Al Ahly Sporting Club (Egyptian pronunciation: [elˈahli]),[1] commonly known as Al Ahly or El Ahly, is an Egyptian sporting club. Founded in April 1907, Al Ahly was named in 2000 by the Confederation of African Football as the "African Club of the Century".
As of 2014, the club has won 130 official trophies (106 domestic, 4 Arabian and 20 international), more than any other senior team in the world.[2] On winning the 2014 CAF Super Cup, Al Ahly set a record in terms of international titles won.[3]
Domestically the club has won the Egyptian Premier League 37 times, the Egypt Cup 35 times and the Egyptian Super Cup 8 times. In continental competitions, Al Ahly hold the record number of wins in the CAF Champions League 8 times, the defunct African Cup Winners' Cup 4 times, the CAF Super Cup 6 times, and the CAF Confederation Cup 1 time respectively.
History
Al Ahly was founded in 1907 as a club where leader of Cairo's students' unions could meet during the struggle against colonisation.[4]
On 25 February 1907, Amine Samy chose the name 'Ahly' for the newly founded club to fit with its purpose. It started out as an Egyptian Limited Liability Company with a capital of 5000 EGP. The club's first chairman was an English man named Mitchell Ince, who facilitated the foundation of the club and issued planning permissions for the land it owned. In the year 1922, electricity was connected to the club's headquarters for the first time to replace gasoline in a major project that cost 52 EGP at the time.
Three years later, the club's congress decided to make membership exclusive to Egyptians, earning them the title of 'the people's club'. From these humble origins, Al Ahly have attracted a large number of followers all over Africa, and claim to have over 50 million supporters, making them one of the most popular clubs in the world.
The club also has a reputation for being one of the most organised and sophisticated in the Middle East, adopting a high moral stance in its business dealings. For this reason it is known as 'the club of values' – a phrase initially coined by the club's all-time idol and former president Saleh Selim.[5]
Al Ahly began to dominate the Egyptian game in the 1940s. In the 1980s the club became successful on a continental level, winning the African Cup of Champions Clubs in 1982 and 1987. They triumphed again in the renamed competition in 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008[6] under the coaching of the Portuguese Manuel José and 2012, then finally 2013 making them the most crowned team in Africa, with 8 Champions League titles, four Cup-Winners' Cups, six Super Cups and one Afro-Asian Club Championship.
In 2001, Al Ahly celebrated their crowning of club of the century in Africa by facing the European club of the century Real Madrid which Al Ahly won 1–0
Al Ahly was the first club to reach the FIFA Club World Cup twice following two consecutive appearances in 2005 and 2006 then in 2012 and 2013 winning the Bronze Medal in 2006, becoming the first African club to win a medal in the competition. After qualifying for the 2013 edition, Al Ahly became the team with the most appearances in the FIFA Club World Cup, having qualified for 5 times out of 10 competitions.
Al Ahly supporters were targeted in a post-match riot at Port Said Stadium in February 2012 which resulted in numerous deaths (74) .[7] In 2012, Al-Ahly and Al-Zamalek Ultras opposed the FA's decision to resume the League tournament, and made this clear by staging dozens of protests.
Crest
Al Ahly has had three crests in its history. The first, adopted in 1907, lasted until the 1952 Revolution. The second crest was used from 1952 until 2007, when the club unveiled a new design to commemorate Al Ahly's first century of existence. The club's main colours, red, white as well as the flying eagle are derived from Egypt's flag during the Khedives era.
The current crest has 3 stars on top of it representing 30+ Egyptian Premier League trophies (each 10 trophies = 1 star), and 8 stars at the bottom representing 8 CAF Champions League trophies.
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Al-Ahly's crest, 2007–present
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Colors
Al Ahly's home kit, since the club's founding, has always been the familiar red shirt with white shorts. The team's away kit is the dark blue shirt with dark blue shorts, although the team formerly played with white shorts in the away kit. The old away kit used until the 90s was a green shirt with white shorts and green socks. In 2008, Al Ahly unveiled their third kit for the first time since the club's founding. It was first used in a match against bitter rivals Zamalek SC. The kit is composed of Ahly's home shirt and black shorts. It is still currently in use as a third kit and is still worn by the team in all Al-Ahly versus Zamalek Derbies. This is due to the fact that Zamalek SC wears a white home kit, with two red stripes on the shirt. If Al-Ahly wore their home kit in the derby matches, there would be only a small difference in the shirt colour and no difference in the shorts' colour.
Stadium
Al Ahly formerly played their home games at their own ground, Mokhtar El-Tetsh Stadium, but its capacity was too small for the club's support. As a consequence, Al-Ahly now play their home ties at the Cairo International Stadium.[4] Before seats were added to all sections in 2005, the stadium was notorious for holding more people than it was intended to. Cairo Stadium has a record of hosting over 120,000 fans in Egypt vs Cameroon match in 1986.
