Al-Ettifaq: Everything you need to know about Steven Gerrard's new Saudi club

Al-Ittifaq are a Saudi Arabian club which competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top division of football in Saudi Arabia. They are one of the most established clubs in the country.

Nicknamed "The Commandos" or "The Knight of Ad-Dahna (central division of Arabian desert)," they were founded in 1944 as a result of the merger of the three clubs in the city of Dammam, Al-Taawoun, Al-Sha'ab, and Al-Shabab.

Al-Ettifaq finished seventh under Gerrard’s predecessor Antonio Cazorla last season in a 16-team Saudi Pro League, which has now been expanded to 18 teams for the upcoming campaign. In what was a largely underwhelming campaign, the Commandos finished 35 points off the top and nine clear of the relegation zone.

Under Gerrard, they will be aiming to improve in a competition that has increased in quality following the recent recruitment drive to sign top-level players from Europe's top-5 leagues, with the trend set to continue throughout the European summer transfer window.

Al-Ettifaq have a rich history in Saudi Arabian football and have experienced both highs and lows throughout their existence. They became the first Saudi club to win the championship whilst staying undefeated throughout the league season during the 1982-83 title triumph.

In addition to the league title, the team has also lifted the Saudi King's Cup and the Saudi Crown Prince Cup on multiple occasions. The Commandos also won the (now defunct) GCC Champions League twice.

However, they have failed to hit the heights of 1980s pomp since the turn of the century. More recently, they won promotion to the Saudi top-flight after lifting the first division title in 2015-16.

Al-Ettifaq play their home games at the Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium located in Dammam, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. The multi-purpose stadium was built in 1973 and has a seating capacity of around 26,000 spectators. Saudi Second Division side Al-Nahda also share the stadium to play their home matches.

Al-Ettifaq's squad doesn't have many familiar names and mainly consists of homegrown Saudi players. Robin Quaison is arguably the most recognisable name in the club's nine foreign player contingent. A regular international for Sweden since 2013, the 29-year-old striker has experience in Europe’s major leagues with Palermo and Mainz.

Vitinho is another name who has an impressive CV, having won championships with Botafogo and Internacional, the Russian Premier League with CSKA Moscow and the Copa Libertadores with Flamengo in the past.

Former Al-Wehda and Al-Ittihad striker Youssoufou Niakate has been turning out in Saudi Arabia since 2019, and was the club's top scorer last term with nine league goals.

Berat Ozdemir will also be among the star players in Gerrard’s team next season. The 25-year-old Turkey international was signed in the summer of 2022, and played a key role at the heart of midfield as Trabzonspor surprised everyone to claim the Turkish Super Lig title in 2021-22.

With Al-Ettifaq aiming for a title charge, Gerrard will also be provided with a sizeable transfer kitty to bring in new signings, and is already working on the high-profile signings of Jordan Henderson, Philippe Coutinho and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Al-Ettifaq are not one of the four clubs recently taken over by the country’s Public Investment Fund. The official owner of the club is someone named, Nawaf A Alosaimi, but there is next to no information available on the internet about this individual.

The Al-Dabal family has had a strong connection with Al-Ettifaq, spanning over five decades. Abdullah Al-Dabal, a prominent figure in Saudi Arabian and Asian football, played a crucial role in the club's history.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, he served as the president of Al-Ettifaq and held various positions within the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. Notably, Al-Dabal also contributed significantly to the growth of the sport in Asia as part of the Asian Football Confederation and held a prestigious position on the Executive Committee.

In recent years, Al-Dabal's son, Khalid, has taken the reins as the current president of Al-Ettifaq. Khalid has played a pivotal role in rebuilding the club after their relegation from the top flight in 2014.

Khalid is also known to be an ardent fan of Gerrard and was key to convincing the former Aston Villa boss to a Saudi Pro League move.

The European fans haven't been too sure about how to pronounce Gerrard's new club's name properly.

The pronunciation of Al-Ittifaq is simple. The first part (Al as 'a-l') is pretty self-explanatory and saying it as you commonly would, just take a small pause before uttering the second part, 'Ittifaq' may well be pronounced as 'i-tt-i-fa-q' with the letter 'i' sounding more like letter 'e' - just as Gerrard himself is pronouncing in the announcement video, albeit in scouser accent.

As alluded to above in our first pointer, prior to the establishment of Al-Ettifaq, Dammam was home to three separate clubs: Al-Taawoun, Al-Sha'ab, and Al-Shabab, all founded in 1941.

These clubs played a pivotal role in organizing sporting activities and bringing together the local community. In 1945, the presidents of these clubs convened a meeting at Faris Al-Hamid's residence with the intention of merging into a single entity.

During the discussions, it was Al-Hamid who proposed the name "Al-Ettifaq," which translates to "agreement" in English.

During the three club's merger into one back in 1945, it was also decided that the new clubs' colors would be green and white, which later changed into green and red afterwards.

The Saudi Arabian side's home kit includes a green shirt with an army uniform-like design and white shorts, and their away kit features a maroon jersey with very fine black vertical stripes and white shorts. The third kid has a navy blue shirt with tri-colour (Red-White-Green) neckline and sleeve line design and the shorts are of the same colour as shirt.