Libyan Premier League

The Libyan Premier League (Arabic: الدوري الليبي الممتاز) is the men's top professional football division of the Libyan football league system. Administered by the Competition Organizing Committee in the Libyan Football Federation (Arabic: لجنة تنظيم المسابقات بالإتحاد الليبي لكرة القدم), Libyan Premier League is contested by 22 teams divided into two groups of 11 (previously 20, split into groups of 10. changed as of the 23/24 season), with the two lowest-placed teams of each group relegated to the First Division.

Libyan Premier League

Organising body	Libyan Football Federation (LFF)
Founded	1963; 61 years ago (1963)
Country	Libya
Confederation	CAF
Number of teams	22 (currently 21, Darnes Derna have been suspended for one season and will be reinstated into the league the following season due to the aftermath of Storm Daniel)
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Libyan First Division
Domestic cup(s)	Libyan Cup Libyan SuperCup
International cup(s)	CAF Champions League CAF Confederation Cup
Current champions	Al Nasr (3 titles)
Most championships	Al-Ittihad (18 titles)
TV partners	Libya Sport TV
Current: 2024–25

51 teams have competed in Libyan Premier League since its inception. Ten teams have been crowned champions, with Al-Ittihad winning the title a record 18^[1] times and Al-Ahly Tripoli 13 times. Al-Ahly Tripoli won the inaugural Premier League in 1963. Al-Ahly Tripoli and Al-Ahly Benghazi dominated the championship in the 1970s, winning four titles and two titles respectively throughout the decade. Al-Ittihad dominated the League through the 2000s, winning 8 titles.

The league has been ranked by the IFFHS as the 56th highest in the world for 2009, making it the sixth-highest ranked league in the Arab world, after the Saudi Professional League (32nd), the Egyptian Premier League (34th), the Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 (48th), the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 (54th) and the Sudan Premier League (55th), and the eighth highest in Africa, after the Nigerian Professional Football League (30th), Egyptian Premier League, the Girabola in Angola (42nd), Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1, Zambia Super League (53rd), Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 and Sudan Premier League.^[2]

History

The Libyan Premier League was founded in 1963. Prior to that, there were three Provincial Championships, one each for the Eastern, Western and Southern provinces. The first league season at national level was the 1963-64 season, in which participated the Western Province champion Al Ahly (Tripoli), the Eastern Province champion Al Ahly (Benghazi) and the Southern Province champion Hilal Sabha. After the withdrawal of Hilal Sabha due to lack of resources, the league was limited to just two teams. Al Ahly (Tripoli) defeated Al Ahly (Benghazi) 2-0 over two matches (1-0 home and away) to become the first Libyan Premier League champions.

Winners

Al Ittihad are the most successful Libyan club, having won 18 titles, including 6 straight titles (from 2004–05 to 2009–10. Their arch rivals Al Ahly (Tripoli) have won it 13 times.

The last team to win the title from outside the capital was al- Naser fc, who won the league in the 2018 season. The Big Two (Al Ahly (Tripoli) & Al Ittihad) have won 31 of the 48 titles that have been contested since 1964.

Champions by season

Winners are:^[3]

1963–64 - Al Ahli (Tripoli) 1964–65 - Al Ittihad 1965–66 - Al Ittihad 1966–68 - Al Tahaddi 1968–69 - Al Ittihad 1969–70 - Al Ahly (Benghazi) 1970–71 - Al Ahli (Tripoli) 1971–72 - Al Ahly (Benghazi) 1972–73 - Al Ahli (Tripoli) 1973–74 - Al Ahli (Tripoli) 1974–75 - Al Ahly (Benghazi) 1975–76 - Al Madina 1976–77 - Al Tahaddi 1977–78 - Al Ahli (Tripoli) 1978–79 - Darnes SC (after a vote by the LFF) 1979–82 - No championship 1982–83 - Al Madina 1983–84 - Al Ahli (Tripoli) 1984–85 - Al Dhahra

