hamdan	Al-Riyadh	15
1995–96	Ohene Kennedy	Al-Nassr	14
1996–97	Ahmed Bahja	Al-Ittihad	21
1997–98	Sulaiman Al-Hadaithy	Al-Najma	15
1998–99	Obeid Al-Dosari	Al-Wahda	20
1999–2000	Hamzah Idris	Al-Ittihad	33
2000–01	Paulo Da Silva	Al-Ettifaq	13
2001–02	Dane Valle	Al-Riyadh	10
2002–03	Carlos Tenorio	Al-Nassr	15
2003–04	Godwin Attram	Al-Shabab	15
2004–05	Sergio Ricardo	Al-Ittihad	15
2005–06	Essa Al-Mehyani	Al-Wahda	16
2006–07	Godwin Attram	Al-Shabab	13
2007–08	Nasser Al-Shamrani	Al-Shabab	18
2008–09	Nasser Al-Shamrani Hicham Aboucherouane	Al-Shabab Al-Ittihad	12
2009–10	Mohammad Al-Shalhoub	Al-Hilal	12
2010–11	Nasser Al-Shamrani	Al-Shabab	17