Al Ahly SC
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 08/2015
African Confederation Cup 2014 Winner
Full name
Al Ahly Sporting Club
Nicknames
The Club of Century
The Red Devils
Founded
24 April 1907
Ground
Cairo Stadium
Capacity
75,000 (record 120,000)
Chairman
Mahmoud Taher
Manager
Fathi Mabrouk
League
Egyptian Premier League
2014-15
2nd
Al Ahly Sporting Club, commonly known as Al Ahly or El Ahly, النادي الأهلى is the first genuine Egyptian sporting club.
Founded 24th Of April 1907, Al Ahly was named in 2000 by the Confederation of African Football as the "African Club of the Century".
Al-Ahly is the The Most Successful Club in Egypt the club has won the Egyptian Premier League 37 times, the Egypt Cup 35 times and the Egyptian Super Cup 8 times and Al-Ahly have never been relegated to the Egyptian Second Division.
In continental competitions, Al Ahly hold the record for the 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 once.
HISTORY
Al Ahly was founded in 1907 as a club where leader of Cairo's students' unions could meet during the struggle against colonisation.
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.
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 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.
In 2012 and 2013 winning the Bronze Medal in 2006, becoming the first African club to win a medal in the FIFA Club World Cup 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) .
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.
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, Egyptian Cup, Egyptian Super Cup and CAF Champions League,[7] 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)
(Worldwide / Intercontinental)
FIFA Club World Cup
• Bronze Medalist, 2006
• Fourth place, 2012
• Sixth place, 2005, 2008, 2013
Afro-Asian Cup
• Winners (1) : 1988
African CAF Champions League
• Winners (8) : 1982, 1987, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013 (record)
• Runners up (2) : 1983, 2007
African Cup Winners' Cup
• Winners (4) : 1984, 1985, 1986, 1993 (record)
• CAF Confederation Cup: Winners (1) : 2014
• CAF Super Cup: Winners (6) : 2002, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014 (record)
• CAF Super Cup Runners up (2) : 1994, 2015