The Bahraini Premier League is the main domestic football competition in the kingdom of Bahrain. Currently known as the Nasser bin Hamad Premier League, the first season was held in 1956–1957. The winners of the domestic championship qualify for the AFC Champions League Two. The championship is currently contested by 12 clubs.
Structure Current structure 12 clubs currently play a two round robin set of fixtures totaling 22 games in order to determine the league champions. Although games are theoretically to be played on a home and away basis, almost all games are played at the National Stadium.
The eleventh and twelfth-placed clubs are relegated with the ninth and tenth entering the relegation play-offs.
Previous structures In earlier seasons, the league has been radically overhauled to feature all the professional clubs of Bahrain. Instances being the 2008–09 and 2002 league seasons. The leagues featuring up to 19 teams would play each other on one occasion with the top 10 teams staying in the Premier League top flight and the bottom sides (from 11 to 19) forming the next seasons Second Division.
Between the seasons of 2002 and 2009, the top four sides of the league would also play in the Crown Prince Cup.
Clubs (2025–26) A'Ali Al-Ahli Al-Budaiya Al-Hidd Al-Khaldiya Al-Muharraq Al-Najma Al-Riffa Al-Shabab Bahrain SC Malkiya Sitra
Team re-structuring In 2002, a host of clubs were amalgamated:
Bahrain is an amalgamation of Bahrain and Al-Khaleej. Riffa is an amalgamation of West Riffa and Zallaq. Al-Najma is an amalgamation of Al-Hilal, Al-Qadisiya and Ras Al-Rumman. Al-Sahel is an amalgamation of Qalali and Hadd. Al-Tadamun is an amalgamation of Boori, Karazkan, Hamla, Reef Union and Damastan. Al-Shabab is an amalgamation of Deyya, Sanabis, Jadd Hafs, Naeem, Karrana, Sahla and Karbabad. Al-Ittifaq is an amalgamation of Al-Arabi, Maqaba and Bani Jumra.
List of champions Champions are:
Years Champions1956–57Al Muharraq Club (1)1957–58Al Muharraq Club (2)1958–59Al-Nasr SC (1)1959–60Al Muharraq Club (3)1960–61Al Muharraq Club (4)1961–62Al Muharraq Club (5)1962–63Al Muharraq Club (6)1963–64Al Muharraq Club (7)1964–65Al Muharraq Club (8)1965–66Al Muharraq Club (9)1966–67Al Muharraq Club (10)1967–68Bahrain Club (1)1968–69Al-Ahli Club (1)1969–70Al Muharraq Club (11)1970–71Al Muharraq Club (12)1971–72Al-Ahli Club (2)1972–73Al Muharraq Club (13)1973–74Al Muharraq Club (14)1974–75Al Arabi (1)1975–76Al Muharraq Club (15)1976–77Al-Ahli Club (3)1977–78Bahrain Club (2)1978–79Al Hala SC (1)1979–80Al Muharraq Club (16)1980–81Bahrain Club (3)1981–82Al-Riffa (1)1982–83Al Muharraq Club (17)1983–84Al Muharraq Club (18)1984–85Bahrain Club (4)1985–86Al Muharraq Club (19)1986–87Al-Riffa (2)1987–88Al Muharraq Club (20)1988–89Bahrain Club (5)1989–90Al-Riffa (3)1990–91Al Muharraq Club (21)1991–92Al Muharraq Club (22)1992–93Al-Riffa (4)1993–94East Riffa (1)1994–95Al Muharraq Club (23)1995–96Al-Ahli Club (4)1996–97Al-Riffa (5)1997–98Al-Riffa (6)1998–99Al Muharraq Club (24)1999–2000Al-Riffa (7)2000–01Al Muharraq Club (25)2002Al Muharraq Club (26)2002-03Al-Riffa (8)2003-04Al Muharraq Club (27)2004-05Al-Riffa (9)2005–06Al Muharraq Club (28)2006–07Al Muharraq Club (29)2007–08Al Muharraq Club (30)2008–09Al Muharraq Club (31)2009–10Al-Ahli Club (5)2010–11Al Muharraq Club (32)2011–12Al-Riffa (10)2012–13Busaiteen Club (1)2013–14Al-Riffa (11)2014–15Al Muharraq Club (33)2015–16Al Hidd SCC (1)2016–17Malkiya Club (1)2017–18Al Muharraq Club (34)2018–19Al-Riffa (12)2019–20Al Hidd SCC (2)2020–21Al-Riffa (13)2021–22Al-Riffa (14)2022–23Al-Khaldiya SC (1)2023–24Al-Khaldiya SC (2)2024–25Al Muharraq Club (35)2025–26Al Muharraq Club (36)
Total championships The number of national championships that clubs in Bahrain have attained. ClubNumber of ChampionshipsAl-Muharraq SC36Al-Riffa (includes West Riffa)14Bahrain SC5Al-Ahli SC5Al-Hidd2 Al-Khaldiya2Al-Nasr1Al-Arabi (Al-Najma SC now)1Al Hala1East Riffa SCC1Busaiteen1Malkiya SCC1
Top scorers Year Best scorers Team Goals2003–04 Duaij Naser AbdullaYousif Zowaid Al-Muharraq 142004–05 Salman Isa Al-Riffa 152005–06 Jaycee John Okwunwanne Al-Ahli 172006–07 Rico Al-Riffa 252007–08 Jaycee John Okwunwanne Al-Muharraq 242008–09 Abdulrahman Mubarak Al-Riffa 142009–10 Rico Al-Muharraq 172010–11 Diego SilvaAbdulrahman Mubarak Al-AhliAl-Riffa 132011–12 Ahmed Al Khattal Al Hala 142012–13 Mohammed Al Shamrani Manama 102013–14 Pele Al-Muharraq 42014–15 Ismail Abdullatif Al-Muharraq 162015–16 Mohamed Al-Romaihi Al-Hidd 172016–17 Everton Manama Club 112017–18 Uche Al Najma Club 182018–19 Mahamadou Dramé Al Najma Club 142019–20 Kamil Al Aswad Al-Riffa 142020–21 Mahdi Abduljabbar Manama Club 12 2021–22 Mahdi Abduljabbar Manama Club 17 2022–23Mahdi Al-HumaidanAl-Khaldiya142023–24JuninhoAl-Najma202024–25JuninhoAl-Muharraq152025–26Joel BeyaAl Khaldiya13
References
External links Bahrain Premiere League goalzz.com – Bahraini Premiere League Soccerway – Bahrain Premier League