The 2010–11 Saudi Professional League (known as the Zain Professional League for sponsorship reasons) was the 35th season of the Saudi Pro League, the top Saudi professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1976. The season began on 14 August 2010, and ended on 20 May 2011. Al-Hilal were the defending champions. The league was contested by the 12 teams from the 2009–10 season as well as Al-Faisaly and Al-Taawoun, who joined as the promoted clubs from the Saudi First Division. No teams were relegated the previous season following the decision to increase the number of teams from 12 to 14.
On 29 April, defending champions Al-Hilal won their 13th league title with two games to spare after a 1–0 home win over Al-Raed. Al-Hilal ended the season without a single defeat – the first team ever to do so in a 26-game league season and the second team overall (the first was Al-Ettifaq in 1983, during an 18-game league season).
Al-Hazem were the first team to be relegated following a 2–0 away defeat to Al-Taawoun. Al-Wehda became the second and final team to be relegated following the decision to dock 3 points from them.
Overview
Changes The SAFF announced that the number of teams in the league would be increased from 12 to 14.
Qualification and Prize money The league champions, runners-up and third place as well as the winner of the King Cup of Champions qualified for the 2012 AFC Champions League.
The top six teams, and the Crown Prince Cup winners and runners-up qualified for King Cup of Champions.
Prize money:
First place: 2.5 million SAR Second place: 1.5 million SAR Third place: 1 million SAR
Teams 14 teams competed in the league – 12 teams from the previous season and two teams promoted from the First Division. No teams were relegated the previous season following the decision to increase the number of teams from 12 to 14. The promoted teams were Al-Faisaly (returning after an absence of three years) and Al Taawoun (returning after an absence of 13 years).
Stadiums and locations
Club Location Stadium Capacity Al-Ahli Jeddah Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City 24,000 Al-Ettifaq Dammam Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium 30,000 Al-Faisaly Harmah Al Majma'ah Sports City Stadium 10,000 Al-Fateh Hofuf Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium 20,000 Al-Hazem Ar Rass Al-Hazem Club Stadium 11,000 Al-Hilal Riyadh King Fahd Sports CityPrince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City Stadium 69,00022,188 Al-Ittihad Jeddah Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City 24,000 Al-Nassr Riyadh King Fahd Sports CityPrince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City Stadium 69,00022,188 Al-Qadsiah Khobar Prince Saud bin Jalawi Sports City 10,000 Al-Raed Buraidah King Abdullah Sports City 25,000 Al-Shabab Riyadh King Fahd Sports CityPrince Faisal bin Fahd Sports City Stadium 69,00022,188 Al-Taawoun Buraidah King Abdullah Sports City 25,000 Al-Wehda Mecca King Abdulaziz Sports City 28,550 Najran Najran Prince Hathloul bin Abdulaziz Sports City 10,000
Personnel Club Head coach 2009–10 season Notes Al-Ahli Aleksandar Ilić 6th Al-Ettifaq Youssef Zouaoui 9th Al-Faisaly Zlatko Dalić First Division champions Al-Fateh Fathi Al-Jabal 8th Al-Hazem Goran Miscevic 7th Al-Hilal Gabriel Calderón 1stQualified to the 2011 AFC Champions League Al-Ittihad Dimitri Davidović 2nd Al-Nassr Dragan Skočić 3rd Al-Qadsiah Dimitar Dimitrov 10th Al-Raed Eurico Gomes 11th Al-Shabab Enzo Trossero 4th Qualified to the 2011 AFC Champions League Al-Taawoun Florin Motroc First Division runners-up Al-Wehda Lotfi Benzarti 5th Najran José Rachão 12th
