Al-Hilal FC

Al Hilal
Full name al hilal team in Saudi Arabia
Founded 15 October 1957 (1957-10-15)
Ground King Fahd Stadium
Ground Capacity 68,752[1]
President Nawaf Bin Saad
Manager Ramón Díaz
League Professional League
2016–17 Professional League, 1st
Website Club website

Al-Hilal Saudi Football Club, is a Saudi Arabian professional multi-sports club based in Riyadh. professional football team playing in the Saudi Professional League.

Founded on 15 October 1957, It is one of four teams to have participated in all seasons of the Saudi Professional League since its establishment in 1976. Overall, they have won 56 official titles on the national and international stage, more than any other Saudi club. In domestic competitions, 44 trophies were achieved comprising a record 14 Professional League titles, a record 13 Crown Prince Cup titles, a record 7 Federation Cup titles, 8 King Cup titles, 1 Super Cup title, and the title winner of Saudi Founder's Cup (a centennial football tournament held every 100 years).

Internationally, Al-Hilal have a record 6 Asian Football Confederation trophies – the AFC Champions League in 1991 and 2000, the Asian Cup Winners Cup in 1997 and 2002, and the Asian Super Cup in 1997, 2000. In September 2009, Al-Hilal was awarded Best Asian Club of the 20th Century by the IFFHS.[2]

History

Roberto Rivelino (left) and Najeeb Al Imam (right) playing for Al-Hilal in 1979

Al-Hilal Club was originally known as the Olympic Club during its founding by Abdul Rahman Bin Saad Bin Saeed on 15 October 1957 in Riyadh. The club's name lasted for only one year before it was changed to its current name on 3 December 1958 by King Saud Bin Abdul-Aziz. He changed the name after he attended a tournament that was contested between the Olympic Club, Al-Shabab, Al-Riyadh and El-Kawkab clubs. As soon as the club's establishment, Al-Hilal enjoyed not only grassroots support but also royal attention.[3]

After spending their formative years building a squad, the club made their first mark by lifting the King's Cup trophy in 1961. That began a period in which the club won 50 official competitions. Al-Hilal recaptured the King's Cup in 1964, with a penalty shootout victory over two-time Asian champions Al-Ittihad.

Al-Hilal players celebrating their Saudi Premier League championship in 2010

The club were the inaugural winners when the Saudi Premier League came into existence in the 1976–77 season. Al-Hilal won the title another 12 times and finished runners-up on 12 occasions in the space of 32 years. Al-Hilal also have seven King's Cup, twelve Crown Prince Cup and eight Saudi Federation Cup titles.[4]

With the success, a number of players and coaches from outside Saudi Arabia joined the club in the 1970s, including Brazilians Mario Zagallo and Roberto Rivelino.

In 1991, they won the first Asian title, Asian Club Championship. They won it again in 1999–2000. In 1997 they captured the Asian Cup Winners Cup and the Asian Super Cup of that year, which they lifted again in 2002. The last time they got their hands on a continental trophy was in 2002, when they won the Asian Cup Winners' Cup.

Al Hilal is the only Asian team which achieves six Asian titles.

Al Hilal reached the final of the AFC Champions League in 2014, where they faced Western Sydney Wanderers. The Australian club won 1–0 on aggregate.[5]

Stadiums

Al-Hilal plays their home games at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. The stadium was constructed in 1987 with a capacity of 67,000 people. The club's reserve team stadium, Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, was used in 2011–12 when King Fahd Stadium was under renovation. When prince Abdulrahman bin Musa'ad became the owner of the club in 2008, there was some serious idea of making Al-Hilal home avenue but it was shortly declined.

Rivalries

Al-Hilal has a long-standing rivalry with Al-Ittihad. From the start of national competition the clubs were seen as representatives of two rival cities: Riyadh and Jeddah. Matches between the two are often called 'El Clasico's. After the success of Al Hilal in Asia when they won two Asian Club Championship in years 1991 and 1999–2000, Al Ittihad has won AFC Champions League two times in a row, in 2004 and 2005. Al-Hilal won the clasico 62 times, while Al-Ittihad has won it 50 times and two sides have drawn 35 times. The biggest win was when Al-Hilal defeated Al-Ittihad 5–0 in 2009–2010.[6]

