Smouha Sporting Club (Arabic: نادي سموحة الرياضي), simply known as Smouha, is an Egyptian sports club based in Alexandria and the biggest club in the world in space and number of athletes, with 168 feddans in the Smouha city branch, and 208 feddans in the Borg El Arab city branch. The club is mainly known for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Egyptian Premier League, the top tier of the Egyptian football league system.
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| Full name | Smouha Sporting Club (Egyptian Pronunciation: سموحة, Semouha) | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Blue Wave (Egyptian Pronunciation: الموج الأزرق, El Moug El Azra') | ||
| Founded | 29 December 1949 | ||
| Ground | Alexandria Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 13,660[1] | ||
| Chairman | Farag Amer | ||
| Manager | Ahmed Samy | ||
| League | Egyptian Premier League | ||
| 2023-24 | Egyptian Premier League, 6th | ||
| Website | https://www.smouhaclub.com/en/ | ||
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It has 28 sports like Basketball, and Modern Pentathlon, the sport where they most achieve medals and trophies.
History and ownership
editSmouha 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.[2]
Engineer, millionaire, founder and chief executive of Faragalla Group, as well as parliament member Mohamed Farag Amer led Smouha Club from 1998 to 2021
Smouha Sporting Club
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When Joseph Smouha settled in Alexandria in 1923, he became interested in developing a wealthy suburb and turned to the 700 acres of water and marshland used as a garbage dump in Alexandria. Smouha eventually transformed this land into the wealthy neighborhood of Smouha City so nicknamed by suggestion of King Fuad I. Among schools, hospitals, and wealthy neighborhoods with certain royal residents, the Smouha Sporting Club also inhabited Smouha City. The Smouha Sporting Club itself began with the spread of golf across Egypt. As golf became an increasingly played sport through the 1930s, Joseph Smouha planned the construction of an 18-hole golf course in Smouha City at the site of today's Smouha Sporting Club. The golf course was situated within the infield of a racetrack which Smouha had previously constructed. This golf course is renowned for having what is regarded as the best golf grass in the Arab world, as a result of its location above the swampland. The Smouha Sporting Club grew to include tennis courts along with the golf course and race track, and was formally established in 1949. Joseph Smouha was the first chief executive of the sporting club, and today the club remains open under the leadership of Engineer Mohammed Farag Amer. Although the Nasser regime confiscated Smouha City from the Smouha family in 1956, Joseph Smouha had donated much of the property to public institutions and the sporting club remained open. Currently, Smouha Sporting Club provides sportive, social, and cultural services to over 120,000 people—marking it as one of the largest sporting clubs in all of Egypt. The club is particularly famous for its football teams, but supports numerous individual and sports teams.[2]
- Sports
- Athletics
- Basketball
- Bowling
- Chess
- Croquet
- Football (first team)
- Football (juniors)
- Gymnastics
- Handball
- Judo
- Karate
- Swimming and water games
- Squash
- Table tennis
- Taekwando
- Tennis
- Volleyball[3]
Recent additions and branches
editIn 2007, the architectural firm Environmental Consulting Group (ECO Group) began designing new properties for Smouha Sporting Club. Established in 1995, ECO Group is a Middle-Eastern firm of about 100 employees led by Professor Amr El-Sherif. Throughout its history, ECO Group has been involved in construction projects totally over US$300 million. ECO Group has developed the Smouha Sporting Club's club house, cafeteria, swimming pools, and facilities for children.[2]
The club operates three branches as of 2023; Smouha branch, New Borg El Arab branch (under construction).[4]
Football Club
editSmouha has maintained a midtable club status and relative financial stability for most of its time in the Egyptian Premier League. Smouha finished in second place in the 2008–09 Egyptian Second Division season. They were close to being promoted to the Egyptian Premier League, but they lost their final match against Kafr El-Zayat, so El-Mansoura was promoted instead. In the 2009–10 Egyptian Second Division Smouha secured their first ever promotion to the 2010-11 Egyptian Premier League after a 7–1 win against Abu Qair Semad on 28 April 2010.[5] The club was close to being relegated in the 2010–11 season. They had a good start in the 2012–2013 premier league season, defeating Cairo giant Al Ahly 1–0, Ghazl El Mahalla 5–1 and Wadi Degla 3–0.
Alexandria Derby
editBoth being based in Alexandria; Smouha and Al-Ittihad Alexandria have always been an exciting encounter. The rivalry stems from the fact that both teams are the biggest in Alexandria and share the same stadium Alexandria International Stadium. The rivalry is always sure to deliver good football.
