List of Al Ain FC seasons

For details of the current season, see 2024–25 Al Ain FC season.

Al Ain Football Club is an association football club based in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, that competes in UAE Pro League, the top-division football league in United Arab Emirates. Founded in 1968 by players from Al Ain, members of a Bahraini group of exchange students and the Sudanese community working in the United Arab Emirates.[1] Al Ain is one of only three clubs never to have been relegated from the top level of Emirati football since 1975–76 season, the others being Al Nasr and Al Wasl.

Key

  • Pos. = Position
  • Div. = Division
  • C = Champion
  • RU = Final (Runner-up)
  • SF = Semi-finals
  • QF = Quarter-finals
  • R16/R32 = Round of 16, round of 32, etc.
  • R1/R2 = First round, second round, etc.
  • GS = Group stage
  • PO = Play-off
  • QS = Qualifying Stage
  • W = Withdrew
Champions Runners-up 3rd Place Advanced to next round but the cup continued in next season

Seasons

Pre-Football League era

Season Div. Pos. Cup Manager
1969–70[n 1] Abu Dhabi Championship Abu Dhabi Ruler Cup Not held United Arab Emirates Nasser Dhaen[2][3][4]
1970–71 Abu Dhabi Championship Abu Dhabi Ruler Cup RU
1971–72 Abu Dhabi Championship Not completed Abu Dhabi Ruler Cup RU Egypt Abdelaziz Hammami
1972–73 Abu Dhabi Championship Abu Dhabi Ruler Cup
1973–74 Abu Dhabi Championship 1st Abu Dhabi Ruler Cup Not held Syria Ahmed Alyan
1974–75[n 2] Abu Dhabi Championship 1st UAE President's Cup R16[5]

Notes

  1. ^ from 1969 to 1974, Al Ain competed in the championship and Cup of the Abu Dhabi region organised by Abu Dhabi Football Association.
  2. ^ Played as Categorization League and organised by UAEFA, included four clubs from Abu Dhabi region, Al Ain, Al Emirates qualified to 1975–76 UAE Football League, Al Jazira, Abu Dhabi to 1975–76 First Division League.

