Abha Club
Full nameAbha Football Club
Nickname(s)Zaeem Al-Janoub (The Leaders of the South)
Founded1966 (1966), as Al-Farouk
1972 (1972), as Al-Wadiea
1999 (1999), as Abha[1]
GroundPrince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium
Abha, Saudi Arabia
Capacity25,000[2]
ChairmanAhmed Al-Hodaithi[3]
ManagerGeorge Timis (Caretaker)
LeagueSaudi Pro League
2022–23Pro League, 12th of 16
WebsiteClub website

Abha Football Club (Arabic: نادي أبها السعودي) is a professional Saudi football club based in Abha that is currently playing in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of Saudi football. Their home stadium is Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium.

They were first promoted to the top flight in 2005 when they finished as runners up in the First Division. However, they were relegated after just one season. They achieved their second promotion in 2008 when they also finished as runners up. During the 2018–19 season Abha won their first First Division title as well as promotion to the Pro League for the third in the club's history.[4] Abha have won the Saudi Third Division once, during the 1998–99 season and the Saudi Second Division once, during the 1999–2000 season.

The club play their home games at Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium (also known as Al-Mahalah) in Abha. They share the stadium with rivals Damac, with whom they contest the Asir derby.[5]

History

The idea of establishing a sports club in Abha started with the personal initiative of Abdullah Al-Muallami in 1947. His reasons for establishing a sports club was so that the youth of Abha had a place to practice and play football. The youth of Abha continued practicing without an official sports club until the year of 1960. Then the idea of establishing a sports club was put in motion. The aim of establishing a sports club wasn't only a sport-related one; it was also aimed to be an educational and sociable club. A meeting was held on this topic, and the attendees agreed to establish a sports club in Abha. However, a problem arose in the meeting which caused a split between the attendees. The cause of the split was the naming of the club. One half wanted the club's name to be Al-Ahli Club in Asir the other half wanted the name to be Ittihad Shabab Asir. An agreement was not reached and eventually, two clubs were established in Abha.[6] And in the year 1966, the club was officially registered with the GSA under the name of Al-Farouk Sports Club in Abha. The club's first official president was Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al-Nuaami who changed the club's name from Al-Ahli Sports Club to Al-Farouk Sports Club.[7]

During the same time, Al-Ittihad Sports Club in Abha was formed and the first official president was Aziz bin Mustafa. Under directives from the GSA, Al-Ittihad Sports Club changed their name to Abha Sports Club in 1962.[8] This was due to a club already named Al-Ittihad Sports Club in Jeddah. And in the year of 1968, Abha Sports Club once again changed their name but this time to Al-Siddiq Sports Club, in commemoration to Abu Bakr, first of the Rashidun Caliphates. In early 1969, the GSA decided to merge both clubs, Al-Farouk and Al-Siddiq, to form one club under the name of Al-Farouk Sports Club. Sheikh Suleiman bin Ahmed Mimish was the first president of the newly merged club.[9]

In 1972, Al-Farouk Sports Club held a ceremony in honor of Prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud on the occasion of his appointment as the governor of Asir. The ceremony was held at the club's headquarters and a number of matters which concern the club were discussed. One of the matters that were discussed was a name change proposed by the Prince to members of the club's board. It was unanimously agreed by members of the board and fans of the club to change the club's name to Al-Wadiea Sports Club. Al-Wadiea achieved promotion to the Saudi First Division for the first time in 1977. They spent two seasons in the First Division before being relegated to the regional leagues. In 1983, the club once again achieved promotion to the First Division and spent two seasons before being relegated at the end of the 1984–85 season. Al-Wadiea were once again promoted in 1994 before being relegated after a season. In 1999, the club changed their name from Al-Wadiea Sports Club to Abha Sports Club.[10] That same year, the club was promoted to the Second Division under the guidance of Saad Saleh Al-Bishri as manager. A year later the club achieved promotion once again but this time to the First Division with the Algerian, Elias Bou Zaid, as manager. In 2005, Abha were promoted to the Pro League, the top tier of Saudi football, for the first time after finishing second in the 2004–05 season.[11] The club were relegated after just a season in the top tier. Abha once again reached the Pro League after finishing second in the 2007–08 season. They were relegated after a season following their loss to Al-Raed in the relegation play-offs.[12] Abha then spent six consecutive seasons in the Saudi First Division before getting relegated to the Second Division for the first time since 2000.[13] On 4 May 2018, Abha defeated Al-Watani 2–1 on aggregate in the promotion play-offs to earn promotion to the second tier.[14] On 30 April 2019, Abha were promoted to the top flight for the third time after a 2–2 draw away to Al-Nojoom.[15] This was their second promotion in two seasons, becoming the sixth Saudi team to achieve this feat. On 11 May 2019, Abha won their first MS League title despite losing to Al-Qaisumah.[16] The 2019–20 season was Abha's most successful season in the Pro League. They achieved their highest finish in the top flight after finishing ninth. The club also reached the semi-finals of the King Cup for the first time.[17]

