Al-Fayha FC explained

Clubname:Al Fayha
Fullname:Al Fayha Football Club
Nickname:Al Burtuqali (The Orange)
Tawahin Sudair (The Mills of Sudair)
Ground:Al Majma'ah Sports City
Capacity:7,000
Chairman:Tawfiq Al-Modaiheem
Manager:Christos Kontis
League:Saudi Pro League
Season:2023-24
Position:Pro League, 9th of 18
Current:2024–25 Al-Fayha FC season
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Website:https://www.alfiha.com/en

Al Fayha FC is a professional football club based in Al Majma'ah, that plays in the Saudi Pro League, the first tier of Saudi football. It was founded in 1953.

Al Fayha's colors are orange and blue, hence the nickname "Al-Burtuqali." Al-Fayha have won the Saudi Second Division once in the 2013–14 season and have finished runners-up once in the 2003–04. On 29 April 2017, Al-Fayha won their first promotion to the Pro League, winning their first First Division title on 5 May 2017. They won the King Cup for the first time in 2022.[1]

The club plays their home games at Al Majma'ah Sports City in Al Majma'ah, sharing the stadium with city rivals Al-Faisaly and Al-Mujazzel.[2]

History

Al Fayha [3] was founded in 1953 in Al Majma'ah and were officially registered on August 15, 1966. Al Fayha is one of the oldest clubs in the country and the oldest club in Al Majma'ah. Al Fayha is a merging of two different clubs, Minikh and Al-Fayha, who joined to become the only representative of Al Majma'ah.

Since the formation of the club, Al Fayha has played a continuous role in the service of the youth in Al-Majma'ah. Al Fayha is considered to be one of the most active and interactive clubs in the city, often acting as a safe haven for the youth.[4]

First piece of silverware

Al Fayha won their first promotion to the First Division in 1985 and spent five consecutive seasons in the First Division before getting relegated at the end of the 1989–90 season. After an absence of 14 years, Al-Fayha returned to the First Division after finishing as runners-up in the 2003–04 Second Division. Al Fayha spent 4 consecutive seasons in the First Division before getting relegated at the end of the 2007–08 season. They were then promoted once again during the 2013–14 season when they won the Second Division title. On 29 April 2017, Al-Fayha won promotion to the Pro League for the first time in their history following their 2–1 home win against Ohod.[5] They were crowned champions of the 2016–17 Saudi First Division for the first time on 5 May 2017 after drawing Wej 1–1 away from home.[6]

Al Fayha spent three consecutive seasons in the Saudi top flight, performing above expectations in their debut season and barely escaping relegation in their second season, however they couldn't avoid relegation in the 2019–20 season, losing 0–1 to Al-Taawoun in the final matchday. In their first season back in the Saudi First Division Al-Fayha managed to achieve promotion back to the top flight following a 0–0 home draw with Al-Tai on the 20th of May 2021, as well as finishing the season as runners-up with 81 points. In their first season back in the Pro League Al Fayha acquired the services of players such as; veteran Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Stojković, Greek midfielder Panagiotis Tachtsidis and Macedonian international Aleksandar Trajkovski. Vuk Rašović managed his squad with a direct play approach along with disciplined organisation, and as a result the club has had the best defensive record in the 2021–22 league.

King Cup winners and AFC Champions League debut

Al Fayha partook in the 2021–22 King Cup, with their first match being against Abha whom they routed 4–0 to progress to the quarter-finals. In the quarter-final they faced Al-Batin, whom they beat 2–1. In the semi-final they were up against Al Ittihad in a highly contested and hard-fought match in which Al Fayha came up on top to win 1–0 and advance to a historic cup final. Al Fayha would face Al Hilal in the final.The two sides were locked at 1–1 after extra time with Al Fayha prevailing in the penalty shootout thanks to a superb performance from their Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic to clinch their maiden Saudi King's Cup at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium and also qualified them to the first 2023–24 AFC Champions League group stage.[7] On 3 October 2023 in the AFC Champions League group stage fixtures, Al-Fayha recorded their first win in a 2–0 victory against Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan with both goal scored by Abdelhamid Sabiri. Al Fayha finished as group runners-up with 9 points which send the club to the Round of 16 fixtures against Al Nassr. However the club bowed out from the AFC Champions League after a 3–0 defeat on aggregate.

Honours

League

Cup

Current squad

As of 12 August 2023:[8] [9]

Out on loan

Management staff

PositionName
Manager Christos Kontis
Assistant Managers Ljubiša Ranković
Rudolf Marić
Goalkeeping Coach Fábio Muchinel Tepedino
Fitness Coach Vladan Popović
Video Analyst Ahmed Walid Charchari
Performance Analyst
Sporting Director
Doctor
Physiotherapist Vacant
Director of Development Alioua Mohamed Lamine

Managerial history

Continental record

2023–24

SeasonCompetitionRoundClubHomeAwayAggregate
2023–24Champions LeagueGroup A Ahalbgcolor=#ddffdd align=center3–1bgcolor=#ffdddd align=center0–12nd
Pakhtakor Tashkentbgcolor=#ddffdd align=center2–0bgcolor=#ddffdd align=center4–1
Al Ainbgcolor=#ffdddd align=center2–3bgcolor=#ffdddd align=center1–4
Round of 16 Al Nassrbgcolor=#ffdddd align=center0-1bgcolor=#ffdddd align=center0-2bgcolor=#ffdddd align=center0-3

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: رسالة - نادي الفيحاء السعودي. www.alfiha.com.
  2. Web site: ملعب مدينة المجمعة الرياضية. Kooora.
  3. Book: Arabic-English English-Arabic Dictionary. John. Wortabet. Harvey. Porter. December 5, 1995. Hippocrene Books. 9780781803830 . Google Books.
  4. Web site: رسالة - نادي الفيحاء السعودي. www.alfiha.com.
  5. News: رسمياً.. الفيحاء أول الصاعدين إلى دوري جميل. dawriplus. 29 April 2017 . 21 May 2017.
  6. News: مسيرة للاعبي الفيحاء بـ "الباص المكشوف" بعد الصعود لدوري جميل . sportksa. 6 May 2017 . 21 May 2017.
  7. Web site: Al Fayha upset Al Hilal to win historic Saudi King's Cup . 2022-06-20 . the-AFC . en.
  8. Web site: التشكيلة. kooora.
  9. Web site: اللاعبين . 1 January 2019.