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 one of the 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 15 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 (gaining 9 titles versus 7 for their closest rival), and one of the most successful clubs in the world. They 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 (1987, 1994, and 1997) 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 12 February 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 24 October 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 25 and 26 October 1912. Aegytische Nachrichten newspaper reported in its issue of 26 October 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 2 November 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 10 November 1912, that the Cairo International Sports Club (C.I.S.C) 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 11 December 1912 that the Cairo International Sports Club issued its first weekly newspaper under the name Cairo Sports on Saturday, 11 December 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 (C.I.S.C) participated in the International Union's championships(El Mokhtalat union's), and Le phare d'Alexandria newspaper reported that they won the second edition of the Bolanchi Challenge Cup on 28 December 1913 after defeating the Greek team (who won the Alexandria qualifiers) 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 23 November 1913, and played with the same team on 30 November 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".
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 (three goals), 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.