This Saudi Pro League

[Jurgen Knows]

2 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

Apologies lads - shouldn't have bumped this thread. It had died a natural death. 

It’s too hard to ignore, I guess.

[Poor Scouser T]

Thats quite something coming from someone who backs the actions of Saudi. Deluded.

[TheHowieLama]

It is hard to ignore.

Have you been to a match yet?

[Jurgen Knows]

Fabinho still walking … Al Ittihad just lost the Jeddah derby at home against Al Ahli … 

 

https://x.com/filgoal/status/1710363993271922903?s=46&t=rTM5huSAdkyumn9JrNS_MQ

[TheHowieLama]

1 hour ago, TheHowieLama said:

Have you been to a match yet?

 

Guess it is easier to ignore than we all thought.

[Poor Scouser T]

2 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

 

Guess it is easier to ignore than we all thought.

Maybe its a woman and she is not allowed to go.

[Jurgen Knows]

Yawn ..

[Jurgen Knows]

5 hours ago, TheHowieLama said:

 

Guess it is easier to ignore than we all thought.

Absolutely. Especially if you can train yourself to hold no grudges. Try to do it.

[TheHowieLama]

Yea, clever. So not been to a match yet.

 

Maybe you could schedule one around your next trip to Mecca.

[VERBAL DIARRHEA]

9 hours ago, Jurgen Knows said:

Yawn ..

Are the women wearing the away kit?

[Poor Scouser T]

Might move out there and set up a stall selling 1/2 & 1/2 burkas. Untapped market.

[Anubis]

[lifetime fan]

26 minutes ago, Anubis said:

Loads of money gone on him as the next Bristol Rovers manager after Joey Barton was sacked apparently. 

[CapeRed]

For Jordan Henderson’s final Liverpoolappearance at Anfield in May, there was a crowd of 53,306.

When he turned out for Al Ettifaq against Al Riyadh last Sunday, there were 696 people watching.

So far, the biggest SPL crowd to watch Steven Gerrard’s side was away at Al Ahli last month, where there were 14,045 spectators. The biggest Al Ettifaq home crowd Henderson has seen, at the Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam, was for his debut against Al Nassr in August — 13,930 people watched.

Jordan Henderson's SPL crowd sizes

FIXTURE	ATTENDANCE
Al Ettifaq v Al Nassr	13,930
Al Ettifaq v Al Khaleej	4,200
Al Hilal v Al Ettifaq	13,656
Al Ettifaq v Damac	2,281
Abha v Al Ettifaq	976
Al Ettifaq v Al Tai	4,865
Al Ahli v Al Ettifaq	14,045
Al Ettifaq v Al Fateh	9,827
Al Riyadh v Al Ettifaq	696
Average	7,164

 

The combined attendance for all nine fixtures Henderson has played in is 64,476 — not much more than the capacity at Anfield.

In promotional material given to international media ahead of the 2023-24 SPL season, it was claimed that “80 per cent of the nation’s population now engages with football, either through watching, playing, or following”. However, despite the big-name recruits over summer, that engagement is yet to translate to full terraces.

Of the 95 SPL matches for which attendance figures have been released this season, 18 had a crowd lower than 1,000. That was not confined to a couple of clubs — eight teams have had home crowds smaller than four figures.

The SPL’s smallest crowd this season was 133, when Al Riyadh lost 1-0 to Al Akhdoud at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh on September 1, which is the same stadium where 
 

Henderson played last week.

The SPL club with the lowest average home attendance is Abha, who were 16th out of 18 in the table at the time of writing. Abha lack the big-name foreigners recruited this summer by the SPL’s four Public Investment Fund-owned clubs — Al Ahli, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad and Al Nassr — and their average home attendance is 1,988 this season. For their home match against Al-Riyadh, the crowd was 210. Away to Al Wehda it was 661.

Most of the stars recruited to the SPL over the summer have so far avoided playing in front of crowds of under 1,000, an attendance far lower than last season’s National League average of 3,349 — the fifth tier of English football.

The smallest SPL crowd that current Ballon d’Or holder Karim Benzema has played in front of for his new team Al Ittihad was 4,149, when they played at Al Raed at the start of the season, a match in which former Premier League stars N’Golo Kante and Fabinho also featured. Al Itthad’s average home attendance this season is 25,658, the highest in the league, although on Thursday against Al Hazem there were only 12,113 fans.

