Al-Okhdood Club

Al-Okhdood
Full nameAl-Okhdood Club
NicknameAmbassador of Najran
Founded1976 (1976)
GroundPrince Hathloul bin Abdulaziz Sports City
Capacity10,000
ChairmanSami Al Fadehl
LeagueSaudi Pro League
2024–2515th of 18
Websitealakhdoud.com

Al-Okhdood Club (Arabic: نادي الأخدود, romanizednādī ʿukhdūdi, lit.'Ditch') is a Saudi professional football club based in Najran, in the southern region of Saudi Arabia.[1] Founded in 1976, the club competes in the Saudi Professional League, the first tier of Saudi football. The club have won the Saudi Second Division twice in 1992 and most recently in 2021.[2] Besides football, the club also consists of various other departments including karate, handball, taekwondo, volleyball, water polo, basketball and cycling.[3] The club's name alludes to the People of the Ditch mentioned in the Qur'an.[4]

History

Al-Okhdood, founded in 1976, secured promotion to the Saudi Pro League on 15 May 2023 for the first time in history, following a 2–2 draw between 5th-placed Al-Faisaly and Jeddah with three matchdays left, in which they became the 37th club in top tier of Saudi Arabia.[5]

Honours

Personnel

Coaching staff

Position Name
Head coach Marius Șumudică
Assistant coach Cristian Petre
Gabriel Mărgărit
Şener Gençtürk
Goalkeeper coach Vlada Avramov
Fitness coach Muntasser Al-Mehdinat
Video analyst Marius Șumudică Jr.
Mohammed Al-Sadran
Performance analyst Yahya Al-Balushi
Doctor Saad Mubarak
Physiotherapist Salman Al-Kaabi
Director of football Salim Al-Jahbrani
Technical Director Kemal Alispahić

Board members

Office Name
Chairman Sami Hadish Al Fadel
Vice President Saleh Hamad Al Maneef
Member of board Ibrahim Saleh Bani Hamim
Hassan Hamad Al-Sadran
Saleh Suwar Al-Maqbool
Fawaz Mahdi Al-Talili
Mohammed Ali Al Hamilan
Muhammad Abdullah Al Zandan
Youssef Hussein Al-Masoud

Players

Current squad

As of 20 January 2026[6]

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
1 GK  KSA Rakan Al-Najjar
4 DF  KSA Saeed Al-Rubaie
5 MF  CMR Yvan Neyou (on loan from Getafe)
7 FW  TOG Khaled Narey
8 DF  KSA Hussain Al-Zabdani
10 FW  KSA Mohammed Al-Jahif
11 MF  TUR Burak İnce
12 MF  KSA Abdulaziz Al-Hatila
13 FW  CMR Christian Bassogog
14 FW  KSA Saleh Al Abbas
15 DF  KSA Naif Asiri
17 MF  GER Gökhan Gül
18 MF  COL Sebastián Pedroza
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 MF  KSA Saud Salem
20 MF  KSA Saleh Al-Harthi
21 DF  KSA Mohammed Abu Abd
22 DF  GER Koray Günter
26 GK  KSA Hatem Al-Johani
42 DF  KSA Muath Faqeehi (on loan from Al-Ittihad)
55 MF  ARG Mateo Borrell (on loan from Al-Ittihad)
87 MF  KSA Ghassan Hawsawi
92 GK  KSA Saad Al-Qarni
93 FW  NOR Tokmac Nguen
94 GK  BRA Samuel Portugal (on loan from Porto)
98 DF  KSA Muhannad Al-Qaydhi
99 FW  KSA Khaled Al-Lazam

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
16 FW  KSA Sultan Al-Mosaabi
29 MF  KSA Ahmed Al Daghrir
30 GK  KSA Saleh Al-Ajmi
33 MF  KSA Ibrahim Aqeel
No. Pos. Nation Player
44 DF  KSA Wesam Al-Sulami
77 MF  KSA Saif Balhareth
88 DF  KSA Ibrahim Ashi
96 MF  KSA Ahmed Majrashi

Managerial history

  • Humood Al-Saiari (2006 – 2011)
  • Shams Eldin Hamed (21 November 2012 – 1 April 2013)
  • Eid Farag (28 August 2013 – 25 November 2013)
  • Selim Al Manga (25 November 2013 – 1 April 2014)
  • Naoufel Srarfi (11 September 2014 – 13 February 2015)
  • Humood Al-Saiari (13 February 2015 – 1 April 2015)
  • Naoufel Srarfi (1 September 2016 – 1 March 2017)
  • Bahaaeddine Qebisi (1 August 2017 – 1 May 2018)
  • Khaled Msakni (1 August 2018 – 21 October 2018)
  • Osama Orabi (21 October 2018 – 1 June 2019)
  • Luiz Antônio Zaluar (23 July 2019 – 14 October 2021)
  • Ridha Jeddi (15 October 2021 – 1 June 2022)
  • Jorge Mendonça (9 July 2022 – 10 November 2023)
  • Martin Ševela (10 November 2023 – 17 April 2024)
  • Noureddine Zekri (17 April 2024 – 1 June 2024)
  • Stjepan Tomas (22 July 2024 – 19 February 2025)
  • Ridha Jeddi (caretaker) (19 February 2025 – 1 March 2025)
  • Paulo Sérgio (1 March 2025 – 5 January 2026)
  • Marius Șumudică (5 5January 2026 –)

See also

References

  1. ^ "الأخدود - Al-Akhdoud". Archived from the original on 2023-06-27. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  2. ^ "القاسم يتوج الأخدود ببطولة دوري الدرجة الثانية بعد انتصاره على العروبة". Archived from the original on 2023-06-27. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  3. ^ "نادي الأخدود". Archived from the original on 2023-06-29. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  4. ^ "People of the Ditch". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
  5. ^ "نادي الأخدود يصعد لأول مرة في تاريخه لدوري روشن للمحترفين" (in Arabic). al-jazirah.com. 16 May 2023. Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  6. ^ "تشكيلة الأخدود". Archived from the original on 2023-06-22. Retrieved 2021-07-25.