Al-Wehda FC (Arabic: نادي الوحدة لكرة القدم, romanized: Nādī al-Waḥdah li-kurat al-qadam, lit. 'Unity Football Club') is a multi-sports club based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
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| Full name | Al-Wehda Football Club | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Fursan Mecca (Knights of Mecca) Al Mared Al Ahmar (The Red Genie ) | |||
| Founded | 1916 (as Al-Hizb) 1945 (as Al-Wehda) | |||
| Ground | King Abdulaziz Sports City | |||
| Capacity | 38,000[1] | |||
| President | Sultan Azhar | |||
| Head coach | Josef Zinnbauer | |||
| League | Saudi Pro League | |||
| 2023–24 | Pro League, 13th of 18 | |||
| Website | alwehdaclub | |||
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History
editfounded in 1945, making it the 3rd oldest club in Saudi Arabia[2] The football section plays in the Saudi Pro League. They also have a handball section.
If the club's establishment date is considered with the old name, this makes it the oldest club in the Kingdom.
Al-Wehda were the first ever winners of the King's Cup in 1957.
Honours
editSaudi First Division League (tier 2)
- Winners (4): 1982–83, 1995–96, 2002–03, 2017–18
- Runners-up (2): 2011–12, 2014–15
- Third place (1): 2021–22
(Source:[3])
International record
edit| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | AFC Champions League | Play-off round |  Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
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Current squad
editNote: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Other players under contract
editNote: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
editNote: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Coaching staff
edit| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Josef Zinnbauer
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| Assistant head coach | Dragan Paljić
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| Goalkeeper coach | Michael Kraft
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| Fitness coach |  Franck Plaine
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| Chief analyst |  Saad Al-Dossari
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| Doctor | Fahad Al-Menhali
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| Physiotherapist | Mohammed Al-Shalwi
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| Sports scientist |  Rustem Gashi
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| Director of football | Yassin Al-Zahrani
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| Technical Director | Hazim Al-Freej
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Managerial history
edit- Hassan Sultan (1955–1957)
- Hassan Sultan (1965–1968)
Raafat Attia (1974–1975)
Redha Al Sayeh (1976–1977)- Taha Ismail (1981–1983)
- Abdelmajid Chetali (1983–1985)
- Khaled Al-Jizani (1985)
- Mahmoud Abou-Regaila (1985–1986)
Jairzinho (1988–1989)- Mimi Abdelhamid (1989–1990)
Pavle Dolezar (1995)- Jean Fernandez (1997)
- Gaúcho (1998–1999)
Eugen Moldovan (1999–2000)- Khaled Al-Jizani (caretaker) (November 10, 1999 – November 27, 1999)
- David Roberts (November 27, 1999 – May 30, 2000)
- Dumitru Marcu (July 13, 2000 – March 2, 2001)
- Adel Latrach (March 2, 2001 – May 30, 2001)
- Vantuir (July 5, 2001 – January 14, 2002)
- Luis Carlos (January 14, 2002 – May 1, 2002)
Zoran Đorđević (August 1, 2002 – October 23, 2002)- Khalid Al-Koroni (October 23, 2002 – June 1, 2004)
- Lotfi Benzarti (July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2006)
- Theo Bücker (July 6, 2006 – May 31, 2007)
Jan Versleijen (June 2, 2007 – February 19, 2008)- Khalid Al-Koroni (February 19, 2008 – May 1, 2008)
- Theo Bücker (July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2009)
Eurico Gomes (August 13, 2009 – June 30, 2010)- Jean-Christian Lang (July 1, 2010 – December 23, 2010)
- Mokhtar Mokhtar (December 25, 2010 – May 8, 2011)
- Lotfi Benzarti (May 8, 2011 – May 25, 2011)
- Bashir Abdel Samad (May 26, 2011 – June 30, 2011)
Dragan Cvetković (August 21, 2011 – November 24, 2011)- Adel Latrach (November 26, 2011 – February 16, 2012)
- Bashir Abdel Samad (February 17, 2012 – August 30, 2012)
- Wajdi Essid (September 15, 2012 – January 26, 2013)
- Khalil Obaid (January 26, 2013 – April 27, 2013)
- Florin Cioroianu (July 21, 2013 – October 1, 2013)
- Mohamed Salah (October 1, 2013 – March 1, 2014)
- Abderrazek Chebbi (March 1, 2014 – April 5, 2014)
Djamel Menad (June 7, 2014 – September 20, 2014)- Khalid Al-Koroni (September 22, 2014 – October 28, 2014)
Juan Rodríguez (November 17, 2014 – October 30, 2015)- Kheïreddine Madoui (November 9, 2015 – December 9, 2016)
- Adel Abdel Rahman (December 11, 2016 – May 5, 2017)
- Jameel Qassem (July 1, 2017 – May 5, 2018)
- Fábio Carille (May 22, 2018 – December 13, 2018)
- Mido (December 17, 2018 – March 19, 2019)
Juan Brown (March 20, 2019 – May 17, 2019)
Mario Cvitanović (July 2, 2019 – September 16, 2019)- José Daniel Carreño (September 16, 2019 – August 19, 2020)
- Essa Al-Mehyani (caretaker) (August 19, 2020 – September 9, 2020)
- Ivo Vieira (September 10, 2020 – February 2, 2021)
Mahmoud Al-Hadid (February 2, 2021 – March 21, 2021)
Giorgos Donis (March 23, 2021 – May 31, 2021)- Habib Ben Romdhane (July 26, 2021 – June 1, 2022)
Bruno Akrapović (June 16, 2022 – October 20, 2022)
José Luis Sierra (October 20, 2022 – June 1, 2023)- Giorgos Donis (July 11, 2023 – June 1, 2024)
- Josef Zinnbauer (July 24, 2024 – November 15, 2024)
- Mahmoud Abbas (caretaker) (November 15, 2024 – November 27, 2024)
- José Daniel Carreño (November 27, 2024 – )
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ "King Abdul Aziz Sport City Stadium". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
- ^ Al-Wehda 5th oldest club in Saudi Arabiahttps://makkahnewspaper.com/article/1116315/
- ^ Ian King and Mohammed Qayed (14 May 2010). "Saudi Arabia – List of Cup Winners". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
- ^ "Al-Wehda squad". kooora. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ "Al-Wehda squad 2018–19 season". slstat. Archived from the original on 5 January 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018.