Centenary club
FIFA honours Egypt's oldest club. Mohamed El-Sayed looks at a historical great
At a football exhibition in Dubai, FIFA president Joseph Blatter presented the Egyptian Sekkah Al-Hadeed (Railways) Club with a silver plaque marking its centenary anniversary.
At the award presentation, Blatter urged Mohamed El- Siagi, secretary-general of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA), who received the award on behalf of the club's officials, to pay special attention to the 100-year- old club "so that it may continue its role in boosting Egyptian sport as it did throughout its history".
If not for this symbolic but nevertheless thoughtful gesture from the head of the world's governing body in football, few would have remembered that 22 May marked the 100th anniversary of the dean of Egyptian, Arab and African clubs. This may be because the Cairo-based club sank into oblivion when its football team was relegated to the second division 10 years ago.
The club's founding was closely tied to the introduction of the railroad in Egypt at the middle of the 19th century. As Egypt was the first African country and the third in the world to introduce railways, workshops to maintain the trains were needed. Depending mainly on British, French and Italian experts, the workshops were established in the Cairene district of Shobra. The number of the experts exceeded 2,000 in 1900. A sporting club which would allow them and their families to while away the time, play sports and attend social functions became important.
Three years later, the club became a reality. Established in the vicinity of the maintenance workshops in Shobra, Sekkah Al-Hadeed was officially opened on 22 May. Khedive Abbas Helmi II was the guest of honour. (Because of a financial crunch, the club could not celebrate its anniversary in May).
The club comprised one building for social activities, a big hall containing two billiard tables, and playgrounds for football, tennis and athletics. With football being newly introduced to the country by British occupation forces, Sekkah Al-Hadeed was the first Egyptian club to adopt the idea of setting up a football team.
Because the country was occupied, foreigners dominated the club. However, foreign domination did not last long after Egyptians staged the 1919 Revolution, leading to a marked change in the club's management. Six Egyptian members, instead of two, were entitled to join the club's board of directors. Mohamed Mustafa El-Khodari became the first Egyptian to head the club's board.
In 1962, the club moved to the then new Cairene district of Nasr City. The old premises in Bolaq went to a housing project.
There are 15 sports being practiced in the club at present: football, basketball, handball, field hockey, volleyball, speedball, swimming, bodybuilding, weightlifting, wrestling, boxing, athletics, tennis, table tennis and karate.
Throughout its history, Sekkah Al-Hadeed produced a large number of footballers who served in the Olympic and national teams. Among them were Ahmed Mansour, Abdel-Halim Hassan, Ali Riyad, Mohamed Shemeis and Moussa El-Azim. All played in the Amsterdam Olympic Games in 1928.
Sekkah Al-Hadeed was one of 11 teams which played in the first Egyptian national league in 1948. That season they finished eighth. Their last appearance in the Egyptian Premiership was in 1993. But the club is top of its group in the second division and may return next season to the premiership.
The club is due to hold a dazzling celebration next week in commemoration of its centenary.
