Al Riyadh

Early history

The club was founded in 1953 under the name "Ahli Al-Riyadh", before changing to "Al-Yamama" and then to "Al-Riyadh." It is currently based in west Riyadh. They reached the final of the Kings Cup in 1962 and 1978, but triumphed on neither occasion.

Golden era

Al-Riyadh was promoted to the Saudi Premier League at the end of the 1988/89 season after winning the Saudi First Division League.

In the early 1990s, under the leadership of the Brazilian coach Zumario and players such as Khalid Al-Qarouni, Talal Al-Jabreen, Yasser Al-Taafi and Fahd Al-Hamdan, Al-Riyadh won the Crown Prince Cup in 1994. They were unable to retain the Cup in 1995, losing in the final to Al-Hilal. However, they did win the 1995 Federation Cup and reached the semi-final of the 1995 Asian Cup Winners' Cup. In 1998, Al-Riyadh once again reached the finals of the Crown Prince Cup, and lost to Al-Ahli.

Al-Riyadh were relegated at the end of the 2004/5 season.

Return to the top flight

Al-Riyadh finished fourth in the Saudi First Division League in the 2022/23 season. Normally, a fourth-place finish would not be good enough for promotion, but the Saudi Premier League was expanding from 16 teams to 18, offering an additional promotion spot.