Shabab Club also known as Al-Shabab () is a Saudi Arabian professional football club based in Riyadh that competes in the Saudi Pro League. Founded in 1947 as ''Shabab Al-Riyadh'' (; ), it was renamed ''Al-Shabab'' in 1967. The club earned its name, "Shabab," meaning "youth" in Arabic, due to its emphasis on developing young players at its inception. Unlike its rivals, which primarily featured senior players, the club focused on nurturing youth talent. This distinction persisted for many years, becoming a defining characteristic of the club. As a result, the club became renowned for its commitment to youth development.

History

Al Shabab was the first football club in Riyadh. The club began before 1947, with many conflicts before with its numerous members, but it was settled in 1947 and Abdulrahman Bin Saeed was the president. Five years later, Al Shabab won its first tournament beating Sakit Al Hadeed (Railway Club) in Riyadh. In 1955 Al Shabab beat the Military College to win the King Saud Cup. Two years passed, and a new conflict arose in 1957. The player, Saleh Jaber, was assigned captain, but then was fired, and the new captain was Ahmed Lmfoon. This did not please some members of the club. Soon the conflict was impossible to solve, and Abdulrahman Bin Saeed and some members, left Al Shabab and took the best players that played for the club back then in an injustice way leaving Al Shabab to a chaos, The club stopped for half a year due to financial weakness, a new football club was born from the conflicts and separation with Abdulrahman Bin Saeed as the president which is the club known today as Al-Hilal. Then in the beginning of 1959 another problem began, Abdullah Bin Ahmed, the president then, was all alone taking care of the club. He could not take the pressure of handling the club alone, and decided to take a vacation abroad. Before traveling, he disbanded the first team, and most of the players signed for other clubs mainly Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal. What was left was the youth team, and the player Abdulrahman Bin Ahmed decided to take care of the youth, and from that they got there name Shabab Al Riyadh which means Riyadh's youth. Soon Abdullah Bin Ahmed returned, and many members returned and supported the club. Then Abdullah Bin Ahmed announced the return of forming the first team, and some players returned, but some stayed at Al-Ahli and Al-Hilal. Also in 1959 was the formation of the Saudi Football Federation, and all football clubs were announced official. In 1960 in the first official tournament called King Saud Cup for the Central Province, Al Shabab faced Al Hilal in their first official games between the two, and won 3–0 to win their first cup. In the 1960s, everyone wanted to play and be part of the club, and after the request of Al Najmah FC and Al Marekh in 1967, they were united as one club and changed their name from Shabab Riyadh, to simply Al Shabab. The colors of the team were at first white and green, then they were changed after the unification to orange and blue, but in 1977 it was changed to white, gray, and black, the current colors. In 1975 Al Shabab was relegated to 1st Division, but the following season it was able to gain 1st place and came back to the Premier League in 1976. In 1993, Al Shabab became the first club in Saudi Arabia to win 3 premier leagues in a row. In 2007, Al Shabab became the first club in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

to build projects to increase the club's revenue, and began a 200 million dollar project which contains a 5 star hotel, and a shopping mall. During a visit to the club in January 2008, Al Shabab's main supporter, Khalid bin Sultan, announced the launch of two new projects, Al Laith TV Channel, and Al Shabab Museum.

Honours

Domestic

* Saudi Pro League ** Champions (6): 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2011–12 *** Runners-up (6): 1981–82, 1984–85, 1988–89, 1997–98, 2004–05, 2020–21 * King's Cup ** Champions (3): 2008,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

*** Runners-up:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

* Crown Prince's Cup ** Champion (3): 1993, 1996,

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

*** Runners-up (4): 1992, 1994, 2000, 2009 * Saudi Super Cup ** Champion:

* Saudi Federation cup ** Champion (4): 1988, 1989, 2009, 2010 * Saudi First Division League (tier 2) ** Champions: 1978–79

Continental

* Asian Club Championship ** Runner up: 1992-93 * Asian Cup Winners' Cup ** Champions: 2001

Regional

* Arab Club Champions Cup ** Champions (2): 1992,

* Arab Super Cup ** Champions (2): 1996, 2001 * Gulf Club Champions Cup ** Champions (2): 1993, 1994

Records

* First Saudi club to win three Saudi Premier League in a row (1991, 1992, and 1993). * First Saudi club to win the professional and new Saudi Premier League, in 1991. * Largest margin win was against Al Shoalah during a friendly tournament in 2007, 8–0. Largest margin win in an official game was against Al-Ta'ee in the Saudi Premier League in 2003, 7–0. Largest margin win against a high-ranked club was 6–1 against Al Nassr in the Saudi Premier League 2004.

Current squad

Other players under contract

Out on loan

Management

Current board of directors and Administrators

Current technical staff

Recent seasons

The table below chronicles the achievements of Al Shabab in various competitions since 2000.

Managers

Asian competitions

Overview

Record by country

Asian record

Matches

AFC Club ranking

, - , Rankings are calculated by the AFC , Rankings are calculated by the Football Alphabet

References

External links

*
نادي الشباب , أخر الأ , NADY ALSHBAB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shabab Association football clubs established in 1947 Football clubs in Saudi Arabia 1947 establishments in Saudi Arabia Football clubs in Riyadh Asian Cup Winners Cup winning clubs