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CAIRO, February 2, 2012 (AFP)
Egyptian giants Al-Ahly, who suffered the blackest day in their glittering history on Wednesday when 74 people were killed after a league game against Al Masry, are the most successful football club in Africa.
The Cairo-based side, nicknamed the Red Devils, have won 36 national and six African Champions League titles.
Al-Ahly, which means ‘National’, were founded in 1907 by students fighting against English colonisation and quickly imposed themselves as the club of the common man, with neighboring Zamalek Sporting Club regarded as more affluent and middle class.
Despite their first chairman being Englishman Mitchell Ince, the club became 100 percent Egyptian in 1925, with membership reserved for holders of an Egyptian passport.
With more than 100 titles to their name, the club from the El-Gezira district of the capital is the most successful not only in Egypt — winning the last seven national titles — but also with a record of four African Cup Winners’ Cups.
“There are very few clubs in the world who don’t have the right to lose a single match. Al-Ahly are among these,” says the club’s Portuguese coach, Manuel Jose.
Under his reign, the club achieved an unprecedented 55 consecutive victories, going unbeaten in all competitions during the 2004-05 season, before finally losing during the FIFA Club World Cup in Tokyo to Saudi club Al Ittihad.
The most widely supported club in Africa, Al-Ahly have some 50 million supporters around the world according to world football governing body FIFA.
The first African side to qualify for the Club World Cup, Al Ahly are also known as much for their exploits on the pitch as for their style of management, being dubbed the “club with values” by FIFA.
They were named the African club of the 20th century by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in 2000.
