Al Taawoun FC


Al-Taawoun FC is a Saudi Arabian professional football and multi-sports club based in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia, that competes in the Saudi Pro League, the top tier of the football league system">association football">football league system.
The club plays its home matches at King Abdullah [Sports City Stadium Buraidah|King Abdullah Sport City Stadium], located in the city of Buraidah, which it shares with city rivals Al-Raed, with whom it contests the Qassim Derby. Additionally, the club uses the smaller Al-Taawoun Stadium for less prominent fixtures. The name "Al Taawoun" translates to "cooperation" in Arabic.

History

Al-Taawoun were founded in 1956 under the name of "Al-Shabab" by their founder Saleh Al Wabili. Four years after the founding of the club, they were officially registered as a professional club in 1960.
On 25 May 1990, Al-Taawoun reached the 1990 king cup final to face Al-Nasser but eventually lost 0–2. By reaching the final, Al-Taawoun became the second Saudi First Division League side to reach the final after Al-Riyadh in 1978. In the 2009–10 season, Al-Taawoun won promotion to the Pro League for the first time in over thirteen years as runners-up in the first division. Their last appearance in the top flight was in the 1997-98 season. They have been playing consecutively in the Saudi Pro League since the 2010–2011 season. On 29 May 2016, Al-Taawoun qualified to their debut AFC Champions League campaign for the first time ever by finishing fourth in the league during the 2015–16 season.
Their best ever top-flight season came in the 2018–19 season when the club successfully challenged for the Asian Champions League spots, eventually finishing in third place in the Saudi Pro League, their highest ever league position to date. And to top off their season, Al-Taawoun reached the King's Cup (Saudi Arabia)|King Cup] final by thrashing Al-Hilal 5–0 at the King Saud University Stadium in the semi-final, and went on to defeat Al-Ittihad 2–1 in the final to claim their first-ever top-flight trophy, with the winning goal coming in the 90th minute. Al-Taawoun also became the first club from Al-Qassim Province to win the King Cup.
In the following season 2019–20, Al-Taawoun's performances were one of their worst in their league history. Al-Taawoun booked their spot in the 2019 super cup by winning the King Cup title the previous season. Al-Taawoun lost to Al-Nassr 4–5 in a penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw at the end of extra time. The club were almost relegated and needed a win in the final matchday against relegation threatened Al-Fayha, the highly tense match continued as a draw until the 91st minute when Mohammad Al-Sahlawi converted a cross with a tap in to make it 1-0 and avoid relegation in the final moments of the season. In the 2020–21 season Al-Taawoun reached their 3rd King Cup final in the 2020–21 edition to face Al-Faisaly, in the end Al-Faisaly won their first title after a 3–2 win over Al-Taawoun in the final on 27 May 2021.
Al-Taawoun qualified to the 2020 AFC Champions League as 2019 King Cup winners. Al-Taawoun finished the group as runners-up with a record of to qualify to the knockout stages for the first time in their history. Al-Taawoun faced Al-Nassr in the round of 16 but eventually lost 0–1.

Honours

King's Cup
Saudi Super Cup
Saudi First Division League
  • Winners : 1996–97
  • Runners-up : 1994–95, 2009–10
Saudi [Second Division League]
  • Winners : 1977–78
Prince Faisal bin Fahd Cup for Division 1 and 2 Teams.
  • Winners : 1996–97, 2000–01, 2007–08, 2008–09

International competitions

Overview

CompetitionPldWDLGFGA
AFC Champions League Elite2064102534
AFC Champions League Two126422014
GCC Champions League514076
Total371312125254

International record

Matches


Managers