STEVEN GERRARD’S Al-Ettifaq lost to Al-Riyadh in front of 696 fans – less than the attendance for Clitheroe vs Newcastle Town in the eighth tier.
Al-Ettifaq compete in the Saudi Pro League and were able to lure some big names to the club in the summer.
Gerrard arrived as manager and he was joined by former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson and his ex-Reds team-mate Georginio Wijnaldum.
Old Celtic striker Moussa Dembele and ex-Everton star Demarai Gray also signed, but the foursome were not enough to entice fans down to Prince Mohamed bin Fahd Stadium.
So only 696 fans watched their 1-0 defeat to Al-Riyadh on Sunday in a virtually empty stadium.
Eighth-tier Clitheroe, a town with a population of only 16,200, beat Newcastle Town in front of 702 spectators.
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Al-Ettifaq have two men who have captained England in their ranks in Gerrard and Henderson – with the latter taking the armband for the recent win over Australia, a game in which he was booed.
Clitheroe have never played in the EFL and have spent most of their history in the lower reaches of the non-league pyramid.
And while Al-Ettifaq pay the likes of Henderson £700,000-a-week, the highest transfer fee Clitheroe have ever received for a player is the £45,000 Crystal Palace paid for goalkeeper Carlo Nash.
Clitheroe is more notable for Cowman’s Famous Sausage Shop than the town football team, which has only ever won six trophies, most recently the 2004 North West Counties Football League Division One and 1999 Floodlit Cup.
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Stevie G is yet to get to grips with Saudi Arabian football with Al-Ettifaq languishing in seventh place.
They are without a win in three games and are already nine points off first place Al-Hilal after only ten games.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
