# Kalba FC

Kalba Football Club (Arabic: نادي كلباء الرياضي الثقافي), more colloquially abbreviated as Al-Ittihad, is a professional football club founded in 1972 and based in the city of Kalba, in the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The team competes in the UAE Pro League, the top tier of Emirati football.

## History

Kalba Football Club was established in 1972 through the merger of three clubs: Al Shabab, Al Rooba, and Al Riyadiya.
Kalba has won a record breaking 7 Division 1 titles with their last one being in the 2013-14 season.
From 2009 to 2018 the team spent these years jumping up and down between divisions; since the 2018-19 season they have managed to consistently compete in the top tier, and in the 2020-21 season they reached the UAE League Cup Semi-finals, where they were eliminated by Al-Nasr Dubai on penalties after a draw on aggregate.

## League record

| Season | Position | Number of teams | Tier | President's Cup | League Cup |
| 2008–09 | 5th | 16 | 2 | Round of 16 | — |
| 2009–10 | 1st | 8 | 2 | Round of 16 | — |
| 2010–11 | 11th | 12 | 1 | Preliminary Round | First Round |
| 2011–12 | 1st | 8 | 2 | Quarter-Finals | — |
| 2012–13 | 14th | 14 | 1 | Round of 16 | First Round |
| 2013–14 | 1st | 13 | 2 | Preliminary Round | — |
| 2014–15 | 14th | 14 | 1 | Round of 16 | First Round |
| 2015–16 | 2nd | 9 | 2 | Round of 16 | — |
| 2016–17 | 13th | 14 | 1 | Round of 16 | First Round |
| 2017–18 | 2nd | 12 | 2 | Round of 16 | — |
| 2018–19 | 11th | 14 | 1 | Round of 16 | First Round |
| 2019–20 | 11th | 14 | 1 | Quarter-Finals | First Round |
| 2020–21 | 8th | 14 | 1 | Round of 16 | Semi-Finals |
| 2021–22 | 11th | 14 | 1 | Quarter-Finals | First Round |
| 2022–23 | 8th | 14 | 1 | Round of 16 | First Round |
$_{Notes^2019–20UAEfootballseasonwascancelledduetotheCOVID-19pandemicintheUnitedArabEmirates.}$

## Current squad

As of UAE Pro-League:
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | UAE | Eisa Hooti |
| 2 | DF | UAE | Farid Abdulla $^{U23}$ |
| 3 | DF | UAE | Mohammed Sabeel |
| 4 | DF | BRA | Michel Dreifke |
| 5 | DF | UAE | Abdalla Faisal $^{U23}$ |
| 6 | MF | ALB | Rejan Alivoda $^{U23}$ |
| 7 | MF | UAE | Habib Al Fardan |
| 8 | MF | BRA | Caio Eduardo |
| 9 | MF | UAE | Fahad Barout |
| 10 | MF | IRN | Mehdi Ghayedi (on loan from Shabab Al-Ahli) |
| 11 | MF | ITA | Daniel Bessa |
| 12 | DF | UAE | Salem Rashid |
| 15 | DF | UAE | Abdulaziz Al-Hamhami |
| 16 | DF | SVN | Miha Blažič |
| 17 | GK | UAE | Saif Yousif $^{U23}$ |
| 18 | MF | YEM | Khaled Al-Asbahi |
| 19 | FW | UAE | Ahmed Al-Naqbi |
| 20 | DF | UAE | Abdulaziz Al-Kaabi |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 22 | FW | UAE | Mohamed Ali |
| 23 | DF | UAE | Waleed Rashid $^{U23}$ |
| 24 | MF | UAE | Khalid Al-Darmaki |
| 25 | DF | UAE | Abdusalam Mohammed |
| 27 | FW | UAE | Yaser Al-Blooshi $^{U23}$ |
| 33 | GK | UAE | Sultan Al-Mantheri |
| 37 | DF | CIV | Kouadjo Koffi $^{U23}$ |
| 39 | MF | BRA | Gustavo $^{U23}$ (on loan from Shabab Al-Ahli) |
| 42 | FW | PLE | Ahmed Abunamous |
| 44 | MF | IRN | Saman Ghoddos |
| 55 | GK | UAE | Hamad Al-Mansoori |
| 70 | FW | IRN | Shahriyar Moghanlou |
| 77 | MF | UAE | Leandro Spadacio |
| 80 | FW | SRB | Nemanja Jović $^{U23}$ |
| 88 | MF | UAE | Saif Obaid $^{U23}$ |
| 97 | DF | MAR | Anas Radi |
| 99 | FW | GHA | Cornelius Agbenyegah $^{U23}$ |

### Unregistered players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | MF | SVK | Filip Kiss |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 34 | DF | UAE | Khalid Al Zari (on loan to United) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | UAE | Jamal Abdalla (on loan to Al Urooba) |

## Honors

* UAE Division One
** Champions (7): 1979–80, 1988–89, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14

## Club staff

| Position | Name |
| Head coach | Vuk Rašović |
| Assistant coach | Gabriele Pin |
| Assistant coach | Saeed Fawaz |
| Assistant coach | Musa Abdulbassit |
| Youth Coach | Ervin Boban |
| Fitness Coach | Mounir Marzooq |