Ramtha win Jordan Pro League title after 39 years

AMMAN — It has been a football season that fans are likely to talk about for years.

Over the weekend, Ramtha took home the Jordan Professional Football League (Pro League) title for the third time in their history, ending a 39 year drought in the final week of the competition.

Earlier in this season, a newcomer to the Pro League, relatively unknown Jalil, overcame Wihdat to win the 34th Jordan Football Association (JFA) Shield. Among the veteran teams, Wihdat beat one-time winners Jazira in the 38th Jordan Super Cup. And now, only the Jordan Cup remains up for grabs later his month with four teams in contention: Wihdat, Faisali, Hussein and Salt.

Ramtha tied Jazira 1-1 to seal the league title on the weekend as a win or draw was enough to hand them the title they last celebrated in 1981 and 1982. Last season’s titleholders Wihdat had an easier encounter and beat Aqaba 5-0 to settle for second place. The reigning champs’ shot at the title hung in the balance only in case Ramtha lost. The top two eventually tied in overall points and Ramtha won on head-to-head encounters.

Wihdat stumbled in the past three weeks, especially when they were held 1-1 with Jazira and lost 3-2 to Shabab Urdun. Salt remained third after they held Ma’an 1-1, Faisali came in fourth after they held Hussein 0-0 while Sahab beat Baqa’a 4-1 in a match officiated by an all female team for the first time in Jordan. Baqa’a were relegated in their worst season yet and were accompanied by Jalil who lost 5-0 to Shabab Urdun.

Jazira, who led throughout the league in the past two years, abandoned the fight for title and ended up 7th, while Ma’an, Aqaba and Sahab held on to their spots among the top teams.

This season, regionally, Salt, who played their inaugural Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup, were eliminated by Kuwait FC in the semifinals of the West Asia Zone while Faisali were knocked out in the group stages. Wihdat played Group D of the Asian Champions League, but were knocked out in the first round. 

In the 2020 season, Wihdat won their 17th league title, trailed by Jazira in runner-up spot and Ramtha were third. Wihdat also won their 10th JFA Shield. Faisali overcame Jazira to win their 17th Jordan Super Cup as the Jordan Cup was scrapped from the agenda for the first time since the competition kicked off in 1980.

Since the league kicked off in 1944 with only Faisali, Ahli, Urdun and Homenetmen competing, Faisali are 34-time record league champs while Wihdat won 17 times since they joined in 1980. Although Faisali are the all-time record titleholders, Wihdat’s record is quite impressive. After four years in the Pro League, they won their first title in 1980 and have gone on to win the majority of titles ever since. Ahli won eight times, Ramtha and Jazira three times each, Shabab Urdun twice, Amman and Urdun clubs once each.