Ittihad Club

This article is about the Saudi football team based in Jeddah. For other similarly named clubs, see Al-Ittihad.
Ittihad
Full nameIttihad Saudi Arabian Club
Nickname(s)
  • Nadi Al-Sha'ab (The People's Club)
  • Nadi Al-Watan (The Nation's Club)
  • Amid Al-Andiyah (The Chief of Clubs)
Founded26 December 1927; 96 years ago (1927-12-26)[1]
GroundKing Abdullah Sports City
Capacity62,345
OwnerPublic Investment Fund (75%)
Ittihad Non-Profit Foundation (25%)[2]
ChairmanLoay Mashabi
Head coachLaurent Blanc
LeagueSaudi Pro League
2023–24Pro League, 5th of 18
Websiteittihadclub.sa
Current season
Al-Ittihad active departments

Football
(men's)
Football
(women's)
Basketball
(men's)

Ittihad Saudi Arabian Club (Arabic: نادي الإتحاد العربي السعودي, romanized: nādī al-Ittihad al-earabī as-saʿūdī, lit. 'Saudi Arabian Union Club'), commonly known as Ittihad is a Saudi professional football club based in Jeddah. It was founded in 1927.[1] The club has spent its entire history in the top flight of football in Saudi Arabia, currently known as the Saudi Pro League.[3] Ittihad has won 50 championships from which 35 are official championships.

Ittihad matches are played at Jeddah's main stadium King Abdullah Sports City, which is the second-largest stadium in Saudi Arabia, accommodating 62,345 spectators.[1] Al Ittihad has a long-standing rivalry with Al-Hilal, which is referred to as Saudi El Clasico, and is considered the most prominent and most watched annual match(es) rottiball.[4]

It is the oldest sports club still surviving in Saudi Arabia, as the club was founded in 1927.[4] The most successful period in the club history was the 1990s and the 2000s,[1] when the club achieved a large number of titles and achievements domestically, regionally, and even globally culminating in the club securing the 4th place in the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship in Japan.

Ittihad is one of the most successful Asian club at domestic and continental level, as they have achieved the AFC Champions League title twice in a row (one of only three Asian teams to achieve this, and the first to do so), the Asian Cup Winners' Cup once, the GCC Champions League and the Arab Champions League title each once.[5] Domestically, Ittihad is also one of two successful clubs in Saudi Arabia (alongside with Al-Hilal), having won nine league titles, nine King's Cup titles, eight Crown Prince Cup titles, three Saudi Federation Cup titles and one Saudi Super Cup.[4][5][6]

  1. ^ a b c d "Al-Ittihad Club History". www.footballhistory.org. Archived from the original on 2020-08-09. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  2. ^ "Saudi Arabia's PIF takes over Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal and Al-Ahli". BBC Sport. 5 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Club | Saudi Professional League Association". spl.com.sa. Archived from the original on 2021-12-17. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  4. ^ a b c "Saudi Arabia's Eternal Rivalry: Al Hilal v Al Ittihad". the-AFC. Archived from the original on 2021-12-17. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  5. ^ a b "Tale of two winners: Al Hilal 2019 v Al Ittihad 2004-05". the-AFC. Archived from the original on 2021-12-17. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  6. ^ "Al Ittihad Football Club recognised by Guinness World Records for back-to-back AFC Championship league wins". Guinness World Records. 2015-05-27. Archived from the original on 2021-09-24. Retrieved 2021-12-17.