Al-Riyadh SC

Association football club in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Football club

Al-Riyadh

Full name

Al-Riyadh Saudi Club^[1]

Founded

1953; 71 years ago (1953) (as Ahli Al-Riyadh)

Ground

Prince Turki bin Abdul Aziz Stadium

Capacity

15,000^[2]

Manager

Odair Hellmann

League

Saudi Pro League

2022–23

FDL, 4th of 18 (promoted)

Website

Club website

Home colours

Away colours

Current season

Al-Riyadh active departments
Football (men's)	Football (women's)

Al-Riyadh SC (Arabic: نادي الرياض السعودي) is a professional football club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It currently plays in the Saudi Pro League (the first tier of professional football in Saudi Arabia). It was established in 1953 as Ahli Al-Riyadh, then changed its name to Al-Yamamah and finally to Al-Riyadh. Best known for its football team, Al-Riyadh also have squads in other sports.

Al-Riyadh have won one major title: the Crown Prince Cup in 1994.^[3] The team also finished as runners-up in the Saudi Premier League in 1994;^[4] they have never won the top league.

Al-Riyadh was promoted to the Saudi Pro League in 2023.^[3]

History

Early history

The club was founded in 1953 under the name "Ahli Al-Riyadh", before changing to "Al-Yamama" and then to "Al-Riyadh."^[5] It is currently based in west Riyadh.^[6] They reached the final of the Kings Cup in 1962 and 1978, but triumphed on neither occasion.^[7]

Golden era

Al-Riyadh was promoted to the Saudi Premier League at the end of the 1988/89 season after winning the Saudi First Division League.^[8]

In the early 1990s, under the leadership of the Brazilian coach Zumario and players such as Khalid Al-Qarouni, Talal Al-Jabreen, Yasser Al-Taafi and Fahd Al-Hamdan, Al-Riyadh won the Crown Prince Cup in 1994.^[4] They were unable to retain the Cup in 1995, losing in the final to Al-Hilal.^[9] However, they did win the 1995 Federation Cup^[7] and reached the semi-final of the 1995 Asian Cup Winners' Cup.^[10] In 1998, Al-Riyadh once again reached the finals of the Crown Prince Cup, and lost to Al-Ahli.^[11]

Al-Riyadh were relegated at the end of the 2004/5 season.^[12]

Return to the top flight

Al-Riyadh finished fourth in the Saudi First Division League in the 2022/23 season.^[13] Normally, a fourth-place finish would not be good enough for promotion, but the Saudi Premier League was expanding from 16 teams to 18, offering an additional promotion spot.^[3]

Honours

Domestic

Saudi Premier League
- Runners-up (1): 1993–94
Saudi First Division League
- Winners (2): 1977–78, 1988–89
- Runners-up (2): 1979–80, 1982–83
Kings Cup
- Runners-up (2): 1962, 1978
Crown Prince Cup
- Winners (1): 1993–94
- Runners-up (2): 1994–95, 1997–98
Prince Faisal Cup
- Winners (1): 1994–95

Continental

Arab Super Cup
- Runners-up (1): 1996

Current squad

As of 14 August 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	KSA	Rakan Al-Najjar
2	DF	KSA	Amiri Kurdi
4	DF	KSA	Mohammed Al-Shwirekh
5	DF	KSA	Khalid Al-Shuwayyi
6	DF	ROU	Alin Toșca (on loan from Benevento)
7	MF	KSA	Mohammed Al-Aqel
8	MF	KSA	Abdulelah Al-Khaibari
9	FW	JAM	Andre Gray
11	MF	ZIM	Knowledge Musona
12	DF	KSA	Abdullah Al-Dossari
13	DF	KSA	Humood Al-Dossari
14	FW	KSA	Saleh Al Abbas
15	MF	KSA	Abdulhadi Al-Harajin
16	MF	KSA	Saleh Al-Saeed
18	MF	KSA	Mohamed Al Oqil


