Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah)

Al-Ittihad Club Saudi Arabia (Arabic: نادي الإتّحاد العربي السعودي), also known as Al-Ittihad Jeddah or simply Al-Ittihad, meaning The Union, is a Saudi Premier League football club based in Jeddah.

Al-Ittihad Football Club
Full nameAl-Ittihad Football Club
Nickname(s)Tigers
The People's Club
King of Asia
Founded4 January 1927 (1927-01-04)
GroundKing Abdullah Sports City
Capacity62,345[1]
ChairmanAnmar al-Ha'ili
ManagerCosmin Contra
LeaguePro League
2020–21Pro League, 3rd of 16
WebsiteClub website

The club was founded on 4 January 1927 before the third Saudi state was declared, making it the oldest and first sports club in Saudi Arabia. The most successful period in Al-Ittihad's history was the 1990s and mid 2000s, When the club won numerous honours both domestically and continental. The team won Cup Winners Cup in 1999 and two Champions League titles in 2004 and 2005 and as far as going on to compete in the 2005 FIFA Club World Cup. The club has the distinction of being one of the only three Asian clubs to have won the AFC Champions League twice in a row.

History

Foundation

The club was founded after a meeting, on 4 January 1927, of some of the notable football enthusiasts of the city of Jeddah. They met in the offices of the radio broadcasting company and discussed the idea of forming a football club to compete with various traveling teams and be a source of entertainment for inhabitants and an outlet for the city youth to practice organised sport. Everyone agreed that they should create the team that unites them and Ittihad Jeddah was born. The attendees were Hamza Fitaihi, Fahad Badkook, Abdulsamad Najeeb Alsaady, Ismail Zahran, Ali Yamani, Abdulaziz Jameel, Abdulateef Jameel, Abdulateef Linjawi, Othman Banajah, Ahmad Abu Talib, Ali Sultan, Ahmed Almir and Saleh Salamah.

Club name "United"

As long as we are here together, let's call it Al-Ittihad.

Mazen Mohammed

the name of club which contains from this wisdom, Mazen Mohammed words that created the current club name. Club owners agrees with him to put the club name Al-Ittihad (United or Union, jointly) in Arabic.

Earlier

Ismail Zahran team player who was working as in Radio Office in Jeddah to the possibility of electing the head of the works Mr. Sultan to be a President of the club, However, Ali Sultan became the first official president of the club. Al-Ittihad did not find at first a strong support, there wasn't an official clubs (communities) such as Al Riyadhi, Because the presence of powerful culture in the city of Jeddah only. the established of Saudi Federation was slowly in the 1950s, was established after 29 years from Ittihad foundation year. In their first meeting with Al-Riyadhi, Al-Ittihad make it victory with 3–0 won.

Their first championship (1933)

The club has achieved a historic first tournament, which was called the cup of Nishan Nazer, counted as an official tournament, The cup have formed a popularity of Al-Ittihad, Because of a challenge between them in the final. Depending on the narrator, the winner can burn the Embassy wood's. The Championship attended by several of the clubs, communities, fought Al-Ittihad where several games to achieve access to the final. with Al-Mukhtalat. The weather was dust, did not complete the first half, the match was stopped about 10 minutes. the referee stopped the game to rest for 8 minutes, the weather was changed for the better with the second half, Al-Mukhtalat squad had led to fail, it was a low attacking level. The most prominent player in the game is Al-Itithad defender Safwan which was sacrificed for his team. the club won the championship by 3–0 against Al-Mukhtalat. The most important characteristic of this tournament is the first sporting event held in the reign of the founder King Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud.

Rivalries

Jeddah Derby

The Jeddah derby between Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli is known to be one of the most competitive games in the Saudi League. From the start of national competitions both clubs were seen as representatives of two rivals from the same city: Jeddah.

Saudi Classico

Al-Ittihad also has a rivalry with the capital city Riyadh club, Al-Hilal. Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal have the biggest fansbase in Saudi Arabia. Also It's a fierce rivalry between the middle and lower class represented by Al Ittihad where are Al Hilal represent the high class of the people. Al-Ittihad is known to always play fiercely in the Classico no matter how much the team was going through difficulties.

