Ultras Ahlawy
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Ultras AhlawyUA-07 (Arabic: التراس اهلاوي) is the leading ultras group in Egypt. The first appearance of this group was on 13 April 2007 (Al-Ahly Vs Enppi in the Egyptian premier league), when they raised their banner for the first time. Since that date Ultras Ahlawy follow and support Al-Ahly teams not only in football matches but also in other sports like basketball, volleyball, and handball.
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[edit] Background
Al-Ahly has the largest support base in Egypt. This is mainly due to the national history of this club in the struggle against occupation in addition to the patriotic aspect of the club and the large number of titles gained by the football team. This base, which represents more than 60% of the football supporters in Egypt, has been extended to the Gulf countries, especially Saudi Arabia by the Egyptian migrants and Palestine. There are 14 clubs in the Middle East which have the same name and were founded by El Ahly lovers; the most famous one is Saudi Arabian Al-Ahli (Jeddah) founded by the late Prince Abdullah Al Faisal who is also the honorary president of Egyptian El Ahly.
The Ahly fans - called Ahlaweya in Egypt - are not just concentrated in Cairo; most of the population of the Egyptian cities are Ahly fans except for the canal cities (Port Said, Ismailia and Suez) which consider beating El-Ahly in one match more valuable than winning the title. Many incidents begun by these fans, especially Ismaily fans in 2005 after a 6-0 defeat, had unfortunate ends.
[edit] Ultras Movement
[edit] History
[edit] ALU (Ahly lovers union)
In the year 2000, 7 friends that all knew each other from the stadium and through the only online Ahly forum at the time met with the intention of forming the 1st ever organized supporters club in Egypt. Since they were a group of around 40 persons that sat in the same stand (east stand, tania yemeen) they decided it was time to form a group, and the name Ahly Lovers Union was chosen. This name entered the history books because after that every team in the land formed a group that is called XX Lovers Union, which is an indication of their (Ahly) role as leaders on and off the field. In the year 2001, , they decided to create a giant flag ( 40 x 20 ) as a tifo for the friendly against Real Madrid which was organized as a celebration for the club after El-Ahly was chosen as African club of the century. The giant tifo was the talk of Egypt at the time. It was the first tifo in the history of Africa. Several small tifos followed; the last was a huge flag in the Barcelona game. The group may be in decline, but it has built strong foundations for the ultra movement in Egypt.
[edit] AFC (Ahly fans club)
In 2004 , 10 people influenced by the European style of “curva” decided to start a group in the curva Nord. Back then the traditional house for the singing fans was the east stand or where ALU were located; they went and sat there by themselves and singing by themselves. Their slogan was non stop singing for 90 minutes. They began to gain popularity due to their new style, as Egyptian fans were very famous for being extremely loud before the game and fading down during the actual game, and with the board decision to increase tickets prices and separate the east and the curva with different tickets (historically the east and the curva were same price), they were the 1st ones to introduce the Grecques. The Grecques make a habit in the curva once El-Ahly takes a 2 goal lead to just give their back to the stand and jump around. They were the first to start using flares and pyrotechnics to celebrate goals, as well as an increased use of drums.
[edit] Ultras Ahlawy
[edit] The founders
March 2007, a hardcore fans of Egyptian club Al-Ahly (one of the biggest teams in Africa, if not the biggest) met with one thing on their minds: introducing the ultras movement in Egypt.
The reason for the meeting was that this group of friends weren’t happy about the direction the existing supporters’ groups were heading as at that time, as they seemed to care more about organizing meetings with the players and talking with the media rather than focus on their job — which in there opinion, should always be improving the atmosphere in the stadium.
The general feeling in that meeting was after seven years of organized supporters clubs (mainly two, the Ahly Lovers Union and the Ahly Fans Club, on April 2007 ahly's fans saw the first time the new Ultras Ahlawy banner was displayed in the curva nord next to the AFC banner, they sit in gate 11 in Curva Nord of Cairo stadium, right beside AFC (one of the other 2 groups), but starting from February 2008 the AFC withdrew from the "Curva Nord". AFC might return to the "Curva Nord" though after their presence in their old stands in the Cairo Stadium in the Platinum Stars African CL 2008 match in May 2008.
[edit] First Choreography
on May 2007, it was the fifth anniversary of Ahly’s 6-1 victory over Zamalek, UA-07 created a tifo that contains a devil, El-Ahly nickname is the red devils, blowing candles in a cake that has five candles in reference of the fifth anniversary. It was the first time that normal fans saw choreo in the derbies, and it was a huge success at the first appearance.
[edit] Works
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[edit] References
- Interview with one of the founders"
- Egyptian Ultras, From the Inside"
- Ultras Paint Colorful Picture for Egyptian Football"
- Ultras Ahlawy (Video)
- We are Egypt choreography (Video)
- Pyro-Show by Ultras Ahlawy (Video)
