The 2019–20 Saudi Pro League was the 45th edition of the top-tier Saudi football league, established in 1974, and the 12th edition since it was rebranded as the Saudi Pro League in 2008. The season started on 22 August 2019 and concluded on 9 September 2020.
Al-Nassr were the defending champions. The league was contested by the top 13 teams from the 2018–19 season as well as Abha, Damac, and Al-Adalah, who joined as the three promoted clubs from the 2018–19 Prince Mohammad bin Salman League. They replace Ohod, Al-Batin and Al-Qadsiah who were relegated to the 2019–20 Prince Mohammad bin Salman League.
On 7 March 2020, the Ministry of Sports announced that all matches would be played behind closed doors until further notice. On 14 March 2020, the Ministry suspended all sports competitions indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. On 11 June 2020, the Ministry of Sports announced the resumption of sports activities with training starting on 21 June and games starting after 4 August 2020 and played behind closed doors. On 1 July 2020, the schedule for the remaining matches was released. It was announced that the league would resume on 4 August 2020 and end on 9 September 2020.
On 29 August 2020, Al-Hilal won the league for a record 16th time with two matches remaining, after defeating Al-Hazem 4–1. Al-Adalah were the first team to be relegated following a 1–1 home draw with Al-Raed on 29 August 2020. On 4 September 2020, Al-Hazem were relegated following a 1–0 defeat away to Al-Shabab. Al-Fayha were the third and final team to be relegated following a 1–0 defeat away to Al-Taawoun in the final matchday.
Changes On June 9, 2019, the Saudi FF announced that the number of foreign players was reduced from 8 players to 7 players. In addition, they announced that clubs could no longer sign players on amateurs contracts and that the squad size will be increased to 30 players. On 20 August 2019, the Saudi FF announced that relegation play-off between the 13th placed team of the Pro League and the 4th placed team of the MS League was cancelled.
Teams
Sixteen teams will compete in the league – the top twelve teams from the previous season, the play-off winner and the three teams promoted from the MS League.
Teams who were promoted to the Pro League
The first team to be promoted was Abha, following their 2–2 draw away to Al-Nojoom on 30 April 2019. Abha will play in the top flight of Saudi football after a ten-year absence. Despite losing to Al-Qaisumah, they were crowned champions on 11 May 2019 due to Damac's 1–1 draw with Al-Ain.
The second team to be promoted was Damac, in spite of their 1–0 defeat away to Al-Tai, on 5 May 2019. Damac will play in the top flight of Saudi football for the first time since 1982 when both the Pro League and First Division were merged into one league.
The third and final team to be promoted was Al-Adalah, who were promoted on the final matchday following their 2–0 win at home against Damac on 15 May 2019. Al-Adalah will play in the top flight of Saudi football for the first time in history.
Teams who were relegated to the MS League
The first team to be relegated was Ohod, ending a 2-year stay in the Pro League following a 3–1 home defeat to Al-Fayha on 12 April 2019.
The second team to be relegated was Al-Batin, ending a 3-year stay in the Pro League following a 1–0 home defeat to an already relegated Ohod side on 11 May 2019.
The third and final team to be relegated was Al-Qadsiah, who were relegated on the final matchday following a 2–2 home draw with Al-Hazem. Al-Qadsiah were relegated after 4 consecutive seasons in the Pro League.
Stadiums Note: Table lists in alphabetical order. Team Location Stadium Capacity Abha Abha Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium Al-Adalah Al-Hasa Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium Al-Ahli Jeddah King Abdullah Sports City Al-Ettifaq Dammam Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium Al-Faisaly Harmah Al Majma'ah Sports City Al-Fateh Al-Hasa Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium Al-Fayha Al Majma'ah Al Majma'ah Sports City Al-Hazem Ar Rass Al-Hazem Club Stadium Al-Hilal Riyadh King Saud University Stadium Al-Ittihad Jeddah King Abdullah Sports City Al-Nassr Riyadh King Fahd International Stadium Al-Raed Buraidah King Abdullah Sport City Stadium Al-Shabab Riyadh King Fahd International Stadium Al-Taawoun Buraidah King Abdullah Sport City Stadium Al-Wehda Mecca King Abdul Aziz Stadium Damac Khamis Mushait Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Stadium 1: Al-Faisaly play their home games in Al Majma'ah. 2: Al-Nassr and Al-Shabab also use Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium (22,500 seats) as a home stadium. 3: Damac play their home games in Abha.
