UAE Pro League
The UAE Pro League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Arabian Gulf League, is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates. The first team to win the title was Al Orouba, whilst Al Ain has the record with 13 league titles to their name. Fourteen clubs compete in the League that operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the First Division League.
The League was founded in 1973 as the UAE Football League. The first 1973–74 season was a "trial" championship but was declared official by the UAE FA in 2001. In February 2007, the Pro League Committee was formed, and became the organising body of the League.
Name change
Starting from the 2013–14 season the name was changed from UAE Pro League to Arabian Gulf League, which was named after the Arabian Gulf as per the chairman of Pro League Committee. However, the name change has been viewed as a revival of the Persian Gulf naming dispute with Iran accusing the United Arab Emirates of bigotry, and the Iranian Football Federation barring the transfer of Javad Nekounam to a UAE club. After about four months of the name change a 70 million AED one-year renewable partnership deal was announced with Arabian Gulf Development to be named Official Title Partner.Ranking
Ranking
As of 20 February 2020Clubs
Member clubs (2020–21)
| Club | Home city | Stadium | Capacity |
| Ajman | Ajman City | Ajman Stadium | |
| Al Ain | Al-Ain | Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium | |
| Al Dhafra | Madinat Zayed | Al Dhafra Stadium | |
| Al Jazira | Abu Dhabi City | Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium | |
| Al Nasr | Dubai City | Al-Maktoum Stadium | |
| Al Wahda | Abu Dhabi City | Al Nahyan Stadium | |
| Al Wasl | Dubai City | Zabeel Stadium | |
| Baniyas | Abu Dhabi City | Baniyas Stadium | |
| Hatta | Hatta | Hamdan Bin Rashid Stadium | |
| Fujairah | Fujairah City | Fujairah Club Stadium | |
| Kalba | Kalba | Ittihad Kalba Stadium | |
| Khor Fakkan | Khor Fakkan | Saqr bin Mohammad al Qassimi Stadium | |
| Shabab Al Ahli | Dubai City | Rashid Stadium | |
| Sharjah | Sharjah City | Sharjah Stadium |
Managers
| Nat. | Name | Club | Appointed | Time in charge |
| Ayman Elramady | Ajman | 3 6 2016 | ||
| Abdulaziz Mohamed | Sharjah | 15 10 2017 | ||
| Vuk Rašović | Al Dhafra | 30 6 2018 | ||
| Laurențiu Reghecampf | Al Wasl | 26 12 2018 | ||
| Christos Kontis | Hatta | 10 6 2019 | ||
| Jorge Da Silva | Kalba | 12 10 2019 | ||
| Marcel Keizer | Al Jazira | 13 10 2019 | ||
| Krunoslav Jurčić | Al Nasr | 14 10 2019 | ||
| Manuel Jiménez | Al Wahda | 17 10 2019 | ||
| Goran Tufegdžić | Khor Fakkan | 31 10 2019 | ||
| Pedro Emanuel | Al Ain | 5 1 2020 | ||
| Fabio Viviani | Fujairah | 10 2 2020 | ||
| Gerard Zaragoza | Shabab Al-Ahli | 8 3 2020 | ||
| Daniel Isăilă | Baniyas | 27 6 2020 |
List of champions
Source:Notes
1. Competition cancelled due to Gulf war
2. Competition cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic in the United Arab Emirates
Champions
Performance by club
Performance by city
Performance by emirates
