A week travelling Saudi Arabia reveals what a soccer revolution means for players, clubs, fans old and new, politics and the global game
was 42,992. For the SPL, the average attendance last season was 10,197. Jeddah’s Al Itthad had the highest average at 40,453, again according to Transfermarkt. Al Nassr were second with 17,638. Last season’s lowest average was Al Batin, now relegated, with 3,467.
It is a less famous name who scores the winner for Al Riyadh: Zimbabwe’s former captain Knowledge Musona, who signed from another Saudi side, Al Tai, this summer. By the time the goal goes in, most of Riyadh’s fans have moved into one small section of the main stand, seemingly upon instruction. There, they wave the red and black flags that were handed to them and chant in response to a loudhailer.Most of them are teenagers.
Further north, in the centre of Riyadh, is the Kingdom Centre, quiet by the time the Al Riyadh match finishes . The Kingdom Centre is a 302-metre tower built in 2002. It was, for a time, the tallest tower in Saudi Arabia. At its foot is a shopping mall, the shops closed at this time, but billboards of Lionel Messi are still lit. At its top is the Four Seasons hotel, where Ronaldo first stayed after signing in January.
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