Dubai is a shining, multi-storey, chrome-plated oasis in the middle of a vast desert. It has quickly become a go-to holiday destination for Brits looking to soak up some sun, shop for luxury goods and show off to their pals on Instagram. This city is quite the spectacle, it’s certainly different from anywhere I’ve been before. For those of us who are keen to project a dazzling life on social media I’m sure it’s the perfect place but personally, it wasn’t really for me.

Dubai, which has only sprung up in the last 60 years, is interwoven by unnavigable 8-lane highways flanked on either side by reflective skyscrapers, making it near impossible to explore the city on foot aside from small exclaves like the Old Town or the Souks. It’s also spectacularly hot, for obvious desert related reasons, even during late September, which is when I went. I found myself spending my trip hopping from one air-conditioned location to another while trying to limit my time outside to only the bare necessities.  

What I’m trying to say is that aside from shopping in one of Dubai’s many grandiose malls, eating great food from across the world and lounging by the hotel pool there isn’t a boatload of things to do.

I am, however, lucky because I’m a football fan. Wherever you are in the world there will be some football to watch, and Dubai is no different. My first taste of football in the Arabian Gulf was Shabab Al-Ahli of Dubai against Tractor S.C from Tabriz, Iran, in the AFC Champions League.

Shabab Al-Ahli are the reigning champions of the United Arab Emirates, winning their ninth Pro League title in 24/25 and are one of the most successful clubs in the country boasting 11 President’s Cups, five UAE League Cups and seven UAE Super Cups the most of any side in all three competitions.

Their opponents for the evening were Tractor S.C. founded by the imaginatively named Iran Tractor Manufacturing Company in Tabriz. The club is also its nation’s champions, winning their first Iran Pro League title in the 24/25 season.

Rashid Staduim, the home of Shabab Al-Ahli, is uncharacteristically modest for a city like Dubai. It’s a 30-minute drive from downtown and just past DXB, Dubai’s monstrously large airport. The first thing you notice are the towering floodlights, blindingly bright against the night sky. Kickoff was at eight in the evening on account of the heat, yet I still sweat through my shirt throughout the course of the match. Inside the ground you have a grandstand, home to club representatives, press and VIPs and around the rest of the pitch is a single continuous stand, ten or so rows of seats tall. To the left of the grandstand is the stadium’s own minaret, it was not used during my time at the ground but perhaps comes in useful if a match drags into extra-time. Part of Dubai’s elevated metro system stretches out behind one end of the ground making it perfect for any football fan-cum-trainspotter to watch the metro trains roll past at halftime.

Just over three thousand fans were in attendance for the game, with at least 300 of those supporting Tractor. Whether most Tractor fans were immigrants in Dubai, or if many travelled the 1,600 miles from Tabriz I do not know, but they were in fine voice for much of the game. Shabab’s most vocal supporters, who wore t-shirts with ‘Red Boys’ emblazoned on their backs, stood at the halfway line and waved scarves. Their chants, shouted in that melodic Arabian style, were accompanied by the undulating beat of a traditional hand drum and were unique to any football atmosphere I had experienced before.  

The match started brightly for Tractor and within 15 minutes they found the opening goal of the game. A long ball from deep within Tractor’s half found Croatian forward Tomislav Štrkalj who took a touch, opened his body up and released a rocket from 25-yards out giving Hamad Al-Meqbaali no chance in Shabab’s goal.

If you have ever been to Rashid Stadium, you’ll notice that it’s quite red. Perfectly natural for a club who play in red, have a red badge and attract fans in red shirts who call themselves the Red Boys. For this reason, when Štrkalj scored his stunning opener bedecked in a completely red football strip I erroneously believed him to be a Shabab player and jumped out of my seat whooping in delight. I soon realised my error thanks to the bemused looks of slightly disgruntled Shabab fans and, sitting down with extreme embarrassment, endeavoured to politely support the all-green home side without attracting any more attention to myself.