Honours and achievements
editFootball Club
Domestic
editLeague
edit- Egyptian Premier League
- Runners up : 2013–14
Cup
editPerformance in CAF competitions
edit- PR = Preliminary round
- FR = First round
- SR = Second round
- PO = Play-off round
| Season | Competition | Round | Country | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | CAF Champions League | PR |  Libya
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Al Ahli Tripoli | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 (5–3 p) |
| FR |  Nigeria
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Enyimba | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | ||
| SR |  Congo
|
AC Léopards | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | ||
| Group A |  Morocco
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Moghreb Tétouan | 3–2 | 1–2 | 4th | ||
 Sudan
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Al Hilal | 1–1 | 0–2 | ||||
 DR Congo
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TP Mazembe | 0–2 | 0–1 | ||||
| 2017 | CAF Confederation Cup | FR |  Kenya
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Ulinzi Stars | 4–0 | 0–3 | 4–3 |
| PO |  South Africa
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Bidvest Wits | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | ||
| Group C |  Zambia
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ZESCO United | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4th | ||
 Angola
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Recreativo do Libolo | 2–0 | 0–0 | ||||
| Sudan
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Al Hilal El Obeid | 1–1 | 1–2 |
Season records
editSeason Div. Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA Pts. Egypt Cup Continental 2008–09 Second Division 2 (Group C) 30 20 7 3 59 22 67 Second round - 2009–10 Second Division 1 (Group C) 30 19 8 3 60 25 65 Second round - 2010–11 Premier League 15 30 6 10 14 33 45 28 Round of 16 - 2011–12 Not finished Not held - 2012–13 Not finished Round of 32 - 2013–14 Premier League 2 23 12 6 5 30 22 42 Runner up - 2014–15 Premier League 10 38 14 9 15 43 37 51 Semi Final CL Group stage 2015–16 Premier League 3 34 13 16 5 45 37 55 Quarter Final - 2016–17 Premier League 5 34 15 12 7 49 40 57 Semi Final CC Group stage 2017–18 Premier League 5 34 14 9 11 37 26 51 Runner up - 2018–19 Premier League 12 34 8 14 12 33 41 38 Round of 16 - 2019–20 Premier League 5 34 11 18 5 44 33 51 Round of 16 - 2020–21 Premier League 4 34 12 18 4 54 41 54 Round of 16 -
Current squad
edit- As of 28 October 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Managers
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Rabie Yassin (1 July 2006 – 30 June 2007)- Mimi Abdel Razek (July 2007 – 1 May 2010)
- Mohsen Saleh (18 May 2010 – 6 August 2010)
Patrice Neveu (6 August 2010 – 21 November 2010)- Hamza El-Gamal (21 November 2010 – 27 May 2011)
- Shawky Gharieb (1 November 2011 – 20 July 2013)
- Hamada Sedki (July 2013 – Oct 2014)
- Denis Lavagne (Oct 2014 – Dec 2014)
- Helmy Toulan (June 2015 – July 2015)
- Mimi Abdel Razek (July 2015)
- Mohamed Youssef (July 2015 – 1 November 2015 )
- Mimi Abdel Razek (2 November 2015 – 2016)
- Helmy Toulan (June 2016 – July 2016)
Jorvan Vieira (2016)- Helmy Toulan (2016)
- Moamen Soliman (2017)
Frantisek Straka (2017)- Talaat Youssef (2018)
- Mimi Abdel Razek (2018) (caretaker)
- Ali Maher (2018)
- Tarek Yehia (2018–2019)
- Adel Abdelrahman (2019) (caretaker)
- Hossam Hassan (2019–2020)
- Hamada Sedki (13 January 2020 – 6 September 2020)
- Ahmed Samy (6 September 2020 – 2 May 2022)
- Abdel Hamid Bassiouny (3 May 2022 – 2 September 2022)
- Tarek El Ashry (4 September 2022 – 25 January 2023)
- Ahmed Samy (26 January 2023 – present)
References
edit- ^ "ALEXANDRIA STADIUM". footballgroundmap.com. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
- ^ a b c "Joseph Smouha, Smouha Sports Club, Alexandria Egypt | Archive | Diarna.org". archive.diarna.org. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ^ "Smouha Sporting Club Official Website | Homepage". Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
- ^ "فرع سموحة". smouhaclub.com (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 25 April 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- ^ Maher, Hatem "Smouha seal first Premier League promotion" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Filgoal, 28 April 2010. Retrieved on 28 April 2010.
External links
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Independent websites
edit- Smouha SC at Egyptian Premier League