Al-Arabi SC (Saudi Arabia)

Al-Arabi

Full name	Al-Arabi Sports Club
Nickname(s)	Fares Unaizah (The Knight of Unaizah)
Founded	1958; 66 years ago (1958)
Ground	Department of Education Stadium Unaizah, Saudi Arabia
Capacity	10,000
Chairman	Ameen Al-Malah
Manager	Aleksandar Ilić
League	First Division League
2022–23	FDL, 6th of 18
Home colours

Al-Arabi Sports Club (Arabic: نادي العربي), also known as Al-Arabi Al-Saudi, is a professional multi-sports club based in Unaizah, Saudi Arabia. The football team competes in the Saudi First Division League, the second tier of Saudi football.^[1]

History

Establishment

Al Arabi Sporting Club was formed in Unaizah in 1958, by a group of young people in the city. The club operated unofficially as an amateur club until 1967 and was registered officially in the same year when General Presidency of Youth Welfare Abdulrahman Al-N'aim officially took over. The club has had fourteen presidents from its establishment until 2010, Currently, Adeeb Al-Kwiter is the president.

Football

Al-Arabi played for the first time in the Saudi First Division in the 1986–87 season. However, It played for four seasons until it won the Saudi First Division in 1989–90 season and was promoted to the Saudi Premier League. The club played one season in the Saudi Premier League and then was relegated to the Saudi First Division, where they played for four years. Al-Arabi was relegated in 1994–95 to the Saudi Second Division and attempted to rise back to the Saudi First Division in the 1995–96 season. Al-Arabi lost in the qualifier finals which was held in Al-Hasa. They played the 1996–97 and the 1997–98 season in the second division, until they were relegated to the third division in the 1998–99 season. The club continued in the third division until managing to qualify in 2001–02 in the final qualification match which was held in Najran and was promoted. The team played in the second division for from the 2002–03 season until the 2004–05 season where it was once again to the third division. Al-Arabi returned to the Saudi Second Division in the 2008–09 season after getting second place in the final qualification which was held in Dammam. In the 2021–22 season, they were champions of the Saudi Second Division and was promoted in the Saudi First Division. They have been playing in that division since the 2022–23 season.

• 1 season in Saudi Professional League
• 8 seasons in Saudi First Division
• 18 seasons in Saudi Second Division
• 7 seasons in Saudi Third Division

Current squad

As of 1 July 2023:

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  BRA Neto [disambiguation needed] 2 DF  KSA Abdulrahman Al-Masoudi 3 DF  CIV Cheick Comara 4 DF  KSA Sultan Tanker (on loan from Al-Hazem) 5 DF  KSA Murtadha Al-Burayh 6 MF  KSA Nawaf Al-Nafea 7 FW  KSA Hassan Sharahili 8 MF  BRA Jobson 9 MF  KSA Mohammed Mansour 10 MF  KSA Wesam Wahib 11 FW  NED Ola John 12 DF  KSA Mohammed Homairan 13 DF  KSA Meshari Al-Qahtani 14 MF  ESP Carles Pérez 17 FW  MNE Joey Barišić

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 FW  SEN Ablaye Mbengue 22 GK  KSA Mashari Al-Qaraawi 24 MF  KSA Khalil Al-Absi (on loan from Al-Hazem) 26 MF  KSA Ibrahim Al-Masri 30 GK  KSA Mohammed Mazyad 31 DF  ESP Héctor Fort 33 DF  KSA Mohammed Al-Duaiji 40 GK  KSA Hossam Karshami 55 MF  KSA Ibrahim Al-Nakhli 66 GK  KSA Basem Atallah 69 MF  BRA Diego Miranda 70 DF  KSA Ahmed Al-Muwallad 77 DF  KSA Osama Al-Bawardi 88 MF  BRA Muralha 91 FW  HON Romell Quioto

Club honours (Football)

• Saudi First Division :
  • Runner up (1) : 1989–90
• Saudi Second Division :
  • Champion (2) : 1986–87, 2021–22
• Saudi Third Division :
  • Champion (1) : 2001–02

Current technical staff

Position	Name
Manager	Alen Horvat
Assistant Manager	Vacant
Goalkeeping Coach	Abdali Al-Aoaqbi
Under-17-team Coach	Abdulaziz Ibrahim
Under-14-team Coach	Tariq Sharif
Goalkeeping Coach-Youth system	Tarek Atia
Head of Medical	Mahmoud Karim

Coaches history

• Akram Ahmad Salman 1989–1992^[2]
• Wardi Murad 2010–2011^[3]
• Zdravko Logarusic 2023
• Alen Horvat 2023-present

Basketball

Club honours (Basketball)

• Saudi Basketball U-17 tournament: 1

1997

Club honours (Hand Ball)

• Saudi Federation Handball Cup: 1

1983

• Saudi Youth Handball Tournament: 1

1977

• Saudi Handball U-17 Premier League: 1

2009

Stadium

Al-Arabi does not have its own football stadium, and uses a playground for training. A sport compound was built in Unaizah with facilities for a wide range of competitive sports, and the General Presidency of Youth Welfare decided to hold a draw between the city's two clubs for the right to use it. Al-Najma SC gained the right to use the stadium without a draw. In February 2007 during an interview on a program called C.V., Saleh Al-Wassel, the then-president of Al-Najma, admitted that he used his influence to obtain the newly built sports facility in Unaizah.

Al Arabi is currently playing all of its home matches at the Department of Education Stadium.

Indoor facilities

Al-Arabi Pavilion is an indoor sports arena used particularly for basketball and handball matches for the club. The capacity of the stadium is 7,000 people, and was built in 2007.

Presidents

• Suleiman Al-Badi
• Abdulrahman Al-Naim
• Ahmed Al-Turki
• Mohammed Al-Manea
• Ibrahim Al-Zaki
• Abdulrahman Al-Musaed
• Ahmad Al-Mansur
• Fahad Al-Wahaibi
• Ahmad Al-Subaie
• Ahmed Al-Marzouq
• Adeeb Al-Kwiter
• Mohammed Al-Dukahil
• Abdulaziz Al Dera
• Ameen Al Malah

See also

• List of football clubs in Saudi Arabia

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Al-Arabi.

External links

• Unaizah
• Unofficial (in Arabic)
• Al-Arabi page at kooora.com – Arabic
• Al-Arabi page at goalzz.com – English

26°3′51″N 43°59′48″E / 26.06417°N 43.99667°E / 26.06417; 43.99667