Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah)

Al-Ittihad

2022–23		Pro League, 1st of 16
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

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

Al-Ittihad Saudi Arabian Club (

Al-Ittihad matches are played at Jeddah's main stadium King Abdullah Sports City, which is the second-largest stadium in Saudi Arabia, accommodating 62,345 spectators.^[1] Al Ittihad has a long-standing rivalry with Al-Hilal, which is referred to as Saudi El Clasico, and is considered the most prominent and most watched annual match(es) in Saudi football.^[4]

It is the oldest sports club still surviving in Saudi Arabia, as the club was founded in 1927.^[4] The most successful period in the club history was the 1990s and the 2000s,^[1] when the club achieved a large number of titles and achievements domestically, regionally, and even globally culminating in the club securing the 4th place in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship in Japan.

Al-Ittihad is one of the most successful Asian club at domestic and continental level, as they have achieved the

The club was founded after a meeting of some of the notable football enthusiasts (Dean, Zahid, Shawn, and Jazza) of the city of Jeddah, on 26 December 1927.^[1] 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.^[1] Everyone agreed that they should create the team that unites them and Ittihad Jeddah was born. The attendees were Hamza Fitaihi, Abdulrazag Ajlan, Abdullah Bin Zagor, Fahad Badkook, Abdulsamad Najeeb Alsaady, Ismail Zahran, Ali Yamani, Abdulaziz Jameel, Abdul Latif Jameel, Abdulateef Linjawi, Othman Banajah, Ahmad Abu Talib, Ali Sultan, Ahmed Almir and Saleh Salamah.

As long as we are here together, let's call it Al-Ittihad (Mazen Mohammed)

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

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. In their first meeting with Al-Riyadhi, Al-Ittihad make it victory with 3–0 won. The club has achieved a historic first tournament, which was called The Cup of Nishan Nazer, counted as an official tournament at the time, 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 the club's 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 The periods of 1940 to 1950 remained difficult, as the Football Association was not established until 1956.^[7]

The Start of The Official Tournaments, The First League Title, The Treble (1950–1999)

In late 1950s, it is considered as the first club to achieve both the

In mid 1990s, Which is considered as the beginning of the golden age of the club, where a numerous of titles were achieved. In 1996–97, the club delivered a

When Ahmed Masoud left the club, Mansour Al-Balawi became president, which is considered by many including the fans as the most prominent and successful period in the club's history. In the 2002–03 season, many players have been brought in, such as Tukar, Saud Kariri, Muhammad Al-Khilaiwi, and Tcheco; who is considered as one of the greatest deals in the club's history, while both the League and the Crown Prince Cup were achieved. Despite leading the league and ending it without a loss, Al-Ittihad lost the league final to Al-Shabab in the championship-playoff finals. In the 2004 AFC Champions League, Al-Ittihad finished the group in first place with only one loss. In quarter-finals, it was successfully passed with a 1–1 draw in Dalian, followed by a home 1–0 victory scored by Tukar, against Chinese Dalian Shide, of which led them to reach the semi-finals. Both matches ended in the last minutes, as Hamad Al-Montashari finished the first leg's 2–1, and Osama Al-Muwallad scored the deadly equalizer in the second leg, with a 4–3 aggregate over Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, as the club qualified for the final for the first time.^[1][12] The final was out of the ordinary; Al-Ittihad were thrashed at home 1–3 by Korean side Seongnam in the first leg—leading to the sacking of Croatian coach Tomislav Ivić, as assistant coach Dragan Talajić was given the opportunity. Who, in turn, started the return match in Seongnam, Redha Tukar opened the scoring, rising to a ball from a corner kick to score the first goal, Idris scored the second late minute goal in the first half, Mohammed Noor scored the two decisive goals in the second half, before Abushgeer scored the fifth and the last goal.^[13] Overcoming the 1–3 loss with a miraculous 5–0 victory, to achieve the first title,^[13] Dragan Talajić achievement was unforgettable and almost impossible, this second leg match became one of the most surprising and unforgettable comebacks in AFC Champions League history, which was called "the miracle".^{[5][12][13][14]} Recalling the tournament, Talajić said, "I was initially an assistant to the compatriots Tomislav Ivic, and I learned a lot from him, and I considered the opportunity to work with a great team as a wonderful thing, which is why I agreed to work with him, I was with the team eight months after we arrived at the beginning of the season, and I knew all about the players." and continued, "I was young at the time, and maybe I was crazy by playing with five strikers, I told everyone before the match that we would win, I always knew we would win, but I didn't know if the difference would be enough."^[12][15]

Al-Ittihad achieved its

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. This rivalry continued annually for more than 70 years, until Al-Ahli were relegated to the first division in 2022. The derby was back on October sixth 2023 with 1-0 Al-Ittihad loss.

