Saudi Professional League

The Saudi Professional League, officially known as (), is the main football competition in Saudi Arabia. The first competition was held in the year of 1976-77. Al-Hilal is the current title-holder (2010), and holds the best record in the competition, winning it 12 times.
The league also known for sponsorship reasons as Zain Saudi League, named after the sponsor Zain telecom.
== History ==
Up until the late seventies, football in Saudi Arabia was organised on a regional basis, with the only nationwide tournament being the King's Cup. In 1976, it was deemed that local football, and transportation links, have improved sufficiently to organise a national league. Hence the Saudi League was launched with 8 clubs participating.
In 1981 it was decided to increase the number of clubs and add a second division. The league competition for the 1981/1982, known as the ranking league, featured 18 clubs with the top eight qualifying for the first division and the bottom ten to the new second division. The number of first division clubs was later increased to 12 in the 1984/1985 season.
In 1990 it was decided to revamp local competitions and to introduce professional football. A new league championship was formed called "The Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques League Cup", which was a two stage championship. The first stage was a regular double round-robin league competition with the top 4 qualifying to the final knockout stage, called the golden square. Clubs were allowed to sign players on a professional basis making the league semi professional.
In 2007 It was decided to split the two stages, with the league reverting to a standard double round-robin competition, and a new domestic competition cup competition formed called "The Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques Champions Cup". This cup will feature the top six finishers in the league plus the winners of the Crown Prince Cup and the Prince Faisal Cup. This format will take effect from the 2007/2008 season onwards.
== Qualification and prize money ==
The top four teams in the league qualifiy to the AFC Asian Champions League group stage. The Top six qualify to Champions Cup.
Prize money:
* First place: 2.5 million Saudi Riyals
* Second place: 1.5 million Saudi Riyals
* Third place: 1 million Saudi Riyals
== List of teams (2010/11 season) ==
* Al-Ahli (Jeddah)
* Al-Ettifaq (Dammam)
* Al-Faisaly (Harmah)
* Al Fateh (Al-Hasa)
* Al Hazm (Ar Rass)
* Al-Hilal (Riyadh)
* Al-Ittihad (Jeddah)
* Al-Nasr (Riyadh)
* Al-Qadisiya (Khobar)
* Al-Shabab (Riyadh)
* Al Taawon (Buraydah)
* Al-Wahda (Mecca)
* Najran (Najran)
* Al-Raed (Buraydah)
== List of champions ==
{| class="wikitable"	 	
No.	Season 	Champion
1 	1976/77	Al-Hilal
2 	1977/78	Al-Ahli
3 	1978/79	Al-Hilal
4 	1979/80	Al-Nasr
5 	1980/81	Al-Nasr
6 	1981/82	Al-Ittihad
7 	1982/83	Al-Ettifaq
8 	1983/84	Al-Ahli
9 	1984/85	Al-Hilal
10 	1985/86	Al-Hilal
11 	1986/87	Al-Ettifaq
12 	1987/88	Al-Hilal
13 	1988/89	Al-Nasr
14 	1989/90	Al-Hilal
15 	1990/91	Al-Shabab
16 	1991/92	Al-Shabab
17 	1992/93	Al-Shabab
==Performance by club==
===Most successful clubs===
No.	Club 	Winners	Winning Years
1 	Al-Hilal 	12 	1977, 1979, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1990, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2010
2 	Al-Ittihad	8 	1982, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2009
3 	Al-Nasr 	5 	1980, 1981, 1989, 1994, 1995
 	Al-Shabab 	5 	1991, 1992, 1993, 2004, 2006
5 	Al-Ahli 	2 	1978 , 1984
 	Al-Ettifaq	2 	1983, 1987
====Total titles won by town or city====
Town or city	Number of titles	Clubs
Riyadh 	22 	Al-Hilal (12), Al-Nasr (5), Al-Shabab (5)
Jeddah 	10 	Al-Ittihad (8), Al-Ahli (2)
Dammam 	2 	Al-Ettifaq (2)
== Topscorers==
Year 		Best scorers 	Team 	Goals
1976-77		Nasser Eid 	Al-Qadisiya 	12
1977-78		Mattamd Khojali 	Al-Ahli 	14
1978-79		Majed Abdullah 	Al-Nassr 	13
1979-80		Majed Abdullah 	Al-Nassr 	17
1980-81		Majed Abdullah 	Al-Nassr 	21
1981-82		Khalid Al-Ma'ajil 	Al-Shabab 	22
1982-83		Majed Abdullah 	Al-Nassr 	14
1983-84		Hussam Abu Dawood 	Al-Ahli 	14
1984-85		Hathal Dosari 	Al-Hilal 	15
1985-86		Majed Abdullah 	Al-Nassr 	15
1986-87		Mohammad Suwaidi 	Al-Ittihad 	17
1987-88		Khalid Al-Ma'ajil 	Al-Shabab 	12
1988-89		Majed Abdullah 	Al-Nassr 	19
1989-90		Sami Al-Jaber 	Al-Hilal 	16
1990-91		Fahad Al-Mehallel 	Al-Shabab 	20
1991-92		Saeed Al-Owairan 	Al-Shabab 	16
1992-93		Sami Al-Jaber 	Al-Hilal 	18
1993-94		Moussa Ndao 	Al-Hilal 	15
1994-95		Fahd Al-Hamdan 	Al-Riyadh 	15
1995-96		Ohene Kennedy 	Al-Nassr 	14
1996-97		Ahmed Bahja 	Al-Ittihad 	21
1997-98		Sulaiman Al-Hadaithy 	Al-Najma 	15
1998-99		Obeid Al-Dosari 	Al-Wahda 	20
1999-00		Hamzah Idris 	Al-Ittihad 	33
2000-01		Paulo De Silva 	Al-Ettifaq 	13
2001-02		Dane Valle 	Al-Riyadh 	10
2002-03		Carlos Tenorio 	Al-Nassr 	15
2003-04		Godwin Attram 	Al-Shabab 	15
2004-05		Sergio Ricardo 	Al-Ittihad 	15
2005-06		Essa Al-Mehyani 	Al-Wahda 	16
2006-07		Godwin Attram 	Al-Shabab 	13
2007-08		Nasser Al-Shamrani 	Al-Shabab 	18
2008-09		Nasser Al-Shamrani Hicham Aboucherouane	Al-Shabab Al-Ittihad	12
2009-10		Mohammad Al-Shalhoub 	Al-Hilal 	12
== See also ==
* Saudi Arabia Football Federation
* 2010–11 Saudi Professional League
== External links ==
* Saudi Arabia Football Federation at FIFA.com Arabic - English Site
* Saudi Arabia Professional League on Super.com Arabic Site
* Saudi Professional League Commission Arabic Site
Category:Leagues