Zamalek Sporting Club

Zamalek Sporting Club (Arabic: نادي الزمالك للألعاب الرياضية), commonly referred to as Zamalek, is an Egyptian sports club based in Giza. It is one of the most successful football clubs in Africa and the Middle East, [5] and was the most titled club in African tournaments in the 20th century. 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.[6][7]

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 (C.I.S.C.),[8] 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 .[9]

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;[10] and the Cairo League in 1922–23.[11] 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, 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; making it one of the most successful clubs in Africa. It is also the first Egyptian team to ever win the CAF Super Cup when it beat archrival Al Ahly in the 1994 CAF Super Cup. 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 to the FIFA Club World Cup when it qualified in 2000 to the 2001 championship, despite the cancellation of the championship later on.