The 2009–10 Saudi Professional League (known as the Zain Professional League for sponsorship reasons) was the 34th season of the Saudi Pro League, the top Saudi professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1976. The season began on 18 August 2009, and ended on 18 March 2010. Al-Ittihad were the defending champions.
Al-Hilal secured the title with a 2–0 win away to Al-Hazem on 24 January 2010. Al-Hilal won the league with three games to spare. Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad, Al-Shabab and Al-Nassr all secured a berth for the 2011 AFC Champions League. No teams were relegated at the end of the season following the decision to increase the number of teams from 12 to 14.
Name sponsorship On 16 June 2009, the Saudi Professional League announced sponsorship agreement with telecommunication company Zain. As part of the sponsorship deal, the Saudi Professional League would be known as the Zain Professional League for the next 4 seasons.
Qualification and Prize Money The League champions, runners-up and third-placed team, as well as the winners of the King Cup of Champions, qualify for the 2011 AFC Champions League.
The top six teams, and the Crown Prince Cup winners and runners-up qualify for King Cup of Champions.
Prize money: First place: 2.5 million Saudi Riyals Second place: 1.5 million Saudi Riyals Third place: 1 million Saudi Riyals
Teams Twelve teams competed in the league – the top nine teams from the previous season, the relegation play-off winner and the two teams promoted from the Saudi First Division. Al-Raed defeated Abha 4–3 on aggregate to confirm their top-flight status. The promoted teams were Al-Qadsiah (returning after a season's absence) and Al-Fateh (playing top-flight football for the first time ever). They replaced Abha (relegated after a season's presence) and Al-Watani (ending their two-year top-flight spell).
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-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 City 69,000 Al-Ittihad Jeddah Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Sports City 24,000 Al-Nassr Riyadh King Fahd Sports City 69,000 Al-Qadsiah Khobar Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium 10,000 Al-Raed Buraidah King Abdullah Sports City 35,000 Al-Shabab Riyadh King Fahd Sports City 69,000 Al-Wehda Mecca King Abdulaziz Sports City 28,550 Najran Najran Prince Hathloul bin Abdulaziz Sports City 10,000
Personnel Club Head coach 2008–09 season Notes Al-Ahli Sérgio Farias 3rd Qualified to the 2010 AFC Champions League Al-Ettifaq Marin Ion 6th Qualified to the 2009–10 Gulf Club Champions Cup Al-Fateh Fathi Al-Jabal First Division runners-up Al-Hazem Lula Pereira 8th Al-Hilal Eric Gerets 2nd Qualified to the 2010 AFC Champions League Al-Ittihad Enzo Trossero 1st Qualified to the 2010 AFC Champions League Al-Nassr Jorge da Silva 5th Qualified to the 2009–10 Gulf Club Champions Cup Al-Qadsiah Dimitar Dimitrov First Division champions Al-Raed Edison 10th Al-Shabab Edgar 4th Qualified to the 2009–10 Gulf Club Champions Cup Al-Wehda Eurico Gomes 7th Najran Mourad Okbi 9th
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Replaced by Date Al-Hilal Georges Leekens Sacked Eric Gerets May 2009 Al-Ahli Stoycho Mladenov Sacked Gustavo Alfaro June 2009 Al-Raed Luiz Antônio Zaluar End of contract Acácio Casimiro June 2009 Al-Hazem Ammar Souayah End of contract Mohsen Saleh July 2009 Al-Nassr Edgardo Bauza End of contracthttp://www.the-afc.com/en/news-centre/member-association-news/222-west-asia-/24671-nasr-turn-to-uruguayan-da-silva-to-end-coaching-woes Nasr turn to Uruguayan Da Silva to end coaching woes Jorge da Silva July 2009 Al-Shabab Enzo Trossero End of contracthttp://www.the-afc.com/en/member-association-news/west-asia-news/24762-pacheco-is-new-shabab-coach Pacheco is new Shabab coach Jaime Pacheco July 2009 Al-Qadsiah Daniel Lanata Sacked Ammar Souayah September 2009 Al-Raed Acácio Casimiro Sacked Edison October 2009 Najran Marcelo Zuleta Sacked Samir Jouili October 2009 Al-Ettifaq Stoycho Mladenov Sacked Saber Eid (caretaker) October 2009 Al-Ettifaq Saber Eid (caretaker) End of caretaker period Marin Ion October 2009 Al-Ahli Gustavo Alfaro Resigned Alan Guido (caretaker) November 2009 Al-Qadsiah Ammar Souayah Resigned Anas Al Zerqati (caretaker) November 2009 Al-Hazem Mohsen Saleh Resigned Emad Al Solami (caretaker) November 2009 Al-Hazem Emad Al Solami (caretaker) End of caretaker period Lula Pereira December 2009 Al-Ahli Alan Guido (caretaker) End of caretaker period Sérgio Farias December 2009 Al-Qadsiah Anas Al Zerqati (caretaker) End of caretaker period Dimitar Dimitrov December 2009 Najran Samir Jouili Sacked Mourad Okbi January 2010 Al-Ittihad Gabriel Calderón Sacked Hassan Khalifah (caretaker) January 2010 Al-Ittihad Hassan Khalifah (caretaker) End of caretaker period Enzo Trossero January 2010 Al-Shabab Jaime Pacheco Sacked Shabab, Al Ain boot out their coaches Edgar April 2010
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 Saïf Ghezal Ahmed Kano Javier Toledo Sebastián Rusculleda Josimar Mosquera Al-Ettifaq Cristian Dănălache Dorel Stoica Jeremiah White Badar Al-Maimani Youness Mankari Khalifa Ayil Al-Noufali José Luis Garcés Al-Fateh Emmanuel Emmanuel Naïm Berrabet Ramzi Ben Younès Al-Hazem Salaheddine Aqqal Hamad Ji Mohamed Rebeiz Bashar Bani Yaseen Al-Hilal Thiago Neves Mirel Rădoi Christian Wilhelmsson Lee Young-pyo Al-Ittihad Abdelmalek Ziaya Hicham Aboucherouane Amine Chermiti Ahmed Hadid Al-Mukhaini Luciano Leguizamón Al-Nassr Víctor Figueroa Hossam Ghaly Pascal Feindouno Lee Chun-soo Éder Gaúcho Al-Qadsiah Nasigba John-Jumbo Nelson Figueredo Juan Cominges Rubén Gigena Said Suwailim Al-Shoon Al-Raed Bruno Luiz Felipe Campos Sérgio Ricardo Hatem Aqel Mário Sérgio Sédonoudé Abouta Al-Shabab Flávio Amado Marcelo Camacho Tarik El Taib Hussain Ali Baba Adam Griffiths Al-Wehda Abdelkarim Benhania Abdessamad Rafik Youssef Kaddioui Eli Felton Najran Yves Diba Ilunga Abdessamad Ouarrad Moussa Soulaimane Anas Bani Yaseen Cédric Kisamba Ibrahim Kamara
League table
Results
Season statistics
Scoring
Top scorers
RankScorerClubGoals1 Mohammad Al-ShalhoubAl-Hilal122 Thiago NevesAl-Hilal11 Mohammad Al-SahlawiAl-Nassr4 Waleed Al-GizaniAl-Hazem105 Víctor FigueroaAl-Nassr9 Ahmed Abo ObaidAl-Fateh Muhannad AssiriAl-Wehda Nasser Al-ShamraniAl-Shabab Yasser Al-QahtaniAl-Hilal Christian WilhelmssonAl-Hilal
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Ref Flávio Amado Al-Shabab Najran 3–1 (A) Naif Hazazi Al-Ittihad Al-Qadsiah 7–1 (H) Thiago Neves Al-Hilal Al-Ittihad 5–0 (H) Hicham Aboucherouane Al-Ittihad Al-Hazem 5–2 (H) Muhannad Assiri Al-Wehda Najran 5–0 (A) Abdelkarim Benhenia4 Al-Wehda Al-Fateh 6–0 (H)
Notes 4 Player scored 4 goals(H) – Home team(A) – Away team
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Khalid RadhyAl Nassr82 Mohamed Al-DeayeaAl Hilal73 Mohammad KhoujaAl-Ettifaq5 Mohammad SharifiAl-Fateh Mohammed Al-KhojaliAl-Raed Waleed AbdullahAl-Shabab7 Faisal Al-MerqebAl-Wehda48 Jaber Al-AmeriNajran3 Mabrouk ZaidAl-Ittihad
Discipline
Player Most yellow cards: 8 Ramzi Ben Younès (Al-Fateh)
Most red cards: 2 Abdullah Al-Garni (Al-Nassr) Ahmed Menawer (Al-Hazem) Mansoor Al-Harbi (Al-Ahli) Zakaria Al-Hadaf (Al-Qadsiah)
Club Most yellow cards: 56 Al-Hazem
Most red cards: 8 Al-Ittihad
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 fourth time since its inception in 2007. The awards were sponsored by Saudi newspaper Arriyadiyah and Saudi telecommunication company Mobily. The awards were presented on 13 May 2010.
Award Winner Club Player of the Season Christian Wilhelmsson Osama Hawsawi Mohammad Al-Sahlawi Al-HilalAl-HilalAl-Nassr Young Player of the Season Ibrahim Ghaleb Nawaf Al-Abed Khaled Al-Mutairi Al-NassrAl-HilalAl-Hazem Golden Boot Mohammad Al-Shalhoub Al-Hilal
Al-Riyadiya Awards Another set of awards was awarded at the end of the season. It was announced that AlRiyadiya were presenting their awards for the first time. The awards were known as AlRiyadiya Awards and were presented on 8 May 2010.
Best Goalkeeper: Waleed Abdullah (Al-Shabab) Best defender: Osama Hawsawi (Al-Hilal) Best Midfielder: Christian Wilhelmsson (Al-Hilal) Best attacker: Mohammad Al-Sahlawi (Al-Nassr) Player of the Year: Osama Hawsawi (Al-Hilal)
See also 2010 King Cup of Champions 2009–10 Crown Prince Cup (Final) 2011 AFC Champions League
References
External links Saudi Arabia Football Federation Saudi League Statistics