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment Al-Faisaly Hadi Ben Mokhtar End of contract 9 May 2010 Pre-season Zlatko Dalić 19 May 2010 Al-Taawoun Grigore Sichitiu Gheorghe Mulțescu 2 July 2010 Al-Nassr Jorge da Silva 18 May 2010 Walter Zenga 18 May 2010 Al-Hazem Lula Pereira 30 May 2010 Lutfi Rhim 10 July 2010 Al-Ittihad Enzo Trossero Manuel José 2 June 2010 Al-Raed Edison Mario Souza Lucho Nizzo 15 July 2010 Al-Shabab Edgar Parreira Jorge Fossati 12 July 2010 Al-Wehda Eurico Gomes Jean-Christian Lang 24 June 2010 Al-Ahli Sérgio Farias Signed by Al Wasl 1 July 2010 Trond Sollied 1 July 2010 Al-Ahli Trond Sollied Sacked 28 August 2010 8th Khaled Badra (caretaker) 28 August 2010 Al-Ahli Khaled Badra (caretaker) End of caretaker period 10 September 201010th Milovan Rajevac 10 September 2010 Al-Hilal Eric Gerets Signed by Morocco 25 October 2010 2nd Reinhard Stumpf (caretaker) 25 October 2010 Najran Mourad Okbi Resigned 30 October 2010 10th José Rachão 30 October 2010 Al-Hazem Lutfi Rhim Sacked 31 October 201014th Fathi Al-Heric (caretaker) 31 October 2010 Al-Hilal Reinhard Stumpf (caretaker) End of caretaker period 5 November 2010 1st Gabriel Calderón 5 November 2010 Al-Raed Lucho Nizzo Sacked 7 November 2010 7th Eurico Gomes 7 November 2010 Al-Hazem Fathi Al-Heric (caretaker) End of caretaker period 13 November 2010 14th Goran Miscevic 13 November 2010 Al-Taawoun Gheorghe Mulțescu Sacked 16 December 2010 11th Florin Motroc 22 December 2010 Al-Wehda Jean-Christian Lang 23 December 2010 9th Mokhtar Mokhtar 25 December 2010 Al-Ittihad Manuel José Resigned 24 December 2010 2nd Toni 28 December 2010 Al-Shabab Jorge Fossati 24 December 2010 5th Enzo Trossero 27 December 2010 Al-Nassr Walter Zenga Sacked 27 December 2010 3rd Dragan Skočić 11 January 2011 Al-Ahli Milovan Rajevac Resigned 20 February 20117th Aleksandar Ilić 24 February 2011 Al-Ettifaq Marin Ion Sacked 23 March 2011 4th Youssef Zouaoui 23 March 2011 Al-Wehda Mokhtar Mokhtar 8 May 2011 11th Lotfi Benzarti 8 May 2011 Al-Ittihad Toni 11 May 2011 2nd Dimitri Davidović 13 May 2011
Foreign players The number of foreign players is restricted to four per team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries.
Players name in bold indicates the player was registered during the mid-season transfer window. Players name in italic indicates the player was de-registered or left their respective clubs during the mid-season transfer window.
Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 AFC player Former players Al-Ahli Marcinho Victor Simões Nikola Petković Amad Al-Hosni Wánderson Al-Ettifaq Sebastián Tagliabúe Bruno Lazaroni Mateus Hassan Mudhafar Al-Gheilani Al-Faisaly Migen Memelli Dario Jertec Albaye Papa Diop Wael Ayan Al-Fateh Élton Arábia Doris Fuakumputu Ramzi Ben Younès Ahmed Kano Al-Hazem Nemanja Obrić Nikica Košutić Francis Kasonde Mohammad Khamees Mohamed Rebeiz Al-Hilal Ahmed Ali Mirel Rădoi Christian Wilhelmsson Lee Young-pyo Thiago Neves Al-Ittihad Abdelmalek Ziaya Nuno Assis Paulo Jorge Ahmed Hadid Al-Mukhaini Al-Nassr Víctor Figueroa Jonathan McKain Ovidiu Petre Bader Al-Mutawa