The 2024–25 ADNOC Pro League wrapped up after 275 days of thrilling football, with Shabab Al Ahli lifting the trophy and reaffirming their status as one of the most decorated clubs in UAE football history.
This edition, the fourth under the ADNOC banner and the 16th since the professional era began, concluded with Shabab Al Ahli claiming their fifth title in the Professional era—and ninth overall—matching Al Ain's modern-era tally.
Sousa Joins Elite Coaching Company
Portuguese head coach Paulo Sousa made an instant impact in his debut season, becoming only the second Portuguese manager to win the title, following Leonardo Jardim’s 2022–23 success, also with Shabab Al Ahli.
Sousa joined an elite group of coaches to win the title in their first season in the league, proving instrumental in leading the team to 19 wins, 6 draws, and just one loss, finishing on 63 points.
Shabab Al Ahli took the league lead in matchweek 6, and after a brief slip, reclaimed the top spot in week 11 and never let it go. They remained leaders for 19 of the 26 matchweeks, a testament to their consistency and hunger. They scored 57 goals and conceded 22.
Tactical Excellence and Clean Sheets
Defensively, it was another standout year. The club kept 10 clean sheets, marking the fourth time they've reached double digits in that category. Their best clean sheet season came in 2016–17, when they tallied 13.
Goal Metrics that Tell the Story
The season produced 582 goals—42 fewer than last year—with 318 coming in second halves and 264 in the first.
The most frequent scorelines were 1-0 and 2-1, both occurring 27 times. Shabab Al Ahli’s goals were evenly split between open play (30) and set pieces (27), while they also converted 8 penalties.
They scored 23 goals in the first half of matches and 34 in the second. Right-footed goals dominated (35), while 14 came from headers and 4 from long range.
Individual Brilliance and Team Depth
Khorfakkan enjoyed their most successful season yet, winning nine matches and scoring 41 goals. They also rotated the highest number of players across the campaign. Al Nasr, meanwhile, had the widest variety of goalscorers.
Joao Pedro, Laba Kodjo, Omar Khribin, and Junior Flemmings all recorded hat-tricks, while Ajman produced the most braces (8), with notable doubles from Mehdi Ghayedi, Mateus Lima, Miloš Kosanović, and others.
Drama, and Comebacks
A total of 720 yellow cards and 41 reds were issued, down from 59 reds last season. There were also 79 penalties awarded, slightly below last year’s 83.
Al Wasl led the league in points recovered after falling behind (18), while Al Jazira and Al Bataeh dropped the most after leading (19 each).
Notably, Al Orooba, despite relegation, scored the most intricately built goal, with the highest number of passes leading to their strike against Bani Yas.
Entertainment in Every Match
Khorfakkan’s games featured the most goals (93), while Sharjah’s matches were the most defensively efficient (66 total).
As for Shabab Al Ahli, they were the best both home and away, and scored nearly half of their goals from set pieces.
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