Zamalek SC

George Marzbach

Little is known about the very early years of the club. According to historians[7],[8]the club was established by the Belgian lawyer, George Merzbach Bey. On the twenty-fifth of December 1910, Merzbach Bey, while attending Cairo Tramways Company’s Christmas celebration, realized that the company’s guest house hosting the celebration on the Nile banks is suitable as a sports club headquarters. Merzbach Bey then decided to establish a new club for the Belgians, Egyptians, and foreigners. During that time, Gezira Sporting Club, the main sporting club in Cairo, was for the exclusive use of the British Army and unavailable for non-British foreigners and Egyptians. Merzbach Bey left the Christmas celebration with a strong intention to establish the new club in the very place, which is currently occupied by Qasr El Nile casino and the Navy House. For the new club, he chose the name Qasr El Nile, which means Nile Palace. He did not find difficulties to establish the club as he enjoyed strong ties within the Palace of Khedive Abbas II, as well as many friendships with senior officials of the Egyptian society. He was also the private lawyer for both Baron Empain and his Cairo Tramways Company. On January 5th, 1911, the club was established, and it was officially opened on February 6th. The first board of directors consisted of Merzbach Bey as President; Howard Carter, the great archaeologist and Merzbach Bey’s personal friend, as Vice President; and Noah Amin Abdullah, Ahmed Mahmoud Azzam, Khoury Chalhoub (Lebanese, representative of the Cairo Tramways Company), and Paolo Esposito (Italian, representative of the Khedivial Palace) as members. It was the first club in Cairo to emerge from non-English expatriate communities. They formed sports and social clubs, each with its own identity.[9] An essential aspect of the club was that it was for all people and not for any specific social, economic, or ethnic community. It started out and continued through World War I under the presidency of Merzbach.

In 1913, the club moved to a second headquarters at the intersection of the current day 26th of July and Ramses streets and changed its name to Cairo International Sports Club (C.I.S.C.) which was colloquially translated to the Arabic name Nady El Qāhirah El Mokhtalat or simply Nady El Mokhtalat. The second president was Nicola Arfagi, who also played left wing for the club's football team. In 1917, Egyptian members attempted to form an Egyptian board for the club, but this was blocked by the president of the club, a Frenchman called M. Bianchi, and the secretary M. Shoudoi, who was Belgian, and as a result, no general members meetings were held for the next few years.This era was the beginning of Zamalek's moniker of "Qahir-al-Aganib" (the conqueror of foreigners) due to their many underdog wins against renowned foreign teams[10] In 1921, Zamalek won the Sultan Hussein Cup, becoming the first Egyptian team to ever win a title.

Zamalek 1921

In 1922, Zamalek won the first Egyptian Cup in its history and the first cup tournament to be held in Egypt.

Zamalek1938-39

The Egyptian members realized that it was important to gain a majority at the next general members meeting. As a result, when the next elections were held, the first Egyptian board was elected with Mohammad Badr as President, Mostafa Hassan as Deputy President, Ibrahim Allam as General Secretary, and Nicola Arkaji, Mahmoud Bassyouni, Hussein Fawzy and Abdo El Jabalawy as board members. After the first board, a new board in 1923 was formed with General Mohamed Heidar as president and Youssef Mohamad as secretary. In the winter of 1924, the club moved for the third time to a location on the west bank of the River Nile, and west of Gezira island (a.k.a. Geziret Al Zamalek), and became known as Cairo International Sports Club - Zamalek.[11] The 1924 location is currently occupied by El Balloon Theater.

King Farouk I of Egypt

In 1941, Farouk I, King of Egypt and Sudan, bestowed the royal sponsorship on the club, and the club name was changed to Nady Farouk El Awal (Farouk I Club). Mohamed Heidar Pasha, the club president at the time, was informed by the royal decision to change the name to Farouk I Club and accordingly Ismail Bak Shirin of Mohammed Ali's family took the post of the vice president of the club.