Another rivalry is with their neighbors Al-Nassr, which is called Riyadh's Derby. They have met 148 times, Al-Hilal has won 59 times, and lost 48 times, while 41 ties have ended in a draw.[7] The biggest win is for Al-Hilal when they defeated Al-Nassr 5–1 in 2016-2017 Professional league. The rivalry with Al-Nassr is violent between them more than the rivalry with Al-Ittihad. As an example, when Al-Hilal reached the 2014 AFC Champions League Final, in 2nd leg Al-Nassr fans awaited Western Sydney Wanderers arrival at the airport to spur them on against Al-Hilal and tried to sabotage Al-Hilal's ticket plan.[8]

Finance and sponsorship

Sponsorship

Mobily was the main sponsor of Al-Hilal, and as part of the sponsorship deal, their logo was displayed on the front of the club's shirts and a plethora of other merchandise. The Mobily deal was announced by the club's previous President Abdulrahman bin Musa'ad on 14 October 2008, and is worth a Saudi record SAR 517 million, to be paid over six years (SAR 69.1 million per year).

Also, the previous president ( Prince Abdulrahman bin musaad ) made a contract with( Mr.Omar Almady) CEO of volkswagen Group in Saudi Arabia . the contract period is 6 years and was signed on 9/18/2014 .

Al-Hilal also just signed a new ( 2 years ) deal with (JAWY) from STC "Saudi telecom company" to be their new sponsor .. (JAWY) is a new service from STC directed to the youth which contains Several packages with reasonable prices, their Logo actually started appearing on the clubs jerseys (shirts) .. the deal was to be affective by start of season 2017/2018 . but since the previous sponsor contract is expired .. and as a part of the new deal .. the club started presenting JAWY logo by the end of season 2016/2017 .. the club won the 2 biggest prizes in the saudi local competition which is the saudi league ( Dory Jameel) and the Kings cup .. which justifies how a successful contract STC did with AlHilal as the club provided them with great outcome which is the high promotion for their new project JAWY by winning these two massive prizes !

this new deal was signed by AlHilal vice president ( Mr.Abdulrahman Alnamr ) and from STC part their CMO (Mr.Bander Allahayani).

Membership

Like most professional teams all over the world, Al-Hilal and Mobily have introduced a membership card (Hilali) for fans to connect with their club. Fans are now able to join the Hilal membership scheme for the clubs starting 2012–13 season onwards. Hilali membership benefits includes VIP tickets to all Al-Hilal home and away matches, using the club facilities, meeting with players monthly and discounts at Al-Hilal Mobily stores.

Al-Hilal stores

Al-Hilal store in Tahlieh street, Riyadh

Al-Hilal has a chain of luxury retail stores that sell the club's products. The first branch opened on 1 February 2011 on the most expensive commercial street in Riyadh at a cost of SAR 15 million (USD 4 million). It was the first store from any Saudi club, and the biggest club store in the Middle East. In the first week of opening, sales surpassed SAR 1 million (USD 266,000). Mobily plans to cover the kingdom's main cities with seven branches by the end of 2012. Khobar's branch has opened on 5 January 2012, which Jeddah branch opened on 5 April 2012. The stores offer thousands of high quality products including clothes, accessories, children toys and many other products.

The stores' profits currently go to Mobily only. After the investment cost is covered they will share the profit with the club.

Television match broadcasting rights

Al-Hilal receives SR 4.5 million per year (USD 1.2 million/year) from the Saudi Arabia Football Federation as the federation sell the complete matches' right in one package and all the clubs in the Saudi Professional League share the revenue equally. The income may increase dramatically in near future as clubs will have the rights to sell their own matches' broadcasting rights.

Other income sources

The club's president and other board members pay any extra money required to run the club as the total expenses of the club in recent seasons surpassed SR 140 million (USD 38 million). This increase in expenses is due to the high level foreign and national players the club signed with such as Thiago Neves, Mirel Rădoi, Christian Wilhelmsson, Osama Hawsawi, Youssef El-Arabi and others.

Charity and philanthropy

Special seats have been allocated for the disabled to watch the training. Twenty-five percent of the income of tickets sold goes to charities. Players and board members arrange and attend social activities for charities during Eid and other holidays.

Club facilities

In 2009, the club opened a new camp in Riyadh. It contains 25 rooms, meeting rooms, smart room for lectures, library, eating room, living rooms, a big salon and a medical clinic. It also has entertainment corners for video games, table tennis, billiards, table football and many others. There are two training fields for the senior team.

