2023–24 Saudi First Division League

The 2023–24 First Division League (known as the Yelo League for sponsorship reasons) will be the third season of the Saudi First Division League after its rebrand, and the 47th season of the Saudi First Division since its establishment in 1976. The season started on 14 August 2023 and will conclude in May 2024.[1]

First Division League
Season2023–24
Dates14 August 2023 – May 2024
PromotedAl-Qadsiah
RelegatedAl-Taraji
Matches played279
Goals scored730 (2.62 per match)
Top goalscorerMbaye Diagne
(21 goals)
Biggest home winAl-Arabi 4–0 Hajer
(21 August 2023)
Ohod 4–0 Al-Jandal
(3 October 2023)
Biggest away winAl-Batin 0–5 Al-Kholood
(3 September 2023)
Highest scoringAl-Safa 4–6 Al-Qadsiah
(10 January 2024)
Longest winning runAl-Orobah
(8 matches)
Longest unbeaten runAl-Safa
(14 matches)
Longest winless runAl-Taraji
Hajer
(13 matches)
Longest losing runAl-Safa
(6 matches)
All statistics correct as of 8 May 2024.

On 6 May, Al-Qadsiah became the first team to be promoted following a 2–2 draw with Ohod.[2]

Team changes edit

The following teams have changed division since the 2022–23 season.

Teams edit

A total of 18 teams are contesting the league, including 11 sides from the 2022–23 season, the five promoted teams from the Second Division and the two relegated sides from the Pro League.

Al-Batin were the first club to be relegated following a 1–0 defeat away to Al-Ittihad on 23 May 2023.[3] Al-Batin were relegated after three years in the top flight. Al-Adalah were the second and final club to be relegated following a 2–0 home defeat to Al-Ettifaq on the final matchday.[4] Al-Adalah were relegated after just one year in the top flight. Both Al-Adalah and Al-Batin will play in their 7th season in the FD League.

The first club to be promoted was Al-Najma who did so after a 1–1 draw against Al-Kawkab on 17 March 2023.[5] On 24 March 2023, Al-Taraji became the second club to be promoted despite a 1–0 defeat to Al-Bukiryah.[6] On 31 March 2023, Al-Bukiryah became the third club to be promoted following a 1–0 home win against Al-Diriyah.[7] On 8 April 2023, Al-Safa became the fourth club to be promoted following a 2–1 home win against Wej.[8] The fifth and final club to be promoted was Al-Jandal, who did so following a 4–2 aggregate win over Bisha in the promotion play-offs.[9]

Al-Najma were crowned champions after defeating Al-Taraji 2–1 to win their third title and first since 2010.[10]

Al-Najma return to the First Division League after an absence of 10 years. They return to the league for the first time since the 2012–13 season and will play in their 11th overall season. Al-Bukiryah return after an absence of two seasons and will play in their 3rd overall season in the First Division League. Al-Safa return after an absence of eight years and will play in their 2nd overall season in the First Division League. Both Al-Taraji and Al-Jandal were promoted to the First Division League for the first time in history.

Stadia and locations edit

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Al-Adalah Al-Hasa (Al-Hulaylah) Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium
Hajer Club Stadium
26,000[11]
12,000
Al-Ain Al Bahah King Saud Sport City Stadium 10,000[12]
Al-Arabi Unaizah Department of Education Stadium 10,000[13]
Al-Batin Hafar al-Batin Al-Batin Club Stadium 6,000[14]
Al-Bukiryah Al Bukayriyah Al-Bukiryah Club Stadium 5,000[15]
Al-Faisaly Harmah Al Majma'ah Sports City (Al Majma'ah) 7,000
Al-Jabalain Ha'il Prince Abdul Aziz bin Musa'ed Stadium 12,250[16]
Al-Jandal Dumat al-Jandal Al-Orobah Club Stadium (Sakakah) 7,000[17]
Al-Kholood Ar Rass Al-Hazem Club Stadium 8,000[18]
Al-Najma Unaizah Department of Education Stadium
Al-Najma Club Stadium
10,000
7,000[19]
Al-Orobah Sakakah Al-Orobah Club Stadium 7,000[17]
Al-Qadsiah Khobar Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium 15,000[20]
Al-Qaisumah Qaisumah Al-Batin Club Stadium (Hafar al-Batin) 6,000[14]
Al-Safa Safwa Al-Safa Club Stadium
Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium (Khobar)
Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium (Dammam)
3,000
15,000[20]
26,000[21]
Al-Taraji Qatif Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Stadium
Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium (Khobar)
12,000[22]
15,000[20]
Hajer Al-Hasa (Hofuf) Hajer Club Stadium 12,000[23]
Jeddah Jeddah Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium
Sports Hall at King Abdullah Sports City
27,000
1,000
Ohod Medina Ohod Club Stadium 5,000[24]