Personnel and kits Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor 1 On the back of the strip. 2 On the right sleeve of the strip. 3 On the shorts.
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner ofdepartureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate ofappointment Al-Adalah Redha Al-JanbeEnd of caretaker spell 16 May 2019Pre-season Skander Kasri 31 May 2019 Al-Ettifaq Hélder 17 May 2019 Khaled Al-Atwi 17 June 2019 Al-Wehda Juan Brown 17 May 2019 Mario Cvitanović 2 July 2019 Al-Fayha Noureddine Zekri End of contract 17 May 2019 Jorge Simão 8 June 2019 Al-Shabab Marius ȘumudicăMutual consent 19 May 2019 Jorge Almirón 24 June 2019 Al-Taawoun Pedro Emanuel 19 May 2019 Paulo Sérgio 21 May 2019 Al-Ahli Yousef Anbar End of caretaker spell 21 May 2019 Branko Ivanković 18 June 2019 Al-Hilal Péricles Chamusca End of contract 21 May 2019 Răzvan Lucescu 30 Jun 2019 Al-Ahli Branko Ivanković Sacked 16 September 20199th Christian Gross 16 October 2019 Al-Wehda Mario Cvitanović Mutual consent 16 September 201912th José Daniel Carreño 16 September 2019 Damac Mohammed Kouki Sacked 5 October 201915th Noureddine Zekri 5 October 2019 Al-Fateh Fathi Al-Jabal Mutual consent 14 October 201916th Yannick Ferrera 14 October 2019 Al-Ittihad José Luis Sierra Sacked 19 October 20198th Henk ten Cate 4 November 2019 Al-Adalah Skander Kasri Mutual consent 4 November 201914th Nacif Beyaoui 5 November 2019 Al-Shabab Jorge Almirón Sacked 4 December 20197th Luis García 12 December 2019 Al-Taawoun Paulo Sérgio Mutual Consent 29 December 20196th Vítor Campelos 15 January 2020 Al-Hazem Daniel Isăilă Sacked 31 January 202013th André 31 January 2020 Al-Ittihad Henk ten Cate 11 February 202012th Fábio Carille 17 February 2020 Al-Ahli Christian Gross 17 February 20203rd Vladan Milojević 28 February 2020 Al-Adalah Nacif Beyaoui Resigned 13 June 202016th Giovanni Solinas 25 June 2020 Al-Shabab Luis García End of contract 18 July 20208th Pedro Caixinha 20 July 2020 Al-Wehda José Daniel Carreño Mutual consent 19 August 20205th Essa Al-Mehyani (caretaker) 19 August 2020 Al-Fayha Jorge Simão Sacked 27 August 202013th Yousef Al-Ghadeer 27 August 2020 Al-Taawoun Vítor Campelos Sacked 30 August 202010th Abdullah Asiri (caretaker) 6 September 2020
Foreign players On June 9, 2019, the Saudi FF announced that the number of foreign players was reduced from 8 players to 7 players.
Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window. Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Player 7 Former Players Abha Salim Boukhanchouche Mehdi Tahrat Amine Atouchi Abdelali Mhamdi Karim Aouadhi Saad Bguir Firas Chaouat Faneva Imà Andriatsima Reuben Gabriel Al-Adalah Medwin Biteghé Savvas Gentsoglou Carolus Andriamatsinoro Adama Traoré Aliou Cissé Sy Ass Mandaw Abdelaziz Ali Guechi John Ogu Youssef Fouzai Aymen Mathlouthi Al-Ahli Youcef Belaïli Elvis Sarić Lucas Lima Souza Marko Marin Omar Al Somah Ervin Zukanović Djaniny Danijel Aleksić Al-Ettifaq Raïs M'Bolhi Elierce Cédric Yambéré Souleymane Doukara Filip Kiss Naïm Sliti Rogerinho Walid Azaro Oussama Haddadi Al-Faisaly William Alves Guilherme Augusto Igor Rossi Raphael Silva Youssef El Jebli Khaleem Hyland Luisinho Roly Bonevacia Al-Fateh Sofiane Bendebka Bashkim Kadrii Marwane Saâdane Mitchell te Vrede Gustav Wikheim Maksym Koval Matías Aguirregaray Michał Janota André Pinto Saša Jovanović