Saudi Gazette report

JEDDAH — Al-Ahli Jeddah returned on Friday to the Saudi Professional League or Roshn Saudi League, four rounds before the end of the tournament during the current season, after spending one season in the Saudi First Division League.

Al-Ahli’s promotion came after Al-Faisaly drew with Najran and Al-Okhdood suffered a loss at the hands of Al-Hazem on Friday. Al-Ahli was waiting for the outcome of the postponed Al-Faisaly and Al-Hazem matches to storm back to the SPL. With this, Al-Ahli emerged topper of the First Division League or Yelo League with 65 points, followed by Al-Okhdood (62 points), Al-Hazem (58 points), and Al-Riyadh (56 points).

Al-Ahli’s quest to secure promotion back to the Saudi Pro League was crowned with success when it sealed a win over Hager 2-1 after facing their first-ever relegation at the end of the last season.

The victory raised Al-Ahli’s points tally to 65, putting it on top of the Saudi First Division, 15 points away from fifth-placed Al-Faisaly with four games left to play.

It is worth mentioning that the top four teams in the Saudi First Division will be directly promoted to the Saudi Pro League (SPL) as the Saudi Arabian Football Federation are extending the number of the teams in the top-flight from 16 to 18. However, Al Ahli are yet to claim the Saudi First Division title as they sit three points away from second-placed Al-Okhdood, with a game in hand for the Najran-based club.

Al-Ahli was one of the four founding members of the SPL and had never been relegated from the top flight until the 2021–22 season. The other three are Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad and Al-Nassr. Al-Ahli are the fifth most crowned team in the SPL history, with three titles, behind Al-Hilal (18 titles), Al-Nassr (9 titles), Al-Ittihad (8 titles) and Al-Shabab (6 titles).