Smouha SC was founded on 29 December 1949, and was named after the club's first president & founder
Joseph Smouha, who was a Jewish textile manufacturer, philanthropist, and property developer and designer. Joseph Smouha was born on 1 January 1878 in
Baghdad. In 1892, he moved to
Manchester, England, where he became a successful cotton manufacturer, and in 1912, he became the first President of the St. Annes-on-the-Sea congregation. During
World War I, he and his family made their fortune manufacturing army clothing for the British. In 1917, Smouha came to Alexandria at the behest of the British because of his close ties to His Majesty's government and its representatives in the Middle East, as well as his position as one of
Lawrence of Arabia's backers. After the War, Smouha bought the marshes of Lake Hadara, some 700 acres of water and marshland. Beginning in 1924, the Smouha family operated a sort of privately owned regional development authority, first draining the marshes, then paving two-lane roads. An industrial zone sprang up near the Ford assembly plant already in the area. For residents' convenience, a golf course was built, along with tennis courts and a race tract. Tracts of land were sold to private investors who wanted to build their homes in the area, which rapidly turned into the most exclusive
neighborhood in Alexandria. Mr. Smouha donated much of his property to schools, hospitals and other public institutions. The new suburban garden city became known as "Smouha City". During
WWII, Smouha's three sons served in the RAF, and Smouha contributed heavily toward the purchase of Spitfire planes, the aircraft used in the first line of attack to protect Britain's skies. Due to threats from the Germans, the British Embassy ordered Smouha to leave Egypt. The family then moved to
Ramallah,
Palestine for six months, before returning to Egypt once more. During his negotiations for the swamp region, the Egyptian government initially offered to give the land to Smouha for very little to no money, while Smouha insisted on paying a fair fee. This fact later served the Smouha family well after the
Nasser government confiscated Smouha City after the Sinai Campaign and refused to compensate the family. Joseph Smouha died on 25 September 1961 in Paris at age 83. Engineer, millionaire, founder and chief executive of
Faragalla Group, as well as
parliament member
Mohamed Farag Amer led Smouha Club from 1998 to 2021 and Again from 2022 to 2025, lost re-election to Former dean of Sports Sciences Faculty of
Alexandria University, Dr. Mohamed Belal on November 28th, 2025. == Smouha Sporting Club ==