Zamalek SC
Zamalek Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Zamalek, is an Egyptian Club based in Giza, Egypt. The club is best known for its professional men's football team, which plays in the Egyptian Premier League, the top tier of the Egyptian football league system. The club is renowned for its consistent success at both domestic and continental levels, regularly contending in CAF tournaments.
Founded on 5 January 1911 in Cairo as Kasr el-nil club, the club has traditionally worn a white home kit since its inception. The club won its first championship title in 1913. The club is most widely supported in Africa and the Middle East. Zamalek is credited to be the first Egyptian club to participate in the Sultan Hussein Cup in 1917, as a sign of resistance to the British presence in Egypt and a way to display the Egyptian presence in the sport, this encouraged other Egyptian clubs to participate after. In 1941, the club was granted the honorific title after Farouk I and became officially known as Farouk El Awal Club, however, since the 1910s, Zamalek was the club's unofficial name and it became official after the 1952 Egyptian revolution.
Domestically, Zamalek established itself as a major force in Egyptian football since the 1920s, as it is the first Egyptian team to win a title in the history of Egyptian football. Zamalek is the first Egyptian club to win Sultan Hussein Cup in 1921, and the first club to win the Egypt Cup in 1922; and the first club to win the Cairo League in 1922–23. In domestic football, the club has won 14 Egyptian Premier League titles, 29 Egypt Cup titles, 4 Egyptian Super Cup titles, 14 Cairo League titles, 2 Sultan Hussein Cup titles, and a record of one title for each of the October League Cup, Egyptian Friendship Cup and Egyptian Confederation Cup. It is one of two clubs that have played in every season of the Egyptian Premier League, and one of seven that have never been relegated to the Egyptian Second Division.
At the international level, Zamalek is the most successful African football club of the 20th century, and one of the most successful clubs in the world. That have won five CAF Champions League titles, two CAF Confederation Cup titles, five CAF Super Cup titles and one African Cup Winners' Cup title. It is also the first Egyptian team ever to win the CAF Super Cup in 1994. Zamalek is also considered the Club of the Afro-Asian Century, it was the first Egyptian team to participate in and win the Afro-Asian Cup in 1987; and holds the record for most participations and most titles after winning it a second time in 1997. Zamalek is also the first Egyptian team to ever qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup when they qualified in 2000 to the 2001 championship, despite the cancellation of the championship later on. Zamalek is regularly contending in CAF tournaments and is one of the most successful clubs in Africa.
History
Early years (1911–1915)
The writer Ibrahim Allam Juhaina mentions the story of the founding of the Zamalek Sporting Club in the Al-Ahram issue issued on February 12, 1927. The idea of establishing the club began in one of the Santi buildings in Ezbekieh garden. After a short period, around 1911, the idea grew until they acquired land for the club. It was the water company’s land on Boulak Street, Fuad I Street after that, and 26th of July Street now. Juhayna mentions that most of the club’s writings were published in French, and in the first years there was no general assembly, no fixed bodies, and no applicable law.Le phare d'Alexandria newspaper reported in its issue of October 24, 1912 that the club was called Cairo International Sports Club, contrary to what is commonly known in modern sources that the club was called Qasr El Nil at that time, and the club was interested in organizing car races between Cairo and Alexandria. It also reported that Ahmed Zaki Pasha, Secretary of the Egyptian Cabinet, was a board member of the club, and that the club board members included Kramer, Bianchi, Morel, Bouchet, Guy, Deputy Director of the Financial Secretariat, and Manhi. Same reported in the next issues of October 25 and 26, 1912. Aegytische Nachrichten newspaper reported in its issue of October 26, 1912 that the club was named Cairo International Sports Club.
Ahmed Zaki Pasha, Secretary of the Egyptian Cabinet, mentions in his book A Journey between Cairo and Alexandria on November 2, 1912, in his book published in French, that the club was called C.I.S.C, and the club’s president at that time was Antoine Bianchi, contrary to what is reported in modern sources that George Merzbach was the club’s president from 1911 to 1915. The French newspaper La Revue Aerienne mentioned in its issue published on November 10, 1912, that the Cairo International Sports Club published a monthly magazine called Les Sports. The newspaper was founded, as mentioned in the book The Development of the Egyptian Press 1798 – 1951 by Ibrahim Abdo in 1912.
