Zamalek SC
Al Zamalek Sporting Club (Arabic: نادي الزمالك للألعاب الرياضية), commonly referred to as Al Zamalek, is an Egyptian sports club based in Giza. The club is mainly known for its professional football team, which plays in the Egyptian Premier League, the top tier of the Egyptian football league system. Its football team is one of the most successful clubs in North Africa.
| Full name | Al Zamalek Sporting Club | |||
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| Short name | ZSC-ZAM | |||
| Founded | 12 March 1911 | |||
| Ground | Cairo International Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 75,000 | |||
| Chairman | Hussein Labib | |||
| Head Coach | José Gomes | |||
| League | Egyptian Premier League | |||
| 2022–23 | Egyptian Premier League, 3rd | |||
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The club was founded on 5 January 1911 as Qasr El Nile Club and was first headed by the Belgian lawyer George Merzbach. The name was changed two years later to Cairo International Sports Club (CISC), colloquially El Qāhirah El Mokhtalat Club or El Mokhtalat Club. The club was renamed in 1941 after King Farouk of Egypt and became known as Farouk El Awal Club (transl. Farouk I Club). After the 1952 Egyptian revolution, the club changed its name again to Zamalek SC.
Zamalek established itself as the second major force in Egyptian football during the 1920s, as it became the second Egyptian team to win titles. Zamalek was the first Egyptian team to win Sultan Hussein Cup in 1921 and 1922, the Egypt Cup in 1922; and the Cairo League in 1922–23. 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 club of the 20th century in Africa (gaining 9 titles versus 7 for its closest rival) and it has won five CAF Champions League titles, one CAF Confederation Cup title, four 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 when it beat archrival Al Ahly in the 1994 CAF Super Cup.Zamalek Club 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 it qualified in 2000 to the 2001 championship, despite the cancellation of the championship later on.