El Ismaily

It all started back in 1920, more than 100 years ago, when the idea of starting an Egyptian club in the city of Ismailia was born. In 1921, this dream became reality when the Nahda Sporting Club (now Ismaily) was founded thanks to generous donations and hard work. The Nahda was the first Egyptian club in the Canal zone; all other clubs were strictly foreign.

The club's location is where the Friday market is today. It wasn't until 1926 that the club became an official member of the Egyptian Football Federation. Ismaily is called the factory of stars, Ismaily produced great and famous players for Egypt.

The club is known in Egypt as well as its fans "El-Daraweesh"

They are well known for playing football but never score or achieve any championships, they usually lose in the semi-final or Quarter-final or even first rounds of any championship.

i.e.: They lost in Egyptian cup 2008 – 2009 from a 2nd division team in the first round.

The club's initial state was quite modest. Inside the club's brick wall, there existed only a field of sand, one changing room, and a small hut. Of course, the residents of Ismailia were not satisfied; 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.

Building the club required money, and a total sum of 6453 L.E. was collected from local families and businesses. Here is a list of the most generous contributors:

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 to game take place in the new pitch was between Ismaily and the English Army Team (Canal). The new club was officially opened on 11 April 1947. A celebration party was organized for this event. A friendly game was played on this day between Ismaily and the Farouk First Club (now Zamalek). Ismaily won the game 3/2.

Ismaily's lineup 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 finally achieved their first title. Ismaily had been slowly climbing to the top after returning to the Premier League, but it all came together in the 66/67 season.

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

The 1966/67 season had 22 weeks. Ismaily won 15 games, tied 6, and lost one against Ahly. The Daraweesh scored 34 goals and conceded 17. Ali Abu 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.

Salah Abu Greisha coached the team for the first half of the League, but after a few shaky performances, Eng. Osman Ahmed Osman traveled to London, and returned with Ismaily's first ever foreign coach: English Thompson. Thompson worked with Salah Abu Greisha to keep the team in top form.

The African Victory

In 1969, Ismaily became the first Egyptian and Arab team to become the African Champion with the support of All league clubs' fans in the game that was held in Cairo Stadium.

After the League victory of 1967, Ismaily entered the African Champions League of 1969, despite gruelling local conditions following the war. Ismaily made it to the top, undefeated, and won the title in Cairo Stadium, which was packed over-capacity.

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

Ismaily also participated in the next African Champions League as defending Champion, and borrowed several players from other Egyptian clubs. Despite this, Ismaily was knocked out in the semi-finals by a Ghanaian team.

Ismaily then participated in the next tournament (the 7th), but was again eliminated by the same team. In the eighth tournament, Ismaily was eliminated early by the Ahly of Libya. In the ninth tournament, Ismaily made it to the quarter-finals but was then forced to withdraw due to the October war.

Ismaily would not play any African championships for several years, until participating in the African Cup of Cup Winners. Ismaily was knocked out in the semi-finals by Ahly.

Ismaily participated in the Champions League again in 1990, but was eliminated in the semi-finals by Al Hilal of Sudan.

In 1995, in the Cup of Cup Winners, Ismaily was eliminated by Asec Abidjan after an embarrassing 5–1 loss. In the CAF Cup a few years later, Ismaily achieved second place, after Shabibat Al Kaba'il of Algeria after tying 1–1 at home and 0–0 away.

Ismaily also participated in the Champions League in 2019 but was defeated in the group stage.

The Second Domestic Title

It took 24 years for Ismaily to win the League a second time. In the 1990/1991 season, Ismaily won their second Egyptian League title. Ismaily defeated Ahly, 2–0 in a decisive match in Mahala Stadium.

The competition was between Ahly, Zamalek, and Ismaily. Ismaily played 35 matched, including the final match against Ahly, . The team had 53 points, and scored 47 goals. The team won 20 matches:

The team tied 13 matches against: Marreekh, Zamalek, Ahly, Mokawiloon, Mansoura (1–1); Al Minya, Mahala, Port Fouad, Olympic, Masry (0–0).

Ismaily lost twice, once to Ahly and once to Tersana, 1–0.