Recent seasons

Season Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P King Cup Crown Prince Cup Federation Cup Notes
2001–02 2D 5th 18846 272528 – Round of 16 Group stage
2002–03 2D 5th 22985 383435 – Round of 16 Group stage
2003–04 2D 6th 22778 342728 – 3rd qualifying round Winners
2004–05 2D 2nd 261385 543147 – 1st qualifying round Semi-finals Promoted
2005–06 1D 11th 223415 245713 – Round of 16 Semi-finals Relegated
2006–07 2D 10th 268711 354631 – 2nd qualifying round Quarter-finals
2007–08 2D 2nd 261367 473745 – 2nd qualifying round Semi-finals Promoted
2008–09 1D 11th 224711 194019 – Round of 16 Group stage Relegated
2009–10 2D 4th 261259 393641 – 2nd qualifying round Quarter-finals
2010–11 2D 4th 3013125 594351 – 3rd qualifying round –
2011–12 2D 4th 301479 362849 – 1st qualifying round –
2012–13 2D 8th 3011811 414541 – Play-off round –
2013–14 2D 10th 309129 414039 Round of 16 Round of 32 –
2014–15 2D 15th 3051015 365625 Round of 16 Round of 32 – Relegated
2015–16 3D 7th 18486 192420 Round of 32 – –
2016–17 3D 7th 18486 141520 1st qualifying round – –
2017–18 3D 4th 18765 202227 1st qualifying round – – Promoted
2018–19 2D 1st 3819127 523869 Round of 16 – – Promoted
2019–20 1D 9th 3011514 415238 Semi-finals – –
2020–21 1D 13th 3010614 425036 Round of 16 – –
2021–22 1D 9th 309813 274335 Round of 16 – –

Honours

Current squad

As of 7 September 2023

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Saudi Arabia KSA Abdullah Al-Shammeri
3 DF Saudi Arabia KSA Mohammad Naji
4 DF Iraq IRQ Saad Natiq
5 MF Poland POL Grzegorz Krychowiak
6 DF Saudi Arabia KSA Ahmed Al-Habib
7 FW Cameroon CMR Karl Toko Ekambi
8 MF Serbia SRB Uroš Matić
9 FW Saudi Arabia KSA Hassan Al-Ali
10 MF Tunisia TUN Saad Bguir
11 FW Guinea GUI François Kamano
12 GK Saudi Arabia KSA Abdulrahman Al-Bouq
13 DF Saudi Arabia KSA Mohammed Al-Kunaydiri
14 MF Saudi Arabia KSA Fahad Al-Jumayah
16 GK Romania ROU Ciprian Tătărușanu
17 DF Saudi Arabia KSA Saleh Al-Qumayzi
18 DF Argentina ARG Fabián Noguera
21 MF Saudi Arabia KSA Zakaria Sami
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 DF Saudi Arabia KSA Yousef Al Aqil
23 MF Saudi Arabia KSA Nasser Al-Omran
24 DF Saudi Arabia KSA Mohammed Al-Oufi
25 MF Saudi Arabia KSA Abdulrahman Al-Alawi
27 MF Saudi Arabia KSA Hassan Al-Qayd
29 MF Saudi Arabia KSA Mohammed Al-Qahtani
30 DF Saudi Arabia KSA Ziyad Al-Sahafi
32 DF Saudi Arabia KSA Sulaiman Asiri
33 GK Saudi Arabia KSA Mansour Jawhar
55 MF Saudi Arabia KSA Waleed Asiri
61 MF Saudi Arabia KSA Essam Al-Bahri
71 FW Eritrea ERI Ahmed Abdu Jaber
77 FW Saudi Arabia KSA Meshal Al-Mutairi
80 MF Saudi Arabia KSA Abdulelah Al-Shammeri
88 MF Saudi Arabia KSA Saad Al-Selouli
90 FW Saudi Arabia KSA Omar Al-Ruwaili
97 MF Saudi Arabia KSA Waseem Al-Shehri