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
20	MF	GAB	Didier Ndong
22	GK	KSA	Zaid Al-Bawardi
24	MF	KSA	Abdulmohsen Al-Qahtani
25	GK	URU	Martín Campaña
26	MF	KSA	Ali Al-Zaqaan
27	DF	KSA	Hussain Al-Nowaiqi
28	MF	KSA	Bader Al-Mutairi
29	DF	KSA	Ahmed Assiri
36	DF	BEL	Dino Arslanagić
40	GK	KSA	Abdulrahman Al-Shammari
60	MF	MLI	Birama Touré
66	MF	KSA	Majed Al-Qahtani
77	MF	KSA	Moayed Al-Houti
80	MF	KSA	Fahad Al-Rashidi
88	MF	KSA	Yahya Al-Shehri

Management staff

Position	Name
Manager	Odair Hellmann
Assistant Manager	Jânio Melo Lucas Borba
First-Team Coach	Vinícius Martins Hércules Júnior Laércio Pimenta
Goalkeeper Coach	Dušan Remić Walter Franta
Rehab Coach	Dyogo Frazão
Fitness Coach	Admilson Pinheiro
Youth Coach	Rafael Torres
Development Coach	Igor Luna
Head of Medical	Carlos Henrique Mendes
Doctor	Pedro Bernardes
Sporting Director	Victor Manuzzi

Managerial history

Khalid Al-Koroni (January 11, 2010 – April 12, 2010)
Fahd Al-Hamdan (caretaker) (April 12, 2010 – May 1, 2010)
Marian Bondrea (July 1, 2010 – February 19, 2011)
Mohamed Aldo (February 19, 2011 – May 30, 2011)
Djamel Belkacem (July 26, 2011 – May 30, 2012)
Ayman El Yamani (July 3, 2012 – December 12, 2012)
Habib Ben Romdhane (December 12, 2012 – May 1, 2014)
Amir Alagić (June 17, 2014 – September 15, 2014)
Lotfi Kadri (September 16, 2014 – December 15, 2014)
Zouhair Louati (December 15, 2014 – July 28, 2015)
Leandro Simpson (August 7, 2015 – December 18, 2015)
Abderrazek Chebbi (December 18, 2015 – April 30, 2016)
Sultan Khamees (June 23, 2016 – November 18, 2016)
Hani Anwar (November 18, 2016 – May 30, 2017)
Adel Latrach (July 13, 2017 – November 26, 2017)
Yousef Khamees (November 26, 2017 – February 14, 2018)
Bandar Al-Jaithen (February 14, 2018 – April 1, 2018)
Amro Anwar (August 15, 2018 – December 2, 2018)
Bandar Al-Jaithen (December 2, 2018 – January 27, 2019)
Khalid Al-Koroni (January 27, 2019 – October 15, 2019)
Saad Al-Subaie (October 15, 2019 – January 25, 2020)
Yousri bin Kahla (January 25, 2020 – February 7, 2021)
Anis Chaieb (February 10, 2021 – June 1, 2021)
Moncef Mcharek (June 24, 2021 – May 1, 2022)
Dejan Arsov (May 3, 2022 – September 8, 2022)
Teo Pirija (caretaker) (September 8, 2022 – September 18, 2022)
Damir Burić (September 18, 2022 – June 1, 2023)
Yannick Ferrera (June 6, 2023 – September 20, 2023)
Bandar Al-Kubaishan (caretaker) (September 20, 2023 – October 8, 2023)
Odair Hellmann (October 8, 2023 – )

International competitions

Overview

As of 1 July 2023

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
Arab Cup Winners' Cup	15	7	2	6	21	18
Arab Super Cup	2	0	2	0	1	1
Asian Cup Winners' Cup	4	3	0	1	7	2
TOTAL	21	10	4	7	29	21

