Kalba FC
Emirati professional football club
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kalba Football Club (Arabic: نادي كلباء الرياضي الثقافي), 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.
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| Full name | Kalba Football Club | |||
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| Nickname | The Tigers | |||
| Founded | 1972 | |||
| Ground | Ittihad Kalba Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 7,701 | |||
| Chairman | Mohammed Obaid Al Yamahi[1] | |||
| Head coach | Vuk Rašović | |||
| League | UAE Pro League | |||
| 2024–25 | UAE Pro-League, 9th of 14 | |||
| Website | kalbafc | |||
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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 | Tier | President's Cup | League Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | 5th | 16 | 2 | Round of 16 | — |
| 2009–10 | 1st | 8 | 2 | ||
| 2010–11 | 11th | 12 | 1 | Preliminary Round | First Round |
| 2011–12 | 1st | 8 | 2 | Quarter-Finals | — |
| 2012–13 | 14th | 14 | 1 | Round of 16 | First Round |
| 2013–14 | 1st | 13 | 2 | Preliminary Round | — |
| 2014–15 | 14th | 14 | 1 | Round of 16 | First Round |
| 2015–16 | 2nd | 9 | 2 | — | |
| 2016–17 | 13th | 14 | 1 | First Round | |
| 2017–18 | 2nd | 12 | 2 | — | |
| 2018–19 | 11th | 14 | 1 | First Round | |
| 2019–20a | Quarter-Finals | ||||
| 2020–21 | 8th | Round of 16 | Semi-Finals | ||
| 2021–22 | 11th | Quarter-Finals | First Round | ||
| 2022–23 | 8th | Round of 16 | |||
| 2023–24 | 11th | ||||
| 2024–25 | 9th |
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:
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Reserve team
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Honors
- UAE Division One
- Champions (7): 1979–80, 1988–89, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14
Club staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Vuk Rašović |
| Assistant coaches |  Gabriele Pin |
 Saeed Fawaz | |
| Musa Abdulbassit | |
| Youth coach |  Ervin Boban |
| Fitness coach | Vladan Popović |
| Physiotherapist |  Sultan Basheer |