Unregistered players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
60 GK Cameroon CMR Devis Epassy
No. Pos. Nation Player
63 MF Saudi Arabia KSA Abdulrahman Al-Barakah

Management staff

Position Name
Caretaker ManagerRomania George Timis
Assistant ManagerSaudi Arabia Muhannad Al-Sabr
Assistant ManagerSaudi Arabia Abdullah Al-Gharib
Goalkeeper CoachSaudi Arabia Sultan Al-Alawi
Fitness CoachSaudi Arabia Jaber Al-Khahlali
Match AnalystSaudi Arabia Hussein Al-Kheybari
DoctorSaudi Arabia Faisal Al-Mussalam
PhysiotherapistSaudi Arabia Isa Al-Hahbrani
Director of footballSaudi Arabia Fawzi Al-Marzouq
Technical DirectorBelgium Fangio Buyse

Managerial history

  • Sudan Hassan Khairi (1971 – 1972)
  • Egypt Hosni Matar (1982 – 1985)
  • Tunisia Wajdi Essid (1997 – 1998)
  • Saudi Arabia Saad Al-Beshri (1998 – 1999)
  • Algeria Elias Bou Zaid (1999 – 2000)
  • Saudi Arabia Saad Al-Beshri (2000 – 2001)
  • Romania Constantin Pascal (October 11, 2001 – January 5, 2002)
  • Algeria Boualem Laroum (January 5, 2002 – May 30, 2002)
  • Brazil João Alves (July 1, 2002 – May 30, 2004)
  • Saudi Arabia Saad Al-Beshri (August 1, 2004 – February 18, 2005)
  • Tunisia Yousef Al Suryati (February 18, 2005 – October 15, 2005)
  • Saudi Arabia Saad Al-Beshri (October 15, 2005 – December 2, 2005)
  • Brazil José Kleber (December 2, 2005 – March 24, 2006)
  • Saudi Arabia Saad Al-Beshri (March 24, 2006 – April 30, 2006)
  • Brazil Carlos Dante (May 24, 2006 – January 16, 2007)
  • Tunisia Mourad Okbi (January 21, 2007 – May 30, 2007)
  • Morocco Abdelkader Youmir (August 22, 2007 – October 18, 2008)
  • Saudi Arabia Saad Al-Beshri (October 18, 2008 – November 1, 2008)
  • Morocco Idris Obeis (November 1, 2008 – November 22, 2009)
  • Tunisia Nasser Nefzi (November 18, 2009 – April 27, 2010)
  • Czech Republic Otakar Dolejš (July 1, 2010 – October 1, 2011)
  • Tunisia Zuhair Al Louti (October 1, 2011 – May 28, 2012)
  • Egypt Emad Soliman (May 28, 2012 – November 17, 2012)
  • Portugal José Rachão (November 24, 2012 – March 23, 2013)
  • Saudi Arabia Ibrahim Al-Aasmi (March 23, 2013 – June 1, 2013)
  • Czech Republic Otakar Dolejš (July 1, 2013 – September 14, 2014)
  • Italy Riccardo De Vivo (September 26, 2014 – March 25, 2015)
  • Tunisia Jamal Belhadi (February 19, 2015 – March 25, 2015)
  • Saudi Arabia Ibrahim Al-Aasmi (March 25, 2015 – May 1, 2015)
  • Tunisia Yousri bin Kahla (August 1, 2015 – November 15, 2015)
  • Tunisia Karim Dalhoum (November 26, 2015 – March 1, 2016)
  • Tunisia Lotfi El Hashmi (June 29, 2016 – January 14, 2017)
  • Saudi Arabia Ibrahim Al-Aasmi (January 14, 2017 – May 1, 2017)
  • Tunisia Mounir Hariz (April 16, 2017 – December 18, 2017)
  • Saudi Arabia Ibrahim Al-Aasmi (December 18, 2017 – January 28, 2018)
  • Saudi Arabia Ahmed Mehrez (January 28, 2018 – May 10, 2018)
  • Tunisia Abderrazek Chebbi (June 14, 2018 – June 1, 2021)
  • Slovakia Martin Ševela (July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022)
  • Belgium Sven Vandenbroeck (July 16, 2022 – October 8, 2022)
  • Poland Mateusz Lajczak (caretaker) (October 8, 2022 – October 30, 2022)
  • Netherlands Roel Coumans (October 30, 2022 – June 1, 2023)
  • Poland Czesław Michniewicz (June 12, 2023 – October 1, 2023)
  • Romania George Timis (caretaker) (October 1, 2023 – October 9, 2023)
  • Tunisia Yousef Al Mannai (October 9, 2023 – December 17, 2023)
  • Romania George Timis (caretaker) (December 17, 2023 – )

