Zamalek SC: Difference between revisions

Zamalek

File:Zamaleklogo3.jpg
Full name	Zamalek Sporting Club
Nickname(s)	The White Knights, The White Castle
Founded	1911
Ground	Cairo Stadium, Cairo, Egypt
Capacity	74,100
Chairman	Mamdouh Abass
Manager	Ruud Krol
League	Egyptian League
2007-08	Egyptian League, 4th
Home colours Away colours

Zamalek Sporting Club (Arabic: نادي الزمالك) is one of Egypt's best sports clubs. The club was established in 1911 under the name of "Kasr El-Nil" and is currently based in Giza (a suburb of Cairo), Egypt. It promotes numerous different sports for all ages. The most famous part of Zamalek Sporting Club is the football team known as just Zamalek. It is a leading club side in Egyptian, Arabian and African football. The team is the most crowned African teams with 5 Champions Leagues, 3 African Super Cups and 2 Afro-Asian Cups, a record not matched by any other club in Africa. Zamalek is the 1st African-Asian club to top the FIFA World Club Ranking (Feb, 2003). The team's trademark look is two horizontal red stripes on a white shirt.

The club has a fierce rivalry with its Cairo rival Al-Ahly. Derby matches between teams of the two clubs are so fierce that foreign referees are always asked to officiate them. The biggest result of these derbies was in 1944 when Zamalek defeated Al-Ahly 6-0 in the Egyptian Cup final.^[1][2]

History

The history of the club goes back to 1911 when it was founded by the Belgian gentleman Merzbach as a rival to the British founded club Al-Ahly. It was administrated mostly - as was the case at that time in Egyptian football - by foreign expatriates. The first football team in the club was formed in 1913. The team took part in domestic competitions along with Al-Ahly, Al Seka AlHadid club, British army teams and school and college teams.

However at this time, an Egyptian player who had just returned from his studies in Cambridge, UK, named Hussien Hegazy established his own squad, that was named "Hegazy's Eleven" and started to rally with the British Army teams at that time. One of the British teams was a team named "Stanley's Team", that was formed by a British man named Stanley and was made up of a group of British soldiers who were stationed in Egypt. Both teams met twice, and in both matches, Hegazy's Eleven won. Excited by their symbolic resistance to the British, both Egyptian clubs Al-Ahly and Al-Zamalek sought to bring member's of "Hegazy's Eleven" to their squads. Hegazy joined Al-Ahly, while the rest of his team mates joined Al-Zamalek. In 1919, Hegazy joined Al-Zamalek and the team became the most powerful team in Egyptian soccer at that time. He later rejoined Al-Ahly in 1924.

In 1916, the idea of establishing a league in the sultanate of Egypt at that time, where Egyptian teams plays with teams from the allies' military clubs, including the British was getting more developed. Al-Zamalek was the first and only Egyptian club to participate in 1916. In 1917 Al-Ahly followed Zamalek's footsteps and took part. Both Al-Zamalek and Al-Ahly also agreed on creating their own two-game competition, the first was on 9 October 1917, which Al-Zamalek lost at home 0&ndash1, and the second was on 2 March 1917 which Al-Zamalek won on Al-Ahly's turf 1–0.

A Belgian Lawyer and former judge in the "Mixed Courts" named Merzbach became the first President of the club under the name "The Diverse Club" or "Mokhtalat". It is believed the club got this name because the club promoted diversity and was a place where Europeans and Egyptians meet to socialize and practice sports. Some also say that the club was initially built for the Belgian community in face of the British existence.

In 1930, the club's 60 member board met and decided to expel the foreign members of the club. Al-Zamalek continued its glory days, winning many titles. The most impressive result was winning against Al-Ahly 6–0.^[3] The club changed its name from Al-Mokhtalat to "Farouk". After the 1952 Revolution, the club name was changed to "Al-Zamalek".

