Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli to clash in historic first women’s Jeddah Derby

JEDDAH: Football fans in Jeddah have been deprived of the derby between city rivals Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli this season after the latter’s relegation to the First Division.

Or to be clear, the men’s derby.

Because on Saturday night, the first women’s Jeddah Derby will take place at King Abdullah Sports City on Saturday at 7:50 p.m.

The historic clash will see Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli’s women’s teams face off for the first time in the first round of the Saudi Women’s Premier League, with a crowd of 5,000 supporters expected to attend.

Both teams existed in different guises last year.

Last season, Jeddah Eagles won the Western Division of the SAFF Regional Football League, and have now been taken over by Al-Ittihad. Meanwhile, Al-Ahli acquired Miraas, who played in the same division.

With the introduction of the new eight-team Women’s Premier League, the 17-team Regional Football League has now been rebranded as the First Division.

Yomn Luqman, sports editor for Al-Watan newspaper, told Arab News: “Finally, we are able to have women’s football teams belonging to Saudi clubs.”

“(It) is a wonderful step that indicates that the Ministry of Sports and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation are providing beautiful work for females and aiming to establish a strong women’s sport by organizing official leagues that produce a national team that can represent the Kingdom in regional and international competitions for women.”

Commenting on the historic fixture, she added: “Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad matches are always exciting through the Western Province derby, which we have been accustomed to for many years through the men’s league, and certainly this excitement will move in turn to the women’s league. I expect it to be an exciting match, but I cannot predict the outcome because we do not yet know the levels of the two teams this season.”

Meanwhile, Fadwa Al-Tayar, Saudi TV correspondent and board member of the Saudi National Volleyball Federation, spoke about what it means to have a women’s football league.

“This is a great step that has been taken by the Saudi Football Federation in organizing the first-ever Women’s Premier League. We are so excited to see women in the field,” she said.

‘It’s really exciting for women’s football matches to be played in what are traditionally men’s stadiums,” Al-Tayar said.

The eight participating teams — Al-Yamamah, Eastern Flames, Sama, Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, Al-Ahli and Al-Shabab — will contest the Premier League on a home-and-away basis in the cities of Riyadh, Jeddah and the Eastern Province, with the total of 56 matches ending on Feb. 18, 2023.