Ultras
Al Ahly has an "ultras" fan group. Ultras Ahlawy is based in Cairo and is the largest ultras group in Africa while Ultras Devils is based in Alexandria and has members from other coastal cities near Alexandria. Despite having several fan groups, they all support the team from the stadium's North gate.
Perfect season
2005 represented an especially unique season in Ahly's illustrious history. The team would go on to set an unprecedented record of going an entire season being unbeaten in almost all possible competitions. 46 matches were played in the Egyptian Premier League,[8] Egyptian Cup, Egyptian Super Cup and CAF Champions League,[9] with Ahly remaining unbeaten in all of them (as well as winning all 4 trophies). This feat has yet to be emulated. The club only lost 1 match, in the FIFA Clubs World Cup (16 Dec.).
2006 also is considered one of the best seasons for Al Ahly as they were able to win the Egyptian domestic league, Egyptian domestic cup, Egyptian Super Cup, CAF Champions League, CAF Super Cup along with the bronze medal of FIFA Club World Cup to collect an unprecedented set of trophies that year.
Growth
Al Ahly has developed into more than a club over the years. After Al Ahly's original club in Gezira (in Zamalek district), Al-Ahly founded two more clubs, one in Nasr City and one in 6 October City (still under construction); the three of them continuously utilise skilled youth talents day-by-day. Al-Ahly historically formed the first ever TV channel belonging to a club in Africa, Al-Ahly TV. The channel went through great success since its formation, winning Egyptian sports TV channel of the year 2010 award from AlAhram newspaper. Al Ahly also became the first club in Africa (second in Middle-East after Al-Hilal KSA) to form an official store chain, Al-Ahly Official Stores in Nasr City and other locations around Cairo.
Titles
Total number of trophies: 130 (Record).
[10]
Worldwide / Intercontinental
African
UAFA competitions
Domestic
League
- Egyptian Premier League
- Winners (37) 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1960–61, 1961–62, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2013–14 (record)
- Runners up (10) 1966–67, 1977–78, 1983–84, 1987–88, 1990–91, 1992–93, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04
- Cairo League
- Winners (17) 1924–25, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1931–32, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1947–48, 1949–50, 1957–58 (record)
Cup
- Egypt Cup (33 solo titles, two titles in conjunction with Zamalek SC in 1943 and 1958)
- Winners (35) : 1924, 1925, 1927, 1928, 1930, 1931, 1937, 1940, 1942, 1943, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1966, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2007 (record)
- Runners up (11) : 1926, 1935, 1941, 1944, 1952, 1959, 1973, 1976, 1997, 2004, 2010
- Egyptian Super Cup
- Winners (8): 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2014 (record)
- Runners up (1) : 2009
- Sultan Hussein Cup
- Winners (7): 1923, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1931, 1938 (record)
- Runners up (4) : 1928, 1934, 1935, 1936
- United Arab Republic Cup (during the UAR era)
- Winners (1): 1961 (record)
- Egyptian Federation Cup
- Winners (1): 1989 (Shared record)
Competitive record
African Club competitions
African Club Competitions |
Year |
CAF Champions League |
African Cup Winners' Cup |
CAF Cup |
CAF Super Cup |
1964–74 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Started in 1992 | Started in 1993 |
1976 | Second round | Did not enter |
1977 | Quarter-finals | Did not enter |
1978 | Withdrew after qualifying | Did not enter |
1979 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
1980 | Did not enter | Did not enter |
1981 | Withdraw from semi-finals | Did not enter |
1982 | Winner | Did not enter |
1983 | Runner-up | Did not enter |
1984 | Did not enter | Winner |
1985 | Did not enter | Winner |
1986 | Did not enter | Winner |
1987 | Winner | Did not enter |
1988 | Semi-finals | Did not enter |
1989 | - | - |
1990 | Second round | Did not enter |
1991 | Quarter-finals | Did not enter |
1992 | Did not enter | Quarter-finals | Did not enter |
1993 | Did not enter | Winner | Did not enter | Runner-up |
1994 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