Present-day

Ittihad's success is not limited only to football, but also in basketball, water polo, table tennis, volleyball, and swimming, amongst others. In total, Ittihad has won 8,649 trophies. However, football remains the primary sport.

Ittihad is now based in Sahafa street, Mushrefa district, in east Jeddah, where they have a large sports complex. Senior teams play official games at the municipal sports centre, in the south of the city, while youth teams play at the club.

In December 2006, the club offered what was thought to be the most lucrative deal in Arabian football to Portuguese midfielder Luís Figo. It was said that Luís Figo will join the club on July 1, 2007 after his current contract with Internazionale expires. However, not long after, Figo's current club, Internazionale released report that Figo had yet to sign a contract with Al-Ittihad and will not be joining. Figo has since extended his contract at Inter until the end of the 2007–08 season citing that the terms of the agreement were not kept and thus voided the contract.

In January 2010, the club convened an extraordinary club meeting after losing their 4th game of the 2009–10 season 1–2 to Al-Nasr. A decision was made to sack the head coach Gabriel Calderón and replace him with local coach Hassan Khalifa assisted by former striker Hamzah Idris.[2] On 27 January 2010, the club hired Argentinean coach Enzo Trossero to take over the reins of the team. On 15 December 2015 Ittihad FC appointed Victor Piturca as their manager for the second time after a string of bad results by the other coach. He lost his first game in AFC this season against Al-Nasr FC 2–1 on 13 March 2016.[3]

Support and Stadium

Al-Ittihad has built a strong fan-base across Saudi Arabia, amongst the Arab League and in Asia. The club supporters are renowned for being spirited and for their chants. Since its opening on 1 May 2014, Al-Ittihad shares the newly built King Abdullah Sports City Stadium with local rival Al-Ahli, with their previous home the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium facing construction delays.

Sponsorship

Official sponsor

In a press conference on 9 January 2006, president of the club Mansour Albalawi announced that Sela Sport Co (which is the sponsor of Saudi National Team) will pay 350 million riyals to sponsor Al-Ittihad for 5 seasons. Al-Ittihad was later on sponsored by the Saudi Telecom Company, however the team has not renewed STC's contract.

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
1999–03 Umbro Multiple
2003–05 Lotto Lingo
2006–07 Hattrick STC
2007–08 Nike
2008–10 Lotto
2010–12 Nike
2012–13 One
2013–2014 One None
2014–2015 Errea
2015–2016 Adidas Bupa Arabia / Mobil 1
2016–2017 Joma[4] Bridgestone / Unionaire / Almosafer / Mobil 1
2017–2018 Bridgestone / Unionaire / Mobil 1
2018-2019 Noon / faqih / Mobil 1
2019 Stribes /S.Team Noon / faqih / C. Hub / Al Wefaq Rent A Car / Ibrahim Al-Qurashi
2020 Tamim faqih / C. Hub / Al Wefaq Rent A Car / Ibrahim Al-Qurashi
2021 Erreà Yelo / Emkan

Club statistics

Club honours

1The tournament was held on February 25, 1933.

