Kalba FC

Kalba
نادي كلباء

Full name	Kalba Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Tigers
Founded	1972 (1972) as Ittihad Kalba 2024 (2024) as Kalba
Ground	Ittihad Kalba Stadium
Capacity	8,500
Owner	Zayed sulaiman alsharari alzaabi
Chairman	Zayed sulaiman alsharari alzaabi
Head coach	Ghazi Fahad
League	UAE Pro League
2023–24	UAE Pro-League, 10th
Website	https://www.ittihadkalbafc.ae/
Home colours Away colours

Kalba Football Club (Arabic: نادي كلباء الرياضي الثقافي), more colloquially abbreviated as Al-Ittihad, is a professional football club founded in 1972 and based in the city of Kalba, in the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The team competes in the UAE Pro League, the top tier of Emirati football.

History

Kalba Football Club was established in 1972 through the merger of three clubs: Al Shabab, Al Rooba, and Al Riyadiya.

Kalba has won a record breaking 7 Division 1 titles with their last one being in the 2013-14 season.

From 2009 to 2018 the team spent these years jumping up and down between divisions; since the 2018-19 season they have managed to consistently compete in the top tier, and in the 2020-21 season they reached the UAE League Cup Semi-finals, where they were eliminated by Al-Nasr Dubai on penalties after a draw on aggregate.

League record

Season	Position	Number of teams	Tier	President's Cup	League Cup
2008–09	5th	16	2	Round of 16	—
2009–10	1st	8	2
2010–11	11th	12	1	Preliminary Round	First Round
2011–12	1st	8	2	Quarter-Finals	—
2012–13	14th	14	1	Round of 16	First Round
2013–14	1st	13	2	Preliminary Round	—
2014–15	14th	14	1	Round of 16	First Round
2015–16	2nd	9	2		—
2016–17	13th	14	1		First Round
2017–18	2nd	12	2		—
2018–19	11th	14	1		First Round
2019–20a				Quarter-Finals
2020–21	8th			Round of 16	Semi-Finals
2021–22	11th			Quarter-Finals	First Round
2022–23	8th			Round of 16

_{Notes^ 2019–20 UAE football season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates.}

Current squad

As of UAE Pro-League:

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	UAE	Eisa Hooti
2	DF	UAE	Farid Abdulla U23
3	DF	UAE	Mohammed Sabeel
4	DF	BRA	Michel Dreifke
5	DF	UAE	Abdalla Faisal U23
6	MF	ALB	Rejan Alivoda U23
7	MF	UAE	Habib Al Fardan
8	MF	BRA	Caio Eduardo
9	MF	UAE	Fahad Barout
10	MF	IRN	Mehdi Ghayedi (on loan from Shabab Al-Ahli)
11	MF	ITA	Daniel Bessa
12	DF	UAE	Salem Rashid
15	DF	UAE	Abdulaziz Al-Hamhami
16	DF	SVN	Miha Blažič
17	GK	UAE	Saif Yousif U23
18	MF	YEM	Khaled Al-Asbahi
19	FW	UAE	Ahmed Al-Naqbi
20	DF	UAE	Abdulaziz Al-Kaabi

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
22	FW	UAE	Mohamed Ali
23	DF	UAE	Waleed Rashid U23
24	MF	UAE	Khalid Al-Darmaki
25	DF	UAE	Abdusalam Mohammed
27	FW	UAE	Yaser Al-Blooshi U23
33	GK	UAE	Sultan Al-Mantheri
37	DF	CIV	Kouadjo Koffi U23
39	MF	BRA	Gustavo U23 (on loan from Shabab Al-Ahli)
42	FW	PLE	Ahmed Abunamous
44	MF	IRN	Saman Ghoddos
55	GK	UAE	Hamad Al-Mansoori
70	FW	IRN	Shahriyar Moghanlou
77	MF	UAE	Leandro Spadacio
80	FW	SRB	Nemanja Jović U23
88	MF	UAE	Saif Obaid U23
97	DF	MAR	Anas Radi
99	FW	GHA	Cornelius Agbenyegah U23

Unregistered players

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
14	MF	SVK	Filip Kiss

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
34	DF	UAE	Khalid Al Zari (on loan to United)

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	UAE	Jamal Abdalla (on loan to Al Urooba)

Honors

• UAE Division One
  • Champions (7): 1979–80, 1988–89, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14

Club staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Ghazi Fahad
Assistant coach	Gabriele Pin
	Saeed Fawaz
	Musa Abdulbassit
Fitness Coach	Mounir Marzooq

See also

• List of football clubs in the United Arab Emirates