Răzvan Cociș Al-Qadisiyah Nasigba John-Jumbo Juan Cominges Mouin Chaâbani Abdulla Baba Fatadi Edorisi Master Ekhosuehi Al-Raed Charles da Silva Jaouad Akaddar Salaheddine Aqqal Khalifa Ayil Al-Noufali Hatem Aqel Al-Shabab Marcelo Camacho Marcelo Tavares Alhassane Keita Musaed Neda Song Chong-gug Juan Manuel Olivera Al-Taawoun Ertan Demiri Šakir Redžepi Dejan Rusič Shadi Abu Hash'hash Amir Azmy Bamba Drissa Mensur Kurtiši Al-Wehda Issam Erraki Youssef Kaddioui Suleiman Al-Salman Hussain Ali Baba Felipe Campos Abdelkarim Benhania Najran Juliano Mineiro Yves Diba Ilunga Hamad Ji Anas Bani Yaseen
League table
Results
Season statistics
Scoring
Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals1 Nasser Al-ShamraniAl-Shabab172 Victor SimõesAl-Ahli163 Mohammed Al-RashidAl-Taawoun / Al-Ittihad14 Muhannad AssiriAl-Wehda Yousef Al-SalemAl-Ettifaq6 Migen MemelliAl-Faisaly13 Yves Diba IlungaNajran8 Sebastián TagliabuéAl-Ettifaq12 Naif HazaziAl-Ittihad10 Yasser Al-QahtaniAl-Hilal11
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Ref Yasser Al-Qahtani Al-Hilal Al-Faisaly 5–1 (H) Naif Hazazi Al-Ittihad Al-Hazem 4–0 (H) Nasser Al-Shamrani Al-Shabab Al-Faisaly 4–1 (H) Yasser Al-Qahtani Al-Hilal Al-Hazem 3–0 (H) Migen Memelli Al-Faisaly Al-Ittihad 3–3 (A) Mukhtar Fallatah4 Al-Wehda Al-Hazem 8–1 (H) Muhannad Assiri Al-Wehda Al-Hazem 8–1 (H) Yousef Al-Salem Al-Ettifaq Najran 4–2 (A) Alhassane Keita Al-Shabab Al-Hazem 4–0 (A) Victor Simões Al-Ahli Al-Qadisiyah 3–1 (A) Nasigba John-Jumbo Al-Qadisiyah Al-Raed 4–1 (A)
Notes 4 Player scored 4 goals(H) – Home team(A) – Away team
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Mabrouk ZaidAl-Ittihad92 Fayz Al-SabiayAl-Ettifaq8 Hassan Al-OtaibiAl-Hilal4 Fahad Al-ThunayanAl-Taawoun65 Abdullah Al-EneziAl-Nassr5 Waleed AbdullahAl-Shabab7 Awidhah Al-AamriAl-Faisaly4 Mansoor Al-NajaiAl-Qadsiah Mohammad SharifiAl-Fateh Mohammed Al-KhojaliAl-Raed Yasser Al-MosailemAl-Ahli
Discipline
Player Most yellow cards: 10 Ahmed Kano (Al-Fateh)
Most red cards: 2 Juliano Mineiro (Najran) Fuad Al-Mutairi (Al-Hazem) Moïne Chaâbani (Al-Qadsiah)
Club Most yellow cards: 71 Al-Ettifaq
Most red cards: 11 Al-Hazem
Attendances
By team
Awards
Arriyadiyah and Mobily Awards for Sports Excellence The Arriyadiyah and Mobily Awards for Sports Excellence were awarded at the conclusion of the season for the fifth time since its inception in 2007. The awards were sponsored by Saudi newspaper Arriyadiyah and Saudi telecommunication company Mobily. The awards were presented on 11 September 2011.
Award Winner Club Player of the Season Mohammad Al-Shalhoub Yahya Al-Shehri Bader Al-Khamees Al-HilalAl-EttifaqAl-Taawoun Young Player of the Season Yasser Al-Shahrani Abdullah Al-Sudairy Meshal Al-Enezi Al-QadisiyahAl-HilalAl-Raed Goldent Boot Nasser Al-Shamrani Al-Shabab
Al-Riyadiya Awards The Al-Riyadiya Awards were awarded for the second time since its inception last year. The awards were presented on 15 June 2011.
Best Goalkeeper: Hassan Al-Otaibi (Al-Hilal) Best defender: Osama Hawsawi (Al-Hilal) Best Midfielder: Mohammed Noor (Al-Ittihad) Best attacker: Nasser Al-Shamrani (Al-Shabab) Player of the Year: Hassan Al-Otaibi (Al-Hilal)
See also 2010–11 Saudi First Division 2011 King Cup of Champions 2010–11 Saudi Crown Prince Cup 2012 AFC Champions League
References
External links Saudi Arabia Football Federation Saudi League Statistics