RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – 14 September 2025 – New Al Kholood Head Coach Des Buckingham is a well-travelled man. Now coaching in his fifth country since taking up the role earlier this summer, the Englishman is settling into life in the Rosh Saudi League after spells in New Zealand, Australia and India, where he made history with Mumbai City, winning the Indian Super League and breaking records in the process.
His home-town club Oxford United came calling next. A whirlwind return saw Buckingham take the side back to the EFL Championship for the first time in 25 years, writing his name in club folklore along the way.
Appointed earlier this summer by Al Kholood’s new owners, the Harburg Group, Buckingham will lead the first foreign-owned club in RSL history. Now settling into life in Ar Rass, Buckingham is relishing the prospect of facing some of the best players and coaches in the world throughout the season ahead.
Speaking to the BBC’s The Dub podcast, he said: “I look at the managers that are in the league this year. We’ve got Inzaghi, Lauren Blanc, Jorge Jesus… then you look at some of the players we know, the obvious one is Ronaldo, but you have Mane, Benzema. You’ve got Nunez, Coman, Neves, so in terms of the quality that it attracts and will continue to attract, it’s an exciting place to be right now.
“I think there’s teams here now that have got a forward line that in the Premier League wouldn’t go a miss. You know, they all pose their own challenges, but that’s the exciting part for me as a Head Coach. I want to challenge myself in the highest place I can in terms of coaches and managers and this league certainly will give me the opportunity to do that.”
On the opportunity to coach in Saudi Arabia, Buckingham continued: “The Saudi Pro League is seen as the largest or the biggest competition in Asia. We’ve done our Champions league campaign with Mumbai for five weeks whilst in Riyadh. So I’ve been to the country before and it is football mad”
“And of course you’ve got 2034 for the World Cup. So it is a very football-mad country. So even walking around the remote regions like we are here in Ar Rass everybody is a football fan.”
Reflecting on the challenge of working overseas, Buckingham said: “I love what working overseas allows you to learn. About not just yourself, but about football and about life. I think there’s so many things, whether it be cultural, whether it be religion, whether it be football, that I’d like to think, in this fourth [overseas] country now, that will make me not just a better coach, but will make me a better person.”