From that point on however, Tractor eased the pressure and allowed Shabab Al-Ahli much more time on the ball. After their early setback, the home side did well to collect themselves and were very patient in their build up play. They managed to keep Tractor quiet for the rest of the first half but failed to make many clear-cut chances save for a sublime effort from Guilherme Bala from outside of the box that rattled the top-left corner of the woodwork.

Bala was Shabab Al-Ahli’s standout player for 90 minutes. The bleached blonde 24-year-old forward, who was born in Rio de Janeiro but has since earned Emirati citizenship, used his strength well to tussle with Tractor’s backline and showed his prowess on the ball several times with some quick footwork and good build up play.

The second half was much stronger for the home side; they came out of the break with a fire underneath them and their ramp up of intensity caused several problems for Tractor ‘keeper Alireza Beiranvand. One effort in particular, a dipping shot from almost 30 yards from former Valencia and Deportivo La Coruña winger Federico Cartabia forced a particularly acrobatic save.

The tide really turned in Shabab’s favour when, on 51 minutes, Tractor midfielder Domagoj Drožđek was sent off for a reckless challenge after hacking down Saeed Ezatolahi. Drožđek initially only saw yellow from the particularly lenient referee Ning Ma but it was swiftly upgraded to a straight red upon a quick review on the pitch side VAR screen.

Shabab Al-Ahli preceded to put ten-man Tractor to the sword and started a barrage of attacks that lasted almost the rest of the match. Their luck came on 65 minutes when Guilherme Bala was smart to take a freekick quickly 25 yards from Tractor’s goal. Bala passed to substitute and fellow Emirati-Brazillian Yuri César who forced a save from the goalkeeper. All Beiranvand could do was parry the ball away and it fell to the oncoming Bala who made no mistake, slotting the ball into the right-hand side of the goal for the equaliser.

This time I felt confident in celebrating, and for the rest of the game I was urging the home side to find a winning goal. They almost did, Cartabia’s low, in-swinging corners from the right seemed dangerous but Beiranvand was always there to stop any flick-ons or headers. Shabab hit the woodwork twice more in the span of ten minutes close to the end of the match. The first came from a long-range effort from César and the second from a smartly floated shot by Bala.

Deep into stoppage time Shabab hearts were almost broken when a quick counterattack by Tractor saw the ball cross the line, but it was quickly ruled out for offside.

Upon fulltime players from both sides collapsed to the turf in exhaustion. Even at half past ten at night the temperature outside was at least 30 degrees. On another day I could have seen Shabab Al-Ahli run out clear winners, they certainly had enough chances to score three or four, but Tractor’s robust defending and the excellent shot stopping from Alireza Beiranvand were enough to limit them to a hard-earned point.

Coming into the game I didn’t know what to expect from Emirati football. UAE isn’t famous for it’s domestic league, at least not in the West. I didn’t know how high the quality of football would be, but I was seriously impressed by several players on each team.

I thoroughly enjoyed Rashid Stadium. It felt like the first truly organic piece of Dubai I had seen on my trip thus far. It wasn’t an empty, gaping megadome of a stadium funded by a regime set on sportswashing as can be seen at some clubs in certain other football leagues in the Arabian Gulf. Instead, it was modest, functional and full of life- exactly what a stadium should be. Vendors stalked up and down the stand flogging sunflower seeds and brightly coloured drinks. Families chatted to one another and old friends slapped hands before sitting down next to each other.

For a tourist, Dubai can, at times, feel quite isolating. You go from hotel to mall, mall to restaurant and back to the hotel all in the comfort of cheap, air conditioned taxis, without hardly stepping outside. There are few places to meet with local people, few opportunities to feel what life is like for the rest of Dubai, those who work to make the city such a shiny and alluring place for tourists.

Rashid Stadium felt like a real place, for real people, and the match between Shabab Al-Ahli was a real battle of 90 minutes.

That is not where my adventure into Emirati football finishes, however. Be sure to read my report of my visit to Al Wasl FC’s Zabeel Stadium, the place I had one of the greatest football experiences of my life.