From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match20 Feb 2027
The wait goes on for Al-Jeel
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad22 Feb 2027
Yaseen Al-Zubaidi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Al-Jeel
Haythem Ayouni and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match20 Feb 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Edwin Ramaja beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Ibrahim Al-Salem left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“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.
Market22 Feb 2027
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ibrahim Al-Hafith has his answer from Al-Jeel; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Looking ahead22 Feb 2027
Al-Shoulla next, and one man in the Al-Jeel dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match13 Feb 2027
Chastening afternoon for Al-Jeel
A 1‑4 beating by Al-Orobah was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Market15 Feb 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Al-Jeel, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Al-Jeel have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Yaseen Al-Zubaidi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Jeel
Haythem Ayouni 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.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdullah Al-Suwaie, and the manager let it.
Boardroom15 Feb 2027
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A season average of 7.24 with 7 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Squad15 Feb 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Al-Jeel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Jeel may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Al-Jeel are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Match6 Feb 2027
Maxwell Quaye scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑3 to Al-Batin, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.
Player ratings8 Feb 2027
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Haythem Ayouni, and the manager let it.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Ibrahim Al-Salem left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I will know when it is time. I am not there yet.” Ahmed Al-Nadhri is 34, with 101 appearances behind him, and Al-Jeel will have to plan for whichever answer comes.
Squad8 Feb 2027
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Al-Jeel will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad1 Feb 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match30 Jan 2027
Nowhere to hide for Al-Jeel
0‑3 against Damac, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Al-Jeel close the window on a squad of their own making
1 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Yaseen Al-Zubaidi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad1 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Jeel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Nobody left the Al-Jeel dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑3, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
“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.
Looking ahead1 Feb 2027
Al-Batin next, and one man in the Al-Jeel dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match23 Jan 2027
Al-Njoom will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Al-Jeel were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.13 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Market25 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Jeel can pretend not to have heard.
Match23 Jan 2027
At last: Al-Jeel win one
6 matches without a win, and then this, against Al-Njoom. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Al-Jeel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaseen Al-Zubaidi 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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Jeel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces25 Jan 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Bassem Al-Arini has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
A performance of 8.49 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 3‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market18 Jan 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Jeel can pretend not to have heard.
Match16 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Al-Jeel's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Jeel has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 Jan 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
Al-Jeel are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 5 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Maxwell Quaye 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.
Match16 Jan 2027
Al-Riyadh left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad18 Jan 2027
A season average of 7.20 with 7 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ibrahim Al-Salem after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Anaël Bakaki 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Jan 2027
Chastening afternoon for Al-Jeel
A 0‑4 beating by Al-Diriyah was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad11 Jan 2027
7 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.
Match9 Jan 2027
No end in sight to Al-Jeel's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Jeel has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Musa Magagula has improved at 24, which nobody expected
Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Yaseen Al-Zubaidi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match9 Jan 2027
No clean sheets in sight for Al-Jeel
4 games now with at least two against. The back line has been rearranged, the goalkeeper has been backed publicly, and the goals keep going in anyway.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words exchanged at Al-Jeel
Maxwell Quaye 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.
Market11 Jan 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Yasser Al-Sulami 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 dugout11 Jan 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match2 Jan 2027
The wait goes on for Al-Jeel
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Yaseen Al-Zubaidi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Al-Jeel
Maxwell Quaye and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces4 Jan 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Yaseen Al-Zubaidi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings4 Jan 2027
Yaseen Al-Zubaidi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.40. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Match2 Jan 2027
It needed Yaseen Al-Zubaidi to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Al-Nahda, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Asanele Shibe
“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 dugout4 Jan 2027
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Dec 2026
Chastening afternoon for Al-Jeel
A 0‑6 beating by Al-Hazem was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match26 Dec 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Al-Jeel and Al-Hazem, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Match26 Dec 2026
The goals have deserted Al-Jeel
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Al-Jeel can tell you which week it ends in.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages eat 158% of everything Al-Jeel 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Jeel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 5 saves does not settle it either way.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
The manager makes an example of Osama Al-Johar
“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.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Al-Jeel dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑6, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Dec 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 12 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match19 Dec 2026
Nowhere to hide for Al-Jeel
0‑5 against Al-Fayha, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Al-Jeel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaseen Al-Zubaidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Dec 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.
