As the old saying goes: you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it sit and watch a Saudi Pro League match.
Organisers of football's newest it division are quickly learning that prestige and passion can't be bought, especially when the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Karim Benzema aren't about. A paltry 575 people turned up to the £450million 62,000-capacity King Abdulaziz Sports City Stadium to watch Al-Wehda vs Al-Okhdood on Saturday in yet another humiliating blow for the competition.
By contrast, 1,842 fans attended Chasetown's 3-2 win over Witton Albion in the Northern Premier League Division One West, the eighth tier of English football, just over a week ago. Meanwhile, several matches in the seventh tier had attendance figures well over 1,000 this weekend.
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The game between Al-Wehda and Al-Okhdood was one of over 40 Saudi Pro League matches with a crowd of under 1,000 spectators this season, and some games have seen fewer than 200 people show up. Granted, neither club is PIF-funded and thus have no household names to parade around, but the poor attendance figures demonstrates the severity of the engagement problems facing the division.
Ex-Watford striker Odion Ighalo, who spent a forgettable half-season on loan at Manchester United, was the only recognisable name in Al-Wehda's team, and the only semi-notable player their opponents could boast was former Barcelona youngster Alex Collado, who is loan at the club from Real Betis.
The game (as if you cared) finished 2-0 to Al-Wehda, which moved them up to ninth in the Saudi Pro League and just a point behind Steven Gerrard's Al-Ettifaq side. Meanwhile, Al-Okhdood have dropped into the relegation zone and are just two points off the bottom.
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Top of the tree is Al-Hilal, who bought the likes of Neymar, Ruben Neves and Kalidou Koulibaly in the summer. They're the only team still undefeated, with 14 wins from 16 games. Ronaldo's Al-Nassr side are seven points behind in second, while Al-Ittihad, who signed Benzema, N'Golo Kante and Fabinho, have dropped down to fifth after their strong start.
Collectively, Saudi clubs spent more than £1billion on new players and managers over the summer, with some of the biggest names in European football being coaxed over to the Gulf state. Most of the superstars, like Benzema, Neymar, Kante, Riyadh Mahrez and Sadio Mane, are in the twilight of their careers, but young(ish)-guns like Neves, Malcom, Allan Saint-Maximin and Franck Kessie were also lured over.
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High-profile(ish) managers such as Gerrard, Nuno Espirito Santo and Jorge Jesus were drafted in too, and plans are afoot to nab some elite-level coaches in 2024, with the likes of Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti reportedly being targeted.
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