Al-Shabab FC (Riyadh)
Al-Shabab Football Club (Arabic: نادي الشباب) is a Saudi Arabian professional football club based in Riyadh. It was founded in 1947, and was named at first Shabab Al Riyadh (Arabic: شباب الرياض), but in 1967 was renamed Al Shabab.
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| Full name | Al Shabab Football Club | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Al Leith (White Lion) | |||
| Founded | 1947 | |||
| Ground | King Fahd Stadium, Riyadh | |||
| Capacity | 68,752[1] | |||
| Chairman | Khalid Al Baltan | |||
| Manager | Pedro Caixinha | |||
| League | Pro League | |||
| 2018–19 | Pro League, 5th of 16 | |||
| Website | Club website | |||
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History
Al Shabab was the first football club in Riyadh. The club began in 1947, with many conflicts before with its numerous members, but it was settled in 1947 and Abdulrahman Bin Saeed was the president. Five years later, Al Shabab won its first tournament beating Sakit Al Hadeed (Railway Club) in Riyadh. Three years later, in 1955 Al Shabab beat the Military College to win the King Saud Cup. Two years passed, and a new conflict arose in 1957. The player, Saleh Jaber, was assigned captain, but then was fired, and the new captain was Ahmed Lmfoon. This did not please some members of the club. Soon the conflict was impossible to solve, and Abdulrahman Bin Saeed and some members, left Al Shabab and created a new football club, which is the club known today as Al-Hilal. The club stopped for half a year due to financial weakness after the departure of its founder Abdulrahman Bin Saeed. Then in the beginning of 1959 another problem began, Abdullah Bin Ahmed, the president then, was all alone taking care of the club. He couldn't take the pressure of handling the club alone, and decided to take a vacation abroad. Before traveling, he disbanded the first team, and most of the players signed for other clubs mainly Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal. What was left was the youth team, and the player Abdulrahman Bin Ahmed decided to take care of the youth team. Soon Abdullah Bin Ahmed returned, and many members returned and supported the club. Then Abdullah Bin Ahmed announced the return of forming the first team, and some players returned, but some stayed at Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal. Also in 1959 was the formation of the Saudi Football Federation, and all football clubs were announced official. In 1960 in the first official tournament called King Saud Cup for the Central Province, Al Shabab faced Al Hilal in their first official games between the two, and won 3–0 to win their first cup.
In the 1960s, everyone wanted to play and be part of the club, and after the request of Al Najmah FC and Al Marekh in 1967, they were united as one club and changed their name from Shabab Riyadh, to simply Al Shabab. The colors of the team were at first white and green, then they were changed after the unification to orange and blue, but in 1977 it was changed to white, gray, and black, the current colors. In 1975 Al Shabab was delegated to the 1st Division. But the next season it was able to win 1st place, and was relegated back to the Premier League in 1976. In 1993, Al Shabab became the first club in Saudi Arabia to win 3 premier leagues in a row. In 2007, Al Shabab became the first club in Saudi Arabia to build projects to increase the club's revenue, and began a 200 million dollar project which contains a 5 star hotel, and a shopping mall. During a visit to the club in January 2008, Al Shabab's main supporter, Khalid bin Sultan, announced the launch of two new projects, Al Laith TV Channel, and Al Shabab Museum.
Achievements
- Saudi Premier League:
- Saudi King's Cup :
- Crown Prince Cup:
- Saudi Super Cup:
- Champion: 2014
- Runner-up (2): 1999, 2000
- Champion: 2014
- Asian Cup Winners Cup:
- Champion: 2001
- Arab Champions League:
- Champion (2): 1992, 1999
- Arab Super Cup:
- Champion (2): 1996, 2001
- Gulf Club Champions Cup:
- Champion (2): 1993, 1994
- Saudi First Division (Division 2):
- Champion: 1979
- Saudi Federation cup (U21):
- Champion (4): 1988, 1989, 2009, 2010
Performance in AFC competitions
- AFC Champions League: 9 appearances
- Asian Club Championship: 3 appearances
- Asian Cup Winners Cup: 2 appearance
- Asian Super Cup: 1 appearance
- Runner-up : 2001
Records
- First Saudi club to win three Saudi Premier League in a row (1991, 1992, and 1993).[2]
- First Saudi club to win the professional and new Saudi Premier League, in 1991.
- Only club in the world to play two games in one day, in 1999 in the afternoon in the Arab Elite Cup final, and at night in the Crown Prince Cup final against Al-Hilal. This was due to bad planning by the Saudi FA, in which Al Shabab decided to use two teams, one in Syria to play the Arabic final, and another composed of the starting players in Riyadh to play the Crown Prince Cup final against Al-Hilal, in which they lost the Arabic final, but won the Crown Prince Cup.
- Largest margin win was against Al Shoalah during a friendly tournament in 2007, 8–0. Largest margin win in an official game was against Al-Ta'ee in the Saudi Premier League in 2003, 7–0. Largest margin win against a high-ranked club was 6–1 against Al-Nasr in the Saudi Premier League 2004.
Current squad
Other players under contract
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