Personnel and kits edit

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
Al-Adalah   Roel Coumans   Abdullah Al-Yousef Al-Adalah Yelo
Al-Ain   Zoran Milinković   Othman Maloum Zat Outfit Yelo
Al-Arabi   Yousef Anbar   Ahmed Al-Muwallad Kelme Naqi Water, Yelo
Al-Batin   Gjore Jovanovski   Zakaria Lahlali Skillano Yelo, Almaali Hospital2
Al-Bukiryah   Khalil Al-Masri   Hicham Faik RightAway Sport Yelo, Advanced Energy, Entaj1
Al-Faisaly   Marcelo Chamusca   Yassin Barnawi Adidas Aldrees, Yelo
Al-Jabalain   Nacif Beyaoui   Yazid Abu Layla Envision Abar, Yelo, AlAhli Medical2
Al-Jandal   Ziyad Al-Afar   Humood Bakr Skillano Yelo
Al-Kholood   Fabiano Flora   Tareq Al-Kaebi In-House Yelo, Wav Water2
Al-Najma   Giovanni Solinas   Ziyad Al-Qahtani Offside Yelo, Kyan
Al-Orobah   Rusmir Cviko   Rafea Al-Ruwaili Offside Yelo
Al-Qadsiah   Míchel   Joel Robles Macron
Al-Qaisumah   Abderrazek Chebbi   Sultan Ghunaiman Copa Yelo
Al-Safa   Laurent Hagist   Dawod Al Saeed Terio Yelo
Al-Taraji   Anis Rebai   Abdulmajeed Haddadi Laser Yelo
Hajer   Abdullah Al-Janoubi   Hassan Jaafari Offside Yelo
Jeddah   Maher Al-Shammari   Faisal Abu Bakr Skillano Yelo
Ohod   Damir Burić   Salem Qabbos Offside Yelo
  • 1 On the back of the strip.
  • 2 On the right sleeve of the strip.
  • 3 On the shorts.

Foreign players edit

On 1 June 2023, the Saudi FF announced that the number of foreign players was increased from 6 players to 7 players.[25]

  • Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.
  • Players in italics were out of the squad or left the club within the season, after the pre-season transfer window, or in the mid-season transfer window, and at least had one appearance.
Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Player 7 Former Players
Al-Adalah   Philipe Maia   Donovan Ewolo   Karim Yoda   Theofanis Mavrommatis   Moussa Doumbia   David Tijanić   Samsondin Ouro   Christofer Gonzáles
  Alexandru Tudorie
Al-Ain   Bruno Grassi   Dodô   Othman Maloum   Mohamed Ouattara   Daouda Sylla   Erhun Obanor   Anthony Okpotu
Al-Arabi   Jobson   Diego Miranda   Muralha   Romell Quioto   Cheick Comara   Ola John   Ablaye Mbengue   Khemais Maaouani
Al-Batin   Okacha Hamzaoui   Thibault Peyre   Isaac Sackey   Mamadou Soro   Amine Atouchi   Zakaria Lahlali   Abdelali Mhamdi   Brahian Alemán
Al-Bukiryah   Fernando Piñero   Salifu Mudasiru   Henrique Luvannor   Zakaria Fati   Ayoub Lakhdar   Hicham Faik   Nikola Petrić   Serge Tabekou
  Reda Kharchouch
  Nebojša Bastajić
Al-Faisaly   Morato   Lucas Souza   Paul Garita   Joy-Lance Mickels   Mohamed Cheikhi   Vladimir Stojković   Larry Azouni
Al-Jabalain   Nailson   Yazid Abu Layla   Iliass Bel Hassani   Mohamed Rayhi   Mamadou Thiam   Miodrag Gemović   Israel Puerto   Masoud Juma
Al-Jandal   Tony Batista   Leandrinho   Camacho   Senin Sebai   Cristian Martínez   Agi Dambelley   Sabri Zaidi   Róbson
  Sofian El Moudane
  Austin Amutu
Al-Kholood   Mariano Vázquez   Roberto Dias   Rafael Martins   Arthur Rezende   Ahmed Yasin   Afonso Taira   Nikola Stojiljković   Samuel Armenteros
Al-Najma   Farid Chaâl   Alan Cariús   Wellington Silva   Léo Tilica   Hernâni Fortes   Simon Msuva   Luis Mago   Ayoub Azzi
  Idriz Batha
  Ousmane Barry
  Ença Fati
Al-Orobah   Rubin Hebaj   Connor Pain   Matheus Duarte   Vurnon Anita   Béni Nkololo   Džiugas Bartkus   Mounir El Allouchi   Tiago Bezerra
Al-Qadsiah   Luciano Vietto   Alexander Hack   André Carrillo   Kévin Rodrigues   Mbaye Diagne   Álvaro González   Joel Robles   Max Power
Al-Qaisumah   Elliot Simões   Lucas Dias   Souleymane Sakandé   Sadat Karim   Sandro Sakho   Slaviša Bogdanović
  Jefferson
  Jeison Chalá
Al-Safa   Fabinho   Maicon   Kaká Mendes   Reinaldo   Hamidou Traoré   Daouda Toure   Borhane Hakimi   Victor Arboleda
  Denny Antwi
  Usman Sale
  Malek Miladi
Al-Taraji   Rodrigue Kossi   Leroy-Jacques Mickels   Samuel Sarfo   Mohamed Aidara   Roger
  Alain Akono
  Emanuel Novo
Hajer   Clarence Bitang   Nikola Jambor   Reda Hajhouj   Youssef El Jebli   Reda Kharchouch   Konstantin Cheshmedjiev   Bakary Coulibaly   Abderrahmane Bourdim
  Srđan Spiridonović
  Adriano Pardal
  Ronald Ngah
  Miloš Krunić
Jeddah   Rédha Bensayah   Khaled Nèche   Ngweni Ndassi   Medwin Biteghé   Faisal Abu Bakr   Aziz Chtioui   Hamid Djaouchi
Ohod   Karim Aribi   Haris Belkebla   Ryad Boudebouz   Mohamed Kamal   Konrad Michalak   Nicolás Milesi   Gerald Takwara   Jonás Ramalho
  Hussein Jabbar
 
César Meza Colli
  David Meza

League table edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Al-Qadsiah (P) 31 19 7 5 57 27 +30 64 Promotion to the Pro League
2 Al-Orobah 31 18 3 10 45 32 +13 57
3 Al-Kholood 31 16 7 8 47 27 +20 55
4 Al-Adalah 31 14 11 6 48 38 +10 53
5 Al-Arabi 31 15 7 9 56 35 +21 52
6 Al-Faisaly 31 14 5 12 44 43 +1 47
7 Al-Jabalain 31 12 10 9 38 35 +3 46
8 Al-Batin[a] 31 13 7 11 39 37 +2 46
9 Al-Najma 31 12 9 10 49 43 +6 45
10 Al-Safa 31 11 8 12 42 45 −3 41
11 Al-Jandal 31 11 7 13 31 39 −8 40
12 Al-Ain[a] 31 10 11 10 37 40 −3 38
13 Jeddah 31 10 8 13 41 51 −10 38
14 Al-Bukiryah 31 9 9 13 31 39 −8 36
15 Ohod 31 7 12 12 34 38 −4 33
16 Hajer 31 4 13 14 27 48 −21 25 Relegation to the Second Division
17 Al-Qaisumah 31 6 6 19 38 57 −19 24
18 Al-Taraji (R) 31 4 8 19 26 56 −30 20
Updated to match(es) played on 8 May 2024. Source: goalzz.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Total goal difference; 5) Total goals scored; 6) Fair-play points
(Note: Head-to-head record is used only after all the matches between the teams in question have been played).[27]
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Al-Batin were awarded a 3–0 win over Al-Ain due to Al-Ain's inability to hold the fixture. In addition, Al-Ain were deducted 3 points for the same reason.[26]

Positions by round edit

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolution, any postponed matches are not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled but added to the full round they were played immediately afterward.

