club also won the crown prince cup in 1963-64 The club were the inaugural winners when the Saudi Premier League came into existence in the 1976–77 season. Al-Hilal also won the league title in 1978–79. With the success, a number of players and coaches from outside Saudi Arabia joined the club in the 1970s, including Brazilian legends Mario Zagallo and Roberto Rivelino. Sustained success (1980–1990) After the establishment of the Saudi Premier League in the late 70's and with Al-Hilal winning the competition twice including the inaugural edition. The eighties brought about a new dawn of success to the riyadh giants, with group of talented homegrown players such as the charismatic figurehead defender Saleh Al-Nu'eimeh who captained both Al-Hilal and the Saudi National Football Team, together with the promotion of the extremely gifted player maker Yousuf Al-Thunayan and the young and prolific forward Sami Al-Jaber. The club went on to win four league titles as well as four kings cup titles in ten years, two of those being season double's. Al-Hilal were the runners-up in the Asian club Championship twice. They were second after the round-robin in the final round in 1986. They reached the final the following year in 1987, but Yomiuri FC were crowned the champion automatically as Al-Hilal were unable to field a team for the final due to nine of the starting players being chosen for the Saudi team's preparation camp that clashed with the date fixed for the first leg. Continental dominance (1991–2002) The 90's marked a shift in the dominant teams challenging for the title, such as the emergence of a Al-Shabab as a new contender and force in the league. As well as the resurgence of bitter rivals Al-Nasser and Al-Ittihad made the league become contested and shared between the four, Al-Hilal achieved three titles during this period (1995–96, 1997–98, 2001–02). The club continued to churn out talent from its academy with players such as Nawaf Al-Temyat, Mohammed Al-Shalhoub, Abdallah Al-Jamaan, Ahmad Al-Dokhi as well as Zambian defender Elijah Litana. Al-Hilal's continental spoil's during this period defined the clubs identity, decadence and standing in the Asian continent for years to come. The first of which came in 1991 when the club won their first Asian title, the Asian Club Championship, beating Iranian club Esteghlal F.C. in penalties in the final. In 1997 the Asian Cup Winners Cup and Asian super cup were also