Multi-purpose stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Al-Shabab Club Stadium (Arabic: ملعب نادي الشباب), formerly known as Prince Khalid bin Sultan Stadium, is a football stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[1][2] It is the home stadium of Al-Shabab.[3]
History
The stadium was built and opened in 1984 and it was mostly used by Al-Shabab as a training ground and for friendly matches. In April 2012, the stadium underwent construction to improve the facilities. This included three more football pitches, administrative offices, and medical clinics.[4] On 2 January 2019, Al-Shabab hosted their first competitive match at the stadium against Al-Sahel in the King Cup.[5] On 11 January 2019, Al-Shabab hosted their first ever league match in the stadium against Al-Fayha.[6] The match ended in a 4–1 win, with goals coming from Nasser Al-Shamrani, Abdulmajeed Al-Sulaiheem and Constantin Budescu scoring twice. In July 2019, the stadium once again underwent construction this time to increase the stadium's capacity and improve the facilities.[7] During the 2019–20 and the 2020–21 seasons, the stadium was used by Al-Shabab as their home stadium.
On 10 June 2021, the Ministry of Sports announced plans to develop three smaller stadiums. Prince Khalid bin Sultan Stadium was among them, plus the stadiums of Al-Ettifaq and Al-Fateh. On 7 September 2021, the stadium underwent major construction with plans to increase the capacity from 10,000 seats to 15,000, get rid of the running track, add a roof to the stadium, and develop and improve the rest of the facilities.[8] On 31 August 2023, after two years in construction, the first training session was held at the redeveloped stadium.[9] On 9 October 2023, it was announced that the stadium would host Al-Shabab's league match against Al-Tai on 21 October 2023.[10] The match ended in a 2–0 win with goals coming from Habib Diallo and Hussain Al-Qahtani and had an attendance of 11,974.[11]
References
