The Bahraini Premier League is the main football competition in the Kingdom of

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

. Currently known as the Nasser bin Hamad Premier League, the first season was held in 1957. The winners of the domestic championship qualify for the AFC Cup. The championship is currently contested by 12 clubs.

Structure

Current structure

12 clubs currently play a two round robin set of fixtures totaling 22 games in order to determine the league champions. Although games are played on a home and away basis, almost all games are played at the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

. The eleventh and twelfth-placed clubs are relegated with the ninth and tenth enter the relegation play-offs.

Previous structures

In earlier seasons, the league has been radically overhauled to feature all the professional clubs of Bahrain. Instances being the 2008–09 and 2002 league seasons. The leagues featuring up to 19 teams would play each other on one occasion with the top 10 teams staying in the Premier League top flight and the bottom sides (from 11 to 19) forming the next seasons 2nd division. Between the seasons of 2002 and 2009, the top four sides of the league would also play in the

Crown Prince Cup The Saudi Crown Prince's Cup ( ar, كأس ولي العهد) was the Saudi Arabian annual cup competition. It was the oldest domestic football competition in Saudi Arabia, its first edition was held in 1956–57, but was not crowned from 1975 unti ...

Clubs (2022–23)

* Al-Ahli * Al-Hala *

Al-Hidd :''To be distinguished from Ras al Hadd (رأس الحد), a district with a famous turtle breeding beach in Oman'' Al Hidd ( ar, الحد; transliterated: Al-Ḥidd) is a town in Bahrain, located on a sand spit on the southeastern extremity of Muh ...

* Al-Khaldiya * Al-Muharraq *

Al-Riffa Al-Riffa Sports Club ( ar, نادي الرفاع الرياضي) is a Bahraini professional football club based in Riffa, that competes in the Bahraini Premier League, the top flight of Bahraini football. The club was founded in 1953. History ...

* Al-Shabab *

Bahrain SC Al-Bahrain Sports Club (), otherwise simply known as Bahrain, is primarily a Bahraini football club based in the island-governorate of Al-Muharraq. Their football team plays in the Bahraini Second Division. Their home football stadium is the Al ...

Budaiya Al Budaiya ( ar, البديع) is a coastal town located in the northwestern region of Bahrain Island, in the Northern Governorate of the Kingdom of Bahrain. It neighbors the villages of Diraz and Bani Jamra. History The town was founded by the ...

* East Riffa *

Manama Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 200,000 people as of 2020. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very di ...

Sitra Sitra ( ar, سترة or , ''As-Sitra''), also known as Sitrah ( ar, Jazīrat Sitrah, script=Latn) or Sitra Island ( ar, Jazīrat as-Sitra, script=Latn), is an island in Bahrain. It lies south of the capital, Manama, on Bahrain Island. History ...

2022–23 Clubs' stadiums

Team re-structuring

In 2002, a host of clubs were amalgamated: * Bahrain is an amalgamation of Bahrain and Al-Khaleej. * Riffa is an amalgamation of West Riffa and Zallaq. * Al-Najma is an amalgamation of Al-Hilal, Al-Qadisiya and Ras Al-Rumman. * Al-Sahel is an amalgamation of Qalali and Hadd. * Al-Tadamun is an amalgamation of Boori, Karazkan, Hamla, Reef Union and Damastan. * Al-Shabab is an amalgamation of Deyya, Sanabis, Jadd Hafs, Naeem, Karrana, Sahla and Karbabad. * Al-Ittifaq is an amalgamation of Al-Arabi, Maqaba and Bani Jumra.

List of champions

Champions are: * 1956–57 : Al-Muharraq * 1957–58 : Al-Muharraq * 1958–59 : Al-Nasr * 1959–60 : Al-Muharraq * 1960–61 : Al-Muharraq * 1961–62 : Al-Muharraq * 1962–63 : Al-Muharraq * 1963–64 : Al-Muharraq * 1964–65 : Al-Muharraq * 1965–66 : Al-Muharraq * 1966–67 : Al-Muharraq * 1967–68 :

(Muharraq) * 1968–69 : Al-Ahli (Manama) * 1969–70 : Al-Muharraq * 1970–71 : Al-Muharraq * 1971–72 : Al-Ahli (Manama) * 1972–73 : Al-Muharraq * 1973–74 : Al-Muharraq * 1974–75 : Al-Arabi ( Al-Najma now) * 1975–76 : Al-Muharraq * 1976–77 : Al-Ahli (Manama) * 1977–78 :

(Muharraq) * 1978–79 :

Al Hala Halat Bu Maher ( ar, حالة بو ماهر), sometimes abbreviated to simply "Al Hala" ( ar, الحالة), is a neighbourhood of Muharraq, Bahrain. It used to be a separate island, but after coastal expansion and dredging, the island has merged ...

* 1979–80 : Al-Muharraq * 1980–81 :

(Muharraq) * 1981–82 : West Riffa * 1982–83 : Al-Muharraq * 1983–84 : Al-Muharraq * 1984–85 :

(Muharraq) * 1985–86 : Al-Muharraq * 1986–87 : West Riffa * 1987–88 : Al-Muharraq * 1988–89 :

(Muharraq) * 1989–90 : West Riffa *

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

: Al-Muharraq * 1991–92 : Al-Muharraq *

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

: West Riffa * 1993–94 : East Riffa * 1994–95 : Al-Muharraq * 1995–96 : Al-Ahli (Manama) * 1996–97 : West Riffa * 1997–98 : West Riffa * 1998–99 : Al-Muharraq * 1999–00 : West Riffa * 2000–01 : Al-Muharraq * 2002 : Al-Muharraq * 2002–03 :

* 2003–04 : Al-Muharraq * 2004–05 :

* 2005–06 : Al-Muharraq * 2006–07 : Al-Muharraq * 2007–08 : Al-Muharraq * 2008–09 : Al-Muharraq * 2009–10 : Al-Ahli (Manama) *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

: Al-Muharraq * 2011–12 :

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

: Busaiteen * 2013–14 :

* 2014–15 : Al-Muharraq * 2015–16 :

* 2016–17 : Malkiya * 2017–18 : Al-Muharraq * 2018–19 :

* 2019–20 :

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

* 2021–22 :

Total championships

The number of national championships that clubs in Bahrain have attained.

Top scorers

References

External links

Bahrain Premiere League
(Arabic)
goalzz.com - Bahraini Premiere League

Soccerway - Bahrain Premier League

Weltfussballarchiv - Bahraini Premier League

Bahrain Premier League - Hailoosport.com
(Arabic)
Bahrain Premier League - Hailoosport.com
{{AFC Leagues Football competitions in Bahrain Top level football leagues in Asia Sports leagues established in 1956