Saudi Pro League
The Saudi Pro League (SPL), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL), for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of association football in the Saudi football league system.
| {{{leaguename}}} | ||
| https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/75/Roshn_Saudi_League_Logo.svg | ||
| Country | Saudi Arabia | |
| Website | spl.com.sa | |
The first season of the league started in the 1976-77 season.[1] The league had been playing in a round-robin system from the first season all the way until the 1989-90 season, until the Saudi Federation wanted to merge the league along with the King's cup in one tournament with the addition of the Golden Box. The Golden Box was an end-of-season knockout tournament that was played against all the teams that finished in the top four of the league. These teams would play at a semi-final stage and would be crowned champions of Saudi Arabia. However, the league went back to a round-robin system in the 2007-08 season.
Some clubs in the Saudi Pro League are rather successful, especially with their performances in the AFC Champions League. Al-Hilal is the most successful club in the league, holding 18 titles in their history, most recently winning the title in the 2021-22 season. Al-Ahli, Al-Nassr, and Al-Ittihad are also some of the most successful clubs in the league.
In 2023, the league began to have widespread international attention due to signing world class players from European leagues for very expensive contracts. Most of this began in early 2023 when Al-Nassr signed Cristiano Ronaldo for 200 million euros.[2] The league began to sign world class players such as Neymar Jr, Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante, Roberto Firmino, Riyad Mahrez, and Jordan Henderson.
- ↑ "FIFA.com - Classic club". web.archive.org. 2009-08-01. Retrieved 2023-10-11.
- ↑ "Optus Sport". sport.optus.com.au. Retrieved 2023-10-11.