Marked for Khalid Abduljawad
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Feb 2027
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Fayha
Chris Smalling and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
152% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Fayha
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Match20 Feb 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom22 Feb 2027
The Al-Fayha debt reaches $30.1M
Football clubs borrow; that is not the story. Borrowing more than the facility allows is, because from here it is the owner's money or somebody else's decision, and neither of those belongs to the board.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Saad Haqawi, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Looking ahead22 Feb 2027
Al-Riyadh next, and one man in the Al-Fayha dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Al-Fayha, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market18 Jan 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Al-Fayha people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market18 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Match16 Jan 2027
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 10 matches without defeat is a foundation Al-Fayha did not have in the autumn.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Al-Fayha
Fashion Sakala and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match16 Jan 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jason. 1‑0 against Al-Mojzel, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings18 Jan 2027
Ninety minutes of Jason at his very best
Marked 8.13. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Al-Fayha.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Saad Haqawi
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Fayha
Chris Smalling and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match28 Nov 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Turki Al-Shaifan. 2‑1 against Damac, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 168% of the Al-Fayha income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The terraces30 Nov 2026
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Marked 8.30 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Bandar Al-Hassan on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Al-Fayha counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Al-Fayha now.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Khalid Abduljawad, and the manager let it.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Somebody else is better right now than Wael Kadan
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
Chris Smalling was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Abdullah Aman pulls a muscle — 14 days out
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 14 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Al-Fayha are still strangers to each other
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Ziyad Al-Sahafi
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Match7 Nov 2026
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Al-Riyadh defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 168% of everything Al-Fayha earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Match31 Oct 2026
0‑2 to Al-Diriyah, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Al-Fayha
Stylianos Vrontis and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
“I watch every Al-Fayha game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Al-Ta'ee runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Khalid Abduljawad has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Belts tighten at Al-Fayha
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Market2 Nov 2026
12 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad12 Oct 2026
Chris Smalling was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Saad Al-Sheikh has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market12 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mohammed Al-Shammari is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Al-Fayha are still strangers to each other
9 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Hugo Moura is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
Market12 Oct 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Al-Fayha has been clear about where Sattam Al-Shammari stands, which is more than many ever get.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Khalid Abduljawad’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Al-Fayha needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Khalid Abduljawad trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
7 appearances at Ohod and the goals keep coming. Al-Fayha are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Fayha
Chris Smalling and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Belts tighten at Al-Fayha
The accounts are being read more closely than the results. Wages before ambition is the order of business now, and the manager has been told so.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Al-Fayha can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Muath Al-Habib and Al-Fayha agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Wages eat 161% of everything Al-Fayha earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
Market5 Oct 2026
He signed expecting a bigger stage than the one he found. It has not taken long, and it has not taken the dressing room long to notice either.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The award goes to Fashion Sakala, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Bandar Al-Hassan chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Alfa Semedo reports back to Al-Fayha with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 12 in, 16 out at Al-Fayha
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 12 arrived, 16 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market7 Sep 2026
Makhir Al-Rashidi has left for Al-Shabab in a $880.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Fayha
Fashion Sakala and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Al-Fayha counting the cost
The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at Al-Fayha now.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Al-Fayha asked and Al-Diriyah said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
A loan enquiry to Al-Ra'ed: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Jason named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Jason is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
Yassine Benzia has left for Al-Ahli in a $1.5M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Al-Fayha
Chris Smalling and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market10 Aug 2026
The name of Ali Al-Hussain has come up in conversations Al-Fayha were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Omar Al-Ahmadi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sami Al-Dosari has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
Rayyan Enad gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words at Al-Fayha training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Abdulrahman Al-Anazi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Looking ahead10 Aug 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Ohod in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A wage question at Al-Fayha
Fashion Sakala has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
In brief
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The terraces
The stands have heard the Fashion Sakala talk too
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Squad
Competition arrives for Jason
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Looking ahead
Looking ahead: the trip to Ohod