Boardroom21 Dec 2026
Nobody left the Al-Jeel dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑5, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Player ratings21 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 10. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
Nobody at Al-Jeel is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
Squad21 Dec 2026
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Al-Jeel squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Successful dribbles: 52. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Al-Jeel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaseen Al-Zubaidi 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Jeel
Maxwell Quaye 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Bandar Al-Mansour 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sultan Al-Sulami is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match12 Dec 2026
0‑1 to Al-Saudi Al-Watani, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Ibrahim Al-Salem after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout14 Dec 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.
Looking ahead14 Dec 2026
Al-Jeel take on the side everybody is chasing
Al-Fayha arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Al-Jeel know it.
Match5 Dec 2026
Al-Mojzel made Al-Jeel work for it, but the scoreboard read 3‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Al-Jeel
Maxwell Quaye and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The terraces7 Dec 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.
Match5 Dec 2026
At last: Al-Jeel win one
5 matches without a win, and then this, against Al-Mojzel. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
Player ratings7 Dec 2026
Marked 8.33 — 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Ibrahim Al-Salem on a 3‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Squad7 Dec 2026
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Abdulrahman Al-Shanqiti is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match28 Nov 2026
No end in sight to Al-Jeel's wait for a win
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Al-Jeel has to find a result from somewhere.
Match28 Nov 2026
Al-Jeel cannot find the net
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Al-Jeel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaseen Al-Zubaidi 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.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 158% of everything Al-Jeel 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.
Match28 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Jeel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Ibrahim Al-Salem left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Anaël Bakaki 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match21 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑5 by Al-Ettifaq, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Match21 Nov 2026
The wait goes on for Al-Jeel
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at Al-Jeel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaseen Al-Zubaidi 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Maxwell Quaye 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.
Match23 Nov 2026
Al-Jeel at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 9, 14 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
Boardroom23 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Al-Jeel dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout23 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑5 Ibrahim Al-Salem left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout23 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match14 Nov 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad16 Nov 2026
16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Jeel
Maxwell Quaye 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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Ibrahim Al-Salem left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ibrahim Al-Hafith, and the manager let it.
Looking ahead16 Nov 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Al-Ettifaq in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout16 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“Nobody outside is coming to save us.” It was short, it was not comfortable, and by all accounts the Al-Jeel squad were quieter afterwards than they had been all season.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Al-Jeel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaseen Al-Zubaidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces9 Nov 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Yaseen Al-Zubaidi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Al-Jeel
Maxwell Quaye and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match7 Nov 2026
Al-Jeel and Ohod take a point apiece
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Ibrahim Al-Salem after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
“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.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 12. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Looking ahead9 Nov 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Al-Shoulla in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match31 Oct 2026
Chastening afternoon for Al-Jeel
A 1‑4 beating by Al-Orobah was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Al-Jeel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaseen Al-Zubaidi 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.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 158% of everything Al-Jeel 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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mohammed Al-Fuhaid, and the manager let it.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Ninety minutes of Edwin Ramaja at his very best
Marked 8.09. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Al-Jeel.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Nobody left the Al-Jeel dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Too much change too quickly at Al-Jeel
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑4 defeat, delivered by Ibrahim Al-Salem to a room that had heard them before.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Al-Jeel may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match24 Oct 2026
Three points for Al-Jeel, 2‑1 the final word against Al-Batin in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager makes an example of Musa Magagula
“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.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Yaseen Al-Zubaidi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.48. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad26 Oct 2026
100 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Maxwell Quaye 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Al-Jeel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Abdulrahman Al-Shanqiti was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Ibrahim Al-Salem kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Oct 2026
Nowhere to hide for Al-Jeel
1‑5 against Damac, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“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.
Match17 Oct 2026
Maxwell Quaye among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Maxwell Quaye on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Al-Jeel and Damac.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Al-Jeel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Yaseen Al-Zubaidi 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.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
A midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 12 actions, 7.65, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The medical room confirms 45 days on the sidelines for Mohammed Al-Mohanna, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Jeel
Maxwell Quaye 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.
Boardroom19 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Al-Jeel dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑5, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match10 Oct 2026
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Al-Jeel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Yaseen Al-Zubaidi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The terraces12 Oct 2026
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Yaseen Al-Zubaidi has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.68 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Sami Al-Shehri 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
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Saeed Al-Khaibari 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.
