Zamalek SC

This article is about the men's football team. For the Handball team, see Zamalek SC Handball. For the basketball team, see Zamalek SC Basketball. For the volleyball team, see Zamalek SC Volleyball. For the tennis team, see Zamalek SC Table Tennis.

Zamalek SC
Full nameZamalek Sporting Club
Nickname(s)
  • Madraset El fan W El Handasa
    (School of Art and Engineering))[1]
  • El Nady El Malaky
    (The Royal Club)[2]
  • El Qalaa El Baida
    (The White Castle)[3]
  • El Fares El Abyed
    (The White Knight)[4]
  • Qaher El Aganeb
    (Conqueror of the Foreigners)[5]
Short nameZSC-ZAM
Founded5 January 1911; 113 years ago (1911-01-05)
GroundCairo International Stadium
Capacity75,000
ChairmanHussein Labib
Head CoachJosé Gomes
LeagueEgyptian Premier League
2023–24Egyptian Premier League, 3rd
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Current season
Active departments of
Zamalek SC
Football Volleyball Volleyball
Handball Handball Basketball
Basketball Table Tennis Table tennis
Athletics Karate  Swimming
Croquet Judo Field hockey
Water polo Gymnastics Tennis

Zamalek Sporting Club (Arabic: نادي الزمالك للألعاب الرياضية), commonly referred to as Zamalek, is an Egyptian professional sports 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.[6][7] The club is renowned for its consistent success at both domestic and continental levels, regularly contending in CAF tournaments.[8][9]

Founded on 5 January 1911 as Qasr El Nile Club, the club has traditionally worn a white home kit since its inception. The club's name was changed two years later to Cairo International Sports Club (Zamalek),[10] colloquially El Qāhirah El Mokhtalat Club or El Mokhtalat Club. In 1941, the club was granted the honorific title after Farouk I and became officially known as Farouk El Awal Club (transl. Farouk I Club), however, since the 1910s, Zamalek was the club's unofficial name and it became official after the 1952 Egyptian Revolution.[11]

Domestically, Zamalek established itself as one of the two major forces in Egyptian football during the 1920s, as it is the first Egyptian team to ever win a title. Zamalek was the first Egyptian team to win Sultan Hussein Cup in 1921 and 1922, and the first team to win the Egypt Cup in 1922;[12] and the first team to win the Cairo League in 1922–23.[13] In domestic football, the club has won 65 trophies; 14 Egyptian Premier League titles, 28 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.[14] 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 football club of the 20th century in Africa (gaining 9 titles versus 7 for their closest rival) and 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, Zamalek 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.[15] Zamalek is regularly contending in CAF tournaments and is one of the most successful clubs in Africa.[8]

  1. ^ "تعرف علي الزملكاوية". Youm7.com. 28 December 2017. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  2. ^ العربية, مصر. "ختم "الملكي".. مصادفات تاريخية جمعت الزمالك وريال مدريد". M.masralarabia.net. Archived from the original on 24 March 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  3. ^ "الاتحاد الدولي اليوم". Almasryalyoum.com. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  4. ^ "الفارس الأبيض". gate.ahram.com. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  5. ^ "قاهر الأجانب". rosaelyoussef.com. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  6. ^ "تاريخ النادى". El-zamalek.com. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Africa's greatest teams #2: SC Zamalek". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 30 May 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  8. ^ a b Haytham, Ahmed (3 September 2017). "Łukasz Gikiewicz: Zamalek are one of the biggest clubs in Africa". KingFut. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  9. ^ "StackPath". Dailynewsegypt.com. 26 November 2020. Archived from the original on 23 March 2023. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  10. ^ "The Sphinx, Vol. 22, No. 351 :: The Sphinx". digitalcollections.aucegypt.edu. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  11. ^ Onwumechili, C.; Akindes, G. (8 April 2014). Identity and Nation in African Football: Fans, Community and Clubs. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-35581-2 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ "تاريخ 109 عامًا مرت على تأسيس نادي الزمالك". goal.com (in Arabic). 5 January 2020. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  13. ^ "Dr. Tarek Said's Homepage – Zamalek Sporting Club – Zamalek in History Books". Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  14. ^ "تعرف علي عدد بطولات الزمالك الحقيقي في ذكراه الـ 110". 5 January 2021.
  15. ^ "Africa's greatest teams #2: SC Zamalek | Goal.com". www.goal.com. 16 July 2021. Retrieved 1 April 2024.