Malkiya

Malkiya sit in the Bahraini Second Division after relegation at the end of the 2020–21 season cost them a place among the country's elite. The wait this time is short by their own standards — nothing next to the near half-century they spent chasing a first league title before finally landing one.

That title came in 2016–17, breaking a stretch that had run since the club's founding in 1968. It opened the door to continental football for the first time: a run in the 2018 AFC Cup that took Malkiya to third in their group after a playoff defeat to Al Ain in Champions League qualifying. The same era brought two runner-up finishes in the Bahraini FA Cup, in 2016 and 2017, and a second-place finish in the Super Cup.

Sayed Isa Sayed Hassan's path through the club sums up how a place like this holds onto its own — he played for Malkiya and stayed on to coach its youth sides once his playing days ended.

Home games are played at the Madinat 'Isa Stadium, which holds 15,000 and sits within the Khalifa Sports City complex.