1985–86 - Al Ittihad 1987 - Al Nasr 1987–88 - Al Ittihad 1988–89 - Al Ittihad 1989–90 - Al Ittihad 1990–91 - Al Ittihad 1991–92 - Al Ahly (Benghazi) 1992–93 - Al Ahli (Tripoli) 1993–94 - Al Ahli (Tripoli) 1994–95 - Al Ahli (Tripoli) 1995–96 - Al Shat 1996–97 - Al Tahaddi 1997–98 - Al Mahala 1998–99 - Al Mahala 2000 - Al Ahli (Tripoli) 2000–01 - Al Madina 2001–02 - Al Ittihad 2002–03 - Al Ittihad 2003–04 - Al Olympique

2004–05 - Al Ittihad 2005–06 - Al Ittihad 2006–07 - Al Ittihad 2007–08 - Al Ittihad 2008–09 - Al Ittihad 2009–10 - Al Ittihad 2010–11 - Abandoned due to Libyan Civil War[4] 2011–13 - No championship 2013–14 - Al Ahli (Tripoli) 2014–15 - No championship 2015–16 - Al Ahli (Tripoli) 2016–17 - No championship 2017–18 - Al Nasr 2018–19 - Abandoned 2019–20 - No championship 2020–21 - Al-Ittihad[5] 2021–22 - Al-Ittihad 2022–23 - Al Ahli (Tripoli) 2023–24 - Al Nasr

Performance by club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning Years
Al Ittihad (Tripoli)	18	7	1964–65, 1965–66, 1968–69, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2020–21 , 2021–22
Al Ahli (Tripoli)	13	11	1963–64, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1977–78, 1983–84, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 2000, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2022–23
Al Ahly (Benghazi)	4	9	1969–70, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1991–92
Al Nasr (Benghazi)	3	4	1986–87, 2017–18, 2023–24
Al Madina (Tripoli)	3	2	1975–76, 1982–83, 2000–01
Al Tahaddi (Benghazi)	3	1	1966–68, 1976–77, 1996–97
Al Mahala (Tripoli)	2	1	1997–98, 1998–99
Darnes sc	1	1	1978–79
Al Dhahra	1	0	1984–85
Aschat S.C.	1	0	1995–96
Al Olympique	1	0	2003–04

Titles by city

City	Titles	Winning clubs
Tripoli	38	Al Ittihad (18), Al Ahli (13), Al Madina (3), Al Mahala (2), Al Dhahra (1), Al Shat (1)
Benghazi	10	Al Ahly (4), Al Tahaddi (3), Al Nasr (3)
Derna	1	Darnes sc (1)
Zawiya	1	Al Olympique (1)

2023–24 Clubs

Group 1

Team	Location	Sha'biyah	Stadium	Capacity[6]
Al Ahly	Benghazi	Benghazi	Martyrs of February Stadium	10,550
Al Hilal	Benghazi	Benghazi	Martyrs of February Stadium	10,550
Al Sadaqa SC	Shahhat	Shahhat	Shahhat Stadium	10,000
Al Ta'awon	Ajdabya	Ajdabya	10 June Stadium
Al Akhdar	Bayda	Bayda	Sheikh Chadae Stadium	10,000
Al Nasr	Benghazi	Benghazi	Martyrs of February Stadium	10,550
Al-Suqoor	Tobruk	Tobruk	Tobruk Stadium	8,000
Al Tahaddy	Benghazi	Benghazi	March 28 Stadium	55,000
Al-Morouj SC	Marj	Marj	Al Marj Stadium
Al-Anwar	Al-Abyar	Al-Abyar	Martyrs of Al-Abyar Stadium

Group 2

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Abu Salem SC	Tripoli	Abu Salem Stadium
Al Ahli	Tripoli	GMR Stadium	4000
Al-Ittihad	Tripoli	Jumayl Stadium
Al Khums	Al Khums	Al Khums Stadium
Al-Madina	Tripoli	GMR Stadium	4000
Alittihad Misrata	Misrata	Al Shumooa Stadium
Al Bashayr	Misrata	Al Shumooa Stadium
Asaria SC	Zawiya	Olympic Stadium	8,000
Asswehly	Misrata	Al Shumooa Stadium
Olympic Azzaweya	Zawiya	Olympic Stadium	8,000
Libyan Stadium SC	Tripoli	GMR Stadium	4,000