Presidential history

As of 17 November 2023.[18]

No Name From To
1 Saudi Arabia Mohammed Al-Nuaami 1966 1968
2 Saudi Arabia Ahmed Mottain 1968 1968
3 Saudi Arabia Suleiman Habtar 1969 1970
4 Saudi Arabia Aziz bin Mustafa Aziz 1970 1972
5 Saudi Arabia Suleiman Mimish 1972 1973
6 Saudi Arabia Dhafer Al-Obaidi 1973 1974
7 Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Rashed Salamah 1977 1977
8 Saudi Arabia Khaled Mohammed Sheikho 1978 1978
9 Saudi Arabia Mohammed Al-Fawaz 1979 1979
10 Saudi Arabia Abdulrahman Abo Melha 1981 1984
11 Saudi Arabia Hani Abu Ghazaleh 1985 1987
12 Saudi Arabia Saleh Qadeh 1988 1990
13 Saudi Arabia Mustafa bin Abdullah Aziz 1991 1993
14 Saudi Arabia Hamad Shabib Al-Dossari 1993 1996
15 Saudi Arabia Abdulwahab Al Mojathel 1997 2002
16 Saudi Arabia Hamad Shabib Al-Dossari 2002 2005
17 Saudi Arabia Abdulwahab Al Mojathel 2005 2006
18 Saudi Arabia Meshafi Al-Maqrafi 2006 2006
19 Saudi Arabia Ali Al-Shehri 2006 2006
20 Saudi Arabia Abdulrahman bin Mohammed Faisal 2006 2008
21 Saudi Arabia Saad Al-Ahmari 2008 2008
22 Saudi Arabia Abdulwahab Al Mojathel 2009 2009
23 Saudi Arabia Saad Al-Ahmari 2010 2013
24 Saudi Arabia Ahmed Al-Hodithy 2013

See also

References

  1. ↑ "الأندية الرياضية".
  2. ↑ "Prince Sultan Sport City Stadium (Mahalah)".
  3. ↑ "مجلس الإدارة". Archived from the original on 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
  4. ↑ "بعد غياب 12 عاماً.. أبها يصعد إلى دوري المحترفين".
  5. ↑ "ديربي عسير التاريخي بين زعيم وفارس".
  6. ↑ "من هو نادي أبها".
  7. ↑ "تاريخ النادي".
  8. ↑ "حكاية نادي .. أبها فارس عسير والنادي الأول في المنطقة الجنوبية".
  9. ↑ ""ميمش" أول رؤساء أبها.. و"ابن مجثل" حقق الحلم".
  10. ↑ "الأمير خالد الفيصل يبارك تغيير مسمى الوديعة الى أبها".
  11. ↑ "لجنة الحكام تهنئ الأندية بمناسبة الصعود".
  12. ↑ ""رائد التحدي" يعلن البقاء في دوري الأضواء".
  13. ↑ "نائب رئيس أبها السابق: 14 سببا عرقلت النادي".
  14. ↑ "رياضي / فريق أبها يصعد لدوري الأمير محمد بن سلمان لأندية الدرجة الأولى بفوزه على الوطني".
  15. ↑ "أبها يعود إلى دوري المحترفين بعد غياب 10 أعوام".
  16. ↑ "أبها بطلا لدوري الأمير محمد بن سلمان للدرجة الأولى".
  17. ↑ "ابها يحجز مقعده في نصف نهائي كاس الملك على حساب الفتح".
  18. ↑ "رؤوساء النادي في تاريخه". Archived from the original on 2021-03-06. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
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