Kuwait Premier League

The Kuwait Premier League (Arabic: الدوري الكويتي, romanized: Dawriyy al-Kuwaytī), known as STC Premier League due to sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Kuwait football pyramid system. Formed in 1961, Al-Arabi, Qadsia and Kuwait both hold the best record in the competition, having won 17 times.

Kuwait Premier League
Founded1961 (1961)
Country Kuwait
ConfederationAFC
Number of teams10
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toKuwaiti Division One
Domestic cup(s)Kuwait Emir Cup
Kuwait Crown Prince Cup
Kuwait Federation Cup
International cup(s)AFC Cup
UAFA Club Championship
Current championsKuwait SC (17th title)
(2021–22)
Most championshipsKuwait SC
Al-Arabi SC
Al Qadsia SC
(17 titles each)
TV partnersKTV Sport
Al-Kass
Current: 2021–22 Kuwaiti Premier League

History

The Kuwaiti league officially began in the 1961/62 season, after playing unofficially for eight years (played with group of clubs: "Ahli - Al Jazeera - Arabism - Gulf - Solidarity - Al-Qubali, Al-Nahda, Al-Sharqai, Al-Merqab, Al-Mawalim and Al-Taawon). National companies and ministries were club's first sponsors.

1960s

In the 1961/1962 season, several new clubs joined (Al-Arabi, Qadsia, Kuwait SC, Kifan High School, Shuwaikh Secondary School, Industrial College and Police Team). Al-Arabi won the league title without losing, and winning 7 points ahead of Qadsia, scoring 42 goals and conceding 10.

In the following season, the number of teams was reduced to 7. Al-Arabi managed to win the second title in a row after winning 18 points ahead of Qadsia, scoring 45 goals and conceding 6.

The third season of the league almost witnessed the end of Arabi monopoly, after fierce competition from Qadsia and other teams. Arabi and Qadsia were equal on points before the decisive match. Arabi managed to maintain the title after defeating Qadsia 2-0, scoring overall 42 goals and conceding nine.

In the fourth season, school teams were removed from participating and league saw participation of 3 new clubs (Salmiya, Fahaheel and Al-Shabab). The Kuwait Club managed to end the Arabi monopoly to achieve its first title, after winning the competition without any defeat.

The 1960s witnessed a sweep of the Arabi club when it won six titles against two titles for Kuwait and a title for Qadsia.

1970s

The 1970 era began with Qadsia's winning the 1971/1970 season, for the second time in its history. Al-Arabi lost its championship in a strange way during ten years. They did not win any title during this period until the end of the 1979/1980 season.

1980s

The eighties witnessed three new league champions, namely Al-Salmiya who won its first title in the 1980/81 season, and Kazma club which won the titles of 1985/86 and 1986/87, as well as Jahra club, which ended the 1980s by winning the title.

1990s

The league championship was not held in the 1990–91 season because of Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Competition began again in the 1991–92 season, which was held as group system with qualification. Old format returned with participation of 14 teams in the 1994–95 season. Era of the nineties witnessed a parity between clubs, where both Al-Arabi and Al-Salmiya won 3 titles, and Qadsia and Kazma two.

2000s

At the beginning of a new millennium, Kuwait SC achieved the league championship after a long absence of 22 years, followed by victory of Al-Arabi for the sixteenth time in its history in the 2001–02 season. Since then until 2020–21 season, Qadsia has won nine titles while Kuwait Club won five. Al-Arabi was able to break their dominance and win the mentioned season title.

Kuwaiti Premier League clubs (2021-22)

Source:[1]

Previous winners

Source:[2]

By season

Most titles
Club Titles Seasons
Kuwait SC
17
1964–65, 1967–68, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1976–77, 1978–79, 2000–01, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22
Al-Arabi
17
1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1969–70, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1979–88, 1988–89, 1992–93, 1996–97, 2001–02, 2020–21
Qadsia
17
1968–69, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1991–92, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2015–16
Kazma
4
1985–86, 1986–87, 1993–94, 1995–96
Al-Salmiya
4
1980–81, 1994–95, 1997–98, 1999–2000
Al-Jahra
1
1989–90

Total titles won by Governorate
Governorate Number of titles Clubs
Al Asimah
38
 Al-Arabi (17), Kuwait SC (17), Kazma (4)
Hawalli
21
 Qadsia (17), Al-Salmiya (4)
Jahra
1
 Al-Jahra SC (1)

Topscorers
Year[3] Top scorers Team Goals
1991–92 Jassem Al HouwaidiAl-Salmiya10
1995–96 Jassem Al Houwaidi
Carlos Branco		Al-Salmiya
Kazma		6
1999–2000 Bashar AbdullahAl-Salmiya11
2000–01 Faraj Laheeb
Bashar Abdullah		Kuwait
Al-Salmiya		10
2001–02 Malek JohnKazma10
2002–03 Dênis MarquesKuwait9
2003–04 Khalaf Al SalamahQadsia12
2004–05 Firas Al KhatibAl-Arabi13
2005–06 Hamad Al HarbiAl-Fahaheel22
2006–07 Bashar AbdullahKuwait10
2007–08 Ahmad AjabQadsia14
2008–09 CarecaKuwait13
2009–10 Ismail Al AjmiKuwait13
2010–11 Firas Al KhatibQadsia14
2011–12 Vinícius LopesAl-Jahra9
2012–13 RogerinhoKuwait11
2013–14 Omar Al SomaQadsia23[4]
2014–15 Patrick FabianoKazma22[5]
2015–16 Firas Al KhatibAl-Arabi23[6]
2016–17 David da SilvaQadsia14[7]
2017–18 Faisal AjabAl Tadhamon15
2018–19 Hussain Al-MusawiAl-Arabi17
2019–20 Yousef Nasser
Patrick Fabiano		Kuwait
Al-Salmiya		14
2020–21 Oday DabbaghAl-Arabi13

Participation by the years

Notes:

References
  1. "Kuwait Premier League 2021/2022". Soccerway. Perform. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  2. Atsushi Fujioka (6 May 2016). "Kuwait - List of Champions". RSSSF. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-08-14. Retrieved 2016-07-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "دوري VIVA الكويت". www.kooora.com.
  5. "دوري VIVA الكويت". www.kooora.com.
  6. "دوري VIVA الكويت". www.kooora.com.
  7. "دوري VIVA الكويت". www.kooora.com.
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