The beginning The club was founded as Al-Uruba in mid-1953 as one of the first Kuwaiti teams. Some of the most notable players were Abdulwahab Al-Awadie, Abdulaziz Al-Khatieb, Musad Al-Musad, Mohammed Al-Dawlee, Abdulmajied Mohammed, Mohammed Al-Somale, Dasman Bakhiet, Ahmad Bodha, Monaier Al-Dagag, Fuad Al-Ashgar, Ahmad Hussain, Abbas Al-Shemaly, Mossa Al-Somale, Nayef Dalool and Mohhamed Salah Al-Roomy. At first in 1960s Al-Arabi SC was structured with divisions of football,
basketball,
volleyball and
weightlifting. At the beginning Al-Arabi SC made many achievements, thanks to their players and submitted board members. Al-Arabi has many sports with separate facilities. Abdulaziz Al-Khatib multi-purpose hall is used for basketball, handball, volleyball,
squash, and can accommodate about 2,000 spectators. The swimming pool has a capacity of 1,500 spectators. Club also has 4
tennis courts,
gymnastics hall,
judo,
table tennis and
boxing sections.
1960–1980 (starting of Il-Za'īm) Through the years Al-Arabi SC has won the
Kuwait Premier League 7 times. They have also won 3
Joint Leagues, 6
Emir Cups and 1
Federation Cup. , Al-Arabi's star in the early 1970s They were the first-ever Kuwaiti team to play outside Kuwait, by competing in friendly matches against teams through the Arabian Peninsula, showing competitive play. On 3 December 1974 Al-Arabi SC faced
Lazio from
Italy and beat them 1–0 in a friendly match.
1980–2009 In 1982 Al-Arabi SC was the first-ever team to win Gulf Club Champions Cup (
GCC Champions League), and then won it again in 2003. Al-Arabi SC had changed their logo in 1991. From 1990 to 2005 they have won 26 titles. Their then-last league title came in 2001–02, with occasional
AFC Cup appearances.
2010–2012 Through these 2 seasons they won 2 titles: the
Kuwait Super Cup and
Kuwait Crown Prince Cup. On 27 December 2011, they were crowned champions of the Crown Prince Cup after 3 trophy-less seasons.
2012–13 UAFA Cup Al-Arabi had qualified for the final match of
UAFA CUP. They were faced against
Al-Fateh SC of
Saudi Arabia. In the first leg they won 3–2 in
Kuwait City, and in the away leg played in Saudi Arabia they tied 2-2, but they qualified to the next round on aggregate (5–4). In the quarter finals, they were matched up against
Al-Nassr, again of Saudi Arabia. They lost 3–2 in the first leg played away in Saudi Arabia, however they won 2–0 at home, thus qualifying to the semi-final on aggregate (4–3). In the semi-final, they were matched up against
Raja Casablanca. They tied at home 1-1 and in the away leg 2-2. However, they moved on to the final because of the
away goals rule. In the final, they played against
USM Alger from
Algeria. They tied 0–0 in Kuwait and lost they away leg 3–2, with several controversial refereeing decisions.
2013–14 In the 2013–14 season, Al-Arabi SC qualified for the
Kuwait Crown Cup final third time in a row, losing to
Al-Qadsia SC (2–1), with more controversial refereeing decisions. In the same season Al-Arabi SC finished 5th in the league and got knocked out of the
Kuwait Emir Cup by Al-Qadsia penalties, but ended their season winning
Kuwait Federation Cup 4–2 over
Al-Salmiya SC.
2014–2015 In the 2014–15 season Al-Arabi signed
Firas Al-Khatib, showing how strong they want to win Kuwaiti Premier League. They also signed
Ivusa from
Sahel SC, sent
Mahmoud Al-Maowas on loan, and eventually released Ivusa, resigning Maowas and buying
Hashem Al-Ramzi. However,
Boris Bunjak told
Khaled Khalaf he is not needed in Al-Arabi SC. When Al-Arabi SC left for a 2-week pre-season in
Turkey, they took
Ahmad Hawas, former Al-Salmiya player. They have claimed seasonal seats to be sold the first time, for a fee of $385. On 16 October 2014, Al-Arabi SC became the first Kuwaiti team to have an anthem. After defeating
Kuwait SC 4–2 (aet) in the Crown Prince Cup final, it was Al-Arabi's 57th official title. ِ Al-Arabi lost the crucial Kuwait City Derby on 10 April 2015 vs
Kuwait SC 1–0. The match had all the seats filled to the last, for the first time in the history of Kuwaiti football. Manager Bunjak has requested preparation tour to
Italy which was announced, but on 17 July 2015 it was officially stated that he has left the club.
Return to old ways On 7 December 2015 it was announced that
Luiz Felipe has left the club immediately after defeat to
Al-Salmiya SC in the
Crown Prince Cup.
Boris Bunjak returned to manage the team right after. After the loss of
Emir Cup Final to
Kuwait SC, the club went into war between fans and head office. After signing with
Miodrag Ješić on 13 November 2016, they became the first club in the middle east to have seven managers across two seasons. By 2021, Al-Arabi managed to win
the seventeenth league title in its history, with the help of its Croatian coach
Ante Miše after nineteen years, without any loss in 18 games. ==In popular culture==