The royal emblem of Zamalek club

[12] This period witnessed the biggest victories in the history of the Cairo derby (contested with Al Ahly), a pair of 6–0 wins for Zamalek in 1942 and 1944. This record scoreline in the Cairo derby has not been broken since then.

zamalek team 1950_1951

Following the army coup in 1952, the club was renamed Zamalek after the area where the club was situated. The club later moved for the fourth time in its history to its final destination on 26 July Street, just 500 meters west of the Zamalek bridge, occupying an area of 35 acres (140,000 m²) and hosting 24 different sports. A new board was formed with Mohammad Shawky as president and secretary and Mohammad Hassan Helmy as assistant secretary. At the time, the rules required that half the club board be changed every year, and Helmy took the position of secretary-general. In 1954, the stadium needed renovations, so the board sought a businessman to take over the club and guide the renovation. Abd El Hamid El Shawarbi took the presidency and, although, he was elected for a second period, he was not able to do the job he wanted. Zamalek Faithful figures as Heidar Pasha and Haj Sayed El Annany contributed to forming the VIP stand and the first-class stand in a way that suited the high status of the club. This happened while El Shawarbi was outside Egypt, so when he came back, he resigned and the board continued after Shawky stepped up from his Deputy position to continue till September 1955. Still, the idea of bringing a businessman to help the club did not subside, and thus, the businessman Abd El Latif Abo Regeila became the club president in 1956; by then, the rules had been changed allowing the board to stay for 3 years. Once again, Shawky stepped down for the new businessman, although he was re-elected as a club president. Although Regeila was re-elected for a second term, he had to leave Egypt after he lost his money due to the governmental policy against private property. Still the club continued to search for another businessman, and chose Alwe El Gazzar, the owner of El Sheikh Sherieb Company and the president of the board of the Coca-Cola Company at the time.

Abdel Latif Abu Regaila

Abdel Latif Abu Regaila is an Egyptian businessman and pioneer of public transport buses in Cairo. During his reign, the construction of the Zamalek Stadium was established, as well as the social building continued as the club's official president until 1961.In 1961, Zamalek paid Real Madrid to play against them.

Hamada and Hazem Emam

Hamada Emam was a popular player on the club who helped raise the club's profile. In 1962, there was a new board with Hassan Amer as a president and emeritus deputy Mohammad Shawky, Mohammad Lateef, Galal Kereitam, Mahmoud Emam, and Mahmoud Hafez. Hassan Amer stayed as president until the defeat of the Egyptian army in 1967.

Hassan Shehata in 1975

Hassan Shehata,One of the best players in Egypt and Africa throughout history is a player and coach who was an integrated player on the defensive and offensive levels. He is considered the best player in the history of Egyptian football for what he presented and got the best player in Asia.He Made the popularity of Zamalek, especially in the Arab Gulf region After retirement, he achieved three championships with the nations of Africa and the latest boom Great inside the national team, playing the Intercontinental Cup, and playing the Egyptian team with a high and honorable level [13]. led Zamalek in the 1963/64 season as the team won the league for the second time.

Zamalek Fc 1964

In 1968, during the War of Attrition Zamalek hosted the Ismaily and Al masry clubs and rest of the Suez Canal teams at its grounds Confirming to his role for helping his brothers.

Mohamed Hassan Helmi

In 1967, the Minister of Youth and Sports Talat Khairy decided that the club boards would be appointed rather than elected, and hence Mohammed Hassan Helmy took the presidency[14] to become the first sportsman in Egypt to become a president of a club. He became an icon of Zamalek. He remained president until July 1971 where the rules were changed to allow board elections again and to forbid anyone from being president if they had already held to presidency for two consecutive terms. Tawfeek El Kheshen took over the presidency and the honorary presidency was given to Helmy. In 1973, Helmy was elected president and stayed as the head of the board till 1984.