1995 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
|
African Club Competitions |
Year |
CAF Champions League |
African Cup Winners' Cup |
CAF Cup |
CAF Super Cup |
1996 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
1997 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
1998 | First round | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
1999 | Group Phase Runners-up | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
2000 | Group Phase Runners-up | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
2001 | Winner | Did not enter | Did not enter | Did not enter |
2002 | Group stage | Did not enter | Did not enter | Winner |
2003 | Did not enter | Did not enter | Quarter-finals | Did not enter |
| | CAF Confederation Cup | |
2004 | Second round | Did not enter | Did not enter |
2005 | Winner | Did not enter | Did not enter |
2006 | Winner | Did not enter | Winner |
2007 | Runner-up | Did not enter | Winner |
2008 | Winner | Did not enter | Did not enter |
2009 | Second round | Round of 16 | Winner |
2010 | Semi-finals | Did not enter | Did not enter |
2011 | Group stage | Did not enter | Did not enter |
2012 | Winner | Did not enter | Did not enter |
2013 | Winner | Did not enter | Winner |
2014 | Second round | Winner | Winner |
|
Domestic competitions
Egyptian Clubs Competitions |
Year |
Premier League |
Egypt Cup |
Super Cup |
1921–22 | Started in 1948 | - | Started in 2001 |
1922–23 | - |
1923–24 | Winner |
1924–25 | Winner |
1925–26 | Runner-up |
1926–27 | Winner |
1927–28 | Winner |
1928–29 | - |
1929–30 | Winner |
1930–31 | Winner |
1931–32 | - |
1932–33 | - |
1933–34 | - |
1934–35 | Runner-up |
1935–36 | - |
1936–37 | Winner |
1937–38 | - |
1938–39 | - |
1939–40 | Winner |
1940–41 | Runner-up |
1941–42 | Winner |
1942–43 | Winner |
1943–44 | Runner-up |
1944–45 | Winner |
1945–46 | Winner |
1946–47 | Winner |
1947–48 | - |
1948–49 | Winner | Winner |
1949–50 | Winner | Winner |
1950–51 | Winner | Winner |
1951–52 | not held | Runner-up |
|
Egyptian Clubs Competitions |
Year |
Premier League |
Egypt Cup |
Super Cup |
1952–53 | Winner | Winner |
1953–54 | Winner | - |
1954–55 | not finished | - |
1955–56 | Winner | Winner |
1956–57 | Winner | - |
1957–58 | Winner | Winner |
1958–59 | Winner | Runner-up |
1959–60 | Third place | Winner |
1960–61 | Winner | - |
1961–62 | Winner | - |
1962–63 | Third place | - |
1963–64 | Group Fifth | - |
1964–65 | Fourth place | - |
1965–66 | Sixth place | Winner |
1966–67 | Runner-up | - |
1968–69 | not held | not held |
1969–70 | not held | not held |
1970–71 | not finished | not held |
1971–72 | not held | not held |
1972–73 | Fourth place | Runner-up |
1973–74 | not finished | not finished |
1974–75 | Winner | - |
1975–76 | Winner | Runner-up |
1976–77 | Winner | - |
1977–78 | Runner-up | Winner |
1978–79 | Winner | - |
1979–80 | Winner | not held |
1980–81 | Winner | Winner |
1981–82 | Winner | not finished |
1982–83 | Third place | Winner |
1983–84 | Runner-up | Winner |
|
Egyptian Clubs Competitions |
Year |
Premier League |
Egypt Cup |
Super Cup |
1984–85 | Winner | Winner |
1985–86 | Winner | - |
1986–87 | Winner | not held |
1987–88 | Runner-up | - |
1988–89 | Winner | Winner |
1989–90 | not finished | - |
1990–91 | Runner-up | Winner |
1991–92 | Fourth place | Winner |
1992–93 | Runner-up | Winner |
1993–94 | Winner | not held |
1994–95 | Winner | - |
1995–96 | Winner | Winner |
1996–97 | Winner | Runner-up |
1997–98 | Winner | Semi-final |
1998–99 | Winner | Round of 32 |
1999–00 | Winner | Semi-final |
2000–01 | Runner-up | Winner |
2001–02 | Runner-up | Round of 16 | Withdrew |
2002–03 | Runner-up | Winner | Winner |
2003–04 | Runner-up | Runner-up | Did not enter |
2004–05 | Winner | Round of 16 | Winner |
2005–06 | Winner | Winner | Winner |
2006–07 | Winner | Winner | Winner |
2007–08 | Winner | Round of 32 | Winner |
2008–09 | Winner | Round of 16 | Runner-up |
2009–10 | Winner | Runner-up | Winner |
2010–11 | Winner | Round of 16 | Winner |
2011–12 | not finished | not held | Winner |
2012–13 | not finished | Withdrew | not held |
2013–14 | Winner | Semi-final | Winner |
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CAF Club rankings
- Current
Ranking of 21st Century
Ranking of the 20th Century
Players and coaching staff
Current first team squad
- As of 1 February 2015.
