A'Ali

The turquoise-and-purple jerseys of A'ali SC belong to a town side that spent decades doing what most Bahraini village clubs do. That changed only recently. A'ali was founded in 1968, but it took until the 2022–23 season for the club to step into a professional structure, entering the Bahraini Second Division. Two years later it finished second there and went up to the Bahraini Premier League for the first time in its history.

The top flight did not stay long. In 2024–25, A'ali's debut season among Bahrain's elite, the club finished tenth of twelve after the regular season with 21 points, dropped into the relegation play-offs, and came third in its group there — one win, one draw, one loss — enough to send it straight back down to the Second Division for 2025–26.

The club plays at a ground with room for only 1,100. Among the current squad, defender Abbas Ayyad carries the most weight: a capped Bahraini international who arrived in July 2024 with a résumé built at Al-Ahli and Al-Muharraq, before choosing a club still finding its feet at the top level.

What A'ali has not done yet is win anything. No Premier League title, no King's Cup, no Crown Prince Cup, no Super Cup — and after one season back in the second tier, no top-flight football to show for the promotion either.