Al Wehda FC
| Full name | Al-Wehda Football Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Fursan Mecca (Knights of Mecca) Al Mared Al Ahmar (The Red Genie) altiniyn al'ahmar" (Red Dragons) | |||
| Founded | 1916 (as Al-Hizb) | |||
| Ground | King Abdulaziz Sports City | |||
| Capacity | 38,000[1] | |||
| President | Sultan Azhar | |||
| Manager | José Daniel Carreño | |||
| League | Saudi First Division | |||
| 2024–25 | Pro League, 16th of 18 (relegated) | |||
| Website | alwehdaclub | |||
|
| ||||
Al-Wehda FC (Arabic: نادي الوحدة لكرة القدم, romanized: Nādī al-Waḥdah li-kurat al-qadam, lit. 'Unity Football Club') is a multi-sports club based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
History
Al-Wehda is the 5th oldest club in Saudi Arabia, founded in 1945,[2] but if the club's establishment date (1916) is considered with the old name, this makes it the oldest club in the Kingdom.[3]
The football section plays in the Saudi Pro League. They also have a handball section.
Al-Wehda were the first ever winners of the King's Cup in 1957.
Honours
Saudi First Division League (tier 2)
- Winners (4): 1982–83, 1995–96, 2002–03, 2017–18
- Runners-up (2): 2011–12, 2014–15
- Third place (1): 2021–22
(Source:[4])
International record
| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | AFC Champions League | Play-off round | Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | |||
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Coaching staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager | José Daniel Carreño |
| Assistant manager | Mario Rodrigo Agustín Perez Mahmoud Abbas |
| Goalkeeper coach | Fernando Perez |
| Fitness coach | Rodrigo Miranda Costas Santiago Mendaña |
| Chief analyst | Saad Al-Dossari |
| Doctor | Fahad Al-Menhali |
| Physiotherapist | Mohammed Al-Shalwi |
| Sports scientist | Rustem Gashi |
| Interpreter | Khalid Baker Boujrafawi |
| Director of football | Yassin Al-Zahrani |
| Sporting director | Osama Barnawi Issa Al-Muhaini |
| Technical director | Hazim Al-Freej |
Managerial history
- Hassan Sultan (1955–1957)
- Hassan Sultan (1965–1968)
- Raafat Attia (1974–1975)
- Redha Al Sayeh (1976–1977)
- Taha Ismail (1981–1983)
- Abdelmajid Chetali (1983–1985)
- Khaled Al-Jizani (1985)
- Mahmoud Abou-Regaila (1985–1986)
- Jairzinho (1988–1989)
- Mimi Abdelhamid (1989–1990)
- Pavle Dolezar (1995)
- Jean Fernandez (1997)
- Gaúcho (1998–1999)
- Eugen Moldovan (1999–2000)
- Khaled Al-Jizani (caretaker) (November 10, 1999 – November 27, 1999)
- David Roberts (November 27, 1999 – May 30, 2000)
- Dumitru Marcu (July 13, 2000 – March 2, 2001)
- Adel Latrach (March 2, 2001 – May 30, 2001)
- Vantuir (July 5, 2001 – January 14, 2002)
- Luis Carlos (January 14, 2002 – May 1, 2002)
- Zoran Đorđević (August 1, 2002 – October 23, 2002)
- Khalid Al-Koroni (October 23, 2002 – June 1, 2004)
- Lotfi Benzarti (July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2006)
- Theo Bücker (July 6, 2006 – May 31, 2007)
- Jan Versleijen (June 2, 2007 – February 19, 2008)
- Khalid Al-Koroni (February 19, 2008 – May 1, 2008)
- Theo Bücker (July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2009)
- Eurico Gomes (August 13, 2009 – June 30, 2010)
- Jean-Christian Lang (July 1, 2010 – December 23, 2010)
- Mokhtar Mokhtar (December 25, 2010 – May 8, 2011)
- Lotfi Benzarti (May 8, 2011 – May 25, 2011)
- Bashir Abdel Samad (May 26, 2011 – June 30, 2011)
- Dragan Cvetković (August 21, 2011 – November 24, 2011)
- Adel Latrach (November 26, 2011 – February 16, 2012)
- Bashir Abdel Samad (February 17, 2012 – August 30, 2012)
- Wajdi Essid (September 15, 2012 – January 26, 2013)
- Khalil Obaid (January 26, 2013 – April 27, 2013)
- Florin Cioroianu (July 21, 2013 – October 1, 2013)
- Mohamed Salah (October 1, 2013 – March 1, 2014)
- Abderrazek Chebbi (March 1, 2014 – April 5, 2014)
- Djamel Menad (June 7, 2014 – September 20, 2014)
- Khalid Al-Koroni (September 22, 2014 – October 28, 2014)
- Juan Rodríguez (November 17, 2014 – October 30, 2015)
- Kheïreddine Madoui (November 9, 2015 – December 9, 2016)
- Adel Abdel Rahman (December 11, 2016 – May 5, 2017)
- Jameel Qassem (July 1, 2017 – May 5, 2018)
- Fábio Carille (May 22, 2018 – December 13, 2018)
- Mido (December 17, 2018 – March 19, 2019)
- Juan Brown (March 20, 2019 – May 17, 2019)
- Mario Cvitanović (July 2, 2019 – September 16, 2019)
- José Daniel Carreño (September 16, 2019 – August 19, 2020)
- Essa Al-Mehyani (caretaker) (August 19, 2020 – September 9, 2020)
- Ivo Vieira (September 10, 2020 – February 2, 2021)
- Mahmoud Al-Hadid (February 2, 2021 – March 21, 2021)
- Giorgos Donis (March 23, 2021 – May 31, 2021)
- Habib Ben Romdhane (July 26, 2021 – June 1, 2022)
- Bruno Akrapović (June 16, 2022 – October 20, 2022)
- José Luis Sierra (October 20, 2022 – June 1, 2023)
- Giorgos Donis (July 11, 2023 – June 1, 2024)
- Josef Zinnbauer (July 24, 2024 – November 15, 2024)
- Mahmoud Abbas (caretaker) (November 15, 2024 – November 27, 2024)
- José Daniel Carreño (November 27, 2024 – )
See also
References
- ^ "King Abdul Aziz Sport City Stadium". Saudi Pro League Statistics. Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
- ^ https://makkahnewspaper.com/article/1116315/
- ^ أكشن مع وليد (2022-06-07). #وليد_الفراج: متى تأسس نادي الوحدة ؟ سلطان أزهر - رئيس نادي #الوحدة: 1916 م. Retrieved 2025-06-20 – via YouTube.
- ^ Ian King and Mohammed Qayed (14 May 2010). "Saudi Arabia – List of Cup Winners". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
- ^ "Al-Wehda squad". kooora. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
- ^ "Al-Wehda squad 2018–19 season". slstat. Archived from the original on 5 January 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2018.