en Al Wehda FC

Al-Wehda
Full name	Al-Wehda Football Club
Nickname(s)	Fursan Mecca (Knights of Mecca); Al Mared Al Ahmar (The Red Genie )
Founded	1916; 108 years ago (as Al-Hizb); 1945; 79 years ago (as Al-Wehda);
Ground	King Abdulaziz Sports City
Capacity	38,000
President	Sultan Azhar
Head coach	Josef Zinnbauer
League	Saudi Pro League
2023–24	Pro League, 13th of 18
Website	alwehdaclub.sa
	Current season

Al-Wehda FC (Arabic: نادي الوحدة لكرة القدم, romanized: Nādī al-Waḥdah li-kurat al-qadam, lit. 'Unity Football Club') is a multi-sports club based Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

History

founded in 1945, making it the 3rd oldest club in Saudi Arabia^[2] The football section plays in the Saudi Pro League. They also have a handball section.

If the club's establishment date is considered with the old name, this makes it the oldest club in the Kingdom.

Al-Wehda were the first ever winners of the King's Cup in 1957.

Honours

Saudi First Division (Level 2)

Winners (4): 1982–83, 1995–96, 2002–03, 2017–18
Runners-up (2): 2011–12, 2014–15
Third place (1): 2021–22

King's Cup

Winners (2): 1957, 1966
Runners-up (6): 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1970, 2022–23

Crown Prince's Cup

Winners (1): 1959–60
Runners-up (5): 1958–59, 1963–64, 1969–70, 1972–73, 2010–11

(Source:^[3])

International record

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Aggregate
2021	AFC Champions League	Play-off round	Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya	1–1 (a.e.t.) (2–3 p)

Current squad

As of 1 June 2024^[4]^[5]

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	KSA	Abdullah Al-Owaishir (on loan from Al-Ettifaq)
2	DF	KSA	Saeed Al-Muwallad
4	MF	KSA	Waleed Bakshween
5	DF	MAR	Jawad El Yamiq
6	MF	ROU	Alexandru Crețu
8	MF	KSA	Alaa Al-Hejji
9	FW	NGA	Odion Ighalo
10	MF	CUW	Juninho Bacuna
11	MF	IRQ	Youssef Amyn
13	DF	KSA	Meshal Al-Alaeli (on loan from Al-Ettifaq)
14	DF	KSA	Bandar Darwish
16	MF	KSA	Nawaf Al-Azizi
17	DF	KSA	Abdullah Al-Hafith
18	MF	TUN	Saad Bguir


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
19	DF	KSA	Saad Al-Qahtani ^U19
21	GK	KSA	Abdulrahman Al-Shammari
22	DF	KSA	Ali Makki
23	MF	AUS	Craig Goodwin
24	MF	KSA	Abdulaziz Noor
28	MF	KSA	Hussain Al-Eisa
35	MF	MAR	Mohamed Al Makahasi
47	GK	KSA	Ahmed Al-Rashidi
49	DF	KSA	Ali Al-Salem
55	DF	KSA	Mohammed Al-Sufyani ^U19
71	GK	KSA	Abdullah Fallatah ^U19
77	FW	KSA	Mourad Khodari
80	FW	KSA	Yahya Al-Najei

Other players under contract

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
15	FW	KSA	Azzam Al-Bishi
29	MF	KSA	Sultan Al-Akouz
34	GK	KSA	Mohammed Makbashi


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
50	DF	KSA	Saad Al-Khayri
60	MF	KSA	Mohammed Al-Shalwi
—	MF	KSA	Wadhah Malik

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
25	MF	KSA	Sattam Al-Tambakti (on loan to Jeddah)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
33	DF	KSA	Rakan Al-Harbi (on loan to Al-Bukiryah)

Management staff

Position	Name
Head Coach	Josef Zinnbauer
Assistant head coach	Dragan Paljić
Goalkeeper coach	Michael Kraft
Fitness coach	Franck Plaine
Chief analyst	Saad Al-Dossari
Doctor	Fahad Al-Menhali
Physiotherapist	Mohammed Al-Shalwi
Sports scientist	Rustem Gashi
Director of football	Yassin Al-Zahrani
Technical Director	Hazim Al-Freej