Top scorers by season

Top scorers are:^{[citation needed]}

Season	Player	Club	Goals
1963-64	Ahmed Ben Soueid	Al Ahly (Benghazi)	19
1964-65	Ahmed Ben Soueid	Al Ahly (Benghazi)	18
1965-66	Ahmed Al Ahwal	Al Ittihad	14
1966-67	Hassan Snousi	Al Ahli (Tripoli)	12
1968-69	Mohamed Boughalia	Al Ahli (Tripoli)	16
1970-71	Yousef Sidqi	Al Nasr	15
1971-72	Yousef Sidqi	Al Nasr	12
1972-73	Nouri Alsirri	Al Madina	17
1973-74	Nouri Alsirri	Al Madina	13
1974-75	Nouri Alsirri	Al Madina	17
1975-76	Mustafa Belhaaj	Al Madina	19
1976-77	Abubakr Douzan	Al Madina	15
1977-78	Fahim Raqs	Al Ahli (Tripoli)	8
1982-83	Nouri Alsirri	Al Madina	17
1983-84	Abdulraouf Ferjany	Al Dhahra	11
1984-85	Ramadan Barnaoui	Al Ahly (Benghazi)	9
1985-86	Salim Bou Jarrad	Al Ittihad	11
1986-87	Faraj Bar'asi	Al Nasr	12
1987-88	Salim Bou Jarrad	Al Ittihad	11
1988-89	Faraj Meeloud	Al Tahaddi	6
1989-90	Ali Bashary Nasr Badr	Al Ahly (Benghazi) Afriqi	11
1990-91	Idris Mikraaz	Darnes	11
1991-92	Abdelhakeem Suwayyah	Al Tirsana	12
1992-93	Abdelhakeem Suwayyah	Al Tirsana	14
1993-94	Idrees Mikraaz	Al Ahli (Tripoli)	19
1994-95	Mohamed Milaad Hassan Othman	Ittihad Gheryan Al Morooj	6
1995-96	Muammar Masoud	Al Shat	10
1996-97	Khalifa Maqinny	Al Hilal	12
1997-98	Khalifa Maqinny	Al Hilal	14
1998-99	Mustafa Ramadan Abdelaaty Qubay	Al Ahly (Benghazi) Al Intilaaq	13
2000	Ahmed Saad	Benghazi Al Jadeeda	8
2000-01	Ashraf Muammar Ali Melyaan	Al Tahaddi Al Madina	14
2001-02	Al-Saadi Gaddafi	Al Ittihad	19
2002-03	Ahmed El Masli Khaled Shallabi	Al Nasr Al Madina	13
2003-04	Ahmed Saad	Al Nasr	14
2004-05	Cheikh Seydouly	Al Urouba	12
2005-06	Samir Al Wahaj	Al Wahda	18
2006-07	Walid Shebli	Al Madina	13
2007-08	Abdelhameed Zidane	Al Akhdar	21
2008-09	Samir Al Wahaj	Al Tirsana	19
2009-10	Rasheed al Deasy	Al Shat	15
2015-16	Salem Roma	Al Nasr	8
2017-18	Ahmed Krawa'a	Al Ahly	11
2018-19	Anas Al Musrati	Al Hilal	8
2021-22	Ary Papel	Al Akhdar SC	12
2022-23	Ahmed Krawa'a	Al Ahly	15
2023-24	Ary Papel	Al Akhdar SC	17

Regulations

The rules can be found on the official LFF website.^[7]

References

1. "Al-Ittihad beat Al-Ahly Tripoli to win Libyan League title for the 18th time in their history". Footballghana. Archived from the original on 30 December 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
2. IFFHS. Archived from the original.
3. "Libya - List of Champions". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 20 August 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
4. "Algeria offer to step in for Libya". aljazeera.com. 4 July 2011. Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
5. "Al-Ittihad beat Al-Ahly Tripoli to win Libyan League title for the 17th time in their history". Ghana Football. 9 August 2021.
6. "Stadium information at goalzz.com". Archived from the original on 21 April 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
7. Regulations at LFF Archived 24 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine (in Arabic)

External links

• League at FIFA (archived 21 August 2007)
• Libyan Premier League – Hailoosport (in Arabic)
• Libyan Premier League – Hailoosport