Team ╲ Round12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334
Al-Adalah121086533322233234544366776555554
Al-Ain1181117121012141515151415141414141414151515151515151413121212
Al-Arabi51311457791110111096666677543334445
Al-Batin107910109101111121098889988888988878778
Al-Bukiryah466778855571112121213131313131211111112141514141314
Al-Faisaly1215366466565667877755655786666
Al-Jabalain7342654644444442222434467667897
Al-Jandal181716121312141312812121091010799999101010101211111111
Al-Kholood1413151187710107656755333222334442323
Al-Najma91213151113119911989111111111011101010899999989
Al-Orobah2554421111112323455543222223232
Al-Qadsiah6423212233321111111111111111111
Al-Qaisumah8141416171718181618181818181815161818181818161716171717161717
Al-Safa16151718181817171816161616151716181715141414141413111010101010
Al-Taraji17161813161413121314141514161617171516161617181818181818181818
Hajer15181214141516161717171717171518151617171716171617161616171616
Jeddah13910991198810877578101110111112131314121112131413
Ohod31178151615151413131313131312121212121313121211131315151515
Leader
Promotion to the Pro League
Relegation to the Second Division
Updated to match(es) played on 8 May 2024. Source: [citation needed]

Results edit

Home \ Away ADA AIN ARB BAT BUK FSY JAB JAN KHO NAJ ORO QAD QAI SAF TAR HJR JED OHD
Al-Adalah 1–1 2–2 0–1 3–2 4–2 2–1 2–0 0–1 2–2 1–0 1–0 3–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–0
Al-Ain 1–1 2–3 1–0 3–4 1–1 3–2 2–1 0–3 0–0 2–2 4–1 1–0 3–1 3–1 1–3
Al-Arabi 1–2 2–2 3–0 3–0 1–0 1–2 1–2 5–2 3–1 3–1 4–2 0–1 4–0 2–1 3–2
Al-Batin 1–2 3–0[28] 0–0 2–2 0–0 2–1 0–5 0–1 0–1 1–0 2–3 1–2 1–0 1–1 3–1 3–1
Al-Bukiryah 2–2 0–0 1–1 1–2 0–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–0 2–1 2–2 3–2 1–0
Al-Faisaly 2–0 0–2 2–1 1–3 5–2 2–0 3–0 0–3 1–2 0–1 2–1 2–0 2–0 1–4 1–0
Al-Jabalain 1–2 1–0 3–3 2–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 0–2 1–0 0–3 2–1 4–1 3–0 2–1 1–0 1–1
Al-Jandal 1–1 1–0 1–3 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–2 3–2 3–0 0–1 1–0 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–1
Al-Kholood 0–0 0–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 2–2 3–1 0–2 3–1 2–1 4–1 2–2 2–0
Al-Najma 1–3 0–1 2–1 0–1 3–1 3–0 3–1 0–1 0–0 0–3 0–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–4 3–0[29]
Al-Orobah 0–0 4–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–2 0–2 1–0 3–4 1–0 1–0 0–2 3–0 3–1 1–2 2–1
Al-Qadsiah 2–1 2–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 2–1 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–3 3–1 1–0 3–0 3–3 1–1
Al-Qaisumah 3–1 1–2 0–0 2–2 1–0 1–2 1–2 1–1 3–2 0–1 1–3 0–4 1–3 3–1 2–3
Al-Safa 3–2 0–0 0–3 0–1 2–1 3–1 0–0 1–1 0–1 4–6 4–1 4–1 2–0 2–2 0–1
Al-Taraji 2–4 2–1 0–1 0–3 0–0 0–1 2–2 1–1 0–0 3–2 2–1 0–3 0–1 2–2 1–2 1–1
Hajer 1–1 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–1 1–1 0–2 3–1 1–1 0–4 1–4 1–0 2–0 1–2 0–0 0–2
Jeddah 0–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 1–0 3–3 0–1 0–3 2–1 0–1 0–3 0–3 1–1 2–2 0–3 1–1
Ohod 1–1 0–0 1–0 3–1 0–1 0–2 0–0 4–0 0–1 2–2 1–2 2–2 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–2
Updated to match(es) played on 8 May 2024. Source: goalzz.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Statistics edit

As of 8 May 2024