Yemeni League

Yemeni League is the top football division of the Yemen Football Association. It was created in 1990 after the unification of North and South Yemen. It was set up in a four-level system with Premier, First, Second and Third Division.^[1]

Yemeni League

Founded	1990
Country	Yemen
Confederation	AFC
Number of clubs	14
Level on pyramid	1
Domestic cup(s)	President Cup
International cup(s)	AFC Challenge League Arab Champions League
Most championships	Al-Ahli San'a (11 titles)
Top goalscorer	Ali Al-Nono (163 goals)
Website	yemenfa.com
Current: 2024–25 Yemeni League

16 northern and 16 southern clubs entered the top level championship in the 1990–91 season. Previously, two separate championships were used for North Yemen and South Yemen.

Currently, 14 clubs play at the top level, with four clubs being relegated to the 2nd tier. The season is generally run from early November to late June with the league winners entering the AFC Challenge League and the Arab Champions League.

The league was cancelled from 2014 to 2021 due to the Yemeni Civil War, which also stopped all other footballing activities in Yemen.

Clubs

Ta'izz

San'a

Zabid

Ibb

Al Hudaydah

Mukalla

Mudiyah

Locations of teams in the 2023-24 Yemeni League

Club	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Al-Saqr Ta'izz	Ta'izz	Al Shohada Stadium	32.000
Salam Al-Garfa	Al Garfa	Al Garfa Stadium
Al-Sha'ab Hadramaut	Mukalla	Baradem Mukalla Stadium	50.000
Al-Ahli San'a	San'a	Ali Muhesen Stadium	25.000
Al-Tali'aa Taizz	Ta'izz	Al Shohada Stadium	32.000
Al-Oruba Zabid	Zabid	Ali Muhesen Stadium	25.000
Al-Yarmuk Al-Rawda	San'a	Ali Muhesen Stadium	25.000
Al-Wahda San'a	San'a	Ali Muhesen Stadium	25.000
Al Sha'ab Ibb	Ibb	22 May Stadium	40.000
Al-Hilal Hudayda	Al Hudaydah	Al Ulufi Stadium	2.000
Fahman SCC	Mudiyah	Mudiyah Stadium
Al-Tadamun Hadramaut	Mukalla	Baradem Mukalla Stadium	50.000
Al-Ittihad Ibb	Ibb	May 22 Stadium	40.000
Samaon	San'a	Ali Muhesen Stadium	25.000

Champions (before the unification)

No.	Season	North Yemen		South Yemen
1	1970–71	Not Held		Al-Tilal Aden
2	1971–72	Not held
3	1972–73	Not held
4	1973–74	Not held
5	1974–75	Not held
6	1975–76	Not Held		Al-Wahda Aden
7	1976–77	Not Held		Al-Tilal Aden
8	1977–78	Not held		؟؟؟
9	1978–79	Al-Wahda San'a		؟؟؟
10	1979–80	Al-Zuhra		Al-Tilal Aden
11	1980–81	Al-Ahli San'a		؟؟؟
12	1981–82	Al-Sha'ab San'a		Al-Tilal Aden
13	1982–83	Al-Ahli San'a		Al-Tilal Aden
14	1983–84	Al-Ahli San'a		Al-Shorta Aden
15	1984–85	Not Held
16	1985–86	Al-Shorta Sana'a'		؟؟؟
17	1986–87	Not Held		Al Tilal Aden
18	1987–88	Al-Ahli San'a		Al-Wahda Aden
19	1988–89	Al Yarmuk Al Rawda		Al-Wahda Aden
20	1989–90	Al Yarmuk Al Rawda		Al-Shula Aden

