UAE Pro League

UAE Pro League

Organising body	Pro League Committee
Founded	1973; 48 years ago (1973)
Country	United Arab Emirates
Confederation	AFC
Number of teams	14
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	First Division League
Domestic cup(s)	UAE President's Cup UAE Super Cup
League cup(s)	UAE League Cup
International cup(s)	AFC Champions League
Current champions	Al-Jazira (3rd title) (2020–21)
Most championships	Al Ain (13 titles)
TV partners	Abu Dhabi Sports Dubai Sports Sharjah Sports Fanseat
Website	uaeproleague.ae
Current: 2021–22 season

The UAE Pro League (Arabic: دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), known for sponsorship reasons as the ADNOC Pro League,^[1] is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first team to win the title was Al Orouba (Sharjah), whilst Al Ain has the record with 13 league titles to their name. Fourteen clubs compete in the League that operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the First Division League.

The League was founded in 1973 as the UAE Football League. The first 1973–74 season was a "trial" championship but was declared official by the UAE FA in 2001.^[2] In February 2007, the Pro League Committee was formed, and became the organising body of the League.

Name change[]

Starting from the 2006–07 season the name was changed from UAE League to Etisalat League. And since the 2013–14 season, the name was changed from Etisalat Pro League to Arabian Gulf League, which was named after the Arabian Gulf as per the chairman of Pro League Committee.^[3] However, the name change has been viewed as a revival of the Persian Gulf naming dispute^[4] with Iran accusing the United Arab Emirates of bigotry,^[5] and the Iranian Football Federation barring the transfer of Javad Nekounam to a UAE club.^[6] After about four months of the name change a 70 million AED one-year renewable partnership deal was announced with Arabian Gulf Development to be named Official Title Partner.^[7][8][9] On the 8th of August, the Pro League signed a new partnership deal with ADNOC worth 80 million AED, from the start of the 2021–22 season, the league was renamed to the UAE's ADNOC Pro League.^[1]

Ranking[]

Ranking[]

As of 28 May 2021^[10]

Ranking			Member Association	Club Points					Points
2021	2020	Mvmt		2018	2019	2020	2021	Total
5	1	-4	China	16.200	17.350	0.000	0.300	33.850	69.365
6	6	—	South Korea	18.350	13.600	0.000	0.300	32.250	66.086
7	8	+1	United Arab Emirates	8.100	7.633	0.000	13.233	28.967	59.359
8	10	+2	Uzbekistan	9.400	9.000	0.000	6.600	25.000	51.230
9	7	-2	Thailand	16.200	5.050	0.000	0.300	21.550	44.160

Clubs[]

Member clubs (2021–22)[]

Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.

Club	Home city	Stadium	Capacity
Ajman	Ajman	Ajman Stadium	5,537
Al Ain	Al-Ain	Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium	22,965
Al Dhafra	Madinat Zayed	Al Dhafra Stadium	5,020
Al Jazira	Abu Dhabi (Al Nahyan)	Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium	42,056
Al Nasr	Dubai (Al Nasr)	Al-Maktoum Stadium	15,058
Al Urooba	Qidfa / Mirbah		3,000
Al Wahda	Abu Dhabi (Al Nahyan)	Al Nahyan Stadium	12,201
Al Wasl	Dubai (Zabeel)	Zabeel Stadium	8,439
Baniyas	Abu Dhabi ()	Baniyas Stadium	10,000
Emirates	Ras Al Khaimah	Emirates Club Stadium	5,200
Kalba	Kalba	Ittihad Kalba Stadium	8,500
Khor Fakkan	Khor Fakkan		7,500
Shabab Al Ahli	Dubai (Deira)	Rashid Stadium	12,052
Sharjah	Sharjah	Sharjah Stadium	20,000

Prior to UAE League's transition to the professional era in 2008, many clubs have competed in the country's top tier division from 1973–74 to 2007–08. The below list is clubs that have competed in the UAE top tier league since the Pro League era starting in 2008–09.

Seasons in Pro League[]

Notes:

• Italtics indicates that the club no longer exists
• Bold indicates that the club is still competing in the UAE Pro League as of 2021–22

Managers[]

Nat.	Name	Club	Appointed	Time in charge
	Jorge Da Silva	Kalba	12 October 2019	2 years, 77 days
	Marcel Keizer	Al Jazira	13 October 2019	2 years, 76 days
	Daniel Isăilă	Baniyas	27 June 2020	1 year, 184 days
		Al Urooba	8 August 2020	1 year, 142 days
	Odair Hellmann	Al Wasl	8 December 2020	1 year, 20 days
	Mahdi Ali	Shabab Al-Ahli	15 December 2020	1 year, 13 days
	Ramón Díaz	Al Nasr	4 February 2021	327 days
	Goran Tufegdžić	Ajman	28 May 2021	214 days
	Serhiy Rebrov	Al Ain	6 June 2021	205 days
	Rogério Micale	Al Dhafra	2 October 2021	87 days
	Grégory Dufrennes	Al Wahda	26 October 2021	63 days
	Cosmin Olăroiu	Sharjah	10 November 2021	48 days
		Emirates	27 December 2021	1 day
	Vacant	Khor Fakkan	28 December 2021	0 days