In recent years the club has seen success in sveral national competitions. The success on the field is in contrast to financial worries off the pitch. In 2004 their financial worries were highlighted after the government’s central auditing agency, along with the youth ministry, accused the club of tax evasion in. The state demanded that the club pay some E£14 million in taxes on several player-transfer deals signed in 2000 and 2001.^[4]

Name Changes

• Kasr El-Nil : (1911-1913)
• Al-Mokhtalat Club : (1913-1941)
• Farouk Club : (1941-1952)
• Nadi Al Zamalek : since 1952

Supporters

It is widely believed that Zamalek is the club of choice of Egyptian free-thinkers, those who have a propensity for supporting the underdog, and Egypt's aristocratic class. Zamalek have been known to have a large following, being second only to Al Ahly in fan support. Zamalek fans have been largely known as a club supported by aristocrats and the upper class, whereas Al Ahly have traditionally been supported by the working class. Nowadays, these stereotypes exist to a lesser degree since Al Ahly now have some rich and influential fans, and Zamalek have now been gaining large support from lower-class areas as well.

Recently fans have been seen to protest against Ahmad Shobair and other members of the Egyptian FA due to decisions that Shobair and co. have made including the suspension of Shikabala and Ahmed Ghanem Sultan from the national team. They were suspended for "not co-operating with their team mates" during the African Olympics 2007 in Algeria. Another decision that has invoked the ire of fans was the large fine given to Amr Zaki for allegedly insulting an opponent. Shikabala has been fined and suspended by the Egyptian FA as well as the Zamalek board due to his violent reactions to taunts during the 100th Cairo derby.

Zamalek fans have two nicknames for the Red Devils of Al Ahly which are Al Gahly, literally the ignorants, and Hala, a woman's name which sounds similar to Ahly.

Links with other clubs

Ismaily, a club situated in Ismaileya, in the North Coast of Egypt, didn't have a stadium to train in since their stadium required renovation in the early 1960s. The Ismaili Board of Directors sent an official request to Al Ahly club asking if they could share their training stadium (Mokhtar El-Tetsh Stadium). Al Ahly refused, which infuriated Ismaili S.C forcing them to ask Zamalek. Zamalek allowed Ismaili to train with Zamalek players on Mit Okba Stadium which was the beginning of the links between the two sets of fans.

Some El-Masry fans are seen to be "allies" with White Castle fans. Tersana fans are regarded as Zamalek supporters as well (and vice-versa) because the two used to share the training stadium and also because of their close geographic location; they are the only two Egyptian clubs to hail from Giza. It is common to see Zamalek banners and flags at Ismaili, El Masry and Tersana games (and vice-versa). In the south of Egypt, support for Al Ahly or Zamalek is not entirely clear where cities like Aswan have more Zamalek supporters, whereas El Minia, for example, have more Al Ahly fans. In Cairo, districts like Mohandessin, Dokki, 6th of October, Sheikh Zayed and Zamalek have a large number of Zamalek fans. They also have a small following in Alexandria.

Team colours

White Knights fans see the traditional white kit with 2 red stripes as a good luck omen since the periods of greatest successes for the White Castle came when they were wearing their traditional trademark kit. Currently they are not wearing the traditional kit and have not been wearing it since 2004 which also happens to be the last time they won a title. Many fans are actually requesting the return of that kit.

Current squad

Correct as of 20 July 2007

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  EGY Mohamed Abdel Monsef 2 DF  EGY Amr El-Safti 3 DF  EGY Osama Hassan 4 DF  TUN Wisam El-Abdy 5 DF  EGY Besheer El-Tabei 6 DF  EGY Ahmed Hossam 7 DF  EGY Ahmed Ghanem Soltan 8 MF  EGY Alaa Abdel-Ghany 9 FW  EGY Amr Zaki 10 FW  EGY Gamal Hamza 11 MF  EGY Mohamed Aboul Ela 12 MF  EGY Magdy Atwa 13 DF  EGY Tarek El-Sayed 14 MF  EGY Hazem Emam 15 DF  EGY Karim Zekry 16 GK  EGY Abdel Wahed Al Sayed

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 FW  EGY Mostafa Gaafar 18 FW  EGY Shikabala 20 MF  EGY Tamer Abdel Hamid 21 DF  EGY Emad El-Sayed 22 MF  EGY Ahmed Magdy 23 GK  EGY Wael Zenga 24 FW  EGY Abdel Halim Ali 26 MF  EGY Ahmed Abdel-Raouf 27 DF  EGY Mohamed Ibrahim 28 DF  EGY Mahmoud Fathalla 29 DF  TUN Yamen Ben Zekry 30 MF  JOR Khaled Saad 32 FW  EGY Sherif Ashraf

(note: no more than 3 foreign players are allowed on any side in the Egyptian Premier League)

2007-08 transfers

Zamalek bought several players before the 2007-08 season. These included bringing in highly rated international defenders Besheer El-Tabei, Karim Zekry and Mahmoud Fathalla, the captain of the Jordanian national team Khaled Saad, defensive midfielder Ahmed Magdy from Greece and Sherif Ashraf from the Al Ahly youth squad.