Egyptian Football Association (EFA) rules are that a team may only have 3 foreign born players in the squad.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Youth academy squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
No. |
|
Position |
Player
|
33 |
|
GK |
Ragab Abdel Kafi
|
37 |
|
MF |
Nasser Maher
|
38 |
|
DF |
Mostafa Ezzat |
|
|
No. |
|
Position |
Player
|
47 |
|
MF |
Abdel Rahman Eltawil
|
|
|
MF |
Ehab Yasser Rayan
|
|
|
MF |
Ahmed Ramdan |
|
Coaching staff
Position |
Staff |
Manager |
Juan Carlos Garrido |
General coach |
Ahmed Ayoub |
Assistant coach |
Ali Maher |
Goalkeepers coach |
Tarek Soliman |
Fitness coach |
Jorge Semo |
Football Director |
Wael Gomaa |
General Director |
Alaa Abdel Sadek |
Club doctor |
Dr. Ehab Ali |
Doctor |
Dr. Tarek Abdel-Aziz |
Dietician |
Dr. Hany Wahba |
Managers List
|
|
- 37- Ahmed Maher (interim)
- 38- Manuel José (July 2001–May 02) 3
- 39- Jo Bonfrere (July 1, 2002–02)
- 40- Fathi Mabrouk (interim) 1
- 41- Toni Oliveira (Jan 1, 2003–June 30, 2003)
- 42- Fathi Mabrouk (interim) 1
- 43- Manuel José (2nd term) (Jan 1, 2004-09) 3
- 44- Hossam El-Badry (June 22, 2009–Nov 22, 2010)
- 45- A. Abdul-Shafi (interim) (Nov 23, 2010–Dec 31, 2010)
- 46- Manuel José (3rd term) (Dec 31, 2010–May 19, 2012) 3
- 47- H. El-Badry (2nd term) (May 21, 2012–May 6, 2013)
- 48- M. Youssef (interim) (April 29, 2013–May 7, 2013)
- 49- Mohamed Youssef (May 7, 2013–April 30, 2014)
- 50- Fathi Mabrouk (interim) (May 1, 2014–July 7, 2014) 1
- 51- Juan Carlos Garrido (July 8, 2014–)
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- Notes
- Note 1: Fathi Mabrouk was an interim manager 4 times.
- Note 2: Nelo Vingada never actually coached the team as he resigned few days after the press conference.
- Note 3: Manuel José is the only 3 term manager in Al-Ahly history.
Presidents
Al Ahly had only one non-Egyptian president, he was the first, Mitchell Ince.[12][13] The club was created for revolutionary purposes, to unite the youth of the country, especially university students, versus the English colonization, but due to the country rules at that time, the club should have had an English president.
Gaafar Waly Pacha, 19 years, the club icon, El Maestro, Saleh Selim, 18, and Hassan Hamdy, 12, were the only presidents more than 10 years in office. Saleh Selim was the first to apply the maximum presidential term length of 2 rounds in the club. It was not followed since, till the rules of the Ministry of Sports were manipulated in 2013 to enforce the maximum presidential term length.
The club won most titles in the Hassan Hamdy era, on both Domestic (7 Egyptian Premier League titles, 3 Egypt Cup, 6 Egyptian Super Cup) and International (5 CAF Champions League titles, 5 CAF Super Cup) levels, as well as being named the World's Most Successful club, on both Domestic and International basis.
Presidents list
Captains
Other sports
Al Ahly club compete in different other sports. Al Ahly's Handball, Athletics, Volleyball and Basketball teams have won many national, African and Arabic competitions.
Sponsors
See also
References
External links
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| Rivalries | |
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| Miscellaneous | |
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| Related articles | |
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Al-Ahly S.C. seasons |
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- 1948-49
- 1949-50
- 1950-51
- 1951-52
- 1952-53
- 1953-54
- 1954-55
- 1955-56
- 1956-57
- 1957-58
- 1958-59
- 1959-60
- 1960-61
- 1961-62
- 1962-63
- 1963-64
- 1964-65
- 1965-66
- 1966-67
- 1967-68
- 1968-69
- 1969-70
- 1970-71
- 1971-72
- 1972-73
- 1973-74
- 1974-75
- 1975-76
- 1976-77
- 1977-78
- 1978-79
- 1979-80
- 1980-81
- 1981-82
- 1982-83
- 1983-84
- 1984-85
- 1985-86
- 1986-87
- 1987-88
- 1988-89
- 1989-90
- 1990-91
- 1991-92
- 1992-93
- 1993-94
- 1994-95
- 1995-96
- 1996-97
- 1997-98
- 1998-99
- 1999-00
- 2000-01
- 2001-02
- 2002-03
- 2003-04
- 2004-05
- 2005-06
- 2006-07
- 2007-08
- 2008–09
- 2009–10
- 2010–11
- 2011–12
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| African Cup of Champions Clubs | |
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