2014–15 UAE Pro League

Arabian Gulf League
Season2014–15
ChampionsAl-Ain (12th title)
RelegatedAjman
Al-Ittihad Kalba
2016 AFC Champions LeagueAl-Ain
Al-Jazira
Al-Shabab Al-Arabi
Al-Nasr
2015–16 GCC Champions LeagueAl-Wasl
Baniyas
Matches played182
Goals scored562 (3.09 per match)
Average goals/game3.09
Top goalscorerMirko Vučinić
(25 goals)
Biggest home winAl Ain 7–1 Ajman
(13 February 2015)
Biggest away winFujairah 0–7 Baniyas
(30 November 2014)
Highest scoringAl Ain 7–1 Ajman
(13 February 2015)
Longest winning runAl Jazira (5 matches)
Longest unbeaten runAl Ain (12 matches)
Longest winless runAjman (14 matches)
Longest losing runKalba (9 matches)
Highest attendance19,790 Al-Jazira vs. Al Wahda
Lowest attendance182 Ajman vs. Emirates
Average attendance2,529

The 2014–15 UAE Pro League, known as the Arabian Gulf League for sponsorship reasons,[1] was the 40th top-level football season in the United Arab Emirates. Fourteen teams participated with Al Ahli as the defending champions after securing the championship last season for the first time since the 2008–09 campaign.

The league was started on 15 September 2014 and was concluded on 15 May 2015.[2]

Teams

Al Shaab and Dubai Club were relegated to the second tier being replaced by Ittihad Kalba and Fujairah who were both relegated in the 2012–13 campaign.[3]

Stadia and locations

Team Home city Emirate Manager Stadium Capacity
Ajman Ajman Ajman Manuel Cajuda Ajman Stadium 5,537
Al Ahli Dubai Dubai Cosmin Olăroiu Rashed Stadium 9,415
Al Ain Al Ain Abu Dhabi Zlatko Dalić Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium 25,000
Al Dhafra Madinat Zayed Abu Dhabi Laurent Banide Al Dhafra Stadium 5,020
Al Jazira Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi Eric Gerets Al Jazira Stadium 42,056
Al Nasr Dubai Dubai Ivan Jovanović Al-Maktoum Stadium 10,954
Al Shabab Dubai Dubai Caio Júnior Rashid Al Maktoum Stadium 8,011
Al Wahda Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi Sami Al-Jaber Al-Nahyan Stadium 11,538
Al Wasl Dubai Dubai Gabriel Calderon Zabeel Stadium 8,411
Baniyas Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi Luis García Plaza Baniyas Stadium 9,047
Emirates Ras al-Khaimah Ras al-Khaimah Paulo Comelli Emirates Club Stadium 5,020
Fujairah Fujairah Fujairah Ivan Hašek Fujairah Club Stadium 5,020
Ittihad Kalba Kalba Sharjah Walid Obaid Al-Balooshi Ittihad Kalba Stadium 3,000
Sharjah Sharjah Sharjah Paulo Bonamigo Sharjah Stadium 10,082

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Al Jazira Walter Zenga Sacked[4] Pre-season 14 May 2014 Eric Gerets[5] 20 May 2014
Al Shabab Marcos Paquetá Mutual consent 23 May 2014 Caio Júnior[6] 23 May 2014
Baniyas Adnan Hamad 1 July 2014 Luis García Plaza[7] 10 July 2014
Al Wasl Jorginho 13th 1 October 2014 Gabriel Calderón 1 October 2014
Ajman Fathi Al-Jabal Sacked 13th 25 January 2015 Manuel Cajuda 27 January 2015
Al Wahda José Peseiro[8] 4th 10 February 2015 Sami Al Jaber 16 February 2015

Foreign players

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Former players
Ajman Rafael Crivellaro Ahmed Ibrahim Khalaf Boris Kabi Driss Fettouhi Karim Ziani
Bakari Koné
Al Ahli Éverton Ribeiro Luis Jiménez Oussama Assaidi Kwon Kyung-won Ciel
Grafite
Carlos Muñoz
Hugo Viana
Mirel Rădoi
Al Ain Jirès Kembo Ekoko Asamoah Gyan Miroslav Stoch Lee Myung-joo
Al Dhafra Humam Tariq Bilal El Najjarine Youssef Kaddioui Makhete Diop Matías Defederico
Diego Felipe
Paulinho Guerreiro
Al Jazira Manuel Lanzini Jucilei Jonathan Pitroipa Mirko Vučinić
Al Nasr Brett Holman Renan Garcia Ibrahima Touré Pablo Hernández Ivan Trichkovski
Al Shabab Edgar Carlos Villanueva Henrique Luvannor Azizbek Haydarov
Al Wahda Damián Díaz Sebastián Tagliabúe Hussain Fadhel Adil Hermach
Al Wasl Caio Canedo Éderson Fábio Lima Hugo Viana Neto Berola
Baniyas Denis Stracqualursi Ángel Dealbert Joan Verdú Carlos Muñoz
Kim Jung-woo
Emirates Alexandro Luiz Henrique Issam Erraki Sin Jin-ho Germán Herrera
Rodrigo Silva
Fujairah Karim Ziani Madjid Bougherra Boubacar Sanogo Hassan Maatouk Hassan Yebda
Ittihad Kalba Danilo Bueno Paulo Martins Said Fettah Papa Waigo Rafael
Luís Leal
Wael Ayan
Sharjah Marion Maurício Ramos Rodriguinho Wanderley Léo Lima
Luan