Saudi Clasico

Saudi El Clasico, or simply the Clasico, is a long-running competitive match in

Al-Hilal has the largest number of wins in the official meetings that brought the two teams together. The two teams faced each other in 148 official meetings, Al-Hilal won 63, while Al-Ittihad won 50, and the tie occurred in 35 meetings. Together with Al-Nassr, they are the only 3 teams that have not been relegated to the Second Division since its founding.

Present-day

Al-Ittihad is based in Sahafa street, Mushrefa district, in southeastern Jeddah, where they have a large sports complex. Senior teams play official games at the King Abdullah Sports City, north of the city, while youth teams play at the club's headquarters.

Al-Ittihad qualified for the

Fanbase

Al-Ittihad is the highest-attended club in Saudi Arabia. In the

Sponsorship

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Official sponsor

In a press conference on 9 January 2006, president of the club Mansour Albalawi announced that

• AFC Champions League: 13 appearances

Top scorers in the AFC Champions League

Ranking	Nationality	Name	Years	Goals
1	Saudi Arabia	Mohammed Noor	1996–13	19
2	Saudi Arabia	Naif Hazazi	2006–13	14
3	Saudi Arabia	Hamzah Idris	1997–07	9
4	Saudi Arabia	Fahad Al-Muwallad	2012–22	8
5	Algeria	Abdelmalek Ziaya	2009–11	7
	Saudi Arabia	Mukhtar Fallatah	2012–16	7
	Brazil	Romarinho	2018–	7
8	Saudi Arabia	Marzouk Al-Otaibi	2000–07	6
	Saudi Arabia	Osama Al-Muwallad	2000–16	6
	Sierra Leone	Mohammed Kallon	2005–06	6
	Morocco	Ahmed Bahja	1996–99	6
12	Morocco	Hicham Aboucherouane	2008–10	5
	Saudi Arabia	Redha Tukar	2003–13	5
	Saudi Arabia	Manaf Abushgeer	1999–12	5
15	Saudi Arabia	Abdulrahman Al-Ghamdi	2013–21	4
	Saudi Arabia	Sultan Al-Nemri	2006–12	4
	Morocco	Abderrazak Hamdallah	2023-	4
	Venezuela	Gelmin Rivas	1999–12	4
	Brazil	Dimba	2004	4
20	Brazil	Renato Cajá	2009	3
	Brazil	Tcheco	2003–08	3
	Morocco	Faouzi Abdelghani	2012–14	3
	Saudi Arabia	Mohammed Abousaban	2009–16	3
	Saudi Arabia	Nasser Al-Shamrani	2018-19	3
	Saudi Arabia	Hamad Al-Montashari	2001–16	3
	Saudi Arabia	Saleh Al-Saqri	1999–12	3
	Saudi Arabia	Sultan Al-Nemri	2006–12	3
	Tunisia	Amine Chermiti	2009–10	3
	Saudi Arabia	Ziyad Al-Sahafi	2015–19	3
	Saudi Arabia	Abdulfattah Asiri	2012–16	3
	Saudi Arabia	Saud Kariri	2007–17	3
	Portugal	Nuno Assis	2010-11	3
	Brazil	Wendel	2011–12	3

AFC club rankings

]

Last update: December 1, 2017

Ranking			Club	Association	Coefficient
44	15	+29			Persepolis	Iran	10.902	0	21	0	26	57.902
25	16	+9	Gamba Osaka	Japan	13.527	0	29	5	10	57.527
14	17	-3	Shandong Luneng Taishan	China	13.409	8	10	25.5	0	56.909
11	18	-7	Pohang Steelers	South Korea	18	27	0	11	0	56
19	19	—	Al-Ittihad	Saudi Arabia	13.48	23	0	15	0	51.48
22	20	+2	Al Sadd	Qatar	8.868	18	19.5	2	2	50.368