Managerial history

Hassan Sultan (1955–1957)
Hassan Sultan (1965–1968)
Raafat Attia (1974–1975)
Redha Al Sayeh (1976–1977)
Taha Ismail (1981–1983)
Abdelmajid Chetali (1983–1985)
Khaled Al-Jizani (1985)
Mahmoud Abou-Regaila (1985–1986)
Jairzinho (1988–1989)
Mimi Abdelhamid (1989–1990)
Pavle Dolezar (1995)
Jean Fernandez (1997)
Gaúcho (1998–1999)
Eugen Moldovan (1999–2000)
Khaled Al-Jizani (caretaker) (November 10, 1999 – November 27, 1999)
David Roberts (November 27, 1999 – May 30, 2000)
Dumitru Marcu (July 13, 2000 – March 2, 2001)
Adel Latrach (March 2, 2001 – May 30, 2001)
Vantuir (July 5, 2001 – January 14, 2002)
Luis Carlos (January 14, 2002 – May 1, 2002)
Zoran Đorđević (August 1, 2002 – October 23, 2002)
Khalid Al-Koroni (October 23, 2002 – June 1, 2004)
Lotfi Benzarti (July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2006)
Theo Bücker (July 6, 2006 – May 31, 2007)
Jan Versleijen (June 2, 2007 – February 19, 2008)
Khalid Al-Koroni (February 19, 2008 – May 1, 2008)
Theo Bücker (July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2009)
Eurico Gomes (August 13, 2009 – June 30, 2010)
Jean-Christian Lang (July 1, 2010 – December 23, 2010)
Mokhtar Mokhtar (December 25, 2010 – May 8, 2011)
Lotfi Benzarti (May 8, 2011 – May 25, 2011)
Bashir Abdel Samad (May 26, 2011 – June 30, 2011)
Dragan Cvetković (August 21, 2011 – November 24, 2011)
Adel Latrach (November 26, 2011 – February 16, 2012)
Bashir Abdel Samad (February 17, 2012 – August 30, 2012)
Wajdi Essid (September 15, 2012 – January 26, 2013)
Khalil Obaid (January 26, 2013 – April 27, 2013)
Florin Cioroianu (July 21, 2013 – October 1, 2013)
Mohamed Salah (October 1, 2013 – March 1, 2014)
Abderrazek Chebbi (March 1, 2014 – April 5, 2014)
Djamel Menad (June 7, 2014 – September 20, 2014)
Khalid Al-Koroni (September 22, 2014 – October 28, 2014)
Juan Rodríguez (November 17, 2014 – October 30, 2015)
Kheïreddine Madoui (November 9, 2015 – December 9, 2016)
Adel Abdel Rahman (December 11, 2016 – May 5, 2017)
Jameel Qassem (July 1, 2017 – May 5, 2018)
Fábio Carille (May 22, 2018 – December 13, 2018)
Mido (December 17, 2018 – March 19, 2019)
Juan Brown (March 20, 2019 – May 17, 2019)
Mario Cvitanović (July 2, 2019 – September 16, 2019)
José Daniel Carreño (September 16, 2019 – August 19, 2020)
Essa Al-Mehyani (caretaker) (August 19, 2020 – September 9, 2020)
Ivo Vieira (September 10, 2020 – February 2, 2021)
Mahmoud Al-Hadid (February 2, 2021 – March 21, 2021)
Giorgos Donis (March 23, 2021 – May 31, 2021)
Habib Ben Romdhane (July 26, 2021 – June 1, 2022)
Bruno Akrapović (June 16, 2022 – October 20, 2022)
José Luis Sierra (October 20, 2022 – June 1, 2023)
Giorgos Donis (July 11, 2023 – June 1, 2024)
Josef Zinnbauer (July 24, 2024 – )

References

^ "King Abdul Aziz Sport City Stadium". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
^ Al-Wehda 5th oldest club in Saudi Arabiahttps://makkahnewspaper.com/article/1116315/
^ Ian King and Mohammed Qayed (14 May 2010). "Saudi Arabia – List of Cup Winners". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
^ "Al-Wehda squad". kooora. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
^ "Al-Wehda squad 2018–19 season". slstat. Archived from the original on 5 January 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018.

External links

[1] "King Abdul Aziz Sport City Stadium". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2015.

[2] Al-Wehda 5th oldest club in Saudi Arabiahttps://makkahnewspaper.com/article/1116315/

[3] Ian King and Mohammed Qayed (14 May 2010). "Saudi Arabia – List of Cup Winners". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2011.

[4] "Al-Wehda squad". kooora. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.

[5] "Al-Wehda squad 2018–19 season". slstat. Archived from the original on 5 January 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018.

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Al Wehda FC

History

Honours

International record

Current squad

Other players under contract

Out on loan

Management staff

Managerial history

See also

References

External links