Ismaily SC

In 1920, the idea of starting an Egyptian club in the city of Ismailia was born. One year later, this dream was fulfilled when Nahda Sporting Club was founded thanks to generous donations and hard work. Nahda was the first Egyptian club in the canal zone, all other clubs were strictly foreign. The club's location back then was where the Friday market is today. It wasn't until 1926 that the club became an official member of the Egyptian Football Federation.

The club's initial state was quite modest, its facilities only consisting of a walled off piece of land with a sand pitch, a single changing room, and a small hut. To improve those, the hut was removed and replaced by a small building in 1931, and grass was planted on the pitch. Expansion continued in 1943, when the club purchased a 15,000 square-meter piece of land and moved there.

For these improvements, a total sum of 6453 L.E. was collected from local families and businesses. The most generous contributors included:

Contractor Mohamed Ali Ahmed contributed 353 L.E.

Dr. Soleiman Eid and Saleh Eid contributed 500 L.E.

Hajj Mohamed Mohamed Soliman contributed 100 L.E.

Sayed Abu Zeid El Menyawy contributed 100 L.E.

Hajj Mohamed Sahmoud and Fahmy Michael contributed 30 L.E.

Hajj Ahmed Ali El Menyawy contributed 25 L.E.

Greek Panayiotis Fasolis contributed 20 L.E.

The first game to take place on the new pitch was between Ismaily and the English Army Team of the canal zone. The new club was officially opened on 11 April 1947. A celebration party was organized for this event, including a friendly game between Ismaily and the Farouk First Club (now Zamalek), which Ismaily won 3–2.

Ismaily's lineup for that match was: Yango, Sayed Abu Greisha, Salem Salem, Ali Hegazy, Anoos El Kebir, Mohamed Abdel Salam, Aly Lafy, Ahmed Mansour, Ibrahim Hablos, Sayed Charley, Awad Abdel Rahman.

The First Title

It wasn't until forty-four years after Ismaily was founded that the Daraweesh achieved their first title. Ismaily had been slowly climbing to the top after returning to the Premier League, and celebrated its maiden championship in the 1966/67 season.

After a few shaky performances at the start to the season, Osman Ahmed Osman, an influential figure in the club, traveled to London, and returned with Ismaily's first ever foreign coach, the Englishman Thompson. Thompson worked with Salah Abo Greisha to keep the team in top form.

Like every other League title Ismaily won, a long and hard battle was fought against Al-Ahly throughout the season. Ismaily secured the title however, after defeating Ahly by Ali Abo Greisha's penalty goal, two weeks before the end of the season.

Of the 22 games played throughout the season, Ismaily won 15, tied 6, and lost only once to Ahly. The Daraweesh scored 34 goals and conceded 17. Ali Abo Greisha was the leading scorer with 15 goals; Shehta, Sayed Abdel Razek, and Reeo scored 4 each; Sayed Hamed, El Araby, Tarboush, Mostafa Darwish, and Mohamed Maaty each scored once.

The African Victory

In 1969, Ismaily became the first Egyptian and Arab team to win the African Championship despite gruelling local conditions following the War of Attrition. The club enjoyed nationwide support in the final game, played in Cairo International Stadium in front of 130.000 spectators against DR Congo's champions TP Engelbert (now competing under the name TP Mazembe).

Ismaily played 8 games, winning 5 of them and tying three. A total of 22 goals were scored; Ali Abo Greisha scored 8, Sayed "Bazooka" scored 6, Amiro scored 4, Hendawy scored 2, and Anoos and Senary each scored 1. Only 9 goals were conceded during the campaign. Ismaily was being coached by Ali Osman and Salah Abo Greisha at the time.

Ismaily also participated in the 1970 African Champions League as defending Champion, this time borrowing several players from other Egyptian clubs. Despite this, they were knocked out in the semi-finals by the eventual champions Asante Kotoko from Ghana. Ismaily kept representing Egypt in the follwoing 7th edition of the tournament, but was again eliminated by the same team, this time in the quarter finals.

In 1972, Ismaily was eliminated early by Libya's Al-Ahli Tripoli. The following year, Ismaily made it to the quarter-finals but was then forced to withdraw due to the October war, despite beating Kenya Breweries (now Tusker FC) over two legs. This should be the last appearance of the club on the international stage for over a decade until the 1986 Cup Winners Cup, that ended with two draws and a subsequent exit against the later champions Al-Ahly.

The Second Domestic Title

It took 24 years for Ismaily to win the League a second time in the 1990/1991 season, after a decisive 2–0 victory over Al-Ahly in Mahalla Stadium.

The competition was between Ahly, Zamalek, and Ismaily. Ismaily finished with 53 points, and scored 47 goals, winning 20, drawing 13 and losing only twice.

Fekry El Sagheer was the top scorer for the Daraweesh, scoring a total of 13 goals. Besheer Abdel Samad scored 6, Atef Abdel Aziz scored 4, Yaser Ezzat and Hamza El Gamal scored thrice, Ayman Ragab and Mohamed Salah Abu Greisha and Adham El Selehdar scored twice, and each of Shams Hamed, Hamadah Marzouk, Essam Abdel Al and Ahmed Kinawy scored once.

Ismaily participated in the Champions League again in 1992, but was eliminated in the semi-finals by Al-Hilal of Sudan on away goals after drawing twice.

Another participation in the Champions League in 1995 ended once more in the semi-finals with a humiliating 5–1 loss to ASEC Mimosas from Ivory Coast.

The First Cup

After winning both the League and the African Championship, Ismaily won its first cup title in the 1996–1997 season.