2011–12 Saudi Pro League Explained

Season:2011–2012
Winners:Al-Shabab (6th title)
League Topscorer:Victor Simões
Nasser Al-Shamrani
(21 goals each)
Biggest Home Win:
(16 December 2011)
Biggest Away Win:
(2 November 2011)
Highest Scoring:
(20 October 2011)
Matches:182
Total Goals:537
Highest Attendance:22,996[2]
Al-Hilal 4–0 Al-Ahli
(29 September 2011)
Lowest Attendance:28[3]
Al-Qadsiah 2–2 Al-Faisaly
(30 November 2011)
Average Attendance:4,374
Nextseason:2012–13

The 2011–12 Saudi Professional League (known as the Zain Professional League for sponsorship reasons) was the 36th season of the Saudi Professional League, the top Saudi professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1976. The season began on 9 September 2011, and ended on 18 April 2012.[4] Al-Hilal were the defending champions.[5] The league was contested by the 12 teams from the 2010–11 season as well as Al-Ansar and Hajer, who joined as the promoted clubs from the 2010–11 First Division. They replace Al-Hazem and Al-Wehda who were relegated to the 2011–12 First Division.

On 14 April, Al-Shabab won their sixth League title on the final matchday after a 1–1 draw away to runners-up Al-Ahli.[6] Al-Shabab ended the season without a single defeat becoming the second team to ever do so in a 26-game league season and the third team overall.

Al-Ansar were the first team to be relegated following a 1–0 home defeat against Al-Raed on 31 March.[7] Al-Qadsiah became the second and final team to be relegated following a 3–2 defeat away to Al-Nassr on 13 April.[8]

Teams

Fourteen teams competed in the league – the twelve teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were Al-Ansar (returning after an absence of six years) and Hajer (returning after an absence of twelve years). They replaced Al-Hazem (ending their six-year top-flight spell) and Al-Wehda (ending their eight-year top-flight spell).

Stadiums and locations

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
Al-AhliJeddahPrince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium[9]
Al-AnsarMedinaPrince Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz Stadium[10]
Al-EttifaqDammamPrince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium[11]
Al-FaisalyHarmahPrince Salman Sport City Stadium[12]
Al-FatehAl-HasaPrince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium[13]
Al-HilalRiyadhKing Fahd International Stadium
Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium
[14]
[15]
Al-IttihadJeddah Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium
Al-NassrRiyadhKing Fahd International Stadium
Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium

Al-QadsiahKhobarPrince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium[16]
Al-RaedBuraidahKing Abdullah Sport City Stadium[17]
Al-ShababRiyadhKing Fahd International Stadium
Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium

Al-TaawounBuraidahKing Abdullah Sport City Stadium
HajerAl-HasaPrince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium
NajranNajranAl Akhdoud Club Stadium[18]

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing managerManner of
departure
Date of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of
appointment
Al-Ansar Djamel BelkacemEnd of contract18 May 2011[19] Pre-season Blaž Slišković30 May 2011[20]
Al-Nassr Dragan SkočićSacked26 May 2011[21] Eurico Gomes (caretaker)26 May 2011
Al-Qadsiah Dimitar DimitrovEnd of contract1 June 2011 Mariano Barreto12 June 2011[22]
Hajer Zuhair Al-Louati1 June 2011 Ednaldo Patricio27 June 2011[23]
Najran José Rachão1 June 2011 Gjoko Hadžievski1 July 2011[24]
Al-Shabab Enzo Trossero12 June 2011 Michel Preud'homme14 June 2011[25]
Al-Hilal Gabriel CalderónSacked18 June 2011[26] Thomas Doll20 July 2011[27]
Al-Ahli Aleksandar IlićEnd of contract30 June 2011 Karel Jarolím5 August 2011[28]
Al-Ettifaq Youssef Zouaoui30 June 2011 Branko Ivanković22 July 2011[29]
Al-Nassr Eurico Gomes (caretaker)End of caretaker period30 June 2011 Gustavo Costas18 July 2011[30]
Al-Raed Eurico GomesSacked17 October 2011[31] 13th Hafez Al-Hoarbi (caretaker)17 October 2011
Al-Ansar Blaž Slišković26 October 2011[32] 14th Ayoub Ghulam (caretaker)26 October 2011
Al-Raed Hafez Al-Hoarbi (caretaker)End of caretaker period28 October 201113th Ammar Souayah28 October 2011[33]
Al-Ansar Ayoub Ghulam (caretaker)10 November 201114th Jalel Kadri10 November 2011[34]
Al-Ittihad Dimitri DavidovićSacked28 November 2011[35] 5th Abdullah Ghurab (caretaker)28 November 2011
Al--Nassr Gustavo Costas30 November 2011[36] 6th Ali Komaikh (caretaker)30 November 2011
Al-Nassr Ali Komaikh (caretaker)End of caretaker period4 December 20116th Francisco Maturana4 December 2011[37]
Al-Ittihad Abdullah Ghurab (caretaker)16 December 20116th Matjaž Kek16 December 2011[38]
Al-Taawoun Florin MotrocResigned29 December 201113th Srećko Juričić30 December 2011[39]
Al-Taawoun Srećko JuričićSacked20 January 2012[40] 12th Grigore Sichitiu20 January 2012
Al-Hilal Thomas Doll22 January 2012[41] 4th Ivan Hašek22 January 2012[42]
Al-Ittihad Matjaž Kek8 February 2012[43] 6th Abdullah Ghurab (caretaker)8 February 2012
Al-Ittihad Abdullah Ghurab (caretaker)End of caretaker period27 February 20127th Raúl Caneda27 February 2012[44]
Al-Taawoun Grigore SichitiuSacked2 April 2012[45] 12th Khalid Kamal (caretaker)2 April 2012

Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries.[46]

Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.

ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3AFC playerFormer players
Al-Ahli Marcelo Camacho Victor Simões Jairo Palomino Amad Al-Hosni
Al-Ansar Sadick Adams Diakite Lamine Radhouane Ben Ouanès Mohammad Istanbuli Tatá
Mohammad Muneer
Nenad Injac
Despot Višković
Al-Ettifaq Sebastián Tagliabúe Bruno Lazaroni Carlos Santos Hassan Mudhafar Al-Gheilani Lee Won-young
Al-Faisaly Leon Benko Dario Jertec Amer Deeb Wael Ayan Asim Šehić
Pero Pejić
Al-Fateh Élton Arábia Doris Fuakumputu Kemekho Cissokho Shadi Abu Hash'hash
Al-Hilal Youssef El-Arabi Adil Hermach Christian Wilhelmsson Yoo Byung-soo Achille Emaná
Al-Ittihad Fabrice Ondama Hosny Abd Rabo Faouzi Abdelghani Abdullah Omar Abdelmalek Ziaya
Wendel
Fahad Al Enezi
Paulo Jorge
Al-Nassr Hadj Bouguèche Wagner Querino Vinícius Reche Kim Byung-suk Antar Yahia
Juan Mercier
Juan Pablo Pino
Al-Qadsiah Saïd Bouchouk Zoran Baldovaliev Uche Agba Abdulwahab Al-Safi Hadj Bouguèche
William Kwabena Tiero
Al-Raed Leandrinho Yves Diba Ilunga Issam Erraki Abdul Salam Al-Mukhaini Reinaldo
Al-Shabab Fernando Menegazzo Marcelo Tavares Wendel Server Djeparov Ibrahim Yattara
Al-Taawoun Migen Memelli Vianney Mabidé Salaheddine Aqqal Yaseen Al-Bakhit Šakir Redžepi
Abdelrazaq Al-Hussain
Hajer Rico Moustapha Moctar Belbi Hazem Jawdat Abdelatif Bahdari Rafael Barbosa
Franklin Ayodele
Najran Ramzi Bourakba Farid Cheklam Reda Benhadj Djillali Jehad Al-Hussain Zoran Baldovaliev
Dušan Đokić

League table

Season statistics

Scoring

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals[47]
1 Victor SimõesAl-Ahli21
Nasser Al-ShamraniAl-Shabab
3 Amad Al-HosniAl-Ahli15
Mohammad Al-SahlawiAl-Nassr
5 Hadj BouguècheAl-Qadsiah / Al-Nassr12
Youssef El-ArabiAl-Hilal
Bader Al-KharashiAl-Faisaly
8 Yousef Al-SalemAl-Ettifaq11
9 Doris FuakumputuAl-Fateh10
10 Sebastián TagliabuéAl-Ettifaq9
WendelAl-Ittihad / Al-Shabab
Hamdan Al-HamdanAl-Fateh
Taisir Al-JassimAl-Ahli
Jehad Al-HussainNajran

Hat-tricks

Player For Against Result Date Ref
Al-Qadsiah Al-Fateh 6–1 (A) [48]
Al-Ahli Al-Taawoun 4–2 (H) [49]
Al-Hilal Al-Qadsiah 5–4 (A) [50]
Al-Ittihad Al-Qadsiah 8–0 (A) [51]
Al-Ahli Al-Ansar 5–1 (H) [52]
Al-Shabab Al-Ansar 3–0 (H) [53]
Notes(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team

Clean sheets

RankPlayerClubClean
sheets[54]
1 Waleed AbdullahAl-Shabab13
Yasser Al-MosailemAl-Ahli
3 Fayz Al-SabiayAl-Ettifaq11
4 Khalid SharahiliAl-Hilal7
5 Hassan Al-OtaibiAl-Hilal6
6 Mohammed Al-KhojaliAl-Raed5
Mohammad SharifiAl-Fateh
8 Abdullah Al-EneziAl-Nassr4
Ali Al-MazyadiAl-Ittihad
Mustafa MalayekahHajer

Discipline

Player

Club

Attendances

By team

††

Awards

Arriyadiyah Awards for Sports Excellence

After a partnership of five years, it was announced that Mobily would no longer sponsor the award.[58] The Arriyadiyah Awards for Sports Excellence were awarded for the sixth time since its inception in 2007. The awards were sponsored by Saudi newspaper Arriyadiyah and Saudi marketing company RPM. The awards were presented on 16 December 2012.[59]

AwardWinnerClub
Player of the Season Taisir Al-Jassim
Nasser Al-Shamrani
Amad Al-Hosni
Al-Ahli
Al-Shabab
Al-Ahli
Young Player of the Season Yasser Al-Fahmi
Abdulellah Al-Nassar
Ayman Fadel
Al-Ahli
Al-Nassr
Al-Ittihad
Golden Boot Victor Simões
Nasser Al-Shamrani
Al-Ahli
Al-Shabab

Al-Riyadiya Awards

The Al-Riyadiya Awards were awarded for the third time since its inception in 2010. The awards were presented on 13 May 2012.[60]

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External links