Al-Khaleej FC
Sport club in Saudi Arabia
Football club
Khaleej Club
Full nameKhaleej Club
NicknamesAl-Danah (The Pearls)
Al-Nusoor (The Eagles)
Founded1945; 81 years ago (1945)
GroundPrince Nayef Sports City Stadium
Qatif, Saudi Arabia
Capacity12,000
OwnerMinistry of Sport
ChairmanAlaa Al-Hamal
ManagerGeorgios Donis
LeagueSaudi Pro League
2024–25Pro League, 12th of 18
Websitekhaleejclub.sa
Current season

Khaleej Club (Arabic: نادي الخليج, lit. 'Gulf Club'), better known as Al-Khaleej FC, is a Saudi Arabian professional football and multi-sport club based in Saihat, in the Eastern Province, that competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of the Saudi football league system.[1]

History

The club was founded in 1945, under the name "Al-Nasr Club" (meaning "Eagle") with its yellow and black emblem. It was officially recognized as one of the clubs of the Eastern Province in 1968. Later, its name was changed to "Al-Khaleej Club" with a yellow and green emblem by order of King Faisal.[2]

Ground

Al-Khaleej is a football club based in Saihat, a city in the Qatif Governorate of Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province. Over the years, the club has played its home matches at various venues, including Prince Nayef Sports City Stadium in Qatif and Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam. In 2024, it was announced that the club’s old training ground would be redeveloped into a modern football stadium (Al-Khaleej Club Stadium[3]). This development will finally allow Al-Khaleej to play its home games in its own city.

Management staff

  • Manager: Georgios Donis
  • Assistant Manager: Miodrag Medan, Makis Angelinas
  • Goalkeeper Coach: Panagiotis Maliaritsis
  • Physical Coach: Grigoris Georgitsas
  • Match Analysis: Abdulaziz Al-Bakr
  • Sporting Director: Constantin Pană
  • Doctor: Abdulelah Al-Marzouq
  • Physiotherapist: Nawaf Al-Dossari
  • Technical Director: Hussain Hawsawi

Managerial history

  • Egypt Zaki Osman (1990 – 1991)
  • Tunisia Ahmad Al-Ajlani (1997 – 1999)
  • Saudi Arabia Khaled Al-Marzouq (May 1, 1999 – October 11, 1999)
  • Algeria Abdelkrim Bira (October 11, 1999 – March 1, 2000)
  • Bulgaria Angel (July 6, 2000 – March 1, 2001)
  • Saudi Arabia Khaled Al-Marzouq (March 1, 2001 – June 1, 2004)
  • Tunisia Yousef Al Suryati (August 9, 2004 – February 7, 2005)
  • Saudi Arabia Khaled Al-Marzouq (February 7, 2005 – October 31, 2006)
  • Czech Republic Jan Kmoch (caretaker) (October 31, 2006 – January 8, 2007)
  • Tunisia Lotfi Benzarti (January 8, 2007 – May 20, 2007)
  • Portugal Ricardo Formosinho (August 3, 2007 – November 4, 2007)
  • Saudi Arabia Khaled Al-Marzouq (November 4, 2007 – May 30, 2008)
  • Tunisia Samir Sellimi (June 23, 2008 – November 17, 2008)
  • Saudi Arabia Sameer Hilal (November 17, 2008 – May 31, 2009)
  • Saudi Arabia Khaled Al-Marzouq (June 8, 2009 – May 1, 2010)
  • Netherlands Eelco Schattorie (July 27, 2010 – January 5, 2011)
  • Tunisia Abderrazek Chebbi (January 5, 2011 – May 16, 2011)
  • Egypt Ahmed El Agouz (July 29, 2011 – November 5, 2011)
  • Saudi Arabia Khaled Al-Marzouq (November 5, 2011 – May 30, 2012)
  • Egypt Ayman Ragab (July 1, 2012 – May 24, 2013)
  • Saudi Arabia Sameer Hilal (May 28, 2013 – April 6, 2014)
  • Tunisia Jalel Kadri (April 29, 2014 – May 30, 2016)
  • Belgium Patrick De Wilde (June 9, 2016 – August 30, 2016)
  • Tunisia Jalel Kadri (August 30, 2016 – May 5, 2017)
  • Romania Eusebiu Tudor (May 18, 2017 – January 6, 2018)
  • Kuwait Maher Al-Shammari (January 6, 2018 – May 1, 2018)
  • Saudi Arabia Sameer Hilal (May 27, 2018 – June 1, 2019)
  • Croatia Alen Horvat (July 7, 2019 – December 14, 2019)
  • Tunisia Mohammed Tlemceni (caretaker) (December 14, 2019 – January 1, 2020)
  • Algeria Kheïreddine Madoui (January 9, 2020 – September 20, 2020)
  • Saudi Arabia Sameer Hilal (September 23, 2020 – June 1, 2021)
  • Serbia Dejan Arsov (July 13, 2021 – November 23, 2021)
  • Portugal Paulo Gomes (November 23, 2021 – May 6, 2022)
  • Saudi Arabia Khaled Al-Marzouq (caretaker) (May 6, 2022 – June 1, 2022)
  • Portugal Pedro Emanuel (July 3, 2022 – June 23, 2024)
  • Greece Georgios Donis (July 11, 2024 – )