Source: Global Football Ranks

Asian record

Al-Ittihad results
Season	Round	Result	Opponent	Venue
2004	Group stage	2–0	Al-Arabi	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		3–1	Neftchi	Fergana, Uzbekistan
		2–3	Sepahan	Fuladshahr, Iran
		4–0	Sepahan	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		0–0	Al-Arabi	Kuwait City, Kuwait
		3–0	Neftchi	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
	Quarter-final	1–1	Dalian Shide	Dalian, China
		1–0		Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
	Semi-final	2–1	Jeonbuk H.M.	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		2–2		Jeonju, South Korea
	Final	1–3	Seongnam I.C.	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		5–0		Seongnam, South Korea
2005	Quarter-final	1–1	Shandong Luneng	Jinan, China
		7–2		Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
	Semi-final	5–0	Busan IPark	Busan, South Korea
		2–0		Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
	Final	1–1	Al Ain	UAE
		4–2		Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
2006	Quarter-final	2–0	Al-Karamah	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		0–4		Homs, Syria
2008	Group stage	1–0	Bunyodkor	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		1–0	Al-Ittihad	Aleppo, Syria
		1–2	Sepahan	Fuladshahr, Iran
		0–1	Sepahan	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		0–2	Bunyodkor	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
		3–0	Al-Ittihad	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
2009	Group stage	2–1	Esteghlal	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		3–1	Umm Salal	Doha, Qatar
		0–0	Al Jazira	UAE
		1–1	Al Jazira	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		1–1	Esteghlal	Tehran, Iran
		7–0	Umm Salal	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
	Round of 16	2–1	Al-Shabab	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
	Quarter-final	1–1	Pakhtakor	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
		4–0		Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
	Semi-final	6–2	Nagoya Grampus	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		2–1		Nagoya, Japan
	Final	1–2	Pohang Steelers	Tokyo, Japan
2010	Group stage	0–3	Bunyodkor	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
		2–2	Zob Ahan	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		2–0	Al-Wahda	UAE
		4–0	Al-Wahda	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		1–1	Bunyodkor	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		0–1	Zob Ahan	Fuladshahr, Iran
2011	Group stage	3–1	Persepolis	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		1–0	Bunyodkor	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
		3–0	Al-Wahda	UAE
		0–0	Al-Wahda	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		2–3	Persepolis	Tehran, Iran
		1–1	Bunyodkor	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
	Round of 16	3–1	Al-Hilal	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
	Quarter-final	3–1	FC Seoul	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		0–1		Seoul, South Korea
	Semi-final	2–3	Jeonbuk H.M.	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		1–2		Jeonju, South Korea
2012	Group stage	4–0	Pakhtakor	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		3–1	Al-Arabi	Doha, Qatar
		1–0	Baniyas	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		0–0	Baniyas	UAE
		2–1	Pakhtakor	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
		3–2	Al-Arabi	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
	Round of 16	3–0	Persepolis	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
	Quarter-final	4–2	Guangzhou Evergrande	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		1–2		Guangzhou, China
	Semi-final	1–0	Al-Ahli	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		0–2		Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
2014	Group stage	0–1	Tractor	Tabriz, Iran
		2–1	Al-Ain	Makkah , Saudi Arabia
		0–2	Lekhwiya	Doha, Qatar
		3–1	Lekhwiya	Makkah, Saudi Arabia
		2–0	Tractor	Makkah, Saudi Arabia
		1–1	Al-Ain	UAE
	Round of 16	1–0	Al-Shabab	Makkah, Saudi Arabia
		3–1		Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
	Quarter-final	0–2	Al-Ain	UAE
		1–3		Makkah, Saudi Arabia
2016	Qualifying play-off	2–1	Al-Wehdat	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
	Group stage	1–1	Lokomotiv	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
		1–1	Lokomotiv	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		1–2	Al-Nasr	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		0–0	Al-Nasr	UAE
		4–0	Sepahan	Doha, Qatar (H)
		2–0	Sepahan	Muscat, Oman (A)
2019	Group stage	5–1	Al-Rayyan SC	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		4–1	Al Wahda FC	UAE
		3–2	Lokomotiv	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		1–1	Lokomotiv	Tashkent, Uzbekistan
		2-0	Al-Rayyan SC	Doha, Qatar
		1-1	Al Wahda FC	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
	Round of 16	2-1	Zob Ahan SC	UAE
		4-3		Doha, Qatar
	Quarter-final	0–0	Al-Hilal FC	Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
		1–3		Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Players