Zamalek won the first African title against Nigeria's Shooting Stars after beating them in Cairo 2-0 and in Nigeria 0-1.In 1984 Hassan Amer became president, followed by Hasan Abo el Fetouh in 1988. During his period, a new rule from the Ministry of Youth increasing the number of elected board members to ten, which was reduced in 1990. Under Fetouh, the club built many new buildings, including a gymnasium that is considered one of the biggest in the Middle East. He also increased the funding for most of the sports teams in the club and assisted in the winning of many championships during his era. In 1990, Galal Ibrahim became the temporary president of the club due to the death of Fetouh until September 1990, when the general club meeting was held and elected Mohamad Nour El Daly as the president. In 1992, Galal Ibrhim became the new president. The rules were changed to require that the vice treasurer be selected mostly by the board members; Hamada Emam was selected by default to that position while Abdel Hamid Shaheen was elected treasurer. The board members were Ahmed Shereen Fawzy, Mahmoud Marouf, Mohamad Fayez El Zummur, Raouf Gaser, and Tarek Ghonaim. The new rules required the board to have two members under the age of 30. For these two spots, Samy Abo El Kheir and Ihab Ibrahim were elected. The members appointed by the high committee for youth and sports were Mohamad Amer, General Hanafy Reyad, and Farouk Abo El Nasr. By 1994, Abdel Hamid Shaheen was not able to continue his duties due to his sickness, but the board chose to keep him in the position in honor of his devotion to the club, and thus Farouk Abo El Nasr was appointed to take over the duties while keeping Shaheen in the position. In 1995, changes came to the board due to the court removal of four members in the board due to their six absences from board meetings. These members included Mahmoud Marouf, Mohamad Fayez El Zummur, and Dr. Mohamad Amer. The newly appointed members were Mortada Mansour, Mahmoud Abdallah, Mounnir Hassan, and Ibrahim Latif. The high committee for youth and sports objected on linking the appointed members with the elected ones, so Mounnir Hassan and Ibrahim Latif forfeited their positions for the good of the club and to remove any embarrassment happening to the board.

Mido

Ahmed Hossam Mido is one of the best players in Africa and Egypt, started his football career in 1999 and played at the age of sixteen years of age, and after that, he made a career in many European teams.After retirement, he trained the club team and won the Egypt Cup in 2014 as the youngest Egyptian coach to win a championship[15] The newly two appointed members for the club board were Mohamad Amer and Farouk Abo El Nasr in support of their abilities and dedication. Shereen Fawzy was selected to be treasurer till the new elections. On Thursday 4 July, Abd El Menem Emarah decided to release the club board and the Egyptian Football Federation board after the sad incidence in the game between Ahly and Zamalek season 95/96, as the board decided to freeze the football activity in the club. A one-year temporary club board was selected with Kamal Darweesh as president, Abd EL Aziz Kabil as vice president, and board members Hanafy Reyad, Magdy Sharaf, Ismail Selim, Azmy Megahed, and Mohamad Abd El Rahman Fawzy. Also, accountant Mahmoud Badr El Deen was appointed as treasurer.

In 2000 there was a match between Zamalek and Palestine in Gaza After breaking the Zionist siege,Zamalek was named the best club in the world by the IFFHS in February 2003. It was also the first Egyptian team to qualify for the 2001 FIFA Club World Cup in Spain but that competition doesn't happen because of funding problems.Zamalek won seven trophies between the 2002/03 and 2003/04 seasons,Zamalek Club achieved them in one season as the most club achieving titles in one year, beating Barcelona FC by six titles in 2009.In 2005 many boards were dismissed by the decision of the Minister of Sport, which led to organizational uncertainty from 2005 until 2013.That changed the form of competition in Egypt for years. The football team only won two championships and the other games were severely affected.[16]

He was the president of Zamalek club for two terms from 1996 to 2005. It was a golden age for Zamalek in all sports, including football .He is one of the most prominent club presidents in Egypt, the Arab world and Africa, and he is one of the most loved among the fans of Zamalek. Zamalek won 16 football championships during his reign, but overall he achieved 1186 championships in 24 games and He assumed the chairmanship of the Board of Directors in 2013 on a temporary board for the second time. He is still the most president achieved in Zamalek in History.[17]