Players

As of Saudi Premier League:

No Position Player Nation
1 Goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Mayouf  Saudi Arabia
22 Goalkeeper Fahad Al-Thunayan  Saudi Arabia
28 Goalkeeper Marwan Al-Haidari  Saudi Arabia
30 Goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Waked  Saudi Arabia

2 Defender Mohammed Al-Breik  Saudi Arabia
4 Defender Abdullah Al-Zori  Saudi Arabia
5 Defender Ahmed Sharahili  Saudi Arabia
12 Defender Yasser Al-Shahrani  Saudi Arabia
17 Defender Abdullah Al-Hafith  Saudi Arabia
33 Defender Osama Hawsawi  Saudi Arabia
37 Defender Anas Zabani  Saudi Arabia
70 Defender Mohammed Jahfali  Saudi Arabia

3 Midfielder Carlos Eduardo  Brazil
6 Midfielder Abdulmalek Al-Khaibri  Saudi Arabia
7 Midfielder Salman Al-Faraj  Saudi Arabia
8 Midfielder Abdullah Otayf  Saudi Arabia
10 Midfielder Mohammad Al-Shalhoub (Vice-Captain)  Saudi Arabia
11 Midfielder Abdullaziz Al-Dawsari  Saudi Arabia
16 Midfielder Nicolás Milesi  Uruguay
21 Midfielder Majed Al-Najrani  Saudi Arabia
24 Midfielder Nawaf Al Abed  Saudi Arabia
25 Midfielder Faisel Darwish  Saudi Arabia
27 Midfielder Abdulkareem Al-Qahtani  Saudi Arabia
29 Midfielder Salem Al-Dawsari  Saudi Arabia
52 Midfielder Mashari Al-Qahtani  Saudi Arabia

15 Forward Nasser Al-Shamrani  Saudi Arabia
20 Forward Yasser Al-Qahtani (Captain)  Saudi Arabia
35 Forward Khalaf Al-Baqaawi  Saudi Arabia
36 Forward Mojahed Al-Munee  Saudi Arabia
77 Forward Omar Khribin  Syria
9 Forward Matias Britos  Uruguay

-- Goalkeeper Khalid Sharahili  Saudi Arabia
-- Defender Ali Al Bulaihi  Saudi Arabia
-- Defender Hassan Kadesh  Saudi Arabia
-- Midfielder Mohamed Kanno  Saudi Arabia
-- Forward Mukhtar Fallatah  Saudi Arabia

Out on loan

No Position Player Nation
-- Midfielder Tiago Alves (on loan to Shimizu S-Pulse)  Brazil
–– Forward Léo Bonatini (on loan to Wolverhampton Wanderers)  Brazil

Personnel

Coaching staff

Position Name
Head coach Argentina Ramón Díaz
Assistant Coach Argentina Emiliano Díaz
Assistant Coach 2 Argentina Juan Romanazzi
Video Analyst Argentina Damian Paz
Fitness Coach Chile Filip Álvaro
Goalkeeping Coach Romania Daniel Zdranca
Doctor France Jean-Marcel Ferret
Director of Football Saudi Arabia Fahad Al-Mofarrej

Management

Position Name
President Nawaf Bin Sa'ad
Vice President Abdulrahman Al-Nimer
Secretary General Sami Abu Khudair
Treasurer Thamer Al-Tasan
Director of Fans Supplies Rashid Al-Anzan
Director of Legal Affairs Thamer Al-Jasser
Director of Facilities Development and Maintenance Badr Al-Mayouf
Director of Other Sports Ibraheem Al-Youssef
Director of Youth Football Abdullateef Al-Hosainy
Director of Investments Area Abdullah Al-Abduljabbar
Board Member Abdullah Al-Jarbou

This is a list of Al-Hilal FC presidents and chairmen from its foundation in 1957.[9]

Name From To Championships (official)
Saudi Arabia Abdul Rahman Bin Saeed 1957 1965 3
Saudi Arabia Abdulrahman Al-Hamdan 1965 1966 ×
Saudi Arabia Abdul Rahman Bin Saeed 1966 1970 ×
Saudi Arabia Faisal Al-Shehail 1970 1972 ×
Saudi Arabia Abdullah Bin Nasser 1972 1976 ×
Saudi Arabia Hazloul bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud 1976 1978 1
Saudi Arabia Abdullah Bin Nasser 1978 1982 2
Saudi Arabia Hazloul bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud 1982 1983 1
Saudi Arabia Abdullah Bin Saad 1983 1990 9
Saudi Arabia Abdul Rahman Bin Saeed 1990 1992 1
Saudi Arabia Mohammed Mufti 1992 1993 1
Saudi Arabia Abdullah Bin Saeed 1993 1994 ×
Saudi Arabia Khalid Bin Mohammed 1994 1996 4
Saudi Arabia Bandar Bin Mohammad 1997 2000 9
Saudi Arabia Saud Bin Turki 2000 2003 6
Saudi Arabia Abdullah Bin Musa'ad 2003 2004 1
Saudi Arabia Mohammed Bin Faisal 2004 2008 7
Saudi Arabia Abdulrahman bin Musa'ad 2008 2015 7
Saudi Arabia Mohammad Al-Homaidani 2015 2015 1
Saudi Arabia Nawaf Bin Sa'ad 2015 Present 3

Honours

The club holds 57 official titles.

