The origins of the Saudi top division league trace back to the establishment of the His Majesty's League in 1957, which lasted until 1974. It was succeeded by a single transitional season known as the 1974–75 Saudi Categorization League. Following that, the first official season of the Saudi Premier League the 1976–77 season.[1] The league operated as a round-robin tournament from its inaugural season until the 1989–90 season. After that, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation decided to merge the football league with the King's Cup into one tournament, adding the Golden Box. The Golden Box was an end-of-season knockout competition played between the top four teams of the regular league season. These teams would compete in a semi-final stage to crown the champions of Saudi Arabia. The league reverted to a round-robin system in the 2007–08 season and was rebranded as the Saudi Pro League in 2008. While the Saudi Pro League is an evolution of the earlier Saudi top division league formats, its statistics and records are maintained separately, in a manner similar to how the English Premier League is treated as distinct from the former Football League First Division.
Al-Hilal is the most successful club in Saudi football history, amassing a record 19 titles, with their latest triumph in the 2023–24 season. Other prominent clubs, such as Al-Shabab, Al-Ittihad, and Al-Nassr, have contributed significantly to the league's history. Since 2023, the SPL has achieved greater global recognition, fueled by strategic developments under the Saudi Vision 2030 initiative. The nation's Public Investment Fund acquired 75% stakes in four foundational clubs—Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal, and Al-Nassr, investing large amounts of money to bring players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Karim Benzema to the league. These efforts have increased the prominence of the SPL in world football.[2][3]
History
Up until the late 1950s, football in Saudi Arabia was organized on a regional basis under the Saudi Regional Leagues, with the King's Cup being the only nationwide tournament. In 1957, the first qualification process consolidated the regional tournaments of the Central, West, East, and North regions. Clubs competed in their regional leagues to qualify for the King's Cup, which was the final stage of the competition. The winner of the King's Cup was not the league winner.[4]
In 1974, a one-time league was founded to end the regional leagues and decide which clubs would play in the upcoming Premier and first division leagues, the league was the Categorization League, 1976–77 season saw the start of the first-ever Premier League in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with eight teams, the following season the number of clubs increased to ten. The 1981–82 season saw the merger of both the Saudi Premier League and the Saudi First Division for that season exclusively to the concern of the 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification process. Twenty teams were divided into two groups, A and B. The top two in each group would enter a semi-final stage to determine the overall champions. In the following season which reverted to regular round-robin competition, the number of first-division clubs was later increased to 12 in the 1984–85 season.[citation needed]
In December 1990, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation decided to merge the league with the King's Cup in one tournament, it was decided to revamp local competitions and introduce professional football. A new league championship was formed called "The Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques League Cup", which was a two-stage championship. The first stage was a regular double round-robin league competition with the top 4 qualifying for the final knockout stage, called the golden box. Clubs were allowed to sign players on a professional basis making the league semi-professional. This system lasted for seventeen seasons before reverting to a regular round-robin competition. The league became fully professional in 2007.
As of 2024, depending on the nation's coefficient, three teams from Saudi Arabia qualify for the AFC Champions League Elite annually. This includes the top three positions of the league, the winner of the King's Cup qualify for the AFC Champions League Two. If the winner of the King's Cup is also among the top three teams then the fourth-best team qualifies for the AFC Champions League Two.
The Saudi Pro League made international headlines in 2023 due to many players from other leagues, particularly those in Europe, transferring to clubs for the 2023–24 season. A record-breaking transfer window took place ahead of the 2023–24 season; Saudi Pro League clubs spent close to $1 billion, acquiring 94 overseas players from Europe’s major leagues. These leagues include France’s Ligue 1, Spain’s La Liga, Italy’s Serie A, Germany’s Bundesliga and the English Premier League, according to Deloitte.[5] According to Spanish publication Marca the league has "shaken up the European transfer market".[6]
The nation's Public Investment Fund took 75% stakes in four founding members (Al-Ahli, Al-Ittihad, Al-Hilal, and Al-Nassr) in June 2023 as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 program.[7] These actions have been criticised by many sporting journalists and human rights activists, who have described the transfers as part of a sportswashing scheme by the Saudi government.[8][9] In response to these allegations, several Saudi journalists and commentators have defended the Public Investment Fund's involvement in Saudi football, arguing that it represents a strategic move to elevate the sport and diversify the national economy in line with Vision 2030.[10]
There are 18 clubs in the Saudi Pro League. During the course of a season (usually from August to May), each club plays every other club twice (a double round-robin system), once at their home stadium and once at their opponent’s, for a total of 34 games. Teams receive three points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss. Teams are ranked on the league table based on points first, then head-to-head record in case of a tie, followed by goal difference.
Each club is allowed a maximum of 25 players, including up to 10 foreign players. Of these 10 foreign players, 8 can be of any age, and 2 must be under 20 years old at the time of signing. The remaining 15 players must be Saudi nationals, with a maximum of 5 players allowed to come from the youth sector if needed or wanted.
For each league game, managers can select up to 8 foreign players to be included in the matchday squad.
Promotion and relegation
A system of promotion and relegation exists between the Saudi Pro League and Saudi First Division League. The three lowest-placed teams in the Saudi Pro League are relegated to the First Division, in the first division the top two teams are promoted to the Pro League directly, a play-off system[20] to determine the third team to be promoted alongside the two. Teams placed between third and sixth position take part in the promotion play-offs. The fifth-placed would face the fourth, while the sixth-placed team would face the third. The final would be single-legged, hosted by the higher-placed team.
Saudi Arabian clubs have a distinguished history in Asian football, having won a total of 16 titles across continental competitions. This makes Saudi Arabia the most successful country in Asian club football history. The table below provides a summary of these achievements.
As of the 2025–26 season, 40 clubs have participated in the Saudi top division league, with only three clubs — Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, and Al-Ittihad — never being relegated.
Bold indicates clubs currently competing in the Saudi Pro League.
Note: This count includes only seasons from the inception of the Saudi Premier League to the present day.
The Saudi Pro League Awards are presented annually to recognize the best performers in the League. The awards were first held for the 2018–19 season but were paused from 2019 to 2023. They resumed partially for the 2023–24 season and have continued in full from the 2024–25 season onward, with all major categories awarded.
↑ Note: Much like how the European Cup evolved into the UEFA Champions League, Asia’s top club competition began as the Asian Champion Club Tournament, later becoming the Asian Club Championship, then the AFC Champions League, and now the AFC Champions League Elite.
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