Other records

Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA GD P Domestic cups AFC Other Competitions! Top scorer Manager
1998–99 SPL12215344532+1348 CPC PFC ACWC, ASC GCC     Dimitri
1999–2000 SPL12216336923+4651 CPC   Hamzah Idris  33 Oscar
2000–01 SPL12211563523+1238 CPC EC     Ardiles
2001–02 SPL22215435925+3449 CPC     Oscar
2002–03 SPL12215435324+2949 CPC PFC SSC EC   Cleberson  8 Oscar, Khalid Al Koroni
2003–04 SPL22217505715+4256 CPC ACL   Mohammed Noor  8 Tomislav Ivić, Talajić, Luka Peruzović
2004–05 SPL32211565337+1638 CPC ACL ARCL   Sérgio Ricardo Messias Neves  13 Iordănescu
2005–06 SPL32211924728+1942 CPC ACL Quarter-finals   Mohamed Kallon  12 Metsu
2006–07 SPL12215345225+2748 CPC PFC   Alhassane Keita  21 Dimitri
2007–08 SPL22214624016+2448 CC ACL Group Stage Magno Alves 14 Calderón
2008–09 SPL12217415721+3655 CC PFC ACL Hicham Aboucherouane 17 Calderón
2009–10 ZPL22214354630+1645 CC ACL Group Stage Abdelmalek Ziaya 15 Calderón, Enzo Héctor
2010–11 ZPL226131214923+2051 CC ACL Semi-finals   Naif Hazazi 18 Manuel José, Toni, Dimitri
2011–12 ZPL52610794935+1437 CPC ACL Semi-finals   Hazazi 20 Kek, Raul Caneda
2012–13 ZPL7268993636033 CC   Fahad Al-Muwallad   9 Raul Caneda, Beñat
2013–14 ALJ62688104546−132 CC ACL Quarter-finals   Mukhtar Fallatah  31 Beñat, Amro Anwar, Juan Verzeri, Khalid Al Koroni
2014–15 ALJ42616464433+1152 CC   Marquinho  13 Khalid Al Koroni, Victor Pițurcă
2015–16 ALJ32615475437+1749 CC CPC ACL Group Stage   Gelmin Rivas  24 László Bölöni, Amro Anwar, Victor Pițurcă
2016–17 ALJ42617455737+2052 (-3) CPC   Kahraba  19 José Luis Sierra
2017–18 SPL9268993441-733 CC   Ahmed Akaïchi  10 José Luis Sierra
2018–19 MBS103097144445-134 CC   Fahad Al-Muwallad   11 Ramón Díaz, | Slaven Bilić, José Luis Sierra,

League records

Performance in AFC competitions

Season Stage
2001 Quarter-finals
2002 Second Round
2003 Did Not Qualify
2004 Champions
2005 Champions
2006 Quarter-finals
2007 Did Not Qualify
2008 Group Stage
2009 Runner-up
2010 Group Stage
2011 Semi-finals
2012 Semi-finals
2013 Did Not Qualify
2014 Quarter-finals
2015 Did Not Qualify
2016 Group stage
2017 Did Not Meet Qualification
2018 Did Not Meet Qualification
2019 Quarter-finals
2020 Did Not Qualify

Top scorers in AFC competitions

Ranking Nationality Name Years Goals
1 Saudi ArabiaMohammed Noor1996–1318
2 Saudi ArabiaNaif Hazazi2006–1314
3 Saudi ArabiaHamzah Idris1997–079
4 Saudi ArabiaFahad Al-Muwallad2012–8
5 AlgeriaAbdelmalek Ziaya2009–117
6 Saudi ArabiaMarzouk Al-Otaibi2000–077
7 Saudi ArabiaOsama Al-Muwallad2000–166
8 Sierra LeoneMohammed Kallon2005–066
9 MoroccoAhmed Bahja1996–996
10 MoroccoHicham Aboucherouane2008–105

AFC club rankings

Rankings are calculated by the AFC.[6]

Last update: December 1, 2017

Ranking Club Association Coefficient
4415 +29Persepolis Iran 10.902 0 21 0 26 57.902
2516 +9Gamba Osaka Japan 13.527 0 29 5 10 57.527
1417 -3Shandong Luneng Taishan China 13.409 8 10 25.5 0 56.909
1118 -7Pohang Steelers South Korea 18 27 0 11 0 56
1919Al-Ittihad Saudi Arabia 13.48 23 0 15 0 51.48
2220 +2Al Sadd Qatar 8.868 18 19.5 2 2 50.368

Source: Global Football Ranks

Asian Record

Players

Current squad

As of 25 January 2019[7][8]