Domestic

Winners (14) – record: 1976–77*, 1978–79, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1995–96, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2004–05, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2016–17
Runners-up (13): 1979–80, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1996–97, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16
Winners (8): 1961, 1964, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1989, 2015, 2017
Runners-up (7): 1963, 1968, 1977, 1981, 1985, 1987, 2010
Winners (13) – record: 1963–64, 1994–95, 1999–00, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2015–16
Runners-up (4): 1956–57, 1998–99, 2013–14, 2014–15
Winners (1): 2015
Runners-up (1): 2016
Winners (7) – record: 1986–87, 1989–90, 1992–93, 1995–96, 1999–2000, 2004–05, 2005–06
Runners-up (3): 1985–86, 2001–02, 2003–04
Winners (1): 2000

Asian

Winners (2): 1991, 2000
Runners-up (3): 1986, 1987, 2014
Winners (2) – shared record: 1997, 2002
Winners (2) – shared record: 1997, 2000
Runners-up (1): 2002

Regional

Winners (2): 1994, 1995
Runners-up (1): 1989
Winners (1): 2000
Winners (1): 2001
Runners-up (2): 1992, 1995
Winners (2): 1986, 1998
Runners-up (3): 1987, 1992, 2000
Winners (1): 2001

Recent seasons

The table below chronicles the achievements of Al-Hilal in various competitions since 1999.

Year Division Position Crown Prince Cup King Cup ACL
1999–00 Premier League 5th Champion Not held Champion
2000–01 Premier League 3rd Semi-final Quarter-final
2001–02 Premier League 1st Round of 16  
2002–03 Premier League 5th Champion Group stage
2003–04 Premier League 4th Semi-final Group stage
2004–05 Premier League 1st Champion  
2005–06 Premier League 2nd Champion Group stage
2006–07 Premier League 2nd Semi-final Quarter-final
2007–08 Premier League 1st Champion Semi-final  
2008–09 Pro League 2nd Champion Semi-final Round of 16
2009–10 Pro League 1st Champion Runners-up Semi-final
2010–11 Pro League 1st Champion Semi-final Round of 16
2011–12 Pro League 3rd Champion Semi-final Quarter-final
2012–13 Pro League 2nd Champion Quarter-final Round of 16
2013–14 Pro League 2nd Runners-up Quarter-final Runners-up
2014–15 Pro League 3rd Runners-up Champion Semi-final
2015–16 Pro League 2nd Champion Semi-final Round of 16

Award winners

Asian Footballer of the Year
Asia‘s best Goalkeeper of the Century by IFFHS
Arabian Footballer of the Year

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Al-Hilal.
  1. "King Fahd International Stadium". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  2. "IFFHS – Asia's Club of the Century". Archived from the original on 18 March 2013.
  3. "The story of Al Hilal Foundation".
  4. "Al Hilal, by royal approval".
  5. Cohen, Kate (2014-11-02). "Western Sydney Wanderers win Asian Champions League title". theguardian.com. theguardian.com. Retrieved 2014-11-02.
  6. "Al Hilal vs Al Ittihad - Saudi Arabia Pro League Head to Head (H2H) Statistics and Match Preview - SoccerPunter.com". www.soccerpunter.com. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  7. "التاريخ يرجح كفة الهلال.. والنصر يتفوق بـ"النهائيات"". alarabiya.net. Alarabiya. 29 January 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  8. "Western Sydney Wanderers facing football in the kingdom". smh.com.au. The Sydney Morning Herald. 31 October 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2015.
  9. "Presidents - Al Hilal Saudi Club : The Official Website". alhilal.com. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  10. "Saudi Arabia - List of Cup Winners". rsssf.com. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  11. FIFA.com. "Live Scores - Clubs: Al Hilalclub_hint=Al Hilal - FIFA.com". fifa.com. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
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