As of July 2016 following clubs are officially allowed to wear stars while playing in the League, Each country's usage is unique and in UAE the practice is to award one star for each five titles won. The number in parentheses is for League titles won.- Al Ain
- Shabab Al Ahli *
- Al Wasl
- Sharjah
Players
All-time top scorers
Source:| Rank | Nat | Name | Club | Years | Goals | Apps |
| 1 |  | Fahad Khamees | Al Wasl | 1980–1997 | 166 | 230 |
| 2 |  | Sebastián Tagliabué | Al Wahda | 2013– | 148 | 151 |
| 3 | | Ali Mabkhout | Al Jazira | 2009– | 142 | 203 |
| 4 | | Mohammad Omar | Al Wasl Al Ain Al Jazira Al Dhafra Al Nasr Ajman | 1992–2011 | 132 | 237 |
| 5 | | Adnan Al Talyani | Al Shaab | 1980–1999 | 129 | 232 |
| 6 | | Abdulaziz Mohamed | Sharjah | N/A–2002 | 127 | N/A |
| 7 | | Atiq Hassan Ahmed Abdullah | Al Ahli Al Ain | 1988–2002 1978–1995 | 117 | N/A |
| 8 | | Faisal Khalil | Al Ahli Al Wasl Al Shaab | 1999–2013 | 114 | 302 |
| 9 | | Fábio Lima | Al Wasl | 2014– | 102 | 129 |
| 10 |  | Asamoah Gyan | Al-Ain Al Ahli | 2011–2017 | 101 | 97 |
| 11 | | Anderson Barbosa | Sharjah Al Wasl | 2002–2009 | 99 | 128 |
| 12 |  | Makhete Diop | Al Dhafra Shabab Al-Ahli | 2011–2018 | 95 | 137 |
| 13 | | Ali Thani | Sharjah | N/A | 93 | 128 |
Top scorers by season
| Season | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1974–75 | Suhail Salim | Al Ahli | 14 |
| 1975–76 |  Ali Nawaz Baloch | Al Wahda | 12 |
| 1976–77 |  Al Fadhel Santo | Al Nasr | 10 |
| 1977–78 |  Mohieddine Habita | Al Ain | 20 |
| 1980–81 | Karim Abdul Razak | Emirates | 14 |
| 1981–82 | Ahmed Abdullah | Al Ain | 12 |
| 1982–83 | Carlos | Al Nasr | 12 |
| 1983–84 | Ahmed Abdullah Fahad Khamees | Al Ain Al Wasl | 20 |
| 1984–85 | Fahad Khamees Adnan Al Talyani | Al Wasl Al Shaab | 14 |
| 1985–86 | Mohammed Salem | Al Wahda | 16 |
| 1986–87 | Adnan Al Talyani Khalil Ghanim | Al Shaab Al Khaleej | 13 |
| 1987–88 | Zuhair Bakheet | Al Wasl | 25 |
| 1988–89 | Fahad Khamees | Al Wasl | 14 |
| 1989–90 | Hussain Yaslam | Baniyas | 16 |
| 1991–92 | Youssouf Atiq | Al Ahli | 25 |
| 1992–93 | Saif Sultan | Al Ain | 20 |
| 1993–94 | Abdulaziz Mohammed | Sharjah | 18 |
| 1994–95 | Bader Jassim | Al Wahda | 10 |
| 1995–96 | Jassim Al Dokhi | Al Shaab | 10 |
| 1996–97 | Bader Jassim | Al Wahda | 11 |
| 1997–98 | Ali Thani | Sharjah | 18 |
| 1998–99 | Alboury Lah | Al Wahda | 29 |
| 1999–00 | Alboury Lah | Al Wahda | 18 |
| 2000–01 |  Mohammed Al Enazi | Al Wahda | 22 |
| 2001–02 | Mohammed Al Enazi | Al Wahda | 22 |
| 2002–03 |  Cristián Montecinos | Dubai | 19 |
| 2003–04 |  Ali Karimi | Al Ahli | 14 |
| 2004–05 |  Valdir Anderson Barbosa | Al Nasr Sharjah | 23 |
| 2005–06 | Anderson Barbosa | Sharjah | 19 |
| 2006–07 | Anderson Barbosa | Al Wasl | 19 |
| 2007–08 | Faisal Khalil Anderson Barbosa | Al-Ahli Al-Sharjah | 16 |
| 2008–09 | Fernando Baiano | Al Jazira | 25 |
| 2009–10 |  José Sand | Al Ain | 24 |
| 2010–11 | André Senghor | Baniyas | 18 |
| 2011–12 | Asamoah Gyan | Al Ain | 22 |
| 2012–13 | Asamoah Gyan | Al Ain | 31 |
| 2013–14 | Asamoah Gyan | Al Ain | 29 |
| 2014–15 |  Mirko Vučinić | Al Jazira | 25 |
| 2015–16 |  Sebastián Tagliabué | Al Wahda | 25 |
| 2016–17 | Ali Mabkhout | Al Jazira | 33 |
| 2017–18 |  Marcus Berg | Al Ain | 25 |
| 2018–19 | Sebastián Tagliabué | Al Wahda | 27 |