From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match24 Oct 2026
No end in sight to Hajer's wait for a win
12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Hajer has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad26 Oct 2026
9 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.
Match24 Oct 2026
Chastening afternoon for Hajer
A 0‑3 beating by Al-Taawoun was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Hajer
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Husniddin G'afurov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom26 Oct 2026
Doors closed at Hajer
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 ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout26 Oct 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 0‑3 Hamad Al-Mutairi left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout26 Oct 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.
Market26 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Hajer know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match17 Oct 2026
11 matches without a win for Hajer
The run now stands at 11, and the questions being asked around Hajer are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match17 Oct 2026
Hajer come up short against Najran
Najran left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Hajer training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Husniddin G'afurov 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
Shohruz Norxonov ran the middle of the pitch — 6.94
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.94, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
The dugout19 Oct 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 1‑3 Hamad Al-Mutairi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Hajer
Rakan Al-Ghamdi 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Every signing waits for it and every press conference asks about it until it comes. It has come, Hajer have their man off the mark, and the second one is always easier.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Bercy Langa Lessé, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match10 Oct 2026
10 matches without a win for Hajer
The run now stands at 10, and the questions being asked around Hajer are no longer polite ones.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Hajer training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nima Mirzazad 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.
Market12 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ibrahim Al-Nemer is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market12 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Yasser Al-Khaibari is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Match10 Oct 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Hajer
Murtadha Al-Burayh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
A promise honoured at Hajer
Something was said to Mubarak Al-Rajeh and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Hajer
10 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad5 Oct 2026
12 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Nowhere to hide for Hajer
0‑7 against Al-Nassr, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Match3 Oct 2026
9 matches without a win for Hajer
The run now stands at 9, and the questions being asked around Hajer are no longer polite ones.
Match5 Oct 2026
Hajer are in real trouble now
Position 13, 0 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.
Market5 Oct 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 Hajer, and it is not being withdrawn.
Match3 Oct 2026
Hajer 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.
Match3 Oct 2026
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Hajer and Al-Nassr, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
Albert Amoah ran the middle of the pitch — 6.53
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 13 combined actions and a mark of 6.53, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Hajer training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nima Mirzazad 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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Sep 2026
8 matches without a win for Hajer
The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around Hajer are no longer polite ones.
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 Hajer this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match26 Sep 2026
Al-Wehda left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Match26 Sep 2026
No clean sheets in sight for Hajer
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Hajer training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Husniddin G'afurov 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 ratings28 Sep 2026
Wadhah Zaidi beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 16. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout28 Sep 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 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Hamad Al-Mutairi to a room that had heard them before.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Waleed Al-Salem commits to Hajer for another 3 years.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Rayan Al-Bloushi, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 25 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match19 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Hajer
7 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.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A falling-out at Hajer
Nima Mirzazad and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match19 Sep 2026
0‑2 to Al-Qadisiyah, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Hamad Al-Mutairi after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Abdulrahman Al-Hurayb, and the manager let it.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Off the academy pitches and onto a senior team sheet at 14. The debut is the easy part; the second appearance is the one every young player has to earn.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
When it matters, Alain Akono plays
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match9 Sep 2026
The cup run ends for Hajer
1‑4 against Damac, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 29. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
Hajer are taken apart by Damac — and the town wants answers
It finished 1-4. A cup exit is a disappointment; this was a public dismantling, and the difference between the two is the number of people who will still be talking about it in August.
Match12 Sep 2026
The wait goes on for Hajer
6 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.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
The clock did what Al-Wehda would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al Shaab have kept their man, and Hajer go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match12 Sep 2026
Al-Shabab left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Waleed Al-Salem 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.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Nima Mirzazad
“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.
In brief
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Squad
Words at Hajer training over how hard people work
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Boardroom
Doors closed at Hajer
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Sep 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
$1.2M settles it between the clubs for Mohammed Al-Qunayan
Al-Wehda have accepted the money. What Hajer do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Market7 Sep 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 Hajer, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 17 in, 1 out at Hajer
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 17 arrived, 1 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Match5 Sep 2026
4 matches without a win for Hajer
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Hajer are no longer polite ones.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Wadhah Zaidi beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 22. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The window shuts on the Nawaf Al-Azizi deal
Hajer ran out of time with Al-Wehda. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Hajer asked and Al-Khaleej said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Match5 Sep 2026
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
In brief
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Squad
A row about effort at Hajer
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Squad
9 new faces, and Hajer are still learning each other
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The dugout
Hamad Al-Mutairi answers for it
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad31 Aug 2026
There were 13 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match29 Aug 2026
Hajer taken apart
0‑4 to Al-Faisaly, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Hajer have done the hard part with Al-Wehda, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market31 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 Hajer can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Hajer asked and Al-Ta'ee said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Boardroom31 Aug 2026
Inquest at Hajer
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.
The dugout31 Aug 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 0‑4 Hamad Al-Mutairi left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout31 Aug 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.
Looking ahead31 Aug 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Sultan Al-Shammari’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Hajer needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad24 Aug 2026
14 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
A hiding for Hajer
Beaten 1‑7 by Al-Hilal, and beaten everywhere it matters. The inquest starts on the training pitch on Monday morning.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Al-Ittihad keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Match22 Aug 2026
Albert Amoah among the goals in a wild afternoon
8 goals in one match, Albert Amoah on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Hajer and Al-Hilal.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Hilal have kept their man, and Hajer go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
Doors closed at Hajer
The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.
The dugout24 Aug 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 1‑7 Hamad Al-Mutairi left the room before anybody could ask which.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Hajer have made the call to Al-Khaleej. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad17 Aug 2026
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Match15 Aug 2026
Hajer taken apart
0‑6 to Al-Ittihad, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Match15 Aug 2026
Nobody could stop scoring
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Hajer and Al-Ittihad in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Al-Khaleej wanted more than $160.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Hajer 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 dugout17 Aug 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Hajer
Murtadha Al-Burayh and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Al-Fateh: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market10 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Al-Fayha is saying, and nobody at Hajer is enjoying the guessing.
Squad10 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Hajer
Albert Amoah and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$52.0K on the table at Al-Khaleej. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Al-Diriyah have kept their man, and Hajer go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Salman Al-Subaie 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. Omar Al-Juhani 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-Otaibi 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
Too much change too quickly at Hajer
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
Nima Mirzazad gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Nima Mirzazad has just signed for Hajer, and for once the answer mattered.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Albert Amoah and Hajer agree another 3 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Hajer
Albert Amoah 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The formation has left Shahab Zahedi behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Hajer will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan move for Majed Al-Ghamdi is in the works
Hajer have made the call to Al-Hazem. 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
A loan enquiry to Al-Shabab: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Al-Fayha: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Market3 Aug 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Hajer has been clear about where Sultan Al-Shammari stands, which is more than many ever get.
Market3 Aug 2026
At 34, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.