As of January 2024^[26]

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 Abdullah Al-Mayouf 4 DF  KSA Omar Hawsawi 5 DF  ITA Luiz Felipe 6 MF  KSA Sultan Al-Farhan 7 MF  FRA N'Golo Kanté 8 MF  BRA Fabinho 9 FW  FRA Karim Benzema 11 MF  POR Jota 12 DF  KSA Zakaria Hawsawi 13 DF  KSA Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti 14 MF  KSA Awad Al-Nashri 15 DF  KSA Hassan Kadesh 16 MF  KSA Faisal Al-Ghamdi 17 MF  KSA Marwan Al-Sahafi 19 DF  KSA Turki Al-Jaadi 20 DF  KSA Ahmed Sharahili 21 GK  KSA Abdullah Al-Jadaani

No. Pos. Nation Player 25 DF  KSA Suwailem Al-Menhali 26 DF  EGY Ahmed Hegazi (captain) 27 MF  KSA Ahmed Al-Ghamdi (on loan from Al-Ettifaq) 28 DF  KSA Ahmed Bamsaud 29 MF  KSA Farhah Al-Shammrani 30 DF  KSA Saad Al Mousa (on loan from Al-Ettifaq) 33 DF  KSA Madallah Al-Olayan 35 GK  KSA Mohammed Al-Mahasneh 37 DF  KSA Fawaz Al-Sqoor 51 GK  KSA Faisal Al-Eisa 52 FW  KSA Talal Haji 77 MF  KSA Saleh Al-Amri 80 MF  KSA Hamed Al-Ghamdi (on loan from Al-Ettifaq) 88 GK  KSA Osama Al-Mermesh 90 FW  BRA Romarinho 99 FW  MAR Abderrazak Hamdallah

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 34 GK  BRA Marcelo Grohe 40 MF  KSA Albaraa Addawi 44 MF  EGY Noureddine El Bahhar

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  KSA Saleh Al-Ohaymid (on loan to Al-Taawoun) — MF  KSA Abdulrahman Al-Aboud (on loan to Al-Ettifaq) — MF  KSA Hussain Al-Eisa (on loan to Al-Kholood) — GK  KSA Raghdan Matri (on loan to Al-Kholood) — FW  KSA Haroune Camara (on loan to Al-Ettifaq) — DF  KSA Al-Batin ) — DF  KSA Basil Al-Hedaif (on loan to Jeddah)

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  KSA Abdulelah Al-Shehri (on loan to Mudhar) — MF  KSA Abdulaziz Al-Bishi (on loan to Damac) — MF  KSA Omar Al-Jadani (on loan to Al-Ain) — MF  KSA Abdulelah Hawsawi (on loan to Al-Khaleej) — MF  KSA Al Mutasim Seddiq (on loan to Al-Kholood) — FW  KSA Abdulaziz Al-Hassani (on loan to Al-Entesar)

Notable players

Players with senior international caps:

Personnel

Current technical staff

Position	Staff
Manager	Marcelo Gallardo
Assistant manager	Matías Biscay
First-team Coach	Saud Al-Mukhaini
Goalkeeping coach	Wael Al-Oqod
Fitness coach	Mohamed Al-Bulaihi
Video Analyst	Mansour Al-Ghanim
Sporting Director	Fawzi Al-Khabrani
Physiotherapist	Waleed Al-Hajj
Academy manager	Yahya Al-Marzouq