Football League and Pro League era

Season Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA GD P President's Cup Federation Cup / League Cup[n 1] Super Cup GCC ACCC Asia Other competitions Top scorer Manager
1975–76 1 2nd 16 10 4 2 33 15 +18 24 Not completed Not held  –  – Syria Ahmed Alyan
1976–77 1 1st 3 2 1 0 6 3 +3 5 Quarter-finals Tunisia Mohieddine Habita[6] Tunisia Humaid Dhib
1977–78 1 2nd 24 15 4 5  – 34 Cancelled
1978–79 1 3rd 20  – 27 RU Syria Ahmed Alyan
1979–80 1 8th 18 3 6 9 28 40 −12 12 Semi-Finals Tunisia Abdelmajid Chetali
1980–81 1 1st 18 10 4 4 24 22 +2 24 RU United Arab Emirates Ahmed Abdullah Tunisia Abdelmajid Chetali
Morocco Ahmed Nagah*
1981–82 1 2nd 18  – 21 Quarter-finals Not held  – Morocco Ahmed Nagah
1982–83 1 5th 18 6 7 5 21 21 0 19 Quarter-finals Not held  – Not held Joint League C Brazil Nelsinho Rosa
1983–84 1 1st 18 12 3 3 35 18 +17 27 Semi-Finals  –  – United Arab Emirates Ahmed Abdullah
1984–85 1 8th  – Quarter-finals Group Stage Not held Gulf Club Champions Cup GS Joint League 4th Brazil Nelsinho Rosa
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Miljan Miljanić
1985–86 1 9th 18 4 2 12 27 47 −20 14 Semi-Finals RU  –  –
1986–87 1 3rd 20 11 3 6 32 23 +9 25 Semi-Finals Not held Brazil Jair Picerni
Brazil João Francisco
1987–88 1 5th 22 9 6 7 26 24 +2 33 Round of 16 Brazil João Francisco
1988–89 1 5th 22 8 9 5 29 21 +8 25 Quarter-finals C Brazil Zé Mario
1989–90 1 7th 26 9 9 8 36 26 +10 27 RU Not held  – Not held Not held
1990–91[n 2] 1 8th 13 5 5 3 15 10 +5 15 Semi-Finals Not held Not held  – cancelled[n 3] Algeria Mahieddine Khalef
1991–92 1 7th 30 13 8 9 42 35 +7 34 Round of 16  –
1992–93 1 1st 22 15 5 2 54 13 +41 35 Round of 16 Group Stage  – United Arab Emirates Saif Sultan Egypt Yusri Abdul Ghani
Brazil Amarildo
1993–94 1 2nd 18 12 5 1 31 10 +21 29 RU RU RU Brazil Amarildo
1994–95 1 2nd 18 7 9 2 26 15 +11 23 RU  – 1st Gulf Club Champions Cup 5th Brazil Amarildo
Egypt Shaker Abdel-Fattah
1995–96 1 3rd 18 6 7 5 17 11 +6 25 Round of 16 Not held 4th  – Asian Cup Winners' Cup R2 Argentina Ángel Marcos
1996–97 1 5th 28 10 11 7 40 31 +9 41 Round of 16 Not held  – Brazil Lori Sandri
Egypt Yusri Abdul Ghani
Brazil Cabralzinho
1997–98 1 1st 32 17 9 6 49 29 +20 61 Semi-Finals United Arab Emirates Salem Johar Brazil Cabralzinho
Egypt Shaker Abdel-Fattah
1998–99 1 2nd 33 16 9 8 58 36 +22 57 C Asian Club Championship 3rd Burkina Faso Seydou Traoré 15 Portugal Nelo Vingada
Romania Ilie Balaci
1999–2000 1 1st 22 13 7 2 48 25 +23 47 Round of 16 Group Stage Asian Cup Winners' Cup R1 United Arab Emirates Majid Al Owais 15 Romania Ilie Balaci
2000–01 1 4th 22 10 4 8 33 27 +6 34 C Group Stage Gulf Club Champions Cup C Asian Club Championship R2 Burundi Juma Mossi 15 Argentina Oscar Fulloné
Tunisia Mrad Mahjoub
United Arab Emirates Ahmed Abdullah *
Romania Anghel Iordănescu
2001–02 1 1st 22 14 5 3 44 23 +21 47 Semi-Finals Group Stage RU  – Arab Club Champions Cup W[n 4] Asian Cup Winners' Cup QF Ivory Coast Joël Tiéhi 19 Bosnia and Herzegovina Džemal Hadžiabdić
2002–03 1 1st 22 14 6 2 51 20 +31 48 Quarter-finals Not held C  – AFC Champions League C Ivory Coast Boubacar Sanogo 24 France Bruno Metsu
2003–04 1 1st 16 11 3 2 34 17 +17 36 Semi-Finals Not held Not held AFC Champions League bye GS [n 5] Brazil Rodrigo Mendes 19
2004–05 1 2nd 26 18 3 5 54 26 +28 57 C C  –
AFC Champions League QF Brazil Edílson 22 France Alain Perrin
Tunisia Mohammad El Mansi *
Czech Republic Milan Máčala
AFC Champions League QF
2005–06 1 4th 22 13 2 7 42 23 +19 41 C C
AFC Champions League RU Serbia Nenad Jestrović 14 Czech Republic Milan Máčala
Tunisia Mohammad El Mansi *
AFC Champions League QF
2006–07 1 9th 22 7 7 8 22 26 −4 28 RU Group Stage
AFC Champions League QF Serbia Nenad Jestrović 9 Romania Anghel Iordănescu