The Aegytische Nachrichten newspaper reported in its issue of December 11, 1912 that the Cairo International Sports Club issued its first weekly newspaper under the name Cairo Sports on Saturday, December 11, 1912. The news was concerned with the Ministry of Labor's approval to allow the club to work on adding signs on all the Cairo-Alexandria Road. The ministry only wanted a preliminary sample. Zamalek participated in the International Union's championships, and Le phare d'Alexandria newspaper reported that they won the second edition of the Bolanchi Challenge Cup on December 28, 1913 after defeating the Greek team by a score of 6–0. The match was played at the Zamalek's stadium in Bulaq. Zamalek's starting lineup included; Tawfik Abdullah, Soufi, Saeed, Williams, Gamal, Songhurst, Khorazati, Lyon, Southon, and Arangi. The match started at 3:07 p.m., Lyon scored the first goal in the ninth minute, and Khorazati scored the second goal in the 28th minute, and Khorazati scored two goals in the second half. Before reaching the final match, Zamalek played at home with the Italian Brotherhood team on November 23, 1913, and played with the same team on November 30, 1913.
Egyptianization and unprecedented success (1915–1941)
In 1915, Ibrahim Allam "Juhainah" moved to the club with his football team, coming from El Sekka El Hadid SC. Zamalek was the first Egyptian team to play against foreign teams. In 1916, they defeated the Scottish Horse by a score of 1–0. In 1917, Zamalek had the legacy of participating as the first and only Egyptian football club in Sultan Hussein Cup, the first official football competition in Egypt. Zamalek played great matches and reached the final match against the English GHQ Signals team, the first champion of the competition. The championship was managed by the Egyptian Ibrahim Allam and was organized under the auspices of the Sultan of Egypt Hussein Kamel. After Zamalek's historic first season, many Egyptian clubs announced their desire to participate in the competition as they found it serious, official, bearing the name of the country's sultan, and includes a trophy for the winning team. Zamalek's team in the 1910s included Tewfik Abdullah, Gamil Osman, Fouad Gamil, Ali El-Hassani, Abdel Salam Hamdy and Ahmed Kholousi.In 1917, Ibrahim Allam and the Egyptian members of the club began their revolution to nationalize the club and remove the foreigners from the club's board of directors which mainly consisted of members of the Belgian and French communities. It started with informing the authorities that the club did not have a general assembly for three years, the club records are illegally kept with the club secretary, and have not been legally audited. Allam also put the club under the protection of 17–20 men from Bulaq, to preserve it and protect its Egyptian members. The Ministry of Interior and some foreign embassies in Cairo interfered, but non-Egyptians were not allowed to enter the club. Finally Allam agreed to turn in the club to Mr. Bianchi in the presence of an official force from the police. The Egyptian members realized that it was important to gain a majority at the general members meeting. Accordingly, Allam and the Egyptian members called for an extraordinary general assembly for the club at Al-Shawarby Street.
A decision was made by the general assembly to withdraw confidence from the club's foreign board of directors and elect a new Egyptian board of directors. When the elections were held, the first Egyptian board was elected with Mohammad Badr as president, Mostafa Hassan as treasurer, Ibrahim Allam as General Secretary, and Nicola Arkaji, Mahmoud Bassyouni, Hussein Fawzy, and Abdo El Gabalawy as board members. In 1921, Zamalek won the Sultan Hussein Cup, becoming the first Egyptian team to ever win a title, after their victory over Britain's Sherwood Foresters by a score of 2–1 in the final, the two winning goals were scored by El-Sayed Abaza and Hussein Hegazi. After the victory, historic celebrations began that Egypt had never witnessed before, as a celebratory demonstration took place, and Zamalek fans carried their players on their shoulders in the streets of Cairo to celebrate the victory over the English, which was considered by many at that time as a victory for patriotism. Since then, the Zamalek team has been nicknamed “The Conqueror of Foreigners”.
