Just a couple of weeks ago while spending a week in the superb Saudi Arabian City of Al Khobar, visiting my daughter, who lives and works there as a Primary school teacher, I got the opportunity to attend the Abdullah Al Dabil Stadium, home of Al Ettifaq FC, A club that was managed by Stephen Gerrard up until a month or so ago.


The occasion was, Al Ettifaq FC v Al Qadsia (Kuwait) in the AGCFF – Gulf Clubs Champions League. A FIFA recognised International Club tournament involving clubs from the eight Football Federations of the Gulf States. These Countries are: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Iraq, Yemen and The United Arab Emirates. I was very fortunate to be attending as a “VIP” guest of the Al Ettifaq FC Assistant Manager and former Tottenham Hotspurs and Wales International player, Darren Davies.


Now the whole set up around Ettifaq FC is hugely impressive. The Stadium, the facilities, The half time buffet!, everything about the club is top notch. Except for one pretty important factor. The fans, or lack of them.. This was an International FIFA sponsored Club Tournament fixture, televised live and broadcast around the whole Gulf region. Yet the attendance within the superb stadium totalled around 2,000, and that included a fair contingent who had made the 275 mile journey from Kuwait City. Infract, I’d guess that there were more “employed” staff and stewards within the stadium than actual supporters. Seeing an entire row of stewards stretched across the full width of the stand behind one of the goals, stood facing the seats, when there wasn’t a single spectator in that stand was something of a surreal sight.


The shame was, the match itself was very good, and the standard far better than I’d expected. Fair enough, the pitch was good enough to play snooker on, The floodlights good enough to land a Jumbo Jet, but there was some terrific football played over a 90 minutes that ended with a 1-1 draw. We had two penalties courtesy of VAR, where the referee came to the pitch-side screen to have his mind changed by whoever was talking into his headset. The first one, for visiting Al Qadsia, was brilliantly saved but the rebound was tucked away. The second, for the home side was blazed over the bar. The Ettifaq equaliser in the match came from a superb strike from Ex Everton striker Damaria Gray.


Al Qadsia, also had two goals disallowed for offside, the 2^nd of which would have been a last minute winner. They probably would have deserved to win the tie to be fair. The point was enough however to guarantee them a semi final spot in this prestigious tournament. Ettifaq, as leaders of the group have also made the Semi Finals.


So, what did I make of my first taste of Middle Eastern Pro football? Well, I was hugely impressed. The whole set up, the professionalism, the quality of the players and the football deserved far more support than the paltry attendance from a City with a population of more than half a million. That being said, Those in attendance deserve massive credit for their enthusiasm.


There is an Ettifaq “Ultras” fans group numbering around 500 who never stopped bouncing around, waving flags and chanting for the entire match. For their sake I hope the football experiment in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia succeeds.

however, if there isn’t the demand from the local populace to watch high level football, it will inevitably eventually just fade away. I hope not. A Strong and robust advertising campaign within the thriving City of Al Khobar is required to get the locals involved. Disappointingly, there wasn’t even a club shop at the stadium. Fan engagement is everything, at every level of football, and as the old saying goes, “Football without fans is nothing”