Kalba Football Club (), 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 TierPresident's CupLeague Cup2008–095th162Round of 16—2009–101st822010–1111th121Preliminary RoundFirst Round2011–121st82Quarter-Finals—2012–1314th141Round of 16First Round2013–141st132Preliminary Round—2014–1514th141Round of 16First Round2015–162nd92—2016–1713th141First Round2017–182nd122—2018–1911th141First Round2019–20Quarter-Finals2020–218thRound of 16Semi-Finals2021–2211thQuarter-FinalsFirst Round2022–238thRound of 162023–2411th2024–259th Notes 2019–20 UAE football season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates.
Players Current squad As of UAE Pro-League:
Out on loan
Players with Multiple Nationalities Juninho Saile Souza
Honors UAE Division One Champions (7): 1979–80, 1988–89, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14
Club staff
PositionNameHead coach Vuk RašovićAssistant coaches Gabriele Pin Saeed Fawaz Musa AbdulbassitYouth coach Ervin BobanFitness coach Vladan PopovićPhysiotherapist Sultan Basheer
See also List of football clubs in the United Arab Emirates
References