Record by country

Country	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win%
Algeria	2	1	1	0	2	1	+1	050.00
Bahrain	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100.00
Egypt	2	0	1	1	3	4	−1	000.00
Jordan	2	1	0	1	1	1	+0	050.00
Kuwait	2	1	0	1	2	2	+0	050.00
Lebanon	2	2	0	0	5	0	+5	100.00
Qatar	1	0	0	1	1	3	−2	000.00
Saudi Arabia	1	0	1	0	0	0	+0	000.00
Sudan	1	1	0	0	2	1	+1	100.00
Syria	2	1	0	1	3	2	+1	050.00
Tunisia	3	0	1	2	1	4	−3	000.00
United Arab Emirates	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	100.00
Yemen	1	1	0	0	5	3	+2	100.00
TOTAL	21	10	4	7	29	21	+8	047.62

Matches

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1995	Arab Cup Winners' Cup	Group B	Al-Ahly	2–2		2nd
			Club Africain	0–1
			Al-Nasr	2–0
			Al-Ittihad Aleppo	2–0
		SF	ES Sahel	0–2		0–2
	Asian Cup Winners' Cup	2R	Homenmen	3–0	2−0	5–0
		QF	Kazma	2–1	0−1	2–2^[A]
		SF	Al-Talaba	–		Withdrew
1996	Arab Super Cup	Final	ES Tunis	1–1		2nd
	Arab Super Cup	Final	Al-Hilal	0–0		2nd
	Arab Cup Winners' Cup	Group A	Al-Muharraq	2–0		1st
			Al-Wehdat	1–0
			Olympique Médéa	1–1
		SF	Al-Faisaly	0–1		0–1
1999	Arab Cup Winners' Cup	QR	Al-Merrikh	2–1		2nd
			Al-Masry	1–2
			Al-Ittihad Ibb	5–3
		Group B	Al-Jaish	1–2		3rd
			Al-Gharafa	1–3
			MC Oran	1–0

Key: QR – Qualifying round; 1R/2R – First/Second round; R16 – Round of 16; QF – Quarter-final; SF – Semi-final;

Notes

Al-Riyadh advanced after Kazma withdrew.

References

^ "Al Riyadh Saudi Club". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
^ "Goalzz.com: live sports scores and news". www.goalzz.com. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c Hankinson, Andrew (18 August 2023). "Behind the scenes of the Saudi Pro League: What really awaits stars like Neymar". The Athletic. Archived from the original on 19 August 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
^ ^a ^b Novello, Alberto. "Saudi Arabia 1993/94". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
^ "مكافأة فوزنا على النصر بخمسة.. طاسة لبن من "أم حسين"!!". Al-Riyadh. 11 July 2010. Archived from the original on 13 August 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
^ "مكافأة فوزنا على النصر بخمسة.. طاسة لبن من "أم حسين"!!". alriyadh.com. 2 June 2006. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Saudi Arabia - List of Cup Winners". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
^ "Saudi Arabia 1988/89". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
^ Bobrowsky, Josef (4 May 2001). "Saudi Arabia 1994/95". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 1 January 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
^ "Asian Club Competitions 1995/96". RSSSF. 22 December 2016. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
^ Qayed, Mohammad (12 December 2002). "Saudi Arabia 1997/98". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
^ Qayed, Mohammed (6 December 2006). "Saudi Arabia 2004/05". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 26 March 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
^ Stokkermans, Karel. "Saudi Arabia 2022/23". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2023.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Riyadh club.

Official website
Team profile at Soccerway

Al-Riyadh SC – current squad

1 Al-Najjar
2 Kurdi
4 Al-Shwirekh
5 Al-Shuwayyi
6 Toșca
7 Al-Aqel
8 Al-Khaibari
9 Gray
11 Musona
12 A. Al-Dossari
13 H. Al-Dossari
14 Al Abbas
15 Al-Harajin
16 Al-Saeed
18 Al Oqil
20 Ndong
22 Al-Bawardi
24 Al-Qahtani
25 Campaña
26 Al-Zaqaan
27 Al-Nowaiqi
28 Al-Mutairi
29 Assiri
36 Arslanagić
40 Al-Shammari
60 Touré
66 Al-Qahtani
77 Al-Houti
80 Al-Rashidi
Manager: Hellmann

Saudi Arabian football leagues

Pro League

Clubs

Seasons

1970s	1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25