As well as having the highest average home attendance, reigning SPL champions Al Ittihad had the second highest attendance for a single match, when 55,764 people watched them lose 1-0 at home to Al Ahli on October 6 at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium just north of Jeddah. Playing for the opposition in that match were Roberto Firmino, Riyad Mahrez, Edouard Mendy and Allan Saint-Maximin.

That foursome signed for Al Ahli over the summer and they all appeared in a 5-1 loss away to Al Fateh in front of 11,715 spectators, which is the smallest SPL crowd they have played in front of this season.

The third biggest SPL crowd this season was Al Hilal at home to Al Ahli yesterday, which was watched by 50,896. The fourth biggest SPL crowd was Al Ittihad at home to Al Hilal, which was watched by 23,742 people.

The biggest SPL crowd this season was at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, when 59,600 turned up, presumably because they wanted to see the pre-match unveiling of Al Hilal’s new signing Neymar ahead of the team’s 1-1 draw with Al Fayha. Neymar didn’t play in that match.

Neymar’s first start for his new team came away to Damac, a match played in front of 11,072 people. Neymar made his debut as a substitute in a 6-1 win over Al-Riyadh, a home match with a crowd of 15,373 in which Kalidou Koulibaly, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ruben Nevesalso played. Neymar’s only other SPL appearance before getting injured came against Al Shabab at home in front of 14,769 people.

The smallest SPL crowd that Cristiano Ronaldo has played in front of this season was away to Al Tai, a match which his team Al Nassr won 2-1. Also playing for Al Nassr were Sadio Mane and Aymeric Laporte. The crowd that day was 10,898, a far cry from what the former Premier League stars were once used to.

[TD_LFC]

It's a twitter/new age football supporters dream where you can follow a specific player rather than a team and it only really comes alive during transfer windows because transfers are the most important part of football.

 

The actual games are largely irrelevant and plays second fiddle to the click bait that drives the broader YouTube football channels, football for the FIFA Ultimate Team generation

[Trumo]

They haven't yet learned the City owners' trick of claiming a full house even when it's one man and his dog.

[TheHowieLama]

On 22/08/2023 at 11:02, Jordy Brouwer said:

Anyone actually seriously watch or care about that league?

 

MLS is growing far more and to the point where its going to be on more peoples radar. 

 

 

Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne would prefer a move to Major League Soccer (MLS) over the Saudi Pro League. The Belgium international turns 33 this summer, when his contract enters its final year. (Athletic - subscription required)

[Denny Crane]

When you bet on the striker to get 2 goals and he misses a sitter. Whipped like a camel. None of this beta booing. 

 

 

 

[TheHowieLama]

At least they let the women in to watch now.

[aws]

2 hours ago, TheHowieLama said:

At least they let the women in to watch now.

Do they whip them as well? 

[Anubis]

Whipping set to disco lights. Novel.

[Anubis]

Amusing to watch Mr Whippy shit his pants when three or four of the lad’s team mates ran over and threatened to fill him in. Bit different to whipping your Filipino maid who’s passport you’ve confiscated, eh?

[Jairzinho]

12 hours ago, Denny Crane said:

When you bet on the striker to get 2 goals and he misses a sitter. Whipped like a camel. None of this beta booing. 

 

 

 

 

Looks a decent night out that, to be fair. 

[VladimirIlyich]

On 03/09/2023 at 12:54, Moo said:

 

I don't think it will.

I was pondering why this seems to be sticking unlike the attempts in China for example.  And apart from the middle east's expertise in sportswashing, it's the totally different thinking towards money and status in the middle east.  Money and status seem to be celebrated like nowhere else.  These players will be treated unbelievably "well" and have the red carpet rolled out just to go for a piss, in some weird soulless Celebritycashland.

They'll be loving it, especially as more familiar faces and names join them.

China's league is still going. Unlike Saudi,China developed some kind of quasi moral compass when they realised that the foreigners were using it as a retirement fund without putting in any effort and the cost of those foreign signings was blocking their own young players routes to the first teams. Not only that but the costs were draining the clubs of funds (Are you reading Everton?) No doubt a lack of tv money deals and/or sponsorship had influence on the decision too.

[Code]

Imagine if Nunez played in Saudi?