The UAE Pro League ( ar, دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), known for sponsorship reasons as the ADNOC Pro League, is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first team to win the title was Al Orouba (Sharjah), whilst

Al Ain Al Ain ( ar, ٱلْعَيْن, , ) is a city in the western side of Tuwwam region and the seat of the administrative division of its namesake, Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is bordered to the east by the Omani ...

has the record with 14 league titles to their name. Fourteen clubs compete in the League that operates on a system of

promotion and relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues ...

with the

First Division League 1st Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) *1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions * 1st Armoured Division (Austra ...

. The League was founded in 1973 as the UAE Football League. The first 1973–74 season was a "trial" championship but was declared official by the UAE FA in 2001. In February 2007, the Pro League Committee was formed, and became the organising body of the League.

Name change

Starting from the 2006–07 season the name was changed from UAE League to

Etisalat Etisalat by e& is an UAE, Emirati-based multinational telecommunications services provider, currently operating in 16 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. It is the 18th largest mobile network operator in the world by number of sub ...

League. And since the 2013–14 season, the name was changed from Etisalat Pro League to Arabian Gulf League, which was named after the Arabian Gulf as per the chairman of Pro League Committee. However, the name change has been viewed as a revival of the Persian Gulf naming dispute with Iran accusing the United Arab Emirates of bigotry, and the

Iranian Football Federation The Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) ( fa, فدراسیون فوتبال جمهوری اسلامی ایران, Federâsion-è Futbâl-è Jomhuri-ye Eslâmi-ye Irân) is the governing body of association football in Iran. Forme ...

barring the transfer of

Javad Nekounam Javad Nekounam ( fa, جواد نکونام; born 7 September 1980) is an Iranian retired professional footballer who played as a central midfielder and is the current manager of Foolad FC. He spent most of his professional career with Pas and S ...

to a UAE club. After about four months of the name change a 70 million AED one-year renewable partnership deal was announced with Arabian Gulf Development to be named Official Title Partner. On the 8th of August, the Pro League signed a new partnership deal with ADNOC worth 80 million AED, from the start of the 2021–22 season, the league was renamed to the UAE's ADNOC Pro League.

Ranking

As of 28 May 2021

Clubs

Member clubs (2022–23)

:''Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.'' Prior to UAE League's transition to the professional era in 2008, many clubs have competed in the country's top tier division from 1973–74 to 2007–08. The below list is clubs that have competed in the UAE top tier league since the Pro League era starting in 2008–09.

Seasons in Pro League

* 14 seasons:

, Al Jazira, Al Nasr, Al Wahda, Al Wasl * 13 seasons: Al Dhafra,

Sharjah Sharjah (; ar, ٱلشَّارقَة ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi, forming part of the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area. Sharjah is the capital ...

* 12 seasons:

Baniyas Baniyas ( ar, بَانِيَاس ') is a Mediterranean coastal city in Tartous Governorate, northwestern Syria, located south of Latakia (ancient Laodicea) and north of Tartous (ancient Tortosa). It is known for its citrus fruit orchards and ...

* 11 seasons:

Ajman Ajman ( ar, عجمان, '; Gulf Arabic: عيمان ʿymān) is the capital of the emirate of Ajman in the United Arab Emirates. It is the fifth-largest city in UAE after Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Al Ain. Located along the Persian Gulf, ...

* 9 seasons:

Emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern country * Emirate, any territory ruled by an emir ** Gulf emirates, emirates located on the Persian Gulf ** Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, the individual emirates * The Emirat ...

, '' Al Ahli'', '' Al Shabab'' * 8 seasons:

Kalba Kalba () is a city in the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is an exclave of Sharjah lying on the Gulf of Oman coast north of Oman. Khor Kalba (Kalba Creek), an important nature reserve and mangrove swamp, is located south ...

* 6 seasons: Dibba Al Fujairah * 5 seasons:

Shabab Al Ahli Shabab Al Ahli, is an Emirati professional basketball team located in Dubai. The team has competed in both the domestic UAE National Basketball League as well as the international FIBA Asia Champions Cup. Achievements * UAE National League ch ...

* 4 seasons: '' Al Shaab'', ''

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

'',

Fujairah Fujairah City ( ar, الفجيرة) is the capital of the emirate of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. It is the seventh-largest city in UAE, located on the Gulf of Oman (part of the Indian Ocean). It is the only Emirati capital city on the ...

Khor Fakkan Khor Fakkan ( ar, خَوْر فَكَّان, Khawr Fakkān) is a city and exclave of the Emirate of Sharjah, located on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), facing the Gulf of Oman, and geographically surrounded by the Emirate of F ...

* 3 seasons: Hatta * 1 season:

Al Bataeh Al Bataeh ( ar, ٱلْبَطَائِح, Al-Baṭāʾiḥ) is a town located in outer skirts of the Emirate of Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates. The town only has a population of almost 4,000 as of 2015, and is one of the least populated municipal ...

Al Urooba Al Urooba Club ( ar, نادي العروبة الرياضي الثقافي) is a United Arab Emirates professional football club. It is based in the city of Mirbah and Qidfa, Fujairah. The club currently plays in the UAE First Division League. ...

Notes: * ''Italtics'' indicates that the club no longer exists * Bold indicates that the club is still competing in the UAE Pro League as of

2022–23 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 ...

Managers

List of champions

Source: _{Notes

1. Competition cancelled due to Gulf war

The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

2. Competition cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates

The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in the United Arab Emirates was announce ...}

Champions

Performance by club

_{Notes

1. Al Shabab along with Dubai CSC merged into Al-Ahli form Shabab Al Ahli in 2017

2. Al Shaab dissolved in 2017}

Performance by city

Performance by emirates

As of July 2016 following clubs are officially allowed to wear stars while playing in the League, Each country's usage is unique and in UAE the practice is to award one star for each five titles won. The number in parentheses is for League titles won. * Star full

(13) *

(7) *

Al Wasl (7) * Star full

(6)

Players

All-time top scorers

Source:

Top scorers by season

By country

References

External links

Official website
{{AFC Leagues

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...

1973 establishments in the United Arab Emirates Sports leagues established in 1973