Al Hilal Saudi Football Club (), simply known as Al Hilal is a professional multi-sports club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Their football team competes in the Saudi Professional League. The club's name means Crescent moon. They are the most decorated club in Asia winning 66 official trophies. They also hold the record for the most continental trophies in Asia, as well as a record 18 Professional League titles.
Founded on 16 October 1957, Al Hilal are one of three teams to have participated in all seasons of the Saudi Professional League since its establishment in 1976.
Overall, Al Hilal have won 66 official titles. In domestic competitions, they have won a record 18 Professional League titles, a record 13 Crown Prince Cup titles, a record seven Saudi Federation Cup titles, ten King Cup titles, a record three Super Cup titles, as well as the Saudi Founder's Cup.
Continentally, Al Hilal have won a record eight Asian Football Confederation trophies — the AFC Champions League in 1991, 2000, 2019 and 2021, the Asian Cup Winners Cup in 1997 and 2002, and the Asian Super Cup in 1997, 2000. In September 2009, Al Hilal was awarded Best Asian Club of the 20th Century by the IFFHS.
History
The idea of establishing the club began when the ranks of the Youth Club witnessed in 1957 a serious division among its leaders, which prompted Mr. Abdul Rahman bin Saeed to resign from the presidency of the Youth Club in that year, and many left with him, including a number of prominent players.
The opportunity was ripe for the establishment of a new club at the first-class level to serve Saudi sports, and this was already done when a new club was established on 15 October 1957 in Riyadh. The club's name lasted for only one year before it was changed to its current name on 3 December 1958 by King Saud. He changed the name after he attended a tournament that was contested between the Olympic Club, Al Nassr, Al Riyadh and Al-Kawkab clubs. As soon as the club's establishment, Al-Hilal enjoyed not only grassroots support but also royal attention.
After spending their formative years building a squad, the club made their first mark by lifting the King's Cup trophy in 1961. Al-Hilal won the King's Cup again in 1964, with a penalty shootout victory over two-time Asian champions Al Ittihad. The club also won the crown prince cup in 1963-64
The club were the inaugural winners when the Saudi Premier League came into existence in the 1976–77 season. Al Hilal also won the league title in 1978–79.
With the success, a number of players and coaches from outside Saudi Arabia joined the club in the 1970s, including Brazilian legends Mario Zagallo and Rivellino.
Sustained success (1980–1990)
After the establishment of the Saudi Premier League in the late 70's and with Al Hilal winning the competition twice including the inaugural edition. Ampaiai in the eighties brought about a new dawn of success to the riyadh giants, with group of talented homegrown players such as the charismatic figurehead defender Saleh Al-Nu'eimeh who captained both Al Hilal and the Saudi National Football Team, together with the promotion of the extremely gifted player maker Yousuf Al-Thunayan and the young and prolific forward Sami Al-Jaber. The club went on to win four league titles as well as four kings cup titles in ten years, two of those being season double's. Al Hilal were the runners-up in the Asian club Championship twice. They were second after the round-robin in the final round in 1986. They reached the final the following year in 1987, but Yomiuri FC were crowned the champion automatically as Al Hilal were unable to field a team for the final due to nine of the starting players being chosen for the Saudi team's preparation camp that clashed with the date fixed for the first leg.