Association football was introduced to Egypt while it was
occupied by the British. The first football club in Egypt was
El Sekka El Hadid, which was founded in 1903. The
Sultan Hussein Cup was founded in 1917, and though it was dominated by English clubs in its first years, until
Zamalek won it for the first time in
1921, Egyptian clubs quickly gained power. The
Egypt Cup, which no British teams competed in, began in 1922, and won by Zamalek. The first major football league in Egypt also began play in 1922; consisting of clubs from
Cairo, it was called the
Cairo League. Three other leagues, in
Alexandria, on the
Suez Canal, and an obscure league in
Bahary began soon afterwards. It was at this time that the clubs
Zamalek and
Al-Ahly began their dominance, with the two clubs regularly winning the Cairo League and the Egypt Cup. In 1938, the
Egyptian Football Association (EFA) took control of the Cairo Zone Competition, along with the other three leagues. The Cairo Zone Competition was renamed the Cairo League, but otherwise remained mostly unchanged until the mid-1940s. The EFA felt that a national league, rather than many local leagues, was necessary. The President of the EFA passed the idea on to
King Farouk I, who was an avid football fan. The Egyptian Premier League was founded by royal decree, and began play in 1948. During this time, Priemer League results in matches between clubs from Cairo were counted as Cairo League results as well. The Cairo League ceased play in the 1952–53 season and was once played again in the 1957–58 season and cancelled after that season with a narrow difference in the list of title winners between
Cairo rivals, 15 titles for Al Ahly and 14 titles for Zamalek. Zamalek was focused on the Cairo League, winning three consecutive titles from 1949 to 1952, while Al Ahly was dominating the newly born Egyptian League. Despite the importance for this league, few informed and statistics are available. The league was not contested during what would have been the 1951–52 season, as
Egypt's national team were competing in the
1952 Summer Olympics. The season also did not take place due to the
1952 Egyptian revolution, in which
King Farouk was overthrown. Farouk had allowed his name to be used by his favourite club, which quickly renamed itself Zamalek after the revolution.
Gamal Abdel Nasser, who led the coup and took power after Farouk, was a supporter of Al Ahly, and was named club's honorary president soon after he came to power. This increased the intensity of the already fierce
Cairo derby between Al-Ahly and Zamalek. Al Ahly won the competition every season until the 1959–60 season, with the majority in a narrow difference with Zamalek. The 1954–55 season was even stopped when Al Ahly conflicted with the
Egyptian Football Association and withdrew. No title was awarded.
Turbulent Times (1960–1974) In the
1959–60 season, Zamalek finally won their first title after consistently being runners-up, and Tersana were runners-up and Al Ahly finished third. Zamalek won three titles this decade with the help of a new generation led by
Hamada Emam,
Nabil Nosair,
Raafat Attia,
Abdou Noshi,
Samir Qotb,
Yakan Hussein,
Ahmed Rifaat,
Mahmoud Abou-Regaila and others. Al Ahly's grip on the league loosened; though they did win some titles, in the
1965–66 edition, they finished in 6th out of 12, closer to relegation than to the championship. The decade had five different champions:
Ismaily won their first title during this decade, and
El-Olympi and
Tersana won the league for the only time. Also, the
1962–63 and
1963–64 seasons featured 24 teams, a higher number than ever before. In 1971, the league was restarted, only to be swiftly suspended again due to fighting at a match between Al Ahly and Zamalek. A controversial penalty for Zamalek which was scored by
Farouk Gaafar, this resulted in a pitch invasion from Al Ahly fans after Al Ahly goalkeeper Marwan Kanafany asked the fans to protest, and the dispute was so intense that the league was not allowed to continue, and no winner was declared, despite Zamalek finishing 1st in the table.
Ghazl El Mahalla won the league in the
1972–73 season for the only time in their history, but the league was then suspended again for the 1973–74 season because of the
Yom Kippur War, and replaced with the
October League Cup, which was played once and won by Zamalek. ranking near the top of the
CAF 5-year ranking since its inception. In 2011,
another revolution began, part of the
Arab Spring, which eventually resulted in the overthrow of
Hosni Mubarak. Football featured heavily in the popular uprising, as ultras from clubs such as Al Ahly took part in the revolution. 74 people, mostly fans of Al Ahly, died of stab wounds, concussions, and suffocation. Over 500 people were injured. perhaps as revenge for the role of Al Ahly ultras in the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak the previous year. The violence and resulting trial tore Egypt apart for weeks. with
Haras El Hodoud at the top of the table and possibly heading for a surprise victory. Fans were to be barred from entering matches for years afterwards, but the Egyptian Premier League attempted to get back on its feet the next season.
Behind Closed Doors (2013–2021) The
2012–13 season was cancelled as a result of the
2013 Egyptian coup d'état. After this, the Egyptian Premier League gradually returned to power. Al Ahly has won most seasons since 2013, and have also won two CAF Champions Leagues. Zamalek has won two league titles as well. An attempted return of fans was cancelled when a riot at a match between Zamalek and
ENPPI resulted in 19 deaths. Fans were finally going to be let back into stadiums when the
COVID-19 pandemic began, delaying the return until 2021. In 2018, Al Assiouty Sport were bought by
Saudi billionaire
Turki Al-Sheikh and renamed
Pyramids FC. They have since become a strong competitor in the Premier League and also the
CAF Confederation Cup, replacing Ismaily as the third-strongest team in the league.
Partial fans return (since 2021) At the beginning of the
2021–22 season, 2000 fans were allowed in every match (1000 per team). The situation was getting better so in May 2022 the number increased to 5000 (2500 per team). The season witnessed an improvement of the Egyptian Premier League, the appearance of teams such as: Cairo-based
Future FC and Alexandria-based
Pharco FC made the league more challenging and entertaining. Zamalek defended their title after they won the 2021–22 edition of the league, while Al Ahly witnessed a mass deterioration and even finished the league in third place (behind Pyramids FC and Zamalek) to be out of the top two since 1992 when the club ended the league in the 4th place. Ismaily was on the verge of relegation to the second division but the club eventually managed to improve its results and finished the season in 9th place, while the newly founded Future FC finished in 5th place and managed to qualify for the CAF Confederation Cup, as it was in fourth place in most of the 2021–22 season but lost the position to
Tala'ea El Gaish right at the end of the season. At the start of the 2022–23 season, 3000 fans per team were allowed to attend matches. == Trophy ==