History of Zamalek SC

On December 25, 1910, while attending Cairo Tramways Company's Christmas celebration, Merzbach realized that the company's guest house hosting the celebration on the Nile banks — then the Qasr El Nile casino — would be suitable as a sports club headquarters.

He did not find difficulties in establishing the club due to his strong ties within the Palace of Khedive Abbas II, as well as many friendships with senior officials of Egyptian society.

Al Ahly SC — Cairo's other premier sports club — initially refused to take part, leaving C.I.S.C.

[5] Zamalek started the 1940s with dominating all the major football tournaments in Egypt, they won the 1939–40 and 1940-41 Cairo League consecutively and the 1940 King's Cup.

With Mohamed Latif still on the pitch and with the help of Tewfik Abdullah, the head coach and Zamalek's forward in the 1920s, the team was unbeatable.

[6][7] The 1943 Egypt Cup was won jointly by Zamalek and Al Ahly following the cancellation of the final match.

Soon after, the club moved to its current location on 26 July Street in Cairo, 500 meters west of the Zamalek bridge, occupying an area of 35 acres (140,000 m2) and hosting 24 different sports.

At the time, the rules required that half the club board be changed every year, and Helmy took the position of secretary-general.

While he was out of the country, Haidar Pasha and Haj Sayed El Annany contributed to forming the VIP and first-class stadium stands; when he came back, he resigned and Shawky became president of the board again.

Although Regeila was re-elected for a second term, he had to leave Egypt after he lost his money due to the governmental policy against private property.

Al-Ahly was then going through a difficult period in its history, and there were a large number of issues related to corruption that struck the Egyptian sports field, which were embodied by the journalist writer Yusuf Sibai in one of his novels and several articles.

Zamalek made a phenomenal match and hammered the European champions with a score of 5–1, at a time when the English club was at the peak of its glory and playing in its ranks were six of the stars of the England national team, headed by Bobby Moore.

Following his career as a player, he was active member in the Zamalek administration, eventually serving as president from 1967 through 1984, except a year in 1971-1972 of El-Kheshen.

Helmy also held positions with the Egyptian Football Association, including the presidency, and served as referee, both domestically and internationally.

Khalil scored in both of the 1977 and 1979 Egypt Cup finals, he was nicknamed "Dangerous Ali" by Zamalek fans.

[25] Hassan Amer became club president again in 1984, in the same year that Zamalek won their first CAF Champions League title after beating Nigeria's Shooting Stars S.C. 2-0 at Cairo and 0-1 at Lagos.

The board members were Ahmed Shereen Fawzy, Mahmoud Marouf, Mohamad Fayez El Zummur, Raouf Gaser, and Tarek Ghonaim.

An additional requirement was that the board was to have two members under the age of 30, leading to Samy Abo El Kheir and Ihab Ibrahim being elected.

The final board members, chosen by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, were Mohamad Amer, General Hanafy Reyad, and Farouk Abo El Nasr.

The Ministry objected to having a board made up of both appointed and elected members, so Hassan and Latif forfeited their positions.

Mohamad Amer and Farouk Abo El Nasr were elected in their wake, in support of their abilities and dedication.

Following the events of the '95/96 season between Zamalek and Ahly, season 95_96 season a one-year temporary club board was selected with Kamal Darweesh as president, Abd EL Aziz Kabil as vice president, Mahmoud Badr El Deen as treasurer, and Hanafy Reyad, Magdy Sharaf, Ismail Selim, Azmy Megahed, and Mohamad Abd El Rahman Fawzy as board members.

Ahmed Hossam Mido, considered one of Egypt's best players, started his football career in 1999 at Zamalek, at the age of 16.

After retiring in 2013, he became Zamalek's manager and won the 2013–14 Egypt Cup as the youngest Egyptian coach to win a championship.

He was succeeded by Morsi Atallah; Mansour then took the presidency again after but this was also short-lived, as the National Sports Council intervened and appointed a board headed by Muhammad Amir.

Abbas' board was dissolved in 2010 after Mansour obtained a court ruling stating that the elections were rigged, so an interim council, headed by Jala Ibrahim, was installed.

The 2014–15 Egyptian Premier League season was equally successful, with players such as Tariq Hamed and Ayman Hefny helping the team win the championship by a nine-point lead with only one loss.

[31][32] In the 2015 Egypt Cup Final, Zamalek defeated rival team Al Ahly SC (2-0) and achieved their third consecutive championship title.

On February 17, 1974, at least forty-eight people died in a stampede at a friendly game against Czechoslovakian club Dukla Prague at the Helmy Zamora Stadium.