In 2014, Mortada Mansour took over the club and Zamalek rebounded again. Zamalek Club has achieved in his age many titles since its last term in many games, and a great social and construction boom has occurred in the club.In his first year, Zamalek football team won the Egypt Cup then the Egyptian Premier League[18] and the Egypt Cup and reached the CAF Confederation Cup semi-final in 2015. In 2016, Zamalek reached the final of the CAF Champions League and achieved the Egypt Cup and the Egypt Super Cup In his fourth year 2018,Football team achieved the Egypt Cup. In 2019 Zamalek won the CAF Confederation Cup[19] and achieved Four more titles《The Egypt Cup ,the Saudi-Egyptian Super Cup, the Egypt Super Cup and the CAF Super Cup 》.Since 2014 ,The football team achieved 11 championships, the last of which was the Egyptian Super and the African Super in one week .[20] [21]

The year 1974 saw at least forty-eight people die in a stampede at a friendly game against Czechoslovak club Dukla Prague at the Helmy Zamora Stadium.

The second disaster was in 8 February 2015, when twenty supporters were killed by policemen upon orders from the club president Mortada Mansour outside the 30 June Stadium.[22]

Cairo Stadium

Stad El Qahira El Dawly
Full name	Cairo International Stadium
Location	Nasr City, Cairo
Capacity	75,000
Record attendance	130,000
Surface	Grass
Construction
Built	1955–1960
Opened	23 July 1960
Renovated	2019
Architect	Werner March

The club has no regular home ground. Their old stadium, Abdel Latif Abou Regaila Stadium, is not suitable for hosting the first team's official matches due to its limited capacity, its central downtown location, and need of renovations. The players train in Abdel-Latif Abo Regeila but play their home matches in Cairo International Stadium for local matches and Al Salam Stadium for continental matches.[25]

Mohamed Hassan Helmy Zamora stadium, before changing its name to Abdel Latif Abu Rujaila, and demolishing the stadium's stands

Abdel-Latif Abu-Rajelha Stadium, formerly known as Zamalek Stadium then Mohammed Hassan Helmy "Zamora" Stadium, is a multi-use stadium in Cairo, Egypt. The stadium was initially named in honor of Mohammed Hassan Helmy, the former player and president of Zamalek. It was then renamed in 2014 to Abdel-Latif Abu-Rajelha Stadium after the former president of Zamalek Abdel-Latif Abu-Rajelha.[1] It is currently used mostly for football matches and was the home of Zamalek before they moved to Cairo International Stadium because of the small capacity. The stadium held as high as 40,000 spectators before the capacity was reduced to 20,000 as controls were put in place.

Name	Years	League	Cup	Super Cup	African	Arab	Total
Abdel-Wahed El-Sayed	1997–2014	264 (-213)	40 (-31)	4 (-6)	88 (-28)	27 (-21)	423   (-353)
Abdel Halim Ali	1999–2009	219 (80)	27 (18)	3 (0)	58 (23)	32 (13)	339   (134)
Tarek El-Sayed	1995–2008	207 (19)	23 (2)	2 (0)	56 (5)	35 (0)	323   (26)
Mohamed Aboul Ela	1999–2009	144 (9)	27 (0)	3 (0)	51 (1)	23 (1)	248   (11)
Besheer El-Tabei	1997–2004 2007–2008	146 (9)	21 (0)	2 (0)	42 (0)	22 (2)	323   (11)

[30]

• Most goals scored in all competitions: 134 – Abdel Halim Ali[31]
• Most goals scored in the League: 80 – Abdel Halim Ali[32]
• Most goals scored in October League Cup: 9 - Hassan Shehata[33]
• Most goals scored in the cup: 23 – Alaa El-Hamouly[34]
• Most goals scored in all African competitions: 23 – Abdel Halim Ali[35]
• Most goals scored in all Arabian competitions: 13 – Abdel Halim Ali[36]

African Footballer of The Year

The following players won African Footballer of the Year while playing for Zamalek:

• Emmanuel Amuneke – 1994

Al-Ahram Hebdo Egyptian Best footballer award

The following players won Al-Ahram Hebdo Egyptian Best footballer award while playing for Zamalek:

• Ahmed El-Kass – 1994
• Ismail Youssef – 1996
• Tarek El-Said – 2000
• Hossam Hassan – 2001