Managers (coaches)

• 1982-83:Vasovicz (Yugoslavia)+ Mahmoud Saad
• 1983-84:Mahmoud Abouregaila + Ahmed Rifaat
• 1984-85:Mahmoud Abouregaila + Ahmed Rifaat

  Ahmed Rifaat

• 1985-86:Ninkovicz (Yugoslavia) + Zaki Othman

  Hassan Shehata

  Parker (England) + Mahmoud Saad

• 1986-87:Parker (England) + Mahmoud Saad

  Essam Baheeg + Farouk Gaafar

• 1987-88:Essam Baheeg + Mahmoud Saad
• 1988-89:Zaki Othman + Farouk Gaafar

  Zaki Othman

  Hamada El-Sharkawi

• 1989-90:Carlos (Brazil)
• 1990-91:Mahmoud Abouregaila
• 1991-92:Dave Mackay (Scotland) + Farouk Gaafar
• 1992-93:Dave Mackay (Scotland) + Farouk Gaafar
• 1993-94:Dave Mackay (Scotland) + Farouk Gaafar

  Mahmoud El-Gohary + Mahmoud Saad

• 1994-95:Reidl (Austria) + Mahmoud Saad.

  Taha Basry + Hassan Shehata.

  Hassan Shehata.

• 1995-96:Werner Olk (Germany) + Farouk Gaafar

  Ahmed Rifaat + Farouk Gaafar

• 1996-97:Werner Olk (Germany) + Mahmoud Saad

  Werner Olk (Germany) + Mahmoud Abouregaila

  Werner Olk (Germany) + Mahmoud Saad

  Farouk El-Sayed + Ahmed Abdel Halim

• 1997-98:Ruud Krol (Holland) + Farouk El-Sayed
• 1998-99:Ruud Krol (Holland) + Farouk El-Sayed

  Ruud Krol (Holland) + Ismail Youssef

  Farouk Gaafar + Nabil Nosair

  Mahmoud Abouregaila + Ahmed Moustafa

• 1999-2000:Mahmoud Abouregaila + Ibrahim Youssef

  Helmi Toulan + Ashraf Quasem / Ahmed Ramzy

  Otto Pfister (Germany) + Helmi Toulan / Ashraf Quasem / Ahmed Ramzy

• 2000-01:Otto Pfister (Germany) + Helmi Toulan / Ashraf Quasem / Ahmed Ramzy
• 2001-02:Otto Pfister (Germany) + Helmi Toulan / Ashraf Quasem / Ahmed Ramzy

  Otto Pfister (Germany) + Mahmoud Saad / Ahmed Ramzy / Essam Marei

• 2002-03:Carlos Roberto F. Cabral (Brazil) + Mahmoud Saad / Tarek Yehia / Ahmed Ramzy

  Carlos Roberto.F.Cabral (Brazil) + Ahmed Rifaat / Ahmed Ramzy

• 2003-04:Nelo Vingada (Portugal) + Mahmoud El-Khawaga / Ayman Mansour
• 2004-05:Dragoslav Stepanovic (Germany) + Ibrahim Youssef / Gamal Abdullah / Hesham Yakan

  Carlos Roberto F. Cabral (Brazil) + Ibrahim Youssef / Ahmed Ramzy / Samir Mohamed Ali

• 2005-06:Theo Bucker (Germany) + Ahmed Rifaat / Gamal Abdel Hamid / Essam Marei / Khaled El-Ghandour / Emad El-Mandouh

  Farouk Gaafar + Gamal Abdel Hamid / Essam Marei / Khaled El-Ghandour / Emad El-Mandouh

  Manuel Cajuda(Portugal)/Ahmed Ramzy

• 2006-07:Henri Michel (France) / Mahmoud Saad

  Henri Michel (France) / Ayman Mansoor

  Henri Michel (France)

• 2007-08:Ruud Krol (Holland)

Club Honours

Zamalek have won a total of 57 Soccer Titles. While Al Ahly are by far the most crowned team on a domestic scale, Zamalek have won more African titles than any team in Egypt (13 titles) and more Arab titles than any other Egyptian side (5 titles).