Management

Managerial history

Name From To Mohammed Saleh Salamah 1928 1931 Omar Shendi 1960 1960 Khalil Abo Zaid 1961 1961 Saeed Hussain 1961 1962 Fritz 1966 1967 Bashir Al-Sagheer 1967 1968 Fritz 1968 1969 Ali Chaouach 1970 1970 Abdullah Abo Dawood 1970 1970 Ali Selmi 1975 1977 Jamel Eddine Bouabsa 1977 1978 Dettmar Cramer 1978 1981 Mahmoud El-Gohary 1981 1981 Chinesinho 1981 1982 Carlos Alberto Silva 1982 April 10, 1983 Chinesinho April 10, 1983 May 13, 1983 Joubert Luis Meira[27] 1983 1984 Vanderlei Luxemburgo 1984 1984 Bob Houghton 1984 1986 Walter Skocik 1987 1989 Heinz Höher 1989 1990 Kálmán Mészöly 1991 1992 Roland Andersson 1993 1993 Bob Houghton 1993 1994 Paulo Campos 1995 1996 Dimitri Davidovic 1996 1997 Sándor Egervári 1997 1997 Dezső Novák 1997 1998 Paulo Campos 1998 1998 Dimitri Davidovic 1998 1999 José Oscar Bernardi 1999 2000 Revaz Dzodzuashvili 2000 2000 Dimitri Davidovic 2000 2000 Giuseppe Dossena 2000 2001 Osvaldo Ardiles 2001 2001 José Oscar Bernardi 2001 2003 Antonello Cuccureddu 2002 2003 Tomislav Ivić 2003 2004 Dragan Talajić (interim) July 1, 2004 2004 Luka Peruzović Dec 2004 March 2005 Anghel Iordănescu March 26, 2005 June 30, 2006 Bruno Metsu 2006 April 26, 2006 Vahid Halilhodžić June 5, 2006 August 1, 2006 Dimitri Davidovic August 1, 2006 2007 José Candinho 2007 2007 Estevam Soares Dec 20, 2007 Aug 23, 2008 Gabriel Calderón May 22, 2008 January 13, 2010 Enzo Trossero January 20, 2010 May 30, 2010 Manuel José June 2, 2010 December 24, 2010 Toni December 28, 2010 May 15, 2011 Dimitri Davidovic May 15, 2011 November 28, 2011 Abdullah Gurab (interim) November 29, 2011 December 19, 2011 Matjaž Kek December 20, 2011 February 8, 2012 Abdullah Gurab (interim) February 8, 2012 February 27, 2012 Raul Caneda February 27, 2012 February 23, 2013 Beñat San José February 23, 2013 December 8, 2013 Juan Verzeri January 6, 2014 February 26, 2014 Khalid Al-Koroni February 26, 2014 August, 2014 Amro Anwar August 28, 2014 October 16, 2014 Victor Pițurcă October 16, 2014 June 12, 2015 László Bölöni July 21, 2015 October 23, 2015 Victor Pițurcă December 8, 2015 July 21, 2016 José Luis Sierra July 22, 2016 May 20, 2018 Ramón Díaz May 23, 2018 September 20, 2018 Slaven Bilić September 27, 2018 February 24, 2019 José Luis Sierra February 24, 2019 October 20, 2019 Mohammed Al-Abdali (interim) October 20, 2019 November 4, 2019 Henk ten Cate November 4, 2019 February 11, 2020 Piet Hamberg (interim) February 11, 2020 February 17, 2020 Fábio Carille February 17, 2020 August 24, 2021 Cosmin Contra August 29, 2021 July 4, 2022 Nuno Espírito Santo July 4, 2022 November 7, 2023 Hassan Khalifa (interim) November 7, 2023 November 18, 2023 Marcelo Gallardo November 18, 2023 - Source:[28]

See also

• List of football clubs in Saudi Arabia

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Al-Ittihad.

• Official website
• Eighty years of Al Ittihad
• Eighty years of Al Ittihad
• int.soccerway.com
• Network of Lady fans of Al Ittihad Football Club Archived 2021-02-27 at the Wayback Machine Arabic Site
• Al Ittihad Club on Super.ae Arabic Site
• Al Ittihad at the AFC Champions League Official website
• League of the Ittihad Club Fans on the Internet
• Alittihad in Languages Archived 2010-03-28 at the Wayback Machine (in English, French, German, and Italian)
• Al Ittihad at the
  Arab Champions League Official website : Arabic – English – Francais

Achievements
Preceded by Al-Ain	2004	Succeeded by Holders
Preceded by Holders	2005	Succeeded by Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

Preceded by Al Nassr

Chunnam Dragons 1999

Succeeded by Shimizu S-Pulse