• First League match: Farouk (Zamalek) 5–1 El-Masry, Week 1, 22 October 1948.[37]
• First Egypt Cup match: Mokhtalat (Zamalek) 4–0 Tersana SC, first round, 3 March 1922.[38]
• First African Cup Winners' Cup match: Zamalek 3–0 Al Ahly (Tripoli), first round, 7 May 1976.[39]
• First CAF Champions League match: Zamalek 2–1 Simba S.C., first round, 16 March 1979.[40]
• First CAF Cup match: Zamalek 0–1 Gor Mahia, first round, 21 March 1998.[41]
• First CAF Confederation Cup match: Rayon Sports 3–1, 2nd round, 15 March 2015.[42]

• Longest Winning Streak: 10 matches (2012/2013).
• Longest Clean sheet: 7 matches (2014–15 Egyptian Premier League).
• Longest Unbeaten Streak in Egypt Cup (Egyptian Record): 22 matches (2013–2017).
• Longest Unbeaten Home Streak in African Cups (African Record): 70 matches (1976–2005).

League

• Ayman Younes scored the fastest goal in 1990 against Souss after 13 seconds.
• Mohamed Amin scored the first goal in the Egyptian League against El Masry.
• Saad Rostom scored the first hat trick for Zamalek in the league against El Masry.

The following players have won the top scorer award in the league while playing with Zamalek:

Season	Player	Goals
1956–57	Alaa El-Hamouly	16
1960–61	Ali Mohsen	16
1976–77	Ali Khalil	17
	Hassan Shehata
1978–79	Ali Khalil	12
1979–80	Hassan Shehata	14
1987–88	Gamal Abdul Hamid	11
1997–98	Abdul Hamid Bassiouny	15
2000–01	Tarek El-Said	13
2001–02	Hossam Hassan	18
2003–04	Abdel Halim Ali	21
2010–11	Shikabala	13

Cup

• Hussein Yasser scored the fastest goal in the cup against Al Ahly in 2010 after 46 seconds.

As of Egyptian Premier League:

No	Position	Player	Nation
1	Goalkeeper	Mohamed Abou Gabal	Egypt
3	Midfielder	Tarek Hamed	Egypt
4	Defender	Mahmoud Alaa	Egypt
5	Defender	Mohamed Abdel Ghani	Egypt
6	Defender	Mohamed Abdel Salam	Egypt
7	Defender	Hazem Emam (Vice-captain)	Egypt
8	Forward	Mohamed Antar	Egypt
9	Forward	Omar El Said	Egypt
10	Midfielder	Mahmoud Abdul-Razeq (Captain)	Egypt
11	Midfielder	Youssef Ibrahim	Egypt
13	Midfielder	Ferjani Sassi	Tunisia
14	Forward	Mostafa Fathi	Egypt
15	Forward	Mostafa Mohamed	Egypt
16	Goalkeeper	Mahmoud Abdul-Rahim (4th captain)	Egypt
17	Midfielder	Mahmoud Abdel Aziz	Egypt Inj
18	Forward	Karim Bambo	Egypt
19	Defender	Mohamed Abdel Shafy (3rd captain)	Egypt
20	Forward	Achraf Bencharki	Morocco
21	Goalkeeper	Mohamed Awaad	Egypt
22	Defender	Abdallah Gomaa	Egypt
23	Forward	Islam Gaber	Egypt
24	Midfielder	Mohamed Hassan	Egypt
25	Midfielder	Ahmed Sayed	Egypt
26	Forward	Emam Ashour	Egypt
27	Forward	Mohamed Ounajem	Morocco
28	Defender	Mahmoud Hamdy	Egypt
30	Forward	Kabongo Kasongo	DR Congo
34	Defender	Ahmad Eid	Egypt
99	Goalkeeper	Muhammad Sobhy	Egypt

Note: this list includes players that have appeared in at least 100 league games and/or have reached international status.

see also List of Zamalek SC players

Position	Name
President	Mortada Mansour
Vice-president	Ahmed Galal Ibrahim
Treasurer	Ashraf Zaki
Board member	Ismail Youssef
Board member	Hani Zada
Board member	Alaa Meqled
Board member	Ahmad Mortada Mansour
Board member	Hamada Anwar
Board member	Ahmed Adel Abdel Fattah
Board member	Sharifh Al Far

[47]