Al Taawoun FC

Abderrazak Hamdallah arrived on a free transfer. The club he joined traces back to 1956, when Saleh Al-Wabil founded it in Buraydah under the name Al-Shabab. Four years later, in 1960, it was registered with the Saudi Football Federation under a new name, Al-Taawoun — "cooperation" — and has kept it since.

The club's single King's Cup came in 2019, a 2–1 win over Al-Ittihad in the final on 29 May. It was not the first attempt: Al-Taawoun had lost a King's Cup final to Al-Nassr in 1990, and would lose another, to Al-Feisal, in 2020–21. The 2019 win sent them into the Saudi Super Cup against Al-Nassr, where they were beaten on penalties after a 1–1 draw. Abdulmajeed Al-Swat captained the side through that period.

Getting to that level had taken time in the lower divisions. Al-Taawoun won the Second Division in 1977–78 and the First Division in 1996–97, the season that also brought the first of four Prince Faisal bin Fahd Cup titles for first- and second-division clubs, a competition later discontinued and replaced by an U-21 format. José Gomes, the Portuguese coach who managed the club twice, in 2014–16 and again in 2017–18, was in charge when Al-Taawoun first reached the AFC Champions League.

Home games are played at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Buraydah, also known locally as Al-Taawoun Stadium. Provincial rivals from Al-Qassim aside, the fixture most likely to sharpen a Buraydah weekend is the one against Al-Tai of Hail — a different club entirely, though the two are still confused often enough that Al-Taawoun's own history makes a point of separating them.