Domestic

• Sultan Hussein Cup: 2

  1921, 1922

• Egyptian Cup: 20

  1922, 1932, 1935, 1938, 1941, 1943, 1944, 1952, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1988, 1999, 2002,

• Egyptian Premier League: 11

  1960, 1964, 1965, 1978, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1993, 2001, 2003, 2004

• Egyptian Super Cup: 2

  2001, 2002

• Cairo League: 10

  1940, 1941, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953,

International

• Afro-Asian Cup: 2

  1988, 1997,

• CAF Champions League: 5

  1984, 1986, 1993, 1996, 2002

• CAF Super Cup: 2

  1994, 1997,

• African Cup Winners' Cup: 1

  2000

• Arab Club Championship: 1

  2003

• Saudi-Egyptian Super Cup: 1

  2003

Presidents of the Club

Notable players

• Mido Has played for Ajax Amsterdam, Olympique Marseille, AS Roma, Tottenham Hotspur and Middlesbrough.
• Ibrahim Hassan
• Taha Basry
• Farouk Gaafar A midfield king that held the Number 4 jersey when playing for Zamalek and formed the most feared Egyptian midfield trio of all-time which comprised of him, Taha Basry and Hassan Shahata.
• Hassan Shahata The current Egyptian National Team manager, won the African Nations Cup 2006.
• Hazem Emam is a famous Egyptian playmaker who won the Pepsi challenge for best soccer skills.^[5]
• Emmanuel Amuneke gained recognition at Sporting Lisbona and then Barcelona.
• Rami Shaaban A current Swedish international that once played for Zamalek.
• Shikabala
• Hossam Hassan The most capped Egyptian player of all time as well as the 3rd most capped worldwide.
• Amr Zaki
• Nader El-Sayed
• Ali Khalil
• Ashraf Kasem, awarded the best Egyptian player 1992-93 as well as Arab footballer of the year in 1994. Won 12 titles with Zamalek.
• Ahmed El-Kass, was the Egyptian Premier League's top goalscorer from 1991-1994 and scored a total of 107 goals in the Egyptian League with Zamalek, also won the Military World Cup in 1993 with Egypt.
• Mohamed Latif, was the first professional in Egyptian history, playing for Rangers F.C. He was in the Egyptian side that reached the 1934 World Cup as well as the Olympic side at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
• Ayman Mansour won the Pan Arab Games Gold Medal 1992 as well as scoring the fastest goal in the history of the African Nations Cup - it was in 1994 against Gabon after 23 seconds.
• Ismail Youssef was a starter in the Egyptian side that reached the 1990 World Cup and participated in 3 African Cups of Nations winning one. He was capped 97 times for the Egyptian National team and won 13 titles with Zamalek. Is the brother of defender Ibrahim Youssef.
• Mohamed Salah El-Din Was voted as the best defender in Africa in 1980 and won a total of 7 titles with the Zamalek.
• Magdy Tolba A dynamic midfielder who played for Egypt's big three, winning 6 titles with Zamalek and 5 titles with Al Ahly. Had successful stints at PAOK and Levski Sofia.
• Hesham Yakan The defender was a starter in the 1990 Egyptian World Cup squad and won 10 titles with the White Knights.
• Tarek Yehia The left-winger won the African Nations Cup in 1986, was awarded a bronze medal in the Mediterranean Games of 1983, as well as winning 8 titles with the all-whites of Zamalek.
• Ibrahim Youssef He participated in the 1984 L.A Olympics as well as the African Nations' Cup the same year where he was voted the best defender of the tournament. He also won a bronze medal at the Mediterranean Games of 1983. He was voted as the best Egyptian player on 3 occasions (1981, 1984 and 1985) and won the award of 2nd best African player in 1984 and the 3rd best African player the following year. He also won the All Africa Games Gold Medal 1987.

Notes

External links

• Zamalek Club's Official Website
• Zamalek
• Sporting Club website
• Zamalek Fans
• Zamalek Today
• Ya Zamalek Template:Ar icon

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