File:نادي_الزمالك_1921.jpg|alt=نادي الزمالك 1921|thumb|230x230px|Zamalek SC team that won the first Sultan Hussein Cup in 1921, becoming the first Egyptian team to win a title.
In 1922, Zamalek won the first edition of the Egypt Cup and two weeks later won the Sultan Hussein Cup for the second time, after winning Sherwood Foresters in the final by a score of 3–1. Also in 1922, the Cairo League was launched, and Zamalek won its first title in 1922. Besides Hussein Hegazi, the club managed to create a new generation of talented players such as; Ali Riadh, Ibrahim Yakan, El-Sayed Abaza, Mahmoud Marei and Ali El-Hassani. This team won several titles for Zamalek in the 1920s. They defeated the English Stars 3–0 in 1922. On 5 January 1923, Zamalek won the friendly contest against Al Ahly by a score of 5–0, goals scored by Ali Riadh, Hussein Hegazi and Sadek Fahmy, the first player to score a hat-trick in the Cairo derby.
After the first board, a new saif in 1923 was formed with Lieutenant General Mohammed Haidar Pasha as president and Youssef Mohamad as secretary. The new board of directors held its first meeting and decided to continue the fight. They informed the authorities of the missing club records. As a result, no general members' meetings were held for the next few years and later, Mr. Shoudoi, the Belgian club secretary was summoned and agreed to turn in the club records. Mohammed Haider Pasha is the fourth president of Zamalek Sporting Club and the longest serving president in its history and managed the club for almost three decades.
Haider Pasha served as Minister of War in the coalition ministry headed by Hussein Sirri Pasha in 1946, and remained in office until 1952. Haider Pasha remained Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Army by royal decree, regardless of successive governments, due to King Farouk's insistence on him remaining in his position. Zamalek's strongman also assumed the presidency of the Egyptian Football Association in 1937 and continued to chair successive boards every two years until 1944. Fouad Serageddin Pasha assumed the presidency of the association and Haidar Pasha returned again as president from 1945 to 1952. During his 29-year career as Zamalek's president, Haidar pasha defended the Zamalek's rights and strengthened the club's position, and gave a political weight to the club with the Royal Family and Egyptian public life. He assured that Zamalek's headquarters stay in El-Balloon Theater area in 1945, when the government wanted to move it to Haram Street, and he insisted that it must stay on the Nile banks as a symbol of giving to the society.
In the winter of 1924, the club moved to a location on the west bank of the River Nile, and west of Gezira island, and became known as the Cairo International Sports Club -Zamalek. The 1924 location is occupied by El-Balloon Theater today. Around that time Zamalek received the moniker "Qahir-al-Aganib" due to their many victories against renowned foreign teams. In several occasions in Egypt in the 1920s, the team beat foreign teams either in friendly matches or official ones. This increased the popularity of the club and of the sport as a whole in Egypt especially that Egyptian teams such as Zamalek can beat the foreign teams. Zamalek finished as champions in the 1925 King Fouad Cup, for the first time.
In 1925, In continuation of their fame as "Qahir-al-Aganib", Zamalek played four friendly matches against English clubs and won them all, the club defeated the English Howitzers by a score of 6–0, and the English Kings 2–1, and England's Coast Guards 1–0, and the English Wonders 4–1. In the 1923–24 Sultan Hussein Cup, Zamalek and Al Ahly had never met in the final, however, they played six matches in the tournament. Their first match was in the 1924 Sultan Hussein Cup's semifinal on 17 March 1924, the match finished in a 1–1 draw, in the rematch on 21 March, Zamalek won 2–0 and advanced to the final.
In 1928, Hussein Hegazi, who is considered one of the founding fathers of Egyptian football toured the country's secondary schools to search for new players to join Zamalek, and with those students, Hegazi played against Al Ahly in the 1928–29 Cairo League and won. The students cheered on Al Ahly, and it was the first time that the name Zamalek was associated with the school's nickname, but the traditional chant was not born yet. Despite this, it was not completed until 1952, when Zamalek sold 20 trees for 1000 Egyptian pounds and gave them to a contractor to build new stands for the Helmy Zamora Stadium, the traditional chant was completed for the first time and it became, "Oh Zamalek, oh, school of play, art, and engineering".