Yemeni League champions

No.	Season	Champion	Runner-up	Third place	Top scorers	Top scorer club(s)	Goals
1	1990–91	Al-Tilal Aden	Al-Mena	Al-Ahli San'a	Munif Shaif	Al-Mena	16
2	1991–92	Al-Ahli San'a	Al-Tilal Aden	Al-Shula Aden	Sharaf Mahfood	Al-Tilal Aden	30
	1992–93	Not held
3	1993–94	Al-Ahli San'a	Hassan Abyan	Al-Wahda Aden	Mohammad Al-Azazy	Al Zuhra	19
4	1994–95	Al-Wahda San'a	Al-Ahli San'a	Hassan Abyan	Jiab Bashafaay	Hassan Abyan	25
	1995–96	Not Held
5	1996–97	Al-Wahda San'a	Al-Tilal Aden	Al-Ahly Al Hudaydah	Jameel Al-Maktry	Shamsan Aden	21
6	1997–98	Al-Wahda San'a	Al-Ahli San'a	Al-Shula Aden	Adel Al-Salimi	Al-Ahli San'a	20
7	1998–99	Al-Ahli San'a	Al-Wahda San'a	Al-Sha'ab Ibb	Fathi Jabir	Al-Tilal Aden	22
8	1999–00	Al-Ahli San'a	Al-Tali'aa Taizz	Al-Wahda San'a	Adel Al-Salimi	Al-Ahli San'a	17
9	2000–01	Al-Ahli San'a	Al-Sha'ab Ibb	Al-Tilal Aden	Ali Al-Nono	Al-Ahli San'a	24
10	2001–02	Al-Wahda San'a	Al-Ahli San'a	Al-Hilal Al-Sahili	Adel Al-Salimi	Al-Ahli San'a	18
11	2002–03	Al-Sha'ab Ibb	Al-Tilal Aden	Al-Hilal Al-Sahili	Fekri Al-Hubaishi	Al-Sha'ab Ibb	13
12	2003–04	Al-Sha'ab Ibb	Al-Ahli San'a	Al-Tilal Aden	Yordanos Abay	Al-Saqr Ta'izz	15
13	2004–05	Al-Tilal Aden	Al-Saqr Ta'izz	Al-Ahli San'a	Yordanos Abay	Al-Saqr Ta'izz	16
14	2005–06	Al-Saqr Ta'izz	Al-Sha'ab Ibb	Al-Tilal Aden	Fekri Al-Hubaishi	Al-Sha'ab Ibb	26
15	2006–07	Al-Ahli San'a	Hassan Abyan	Al-Saqr Ta'izz	Berhanu Kaseem	Al-Hilal Al-Sahili	15
16	2007–08	Al-Hilal Al-Sahili	Al-Ahli San'a	Al-Shula Aden	Ali Al-Nono	Al-Ahli San'a	11
17	2008–09	Al-Hilal Al-Sahili	Al-Ahli San'a	Al-Saqr Ta'izz	Lomi Antita	Al-Ahli San'a	13
18	2009–10	Al-Saqr Ta'izz	Al-Tilal Aden	Shabab Al Baydaa	Amboio (Mboyo Iyomi)	Al-Saqr Ta'izz	15
19	2010–11	Al-Oruba Zabid	Al-Tilal Aden	Al-Ahli San'a	Tesfaye Tafese	Al-Tilal Aden	14
20	2011–12	Al-Sha'ab Ibb	Al-Ittihad Ibb	Al-Oruba Zabid	Shaaban Naggar	Al-Oruba Zabid	14
21	2013	Al Yarmuk Al Rawda	Al-Sha'ab Hadramaut	Al-Saqr Ta'izz
22	2013–14	Al-Saqr Ta'izz	Al-Ahli San'a	Al-Tilal Aden
23	2014–15	Cancelled
	2015–16	Not held
	2016–17
	2017–18
	2018–19
23	2020	Al-Shaab Hadramaut	Al-Wehda Aden
	2020–21	Not held
24	2021–22	Fahman SCC	Al-Wehda Sanaa	Ahli Sanaa
	2022–23	Not held
25	2023–24	Ahli Sanaa	Al-Tadamun Hadramaut	Al-Shaab Hadramaut

Top goalscorers

All-time top scorers

As of 6 July 2013

Rank	Player	Goals	Years
1	Ali Al-Nono	163	1999–2014
2	Adel Al-Salimi	136	1997–2011
3	Sharaf Mahfood	121	1985–2005
4	Fathi Jabir	108	1997–2008
5	Yordanos Abay	100	2003–2012

Topscorers by season

Season	Player	Club	Goals
1996-97	Jameel Al-Maktry	Shamsan Aden	21
2002-03	Fikri Al-Habishi		13
2003-04	Yordanos Abay	Al-Saqr	15
2004-05	Yordanos Abay	Al-Saqr	15
2005-06	Fekri Al-Hubaishi	Shaab Ibb	26
2006-07	Berhanu Kaseem		15
2007-08	Ali Al-Nono	Al-Ahli	11
2008-09	Lomi Antita		13
2009-10	Amboio		15
2010-11	Tesfaye Tafese	Al-Tilal	15
2011-12	Shaaban Naggar	Al Oruba	14

Total titles won

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Third place
Al-Ahli Sana'a	11	7	4
Al-Tilal Aden	8	5	4
Al-Wahda Sana'a	5	2	1
Al-Sha'ab Ibb	3	2	1
Al-Saqr Ta'izz	3	1	3
Al-Wahda Aden	3	1	1
Al Yarmuk Al Rawda	3	0	0
Al-Hilal Al-Sahili	2	0	2
Al-Sha'ab Hadramaut	1	1	1
Al-Shula Aden	1	0	3
Al-Oruba Zabid	1	0	1
Al-Zuhra	1	0	0
Al-Sha'ab San'a	1	0	0
Al-Shorta Sana'a'	1	0	0
Al-Shorta Aden	1	0	0
Fahman SCC	1	0	0
Al-Ittihad Ibb	0	1	0
Al-Tadamun Hadramaut	0	1	0

• Al Yarmuk Al Rawda won championships in 1989 and 1990 as Al Yarmouk San'a'

Total titles won by town or city

Fourteen clubs from a total of five towns and cities have been champions.

Town or city	Number of titles	Clubs
San'a'	23	Al-Ahli (11), Al-Wahda (5), Al Yarmouk(3), Al-Oruba(1), Al-Zuhra(1), Al-Sha'ab(1), Al-Shorta Sana'a(1)
Aden	13	Al-Tilal (8), Al-Wahda (3), Al-Shula (1), Al-Shorta Aden (1)
Ta'izz	3	Al-Saqr (3)
Ibb	2	Al-Sha'ab (2)
Al Hudaydah	2	Al-Hilal (2)
Hadramaut	1	Al-Sha'ab Hadramaut (1)
Mudiyah	1	Fahman SCC (1)