1996–97 Saudi Premier League

Saudi Premier League
Season	1996–97
Champions	Al-Ittihad (2nd title)
Relegated	Al-Ansar ; Al-Qadsiah
Asian Club Championship	Al-Ittihad
Top goalscorer	Ahmed Bahja (21 goals)
	← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Last updated August 23, 2025

Statistics of the 1996–97 Saudi Premier League.

Al-Ittihad won the championship, their second title after 1982.

Clubs

Stadia and locations

Jeddah

Riyadh

Dammam

Khobar

Unaizah

Ḥaʼil

Medina

Mecca

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Locations of teams in the 1996-97 Saudi Premier League

Club	Location	Stadium	Head coach
Al-Ahli	Jeddah	Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium	Vantuir
Al-Ansar	Medina	Prince Mohammed bin Abdul Aziz Stadium
Al-Ettifaq	Dammam	Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium	João Francisco
Al-Hilal	Riyadh	King Fahd Stadium	Oscar
Al-Ittihad	Jeddah	Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium	Dimitri Davidović
Al-Nassr	Riyadh	King Fahd Stadium	Ilie Balaci
Al-Najma	Unaizah	Al-Najma Club Stadium
Al-Qadsiah	Khobar	Prince Saud bin Jalawi Stadium
Al-Riyadh	Riyadh	King Fahd Stadium	Zé Mário
Al-Shabab	Riyadh	King Fahd Stadium	Jean Fernandez
Al-Tai	Ḥaʼil	Prince Abdul Aziz bin Musa'ed Stadium
Al-Wehda	Mecca	King Abdul Aziz Stadium

Foreign players

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Player 4	Player 5	Player 6	Former players
Al-Ahli	Ali Marwi
Al-Ansar
Al-Ettifaq	Kenneth Malitoli
Al-Hilal	John Jairo Tréllez	Salaheddine Bassir	Ricky Owubokiri	Samson Siasia	Carlos Flores	Elijah Litana
Al-Ittihad	Toninho	Abdeljalil Hadda	Ahmed Bahja	Alfonso Yáñez
Al-Najma
Al-Nassr	Hysen Zmijani	Ohene Kennedy	Sam Abouo				Youssouf Fofana
Al-Qadsiah
Al-Riyadh	Amer Abdul-Wahab Abdul-Hussein	Abdeljalil El Hajji	Hussein Ammouta	Mohannad Al Boushi
Al-Shabab	Ablade Kumah
Al-Tai
Al-Wehda	Adel Abdel Rahman	Effat Nssar	Saïd Rokbi

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Al-Ittihad	22	14	2	6	54	24	+30	44
2	Al-Nassr	22	12	3	7	37	31	+6	39
3	Al-Hilal	22	10	6	6	23	19	+4	36
4	Al-Shabab	22	10	5	7	31	23	+8	35
5	Al-Ahli	22	7	9	6	28	28	0	30
6	Al-Riyadh	22	7	8	7	33	30	+3	29
7	Al-Ettifaq	22	9	2	11	35	36	−1	29
8	Al-Wehda	22	8	4	10	37	49	−12	28
9	Al-Najma	22	6	8	8	28	30	−2	26
10	Al-Tai	22	7	5	10	27	34	−7	26
11	Al-Ansar	22	7	4	11	23	34	−11	25
12	Al-Qadsiah	22	5	4	13	26	44	−18	19

Source: ^{[ citation needed ]}

Promoted from First Division: Al-Shoulla and Al-Taawoun.

Playoffs

Semifinals

22 May 1997	Al-Shabab	2–4	Al-Ittihad	King Fahd Stadium, Riyadh
	Salem Suroor 40' Fuad Anwar 41'		15' Ahmed Bahja 25' (pen.) Ahmed Bahja 36' Ahmed Bahja 86' (pen.) Ahmed Bahja	Referee: Ibrahim Al-Omar

23 May 1997	Al-Hilal	2–2	Al-Nassr	King Fahd Stadium, Riyadh
	25' Mansour Al-Muwain 46' Mansour Al-Muwain		Ohene Kennedy 60' Ohene Kennedy 67'	Referee: Omer Al Mehannah

29 May 1997	Al-Ittihad	2–2	Al-Shabab	Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah
	Khamis Al-Zahrani 42' Meshal Al-Turki 73'		30' Fahad Al-Mehallel 63' Abdullah Al-Shihan	Referee: Abdul Rahman Al-Zaid

30 May 1997	Al-Nassr	1–3	Al-Hilal	King Fahd Stadium, Riyadh
	81' Ang Victor		Abdullah Al-Sharida 30' Khamis Al-Owairan 44' Sami Al-Jaber 86'	Referee: Abdulaziz Al-Dakhil

Third place match

4 June 1996	Al-Nassr	1–0	Al-Shabab	Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Riyadh
	Khaled Al-Dhaidh 88'			Referee: Abdulaziz Al-Sulaiman

Final

6 June 1997	Al-Ittihad	2–0	Al-Hilal	Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium, Jeddah
	13' Jabar Al-Shamrani 90' Jari Al-Qarni			Referee: Omer Al Mehannah

Saudi Premier League 1996-97 winners
Al-Ittihad 2nd title

External links

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