Abdelkader Oueslati Al-Fayha Ângelo Neto Gegé Carlos Villanueva Samuel Owusu Faneva Imà Andriatsima Arsénio Rafael Assis Ronnie Fernández Amer Shafi Al-Hazem Malik Asselah Alemão Jonathan Cafú Muralha Karim Yoda Driss Fettouhi Carlos Strandberg Ernest Asante Ibrahima Tandia Al-Hilal Carlos Eduardo Gustavo Cuéllar Bafétimbi Gomis Sebastian Giovinco André Carrillo Jang Hyun-soo Omar Khribin Al-Ittihad Leonardo Gil Marcelo Grohe Romarinho Bruno Uvini Wilfried Bony Karim El Ahmadi Anice Badri Emiliano Vecchio Jonas Luis Jiménez Carlos Villanueva Manuel da Costa Aleksandar Prijović Al-Nassr Brad Jones Giuliano Maicon Petros Nordin Amrabat Abderrazak Hamdallah Ahmed Musa Al-Raed Azzedine Doukha Arnaud Djoum Marco Pérez Jalal Daoudi Mohamed Fouzair Jehad Al-Hussain Ezequiel Palomeque Al-Shabab Djamel Benlamri Cristian Guanca Sebá Danilo Asprilla Makhete Diop Alfred N'Diaye Farouk Ben Mustapha Somália Bubacarr Trawally Al-Taawoun Cássio Sandro Manoel Nildo Petrolina Cédric Amissi Héldon Ramos Ricardo Machado Léandre Tawamba Al-Wehda Craig Goodwin Anselmo Élton Arábia Renato Chaves Luisinho Youssoufou Niakaté Alberto Botía Moustapha Zeghba Khaled AdénonMarcos Guilherme Emre Çolak Damac Farouk Chafaï Ibrahim Chenihi Moustapha Zeghba Sergio Vittor Emilio Zelaya Ghazi Ayadi Bilel Saidani Najib Ammari Chamseddine Rahmani Rafael Costa Jorge Fellipe Zezinho Aubin Kouakou Zakaria Hadraf Mouhcine Iajour Babacar Sarr
League table
Positions by round The following table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve the chronological evolution, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled but added to the full round they were played immediately afterward. If a club from the Saudi Professional League wins the King Cup, they will qualify for the AFC Champions League, unless they have already qualified for it through their league position. In this case, an additional AFC Champions League group stage berth will be given to the 3rd placed team, and the AFC Champions League play-off round spot will be given to 4th.
Results
Season statistics
Scoring Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals1 Abderrazak HamdallahAl-Nassr292 Bafétimbi GomisAl-Hilal273 Omar Al SomahAl-Ahli194 Youssouf NiakatéAl-Wehda165 RomarinhoAl-Ittihad156 Carlos StrandbergAl-Hazem13 Emilio ZelayaDamac8 Carlos EduardoAl-Hilal12 Mitchell te VredeAl-Fateh10 GiulianoAl-Nassr11 Saad BguirAbha Cristian GuancaAl-Shabab
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date Ronnie Fernández Al-Fayha Al-Ittihad 4–1 (H) Abderrazak Hamdallah Al-Nassr Al-Fayha 4–1 (A) Bafétimbi Gomis Al-Hilal Al-Adalah 7–0 (H) Abderrazak Hamdallah Al-Nassr Al-Shabab 4–2 (A) Abderrazak Hamdallah Al-Nassr Al-Taawoun 4–1 (A) Bafétimbi Gomis Al-Hilal Al-Hazem 4–1 (H)
Clean sheets
RankPlayerClubCleansheets1 Brad JonesAl-Nassr122 Farouk Ben MustaphaAl-Shabab103 Abdullah Al-MayoufAl-Hilal9 Moustapha ZeghbaAl-Wehda/Damac5 Mustafa MalayekahAl-Faisaly8 Raïs M'BolhiAl-Ettifaq7 Azzedine DoukhaAl-Raed6 CássioAl-Taawoun9 Abdullah Al-JadaaniAl-Wehda510 Mohammed Al-OwaisAl-Ahli4 Habib Al-WotayanAl-Fateh Malik AsselahAl-Hazem
Discipline
Player
Most yellow cards: 12 Alberto Botía (Al-Wehda) Khaleem Hyland (Al-Faisaly)
Most red cards: 3 Mohammed Al-Saiari (Al-Wehda/Al-Faisaly) Karam Barnawi (Abha)
Club
Most yellow cards: 75 Al-Wehda
Most red cards: 7 Al-Shabab
Attendances By round