No Position Player Nation
1 GK Rakan Al-Najjar  Saudi Arabia
3 FW Abdulrahman Al-Yami  Saudi Arabia
4 DF Ziyad Al-Sahafi  Saudi Arabia
5 DF Omar Hawsawi  Saudi Arabia
6 MF Khaled Al-Samiri  Saudi Arabia
8 MF Fahad Al-Muwallad  Saudi Arabia
9 FW Youssouf Niakaté  France
11 MF Abdulaziz Al-Bishi  Saudi Arabia
12 GK Mohammed Abo Asidah  Saudi Arabia
13 DF Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti  Saudi Arabia
14 MF Awad Al-Nashri  Saudi Arabia
15 MF Omar Al-Jadani  Saudi Arabia
16 MF Abdulaziz Al-Jebreen  Saudi Arabia
17 DF Abdullah Al-Hafith (on loan from Al-Wehda)  Saudi Arabia
19 MF Bruno Henrique  Brazil
20 MF Karim El Ahmadi  Morocco
21 DF Abdulmohsen Fallatah  Saudi Arabia
22 GK Saleh Al-Ohaymid  Saudi Arabia
23 DF Mohammed Al-Oufi  Saudi Arabia
24 MF Abdulrahman Al-Aboud  Saudi Arabia
26 DF Ahmed Hegazi  Egypt
27 DF Hamdan Al-Shamrani  Saudi Arabia
29 MF Ahmed Bahusayn  Saudi Arabia
32 DF Hazim Al-Zahrani  Saudi Arabia
34 GK Marcelo Grohe  Brazil
66 DF Saud Abdulhamid  Saudi Arabia
70 FW Haroune Camara  Saudi Arabia
77 MF Igor Coronado  Brazil
88 MF Abdulellah Al-Malki  Saudi Arabia
90 FW Romarinho  Brazil

Unregistered players

No Position Player Nation
25 DF Hassan Al-Asmari  Saudi Arabia
35 DF Basel Al-Hudhaif  Saudi Arabia
MF Younes Abdulwahed  Saudi Arabia

Out on loan

No Position Player Nation
28 MF Essam Al-Muwallad (on loan to Al-Kholood)  Saudi Arabia
55 MF Saher Al-Suraihi (on loan to Al-Kawkab)  Saudi Arabia
98 MF Abdulmajeed Al-Zahrani (on loan to Jeddah)  Saudi Arabia
GK Malek Tolah (on loan to Al-Kholood)  Saudi Arabia
DF Aseel Abed (on loan to Melilla)  Saudi Arabia
MF Abdulelah Hawsawi (on loan to Jeddah)  Saudi Arabia
MF Abdulaziz Al-Dhuwayhi (on loan to Al-Shoulla)  Saudi Arabia
MF Ali Al-Rie (on loan to Al-Ain)  Saudi Arabia
MF Mohammed Sawaan (on loan to Al-Kholood)  Saudi Arabia
FW Abdulaziz Al-Aryani (on loan to Al-Batin)  Saudi Arabia

Notable players

Players with senior international caps:

KSA ASIA AFRICA UEFA CONMEBOL CONCACAF

Personnel

Current technical staff

Position Staff
Head coach Cosmin Contra
Assistant Coach Laurențiu Roșu
Assistant Coach Hasan Khalifa
Fitness Coach Ivan Rafael Diaz
Senior Performance Analyst German Rodriguez Montes
Goalkeeping Coach Daniel Tudor

Management

President Anmar al-Ha'ili
Vice President Ahmed Kaaki
Chief Executive Officer Abdulwahab Abed
Director of Football Hamed Al-Balawi
Director of Investments Area Louai Ghalayini
board member Mohammed Qutub

Managerial history

Source:[9]

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References

  1. "King Abdullah Sports City". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  2. Saudi League champs Al Ittihad sack Calderon. footballnet.espn.go.com (2010-01-13). Retrieved on 2012-05-28.
  3. "Al-Ittihad FC live scores, results, fixtures | Soccer, Saudi Arabia". www.flashscore.com. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  4. "AL ITTIHAD FC JOINS JOMA SPORT". Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  5. not official by Saudi FA nor Egyptian FA
  6. "AFC Club Ranking (2012‐2015)" (PDF). the-afc.com. Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  7. "الفريق الاول لكرة القدم". Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  8. "الاتحاد - Al Ittihad". Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  9. "نادي الاتحاد السعودي لكرة القدم - منتدى الاتحاد السعودي - #شبكة_الاتحاد".
  10. "Mais de 40 anos vivendo futebol" (in Portuguese). luxemburgo.com.br. Archived from the original on 21 August 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2013.

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