2017–18_Saudi_Professional_League

2017–18 Saudi Pro League

2017–18 Saudi Pro League

Football league season


The 2017–18 Saudi Professional League (also known formerly as a Jameel League for sponsorship reasons),[6] was the 42nd season of the Saudi Professional League, the top Saudi professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1976. The season started on 10 August 2017 and concluded on 12 April 2018.[7]

Quick Facts Season, Champions ...

Al-Hilal were the defending champions after winning the Pro League last season for the 14th time. Al-Fayha and Ohod have entered as the promoted teams from the 2016–17 Saudi First Division. Al-Hilal were crowned as league winners for the second season in a row on the 12 April, after defeating Al-Fateh 4–1 on the final day of the season.[8] No teams were relegated at the end of the season following the decision to increase the number of teams from 14 to 16.[9] In its place, relegation play-offs were held between the bottom 2 teams of the Pro League and the 3rd and 4th placed teams of the MS League. Both Pro League teams, Al-Raed and Ohod, won their respective matches and secured their top-flight status.[10]

Al-Fayha's Ronnie Fernández won the Golden Boot with 13 goals.[11] Al-Ittihad's Carlos Villanueva and Al-Faisaly's Vuk Rašović were named as Player and Manager of the Season respectively.[12]

Teams

Fourteen teams will compete in the league – the top eleven teams from the previous season, the playoff winner and two teams promoted from the First Division.

Teams who were promoted to the Pro League

The first club to be promoted was Al-Fayha, following their 2–1 win at home to Ohod on 29 April 2017. Al-Fayha will play in the top flight of Saudi football for the first time in their history.[13] They were crowned champions on 5 May 2017 after drawing Wej 1–1 away from home, coupled with Al-Tai's 0–0 draw against fellow promoted club Ohod.[14]

The second and final club to be promoted was Ohod, following their 0–0 draw at home to Al-Tai on 5 May 2017. Ohod will play in the top flight of Saudi football for the first time since 2005.[15]

Teams who were relegated to the First Division

The first club to be relegated was Al-Wehda, ending their 2-year stay in the Pro League after a 2–1 home defeat to Al-Fateh on 20 April 2017.[16]

The second and final club to be relegated was Al-Khaleej, ending their 3-year stay in the Pro League following a 2–2 draw to Al-Faisaly on 4 May 2017.[17]

Stadiums

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
More information Team, Location ...

1: ^ Al-Faisaly play their home games in Al-Majma'ah.
2: ^ Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr and Al-Shabab also use Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium (22,500 seats) as a home stadium.

Personnel and kits

More information Team, Manager ...
  • 1 On the back of the strip.
  • 2 On the right sleeve of the strip.
  • 3 On the shorts.

Managerial changes

More information Team, Outgoing manager ...

Foreign players

The number of foreign players was increased from 4 players to 6 players, and for the first time in the history of the Pro League foreign goalkeepers are allowed.[57] On January 11, 2018, the Saudi FF increased the number of foreign players from 6 players to 7 players.[58]

Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window.

More information Club, Player 1 ...

League table

More information Pos, Pld ...
Updated to match(es) played on 12 April 2018. Source: slstat.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Total goal difference; 5) Total goals scored; 6) Play-off (only for deciding champion, relegation and AFC competitions participation).[60]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners
Notes:
  1. Al-Ettifaq finished ahead of Al-Fateh on head-to-head points: Al-Ettifaq 2–1 Al-Fateh, Al-Fateh 1–1 Al-Ettifaq
  2. Al-Taawoun finished ahead of Al-Fayha on head-to-head points: Al-Fayha 1–1 Al-Taawoun, Al-Taawoun 4–0 Al-Fayha
  3. Al-Shabab finished ahead of Al-Batin on overall goal difference: Al-Shabab 0, Al-Batin –11 (Al-Shabab 1–2 Al-Batin, Al-Batin 0–1 Al-Shabab).

Positions by round

The following table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve the chronological evolution, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. If a club from the Saudi Professional League wins the King Cup, they will qualify for the AFC Champions League, unless they have already qualified for it through their league position. In this case, an additional AFC Champions League group stage berth will be given to the 3rd placed team, and the AFC Champions League play-off round spot will be given to 4th.