List of champions[]

Source:^[11]

No Season Champion Runner up   1 1973–74 Sharjah Al Ahli   2 1974–75 Al Ahli Sharjah   3 1975–76 Al Ahli Al Ain   4 1976–77 Al Ain Sharjah   5 1977–78 Al Nasr Al Ain   6 1978–79 Al Nasr Sharjah   7 1979–80 Al Ahli Al Shaab   8 1980–81 Al Ain Al Nasr   9 1981–82 Al Wasl Al Ain   10 1982–83 Al Wasl Sharjah   11 1983–84 Al Ain Al Wasl   12 1984–85 Al Wasl Al Shaab   13 1985–86 Al Nasr Al Wasl   14 1986–87 Sharjah Al Wasl   15 1987–88 Al Wasl Sjarjah   16 1988–89 Sharjah Al Wasl   17 1989–90 Al Shabab Al Wasl × 1990–91 Cancelleda   18 1991–92 Al Wasl Sharjah   19 1992–93 Al Ain Al Wasl   20 1993–94 Sharjah Al Ain   21 1994–95 Al Shabab Al Ain   22 1995–96 Sharjah Al Wasl   23 1996–97 Al Wasl Al Nasr   24 1997–98 Al Ain Sharjah   25 1998–99 Al Wahda Al Ain   26 1999–2000 Al Ain Al Nasr   27 2000–01 Al Wahda Al Ahli   28 2001–02 Al Ain Al Jazira   29 2002–03 Al Ain Al Wahda   30 2003–04 Al Ain Al Shabab   31 2004–05 Al Wahda Al Ain   32 2005–06 Al Ahli Al Wahda   33 2006–07 Al Wasl Al Wahda   34 2007–08 Al Shabab Al Jazira   35 2008–09 Al Ahli Al Jazira   36 2009–10 Al Wahda Al Jazira   37 2010–11 Al Jazira Baniyas   38 2011–12 Al Ain Al Nasr   39 2012–13 Al Ain Al Ahli   40 2013–14 Al Ahli Al Wahda   41 2014–15 Al Ain Al Jazira   42 2015–16 Al Ahli Al Ain   43 2016–17 Al Jazira Al Wasl   44 2017–18 Al Ain Al Wahda   45 2018–19 Sharjah Shabab Al Ahli × 2019–20 Cancelledb   46 2020–21 Al Jazira Baniyas

_{Notes
1.^ Competition cancelled due to Gulf war
2.^ Competition cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates^[12]}

Champions[]

Performance by club[]

Club	Won	Runners-up	Winning seasons
Al Ain	13	8	1976–77, 1980–81, 1983–84, 1992–93, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2017–18
Al Wasl	7	8	1981–82, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1991–92, 1996–97, 2006–07
Shabab Al Ahli	7	4	1974–75, 1975–76, 1979–80, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2013–14, 2015–16
Sharjah	6	7	1973–74, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1993–94, 1995–96, 2018–19
Al Wahda	4	5	1998–99, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2009–10
Al Jazira	3	5	2010–11, 2016–17, 2020–21
Al Nasr	3	4	1977–78, 1978–79, 1985–86
Al Shababc	3	1	1989–90, 1994–95, 2007–08
Al Shaabd	0	2	��
Baniyas	0	2	—

_{Notes
1.^ Al Shabab along with Dubai CSC merged into Al-Ahli form Shabab Al Ahli in 2017
2.^ Al Shaab dissolved in 2017}

Performance by city[]

City / Area	Titles	Clubs	Winning seasons
Dubai	20
		Al Ahli	(7): 1974–75, 1975–76, 1979–80, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2013–14, 2015–16
		Al Wasl	(7): 1981–82, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1991–92, 1996–97, 2006–07
		Al Nasr	(3): 1977–78, 1978–79, 1985–86
		Al Shabab	(3): 1989–90, 1994–95, 2007–08
Al Ain	13	Al Ain	(13): 1976–77, 1980–81, 1983–84, 1992–93, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2017–18
Abu Dhabi	7	Al Wahda	(4): 1998–99, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2009–10
		Al Jazira	(3): 2010–11, 2016–17, 2020–21
Sharjah	6	Sharjah	(6): 1973–74, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1993–94, 1995–96, 2018–19

Performance by emirates[]

Emirates	Titles	Clubs	Winning seasons
Dubai	20
		Al Ahli	(7): 1974–75, 1975–76, 1979–80, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2013–14, 2015–16
		Al Wasl	(7): 1981–82, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1991–92, 1996–97, 2006–07
		Al Nasr	(3): 1977–78, 1978–79, 1985–86
		Al Shabab	(3): 1989–90, 1994–95, 2007–08
Abu Dhabi	20	Al Ain	(13): 1976–77, 1980–81, 1983–84, 1992–93, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2017–18
		Al Wahda	(4): 1998–99, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2009–10
		Al Jazira	(3): 2010–11, 2016–17, 2020–21
Sharjah	6	Sharjah	(6): 1973–74, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1993–94, 1995–96, 2018–19

