Al-Merrikh Sporting Club () is a Sudanese professional football club based in the city of Omdurman. Their home stadium is Al-Merrikh Stadium, which is locally known as The Red Castle. Founded in 1908, Al-Merrikh is one of the oldest football clubs in Africa and competes in the Sudan Premier League. The club currently competes in the Rwanda Premier League, the top-flight of football in Rwanda, due to the ongoing Sudanese civil war.
Club history Al-Merrikh was founded under the name of Al-Masalma Sporting Club in 1908 by students from Al-Masalmah district that was headed by their chairman Jek Deng Aban Gorang in Omdurman of Gordon Memorial College. The club renamed as Al-Merrikh Sporting Club on 14 November 1927.
Rivalries
The club has a fierce rivalry with Al-Hilal with the games between them regularly selling out, with both teams being perennial contenders. They won the Om-al-Dahab championship in 1965 and are the only team to have ever won this one time event. Al-Hilal is also based in Omdurman with only Al-Ardha Street separating the teams. Between them they are Sudan's two most successful football clubs.
Honours +Al-Merrikh SC Honours Type competition titles seasons Domestic (SFA)Sudan League / Sudan Premier League 20 1970, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1982, 1985, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2025-26Sudan Cup 19 1951,1955, 1961, 1962, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018. (Record)Khartoum League 17 1954, 1956, 1962, 1966, 1968, 1972, 1975, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 Continental (CAF)African Cup Winners' Cup 1 1989 Regional CECAFACECAFA Clubs Cup 3 1986, 1994, 2014
Players
Captain history Hassan Abu Al-Aila (1958-1962) Abdelwahab Jagdoul (1962-1972) Abdelaziz Abdallah (1972-1974) Bushra Wahba (1974-1975) Bushara Abdel-Nadief (1975-1978) Suliman Abdelgader (1978-1982) Ammar Khaled (1982-1986) Hamed Berima (1987-1996) Babeker Alhelu (1997) Muntaser Alzaki (1998-1999) Ibrahim Hussein (1999-2003) Khaled Ahmed Almustafa (2001) Muhamed Musa (2004) Najmeldin Abu Hashish (2005) Faisal Agab (2006-2013) Saeed Mustafa (2014) Ahmed El-Basha (2015) Raji Abdel-Aati (2016-2017) Ahmed Dufur (2018-2019) Amir Kamal (2019-)
Performance in CAF Competitions CAF Champions League 31 Appearances 1971 - Second round 1973 - Second round 1975 - Quarter-finals 1978 - Second round 1983 - First round 1986 - First round 1991 - First round 1994 - First round 1998 - First round 2001 - Second round 2002 - Second round 2003 - First round 2009 - Group stage 2010 - Second round 2011 - First round 2012 - Second round 2013 - First round 2014 - Preliminary round 2015 - Semi-finals 2016 - Second round 2017 - Group stage 2018 - Preliminary round 2018-19 - Preliminary round 2019-20 - Preliminary round 2020-21 - Group stage 2021-22 - Group stage 2022-23 - Group stage 2023-24 - Second round 2024-25 - Second round 2025-26 - First round 2026-27 - CAF Confederation Cup 8 Appearances 2004 - Preliminary round 2005 - Second Round 2006 - Play-off Round 2007 - Runners-up 2008 - Group Stage 2010 - Play-off round 2012 - Semi-finals 2016 - Play-off African Cup Winners' Cup 11 Appearances 1984 - Second round 1985 - First round 1987 - Second round 1989 - Winners 1990 - Semi-finals 1992 - Semi-finals 1993 - Quarter-finals 1995 - Second round 1997 - First round 1999 - First round 2000 - Second round
Performance in Arab Competitions Arab Champions League 12 Appearances 1988 - Group stage 1994 - Group stage 2002 - First round 2003-04 - First round 2005-06 - First round 2006-07 - First round 2007-08 - Second round 2008-09 - Second round 2017 - Group stage 2018-19 - Semi-finals 2019-20 - First round 2023 - First round Arab Cup Winners' Cup 3 Appearances 1992 - Preliminary round 1999 - Preliminary round 2000 - Group stage
Performance in CECAFA Competitions CECAFA Clubs Cup 8 Appearances 1985 - 3rd Place 1986 - Champions 1987 - Runners-up 1988 - Runners-up 1994 - Champions 2009 - Runners-up 2011 - 3rd Place 2014 - Champions
References