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Al-Ain (C) 26 18 6 2 62 19 +43 60 Qualification to the 2016 AFC Champions League Group Stage
2 Al-Jazira 26 16 3 7 66 46 +20 51 Qualification to the 2016 AFC Champions League Qualifying play-off
3 Al-Shabab 26 14 7 5 49 35 +14 49 Qualification to the 2016 AFC Champions League Second Qualifying Round
4 Al-Wahda 26 13 8 5 44 32 +12 47
5 Al-Nasr 26 10 9 7 43 32 +11 39 Qualification to the 2016 AFC Champions League Group Stage[a]
6 Al-Wasl 26 10 9 7 53 45 +8 39 Qualification to the 2016 GCC Champions League
7 Al-Ahli 26 10 8 8 35 27 +8 38
8 Baniyas 26 9 8 9 42 37 +5 35 Qualification to the 2016 GCC Champions League
9 Fujairah 26 9 5 12 23 45 −22 32
10 Emirates 26 8 6 12 34 45 −11 30
11 Al-Dhafra 26 5 12 9 31 33 −2 27
12 Sharjah 26 7 5 14 36 43 −7 26
13 Ajman (R) 26 2 9 15 27 60 −33 15 Relegation to the 2015–16 UAE Division 1 Group A
14 Ittihad Kalba (R) 26 3 1 22 17 63 −46 10
Updated to match(es) played on 3 June 2015. Source: [1]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Al-Nasr qualifies for 2016 AFC Champions League Group Stage as winners of 2014–15 UAE President's Cup.

Results

Home \ Away AJM AHL AIN JAZ NAS SHB WAS BAN DHA EMI FUJ KAL SHR WAH
Ajman 0–0 0–4 2–3 0–3 2–2 1–2 2–2 1–1 2–4 0–1 0–1 0–4 3–3
Al-Ahli 0–0 1–1 4–2 2–2 2–4 0–4 0–0 1–0 0–1 4–0 2–0 2–0 1–1
Al Ain 7–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–0 3–1 2–1 3–0 4–0 4–1 4–0
Al Jazira 3–1 2–0 4–3 3–2 2–4 4–2 1–4 1–2 3–0 2–2 3–0 1–2 1–1
Al Nasr 1–1 2–1 1–2 2–4 1–1 0–0 0–0 1–0 3–0 5–1 3–0 3–0 0–2
Al Shabab 2–1 1–0 1–1 3–4 2–1 2–2 1–0 1–1 1–3 1–0 2–1 4–2 1–2
Al Wasl 3–3 1–5 0–1 2–4 2–2 2–2 1–2 2–2 2–2 3–1 1–0 2–1 3–0
Baniyas 3–0 1–0 0–3 2–3 1–1 2–0 2–2 1–0 2–3 1–1 1–0 2–5 1–2
Dhafra 1–1 2–2 1–1 3–3 2–2 1–2 3–1 2–3 1–1 0–0 3–1 2–0 1–2
Emirates 0–2 0–1 1–5 0–2 0–3 2–3 2–3 3–0 0–0 1–2 1–0 1–1 1–2
Fujairah 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–3 0–1 0–3 1–4 0–7 0–0 0–1 2–1 2–1 1–0
Kalba 2–3 0–3 1–4 0–4 2–0 0–2 1–6 1–1 1–0 0–3 2–3 1–2 0–1
Sharjah 4–1 0–1 1–1 1–2 0–2 0–2 0–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 4–2 4–1
Wahda 3–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 5–1 1–1 2–2 3–1 2–1 2–1 1–0 5–0 1–1
Updated to match(es) played on 12 April 2015. Source: Soccerway
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Goalscorers

As of matches played 15 May 2015
Rank Player Club Goals[9]
1 Mirko Vučinić Al Jazira 25
2 Ibrahima Touré Al Nasr 18
3 Wanderley Sharjah 17
4 Ali Mabkhout Al Jazira 16
4 Caio Al Wasl 16
4 Fábio Lima Al Wasl 16
5 Sebastián Tagliabué Wahda 15
6 Éderson Al Wasl 14
7 Asamoah Gyan Al Ain 13
8 Makhete Diop Dhafra 12
9 Henrique Luvannor Al Shabab 11

Hat-tricks

Player For Against Result Date
Mirko Vučinić Al Jazira Emirates 3–0[10] 25 September 2014
Ahmed Khalil Al Ahli Al Jazira 4–2 18 October 2014
Ali Mabkhout Al Jazira Ajman 3–1 4 February 2015
Asamoah Gyan Al Ain Fujairah 3–0 28 February 2015

References

  1. ^ "UAE Pro League - Home".
  2. ^ "2014/15 Season Schedule confirmed". Pro League Committee. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Arabian Gulf League 2014/2015". Soccerway. Perform. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  4. ^ "Al Jazira dismiss Walter Zenga after seven months". The National. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  5. ^ "Al Jazira confirm Eric Gerets as new coach to replace Walter Zenga". The National. 20 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  6. ^ "Coach Marcos Paqueta is the fall guy for Al Shabab's wobbles". The National. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  7. ^ "Baniyas reach agreement with new manager Luis Garcia". The National. 10 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
  8. ^ "Al Wahda dismiss manager Jose Peseiro after poor results". The National. 10 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  9. ^ "Summary - Arabian Gulf League - United Arab Emirates - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Soccerway". Retrieved 26 September 2014.
  10. ^ "Al Jazira vs. Emirates - 25 September 2014 - Soccerway". Retrieved 26 September 2014.