Netherlands Tiny Ruys *
Italy Walter Zenga
AFC Champions League GS
2007–08 1 6th 22 9 5 8 41 36 +5 32 Round of 16 Not held  – The Gambia Ousman Jallow 11 Brazil Tite
Germany Winfried Schäfer
2008–09 1 3rd 22 12 7 3 40 20 +20 43 C C  – Not held Brazil André Dias 23 Germany Winfried Schäfer
2009–10 1 3rd 22 14 3 5 57 29 +28 45 Round of 16 Semi-Finals C  – AFC Champions League GS Argentina José Sand 33 Germany Winfried Schäfer
Morocco Rachid Benmahmoud *
Brazil Toninho Cerezo
United Arab Emirates Abdulhameed Al Mistaki *
2010–11 1 10th 22 6 7 9 33 35 −2 25 Round of 16 RU  – AFC Champions League GS Argentina José Sand
United Arab Emirates Omar Abdulrahman 		11 United Arab Emirates Abdulhameed Al Mistaki *
United Arab Emirates Ahmed Abdullah *
Brazil Alexandre Gallo
2011–12 1 1st 22 17 4 1 52 16 +36 55 Quarter-Finals Group Stage  – Ghana Asamoah Gyan 27 Romania Cosmin Olăroiu
2012–13 1 1st 26 20 2 4 74 26 +48 62 Semi-Finals Group Stage C AFC Champions League GS Ghana Asamoah Gyan 32
2013–14 1 6th 26 12 7 7 52 33 +19 43 C Group Stage RU AFC Champions League QF Ghana Asamoah Gyan 45 Uruguay Jorge Fossati
United Arab Emirates Ahmed Abdullah *
Spain Quique Flores
Croatia Zlatko Dalić
2014–15 1 1st 26 18 6 2 62 19 +43 60 Quarter-Finals Group Stage RU
AFC Champions League SF Ghana Asamoah Gyan 24 Croatia Zlatko Dalić
AFC Champions League R16
2015–16 1 2nd 26 18 3 5 53 24 +29 57 RU Group Stage C Cancelled AFC Champions League QF Emirati-Moroccan Super Cup C Brazil Dyanfres Douglas 18
2016–17 1 4th 26 17 4 5 58 37 +21 55 Quarter-Finals Group Stage  – Arab Club Champions Cup W[n 6] AFC Champions League RU  – Brazil Caio Lucas 18 Croatia Zlatko Dalić
Croatia Joško Španjić *
Croatia Zoran Mamić
AFC Champions League QF
2017–18 1 1st 22 16 5 1 65 23 +42 53 C Quarter-Finals Not held  – AFC Champions League QF Sweden Marcus Berg 35 Croatia Zoran Mamić
AFC Champions League R16
2018–19 1 4th 26 14 4 8 45 35 +10 46 Round of 16 Quarter-Finals RU Arab Club Champions Cup R32 AFC Champions League GS FIFA Club World Cup RU Brazil Caio Lucas 17 Croatia Zoran Mamić
Croatia Željko Sopić *
Spain Juan Garrido
2019–20[n 7] 1 2nd 19 11 4 4 46 21 +25 37 Final Semi-Finals  –  – AFC Champions League GS — Togo Kodjo Laba 28 Croatia Ivan Leko
Iraq Ghazi Fahad *
Portugal Pedro Emanuel
2020–21 1 6th 26 11 8 7 39 33 +6 41 Round of 16 First Round  – AFC Champions League QS Togo Kodjo Laba 13 Portugal Pedro Emanuel
2021–22 1 1st 26 20 5 1 57 17 +40 65 Quarter-finals C — Togo Kodjo Laba 31 Ukraine Serhii Rebrov
2022–23 1 2nd 26 16 6 4 67 31 +36 54 RU RU RU Togo Kodjo Laba 31
2023–24 1 3rd 26 14 3 9 54 37 +17 45 Quarter-finals RU — AFC Champions League C Morocco Soufiane Rahimi 23 Netherlands Alfred Schreuder
Argentina Hernán Crespo

Notes

  1. ^ Starting from the 2008-09 season or whats known as the Pro Era, UAE Federation Cup was replaced with UAE League Cup.
  2. ^ cancelled due to Gulf War.
  3. ^ cancelled due to Gulf War.
  4. ^ Al-Ain withdrew the tournament, Al-Rayyan replaced it.
  5. ^ bye through the Group Stage as the reigning champions
  6. ^ Al-Ain withdrew the tournament, Al-Wahda replaced it.
  7. ^ 2019–20 UAE football season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates.

References

  1. ^ "club Foundation3". alainclub.com. Archived from the original on 1 August 2007. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  2. ^ "ناصر ضاعن: ملعب "دوار الساعة" شاهد على الانطلاقة". Al-Ittihad.
  3. ^ "أفكار محمد وهزاع بن زايد وراء القفزة النوعية للبنفسج". Al Bayan.
  4. ^ "ناصر ضاعن أول مواطن يقود تدريب العين". Al Bayan.
  5. ^ "نهائي الأحلام بين فرسـان الوحدة والعين الليلة بمديـنـة زايـد". AlEtihad.ae. 16 June 2005. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  6. ^ "قصة زعامة الفريق البنفسجي". AlKhaleej.ae. Retrieved 22 June 2024.