Players

Current squad

As of 4 August 2025

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
3 DF  KSA Mohammed Al-Khabrani
4 DF  NED Bart Schenkeveld
5 DF  POR Pedro Rebocho
7 FW  NOR Joshua King
9 MF  GRE Georgios Masouras (on loan from Greece Olympiacos)
10 MF  GRE Kostas Fortounis
11 MF  ESP Paolo Fernandes (on loan from Greece AEK Athens)
12 MF  KSA Majed Kanabah
13 DF  KSA Ahmed Assiri
14 DF  KSA Ali Al-Shaafi
15 MF  KSA Mansour Hamzi
17 DF  KSA Abdullah Al-Hafith
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF  KSA Murad Hawsawi
19 MF  KSA Mohammed Al-Abdullah
21 MF  GRE Dimitris Kourbelis
24 MF  KSA Ali Abdulrouf
25 DF  KSA Arif Al Haydar
28 DF  KSA Hamad Al-Jayzani
33 DF  KSA Bander Nasser
35 GK  KSA Rayan Al-Dossary
39 DF  KSA Saeed Al Hamsal
49 GK  LUX Anthony Moris
93 MF  KSA Saleh Al-Amri
96 GK  KSA Marwan Al-Haidari

U21 squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
6 DF  KSA Ziyad Hantol
8 MF  GAM Abdoulie Mboge
23 MF  KSA Rakan Al-Kaabi
26 MF  KSA Raed Al-Shanqiti
No. Pos. Nation Player
27 FW  KSA Abdullah Al Zaynaldeen
31 GK  KSA Mohammed Al-Ghanem
70 FW  KSA Abdulmajeed Al-Khathami
71 FW  KSA Hussain Al-Sultan

Honours

Handball

The handball team is one of the most successful clubs in Saudi Arabia, having won the league title 10 times.

Partners

Laser Erima

Honours

Asian Club League Handball Championship

IHF Men's Super Globe

Arab Handball Championship of Champions

  • Winners (2): 2002, 2007
  • Runners-up (4): 1983, 1984, 1985, 1995

Saudi Handball League

  • Winners (10): 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2022–23
  • Runners-up (Since 2005): 2005–06, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22

Saudi Handball Federation Cup

  • Winners (9): 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2022, 2023, 2024
  • Runners-up(12): 1982, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1997, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2017, 2021

Saudi Handball Elite Championship

  • Runners-up (4): 2003, 2005, 2015, 2019

Saudi Handball Super Cup

  • Winners (2): 2023, 2024

Saudi Handball Olympic Games

  • Winners (2): 2022, 2023

Saudi Beach Handball Championship

  • Runners-up (1): 2022

Current squad

Squad for the 2024–25 season

Head coach: Greece Dimitris Dimitroulias

Goalkeepers
Left wingers
  • 2 Saudi Arabia Mohamed Al Meskeen
  • 4 Saudi Arabia Hassan Al Mubarak
Right wingers
  • 7 Saudi Arabia Mohammed Al Meskeen
  • 59 Saudi Arabia Hassan Al-Turaiki
Line players
  • 3 Saudi Arabia Ali Al-Ibrahim
  • 5 Saudi Arabia Jawad Jaffal
  • 77 Saudi Arabia Marhoon Al-Maa
  • 87 Saudi Arabia Jawad Al Ghafli
Left backs
Centre backs
Right backs

See also

References

  1. ^ "نادي الخليج". Saudipedia (in Arabic). Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  2. ^ "تاريخ التأسيس". Al-Khaleej Club Official Website (in Arabic). Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  3. ^ "«منشأة الخليج» الجديدة... أيقونة رياضية عنوانها «صناعة الأبطال»". Asharq Al-Awsat (in Arabic). 27 March 2024. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  • Official website
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