Al-Taraji Club

Al-Taraji
Full nameAl-Taraji Football Club
Nickname(s)Al-Bahara (The Sailors)
Founded1980 (1980)
GroundPrince Naif Sports City Stadium
Qatif, Saudi Arabia
Capacity12,000
ChairmanAli Al-Eid
ManagerAnis Rebai
LeagueSaudi Second Division League
2024–25SDL, 11th of 16 Group A

Al-Taraj Club (Arabic: نادي الترجي) is a Saudi Arabian professional football club based in Qatif. It was established in 1980 and plays its home matches at the Prince Naif Sports City Stadium.

The club was formed in 1980 through the merger of Al-Bader and Al-Shate, the only two football clubs in Qatif at that time.

History

Al-Taraj Club, under its current name, was established in 1980 as a result of the merger of Al-Shate and Al-Badr clubs, the only two clubs in Qatif at the time. The club adopted a logo consisting of the colors blue, red, and yellow, combining the symbols of the two clubs: blue and yellow for Al-Badr, and blue and red for Al-Shate.

The true beginnings date back to the mid-1950s, when the first Qatifi clubs were established, such as Al-Ta'awun, Port Said, Al-Noor, and Al-Nusour. These clubs went through a series of mergers, resulting in Al-Shate and Al-Badr. Therefore, Al-Taraj Club is an extension of the Qatifi clubs founded during that early period and may be considered the oldest club not only in the Qatif Governorate but also in the entire Eastern Province, deserving the title of "Pioneer of Eastern Province Clubs."

Throughout its long history, the club has produced players for national teams in various sports, including: the late Abdulrahman Abdullah Al-Qasab (Shamroukh), Abdul Rab Nabi Al-Zayer, Othman Marzouk, Nizar Abbas, and Hassan Al-Raheb in football; Abdulaziz Abu Saud (a current member of the club's board), Ahmed Al-Ghorab, and Mohammed Al-Zayer in basketball; Faisal Eid, Mohammed Eid, Shawqi Al-Jishi, Nizar Al-Awami, Sayyid Mohsen Al-Ramadan, Ali Baqi, Bassam Al-Khneizi, Moayed Baqi, Mohammed Al-Khater, and Hussein Baqi in volleyball; and Ihsan Al-Jishi, Zaki Al-Ghanem, Mohammed Al-Ghanem, Hussein Akhwan, and Aref Akhwan in handball. It should also be noted that the first Olympic medal won by Saudi Arabia was a bronze medal by Taraj Club's player, Ibrahim Jaafar, in the Taekwondo event at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Current squad

As of Saudi Second Division :

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  KSA Abdulrahman Al-Amoudi
2 DF  KSA Mohammed Al Taleb
5 DF  KSA Naif Al-Shammari
6 DF  KSA Saud Sahari
7 FW  KSA Nohair Al-Mahri
9 FW  KSA Waleed Ghazwani
10 MF  KSA Hassan Al Zaid
14 DF  KSA Hussain Al-Dahan
15 MF  KSA Sultan Al-Shammeri
16 MF  KSA Faisal Al-Khaldi
17 FW  POR Pedro Paz
18 MF  KSA Hassan Jaafari
21 GK  KSA Abdullah Al-Bahri
22 MF  KSA Hassan Al Eid
No. Pos. Nation Player
23 FW  ISL Árni Vilhjálmsson
26 MF  KSA Talal Al-Dossari
27 DF  KSA Nasser Al-Khalifa
38 MF  KSA Faisal Dani Masrahi
49 DF  KSA Abdullah Musaed
63 GK  KSA Sajjad Al-Dahmasi
77 DF  KSA Ali Abo Shahin
89 DF  KSA Fahad Al-Johani
DF  KSA Saleh Al-Qahtani
DF  KSA Naif Al-Bishi
MF  KSA Abdullah Al Aadi
MF  KSA Aziz Al-Shammari
FW  KSA Saud Al-Atiq

See also

References

Notable players