On the occasion of the opening of the club's new headquarters, Zamalek played against the English Army Club on 7 October 1928, and won by a score of 1–0, and Zamalek also won on 23 October 1928, one of the British teams with a great score of 14–0. This match witnessed only three players from Zamalek scoring 14 goals, namely Gamal El-Prince, Hussein Hegazy, and El-Sayed Abaza. Zamalek proved that they are "Qahir-al-Aganib". Zamalek won two consecutive Cairo League titles in the 1928–29 and 1929–30 seasons. The club managed to lead the league with the help of Mohamed Latif, Ismail Rafaat, Hussein Hegazi and Ali El-Hassani. After winning their second league title in 1928–29, Zamalek played a friendly game against Hungary national football team and they won by a score of 2–1.
In the 1929–30 season, Zamalek won their second consecutive league title. In this season Mostafa Taha was Zamalek's new rising star, Taha, who was just 19, in his second season with the club, scored his first goal in the Cairo derby. He moved to Al Ahly for two seasons from 1931 to 1933 before returning to Zamalek in 1933. With Zamalek, he won seven Cairo League titles, five Egypt Cup titles and the King Fouad Cup for one time. He was a great goal scorer and he is Zamalek's all-time top scorer in the Cairo derby with 12 goals, he scored over 100 goals for the team in all competitions. Taha retired as Zamalek's captain in 1945.
One of the notable matches of the 1930s was the 1929–30 Sultan Hussein Cup semifinal, despite that the two belligerents failed to win this season's title, the match was of a high level of intensity and had much media attention. Zamalek faced Al Ahly in a purely Egyptian contest, in which Zamalek knocked Al Ahly out of the competition, after defeating them in the infamous Cairo derby with a score of 3–1, Zamalek's goals were scored by Mohamed Latif and Mostafa Taha, while Al Ahly's goal was scored by Mahmoud Mokhtar El Tetsh. In the 1930s, Zamalek achieved several titles, winning the 1931–32 Egypt Cup after defeating their rival, Al Ahly, with a score of 2–1, with goals from Ismail Rafaat and Said El-Hadary.
After the retirement of Zamalek's veteran striker Hussein Hegazi in 1931, the club bought Ali El-Hassani from Al Ahly for the third and last time, together El-Hassani with Abdulrahman Fawzi who moved to Zamalek in 1934, Mohamed Latif, Sayed Marei, Ibrahim Halim, Ahmed Salem, Ismail El-Samkari, Helmy Zamora, Hassan El Far and Mostafa Taha managed to win the Cairo League title twice in the 1931–32 and 1933–34 seasons, and in the same year, Zamalek won the 1934 King Fouad Cup title for the second time.
In the 1934–35 Egypt Cup, Zamalek faced Cairo Police in the quarterfinals and won 2–0, played against Al Ittihad in the semifinals and won 3–1, goals scored by Mostafa Taha and Sayed Marei. Zamalek won the cup after defeating Al Ahly in the final with a score of 3–0, goals scored by Helmy Zamora, Sayed Marei and Ismail El-Samkari. On December 2, 1938, Hussein Labib scored the winning goal for Zamalek over Al Ahly in the 1938 Egypt Cup final rematch, announcing his team's victory after the two teams tied in the first match with a score of 1-1, Labib also scored his team's winning goal. In the 1939–40 Cairo League, Zamalek met their rivals; Al Ahly in the last match of the league on 29 March 1940 where they won with a score of 4–3, Zamalek goals scored by Galal Keraitam, Abdulrahman Fawzi and Hussein Labib, and Hussein Madkour, Salah Osman scored for Al Ahly. Zamalek won the 1939–40 Cairo League title for their sixth time finishing with 3 points ahead of Al Ahly.