Zamalek SC
Egypt
Premier League
Zamalek Sporting Club (Arabic: نادي الزمالك للألعاب الرياضية), commonly referred to as Zamalek, is an Egyptian 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. The club is renowned for its consistent success at both domestic and continental levels, regularly contending in CAF tournaments.
Founded on 5 January 1911 in Cairo as Kasr el-nil club, the club has traditionally worn a white home kit since its inception. The club won its first championship title in 1913. The club is most widely supported in Africa and the Middle East. Zamalek is credited to be the first Egyptian club to participate in the Sultan Hussein Cup in 1917, as a sign of resistance to the British presence in Egypt and a way to display the Egyptian presence in the sport, this encouraged other Egyptian clubs to participate after. 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.
Domestically, Zamalek established itself as a major force in Egyptian football since the 1920s, as it is the first Egyptian team to win a title in the history of Egyptian football. Zamalek is the first Egyptian club to win Sultan Hussein Cup in 1921, and the first club to win the Egypt Cup in 1922; and the first club to win the Cairo League in 1922–23. In domestic football, the club has won 14 Egyptian Premier League titles, 29 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. 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 African football club of the 20th century (gaining 9 titles versus 7 for their closest rival), and one of the most successful clubs in the world. 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, it 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. Zamalek is regularly contending in CAF tournaments and is one of the most successful clubs in Africa.
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