Match10 Oct 2026
Al-Jeel settle it inside twenty minutes
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Al-Njoom spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Yaseen Al-Zubaidi was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.32. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match3 Oct 2026
Nowhere to hide for Al-Jeel
1‑5 against Al-Riyadh, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match3 Oct 2026
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Al-Jeel and Al-Riyadh in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
220% of the income goes out in wages at Al-Jeel
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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Jeel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
Nobody left the Al-Jeel dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Al-Jeel can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Al-Jeel
11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑5, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Beaten 5 times, with 3 saves for company. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines on their record whoever actually caused them, which is the quiet injustice of the job.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad28 Sep 2026
10 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Al-Jeel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaseen Al-Zubaidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match26 Sep 2026
Al-Diriyah left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad28 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Jeel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout28 Sep 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.
The dugout28 Sep 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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Hamad Al-Khorayef is the weekend's best young player
At 20 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Looking ahead28 Sep 2026
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Al-Riyadh in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Sep 2026
Al-Jeel win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 92th minute. Al-Nahda will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Al-Jeel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaseen Al-Zubaidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match19 Sep 2026
A 2‑1 win over Al-Nahda, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The terraces21 Sep 2026
At 20 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 ratings21 Sep 2026
Maxwell Quaye was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.00. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Haythem Ayouni 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Ibrahim Al-Salem could afford to be generous.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Sep 2026
The small margins put Al-Jeel out
Out, 0‑3 to Al-Ahli, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Match12 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑3 by Al-Hazem, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
A cup embarrassment at Al-Ahli follows Al-Jeel home
0-3. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.
Match12 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Al-Jeel
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Al-Jeel are no longer polite ones.
Match12 Sep 2026
Al-Jeel are shipping goals every week
Two or more conceded in each of the last 4 matches. It is not one mistake repeating itself, which would be the easier thing to fix; it is a different one every week.
Market14 Sep 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Abdullah Al-Mutairi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
“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.
Boardroom14 Sep 2026
Doors closed at Al-Jeel
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match5 Sep 2026
Nowhere to hide for Al-Jeel
1‑4 against Al-Fayha, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Al-Jeel close the window on a squad of their own making
17 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
The Al-Jeel board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Al-Jeel
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Yaseen Al-Zubaidi was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Doors closed at Al-Jeel
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Al-Jeel
Haythem Ayouni and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Al-Jeel
11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Al-Jeel, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Edwin Ramaja beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The terraces31 Aug 2026
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Nobody's fault and entirely his: a goal that goes into the book with his name against it and nothing about it intended. Al-Jeel deserved better, and so did he.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Al-Jeel training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Edwin Ramaja 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.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.02, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Jeel
Haythem Ayouni 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.
Match29 Aug 2026
A 2‑2 draw with Al-Saudi Al-Watani leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match22 Aug 2026
3‑0, and Nafea Al-Sumairi took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Al-Jeel tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Nafea Al-Sumairi, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Al-Jeel can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Everything agreed with Al-Ettifaq, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 9.40 — 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 terraces24 Aug 2026
At 22 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Haythem Ayouni 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.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Ibrahim Al-Salem kept it short after the 3‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Off the academy pitches and onto a senior team sheet at 16. The debut is the easy part; the second appearance is the one every young player has to earn.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Al-Jeel have done the hard part with Al-Shabab, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Al-Jeel 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.
Market17 Aug 2026
A stepping stone, not a home, for Musa Magagula
He is doing his job and he is not settling. Al-Jeel were supposed to be a step up in his own reckoning, and his own reckoning has been adjusted since he arrived.
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The medical room confirms 40 days on the sidelines for Haythem Ayouni, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Edwin Ramaja falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Al-Jeel this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑1, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Al-Ettifaq have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Musa Magagula and Al-Jeel agree another 3 years.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Salem Al-Khaibari 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Salman Al-Shammari 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Turki Al-Rashid 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.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Hassan Al-Qahtani 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Al-Jeel
Haythem Ayouni 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Mohammed Al-Fuhaid and Al-Jeel agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Al-Jeel, another week without a signature from Mohammed Al-Fuhaid.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Al-Jeel
Haythem Ayouni and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Al-Jeel have made the call to Al-Ahli. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Al-Taawoun have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Market3 Aug 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Al-Jeel has been clear about where Ibrahim Al-Hafith stands, which is more than many ever get.