There was a sense of deja vu this week as a Saudi Arabia club went to the top tier of English football and signed one of the world’s best players.
Al-Ittihad have recruited Ashleigh Plumptre from Leicester City which means that one of the stars of the women’s game has made the switch from the home of the Foxes in England’s East Midlands to join the Tigers in the port of Jeddah.
With the 25-year-old on the radar of several big European clubs, the signing has whetted appetites for the second season of the Saudi Women’s Premier League which kicks off next month.
Plumptre is a former England youth international who switched allegiance to Nigeria and was one of the stars of the World Cup that ended last month with the Africans losing to England after a penalty shootout in the knockout stages.
“(I am) grateful to have signed for Al-Ittihad,” Plumptre reportedly said. “I am excited to start this journey alongside some incredible human beings. My journey of stepping into more of myself continues … It’s more than football.”
She joins a Jeddah club on the rise under coach Kelly Lindsay, the former US international who has managed the women’s teams of Afghanistan and Morocco. They have been busy in the transfer market. As well as the new Nigerian defender, there is Morocco’s Salma Amani — who helped the Atlas Lionesses not just become the first Arab team to play at the Women’s World Cup this summer but also to get to the knockout stage.
Former Swedish youth international Nor Mustafa, who arrived by the Red Sea from Scottish club Hibernian, means that the Tigers will be hoping to mount a title challenge this time after finishing fifth out of eight in the inaugural season. For the city of Jeddah to be home to both the male and female champions would be something special.
Fullback Bayan Sadagah is looking forward to continuing the progress already made. “I used to play for Jeddah Eagles and after the Saudi Women’s Pro League was created, our club was acquired by Al-Ittihad,” the defender said. “We were able to use their facilities and we were happy that we were finally being treated as professionals and this really pushed us to be more ambitious. We push ourselves to become better.”
That is the plan for the new season but taking the title from Al-Nassr will not be easy. The Riyadh team are the ones to beat with stars including Lina Boussaha, a former French youth international who played for Paris Saint-Germain before sustaining a serious injury. Her career is now back on track in Saudi Arabia.
Even the newly-promoted teams are ambitious. Al-Qadsia have former Benfica coach Luis Andrade.
“We are aiming to be competitive in the Premier League,” Andrade said as he arrived in the east of the country in August. “We know that we have a lot of work to do but we are not just there to make up the numbers.”
The numbers are improving and there are plans to expand the top tier to 10 teams from next year. Interestingly, there are 30 sides in the second division which is divided into regional groups of six. At the end of the season there will be playoffs with three teams coming up and one going down.
Compared to other Asian powerhouses such as China and especially Japan, there is a determination to try and catch up as quickly as possible and the progress made in a short time has been impressive.
In 2019, the women’s department at the Saudi Arabian Football Federation was established. A year later, came the Women’s Community Football League and then the Regional Women’s League in 2021. The Premier League launched in 2022, the same year that the national women’s team played their first-ever international game, defeating the Seychelles 2-0. They now have a FIFA ranking.
There is, of course, a bid to host the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup. If that is successful, it would be a huge boost to the game in the country but even if not, there is a plan to qualify to the tournament for the first time.
The 2027 World Cup may be a little too early but with 32 teams participating and the likes of the Philippines and Vietnam making the 2023 edition, there is always hope. There are now more than 50,000 schoolgirls playing football, over 1,000 female coaches and regional training centers where the best talent get the best coaching. The development is continuing at a rapid speed.
First though, is the new season. The objective is that this is better than last year in terms of the quality of play and the interest off the pitch. That remains to be seen but the early signs and the early signings such as Plumptre are very promising.
Ashleigh Plumptre’s move to Al-Ittihad adds star power to Saudi Women’s Premier League
https://arab.news/nuy8a
Ashleigh Plumptre’s move to Al-Ittihad adds star power to Saudi Women’s Premier League
- The Nigeria international joins the Jeddah club ahead of the second edition of the top tier competition
- Plumptre said: “I am excited to start this journey alongside some incredible human beings. My journey of stepping into more of myself continues … It’s more than football”
Saudi Arabia edge Kyrgyzstan 1-0 in AFC U23 Asian Cup opener
- Al-Nassr’s Rakan Al-Ghamdi struck in the 88th minute as 2022 champions Saudi Arabia got off to a winning start
JEDDAH: Rakan Al-Ghamdi struck late as Saudi Arabia edged a plucky Kyrgyzstan 1-0 in their AFC U23 Asian Cup Group A opener on Tuesday.
Debutants Kyrgyzstan, reduced to 10 men in the 34th minute, looked on course for a point after goalkeeper Kurmanbek Nurlanbekov had saved Musab Al-Juwayr’s penalty but Al-Nassr’s Al-Ghamdi struck in the 88th minute as 2022 champions Saudi Arabia got off to a winning start.
Both sides went on the offensive from the start with Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Radif sending his effort from outside the box high as early as the second minute, while Beknaz Almazbekov had his shot from distance blocked two minutes later.
The hosts began to assert their dominance before suffering a setback in the 13th minute when captain Abdullah Radif was subbed off due to injury with Majed Abdullah taking his place.
However, his absence failed to deter the 2022 champions’ resolve as they almost took the lead in the 15th minute after Abdullah pounced on a stray pass from Anton Polev, only to see his low drive from inside the box saved by Nurlanbekov.
The Central Asian side’s exuberance suffered a dent in the 34th minute when Arsen Sharshenbekov received his marching orders for stamping Abdulaziz Al-Elewai’s ankle, following a VAR review.
Saudi Arabia, however, failed to trouble Nurlanbekov despite the numerical advantage with Kyrgyzstan still very much in the game going into the break.
Nurlanbekov continued to frustrate Saudi Arabia in the second half with the FC Dordoi Bishkek keeper foiling Faris Al-Ghamdi from distance in the 48th minute.
Saudi Arabia almost found the opener just after the hour mark when Yaseen Al-Zubaidi and Abdulaziz Al-Elewai exchanged passes with the latter breaking into the box, only to see his shot from a difficult angle closed down by Nurlanbekov.
Spurred on by their passionate home support, Saudi Arabia’s pressure earned them a penalty in the 74th minute after Arslan Bekberdinov’s handball but Nurlanbekov judged correctly to deny Al-Juwayr from the spot with his outstretched right-handed save.
Saudi Arabia finally found a way through in the 88th minute after Al-Juwayr’s clever pass found Al-Ghamdi, who rifled his shot past Nurlanbekov to seal the victory.
Saudi Arabia will meet Jordan on Friday while Kyrgyzstan will aim to bounce back against Vietnam.