More information Team ╲ Round, Al-Hilal ...
Leader
2018 AFC Champions League group stage
2018 AFC Champions League play-off round
Qualification to relegation play-off
Relegation to 2017–18 First Division
Source: slstat.com

Results

More information Home \ Away, AHL ...
Updated to match(es) played on 12 April 2018. Source: slstat.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season progress

More information Team ╲ Round, Al-Ahli ...
Source: slstat.com
W = Win; D = Draw; L = Lose

Relegation play-offs

On March 7, 2018, the Saudi Football Federation announced that the number of teams in the Saudi Professional League will be increased from 14 teams to 16 teams. The relegation was removed and in its place, they announced a relegation play-off. The bottom 2 teams will face the 3rd and 4th place team in the Prince Mohammad bin Salman League.[9]

More information Team 1, Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score ...
More information Al-Raed, 4–1 ...
More information Al-Kawkab, 0–1 ...

Al-Raed won 5–1 on aggregate.


More information Ohod, 5–0 ...
Prince Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz Stadium, Medina
Referee: Simon Lee Evans (Wales)
More information Al-Tai, 1–2 ...

Ohod won 7–1 on aggregate.

Statistics

More information Rank, Player ...

Hat-tricks

More information Player, For ...

Discipline

Player

  • Most red cards: 1[65]
    • 17 players

Club

  • Most yellow cards: 60[65]
    • Al-Ettifaq
  • Most red cards: 3[65]
    • Al-Fateh

Attendances

By round

More information Round, Total ...

Source:[66]

By team

More information Pos, Team ...

Updated to games played on 12 April 2018
Source: [67][5][68]
Notes:
Teams played previous season in First Division.

Awards

For the first time in the history of the competition, the Saudi Football Federation announced annual awards for the best player in each position, best young player and the perfect team.

[69]

See also


References

  1. "The Most Successive Winning Teams". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  2. "The Most Successive Without Losing Teams". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  3. "The Most Successive Without Winning Teams". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  4. "The Most Successive Losing Teams". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  5. "The Most Attendance Match". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  6. "إعلان مواعيد انطلاقة بطولات الموسم القادم 2016-2017". thesaff.com (in Arabic). 8 May 2017. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  7. "رسمياً.. الوحدة يودع دوري جميل". arriyadiyah. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  8. "الصربي ميودراغ يسيتش مدرب للاتفاق". ettifaq. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  9. "الفيصلي يتعاقد مع مدرب جديد". dawryjameel. 29 May 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-08-19. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  10. "رسمياً.. جالكا مديراً فنياً للفيحاء". dawryjameel. 20 May 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-05-26. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  11. "البياوي يعتذر عن الاستمرار مع الرائد". dawryjameel. 14 May 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-08-18. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  12. "الجزائري روابح مديراً فنياً للرائد". dawryjameel. 4 June 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-06-07. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
  13. "الشباب ينهي تعاقده مع الجابر" (in Arabic). dawryjameel. 16 September 2017. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  14. ""الداهية" كارينيو مدرباً لليوث" (in Arabic). AlShabab. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  15. "مدرب الرائد ثالث المغادرين في الدوري السعودي" (in Arabic). dawriplus. 1 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  16. "النصر يتفق مع كوينتيروس لتدريب الفريق الكروي الأول" (in Arabic). dawriplus. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  17. "الأرجنتيني غوستافو مدرباً للفيحاء خلفاً لجالكا" (in Arabic). alfaiha. 1 November 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  18. "أحد : يتعاقد مع المدرب الجزائري نبيل نغيز" (in Arabic). OHOD1936. 10 November 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  19. "#الاتفاق يعين سعد الشهري مدرباً للفريق" (in Arabic). ettifaq. 10 December 2017. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  20. @saudiFF (June 22, 2017). "رسمياً: الاتحاد السعودي يقرر زيادة..." (Tweet). Retrieved 22 June 2017 via Twitter.
  21. @saudiFF (January 11, 2018). "📄" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 January 2018 via Twitter.
  22. "Prohibited registering players". dawryjameel.com. Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  23. "لائحة المسابقات والبطولات بالإتحاد العربي السعودي لكرة القدم" [Regulations of Saudi Arabian Football Federation Competitions] (PDF) (in Arabic). SAFF. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  24. "The Most Scoring Players". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  25. "The Most Assisting Players". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  26. "Three Matches played Today in First week". Saudi Pro League Statistics. 29 December 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  27. "The Most GoalKeepers Matches with Most Clean Sheets". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  28. "Attendance According to Rounds". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  29. "The Most Home Matches Attendance Teams". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  30. "The Most Home Matches Attendance Average Teams". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Retrieved 15 August 2017.

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