As of July 2016 following clubs are officially allowed to wear stars while playing in the League, Each country's usage is unique and in UAE the practice is to award one star for each five titles won. The number in parentheses is for League titles won.^[13]

• Al Ain (13)
• Shabab Al Ahli (7)
• Al Wasl (7)
• Sharjah (6)

Players[]

All-time top scorers[]

Source:^[14]

Rank	Nat	Name	Club	Years	Goals	Apps
1		Fahad Khamees	Al Wasl	1980–1997	176	230
2		Sebastián Tagliabué	Al Wahda Al Nasr	2013–	148	151
3		Ali Mabkhout	Al Jazira	2009–	142	203
4		Mohammad Omar	Al Wasl Al Ain Al Jazira Al Dhafra Al Nasr Ajman	1992–2011	132	237
5		Adnan Al Talyani	Al Shaab	1980–1999	129	232
6		Abdulaziz Mohamed	Sharjah	N/A–2002	127	N/A
7			Al Ahli Al Ain	1988–2002 1978–1995	117	N/A
8		Faisal Khalil	Al Ahli Al Wasl Al Shaab	1999–2013	114	302
9		Fábio Lima	Al Wasl	2014–	102	129
10		Asamoah Gyan	Al-Ain Al Ahli	2011–2017	101	97
11		Anderson Barbosa	Sharjah Al Wasl	2002–2009	99	128
12		Makhete Diop	Al Dhafra Shabab Al-Ahli	2011–2018	95	137
13		Ali Thani	Sharjah	N/A	93	128

Top scorers by season[]

Season	Player	Club	Goals
1974–75[15]		Al Ahli	14
1975–76[16]		Al Wahda	12
1976–77[16]		Al Nasr	10
1977–78[16]		Al Ain	20
1980–81[17]	Karim Abdul Razak	Emirates	14
1981–82[18]		Al Ain	12
1982–83[19]	Luis Carlos[clarification needed]	Al Nasr	12
1983–84[20]	Fahad Khamees	Al Ain Al Wasl	20
1984–85[21]	Fahad Khamees Adnan Al Talyani	Al Wasl Al Shaab	14
1985–86[17][21]	Mohammed Salem	Al Wahda	16
1986–87[17][21]	Adnan Al Talyani Khalil Ghanim	Al Shaab Al Khaleej	13
1987–88[22]	Zuhair Bakheet	Al Wasl	25
1988–89[23]	Fahad Khamees	Al Wasl	14
1989–90[21]		Baniyas	16
1991–92[24][25]		Al Ahli	25
1992–93[17][25]		Al Ain	20
1993–94[17][26]	Abdulaziz Mohammed	Sharjah	18
1994–95[17][25]		Al Wahda	10
1995–96[25][27]		Al Shaab	10
1996–97[17][25]		Al Wahda	11
1997–98[25]	Ali Thani	Sharjah	18
1998–99[28]	Alboury Lah	Al Wahda	29
1999–00[25][29]	Alboury Lah	Al Wahda	18
2000–01[30][31]	Mohammed Al Enazi	Al Wahda	22
2001–02[30][32]	Mohammed Al Enazi	Al Wahda	22
2002–03[33]	Cristián Montecinos	Dubai	19
2003–04[34]	Ali Karimi	Al Ahli	14
2004–05[19][35]	Valdir Anderson Barbosa	Al Nasr Sharjah	23
2005–06[36]	Anderson Barbosa	Sharjah	19
2006–07[37]	Anderson Barbosa	Al Wasl	19
2007–08[38]	Faisal Khalil Anderson Barbosa	Al-Ahli Al-Sharjah	16
2008–09[39]	Fernando Baiano	Al Jazira	25
2009–10[40]	José Sand	Al Ain	24
2010–11[41]	André Senghor	Baniyas	18
2011–12[42]	Asamoah Gyan	Al Ain	22
2012–13[43]	Asamoah Gyan	Al Ain	31
2013–14[44]	Asamoah Gyan	Al Ain	29
2014–15[45]	Mirko Vučinić	Al Jazira	25
2015–16[46]	Sebastián Tagliabué	Al Wahda	25
2016–17[47]	Ali Mabkhout	Al Jazira	33
2017–18[48]	Marcus Berg	Al Ain	25
2018–19[49]	Sebastián Tagliabué	Al Wahda	27
2019–20[50]	Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba	Al Ain	19
2020–21[51]	Ali Mabkhout	Al Jazira	25

By country[]

Country	Players	Seasons
United Arab Emirates	17	21
Brazil	4	6
Ghana	2	4
Argentina	2	3
Senegal	2	3
Pakistan	1	1
Sudan	1	1
Tunisia	1	1
Chile	1	1
Iran	1	1
Montenegro	1	1
Sweden	1	1
Togo	1	1

References[]

External links[]

• Official website (in English and Arabic)