The Egyptian Premier League (or the Nile Premier League for sponsorship reasons) is an Egyptian football league. It is considered the highest league in Egypt. It is supervised by the Egyptian Football Association. It is held in a round robin system. The champion and runner-up qualify for the African Champions League, while third place and sometimes fourth place qualify for the CAF Champions League. The African Confederation Cup, and the last three teams in the league standings are relegated to the second division, while the group leaders in the second division qualify for the Premier League. The first edition of the tournament was held in the 1948-49 season, and Al-Ahly Club won it. This would be the first team to win the tournament, and since then, 7 clubs have won the title successively, and Al-Ahly holds the record for the number of times the tournament has been won with 43 titles, followed by Zamalek with 14 titles, then Al-Ismaily with 3 titles, then Ghazl El-Mahalla, Al-Tersana, Al-Olympic and the Arab Contractors with a title. Single. Zamalek won its first league in the 1959-60 season, while Al-Ismaily won its first league in the 1966-67 season, Al-Tersana Club won its only title in the 1962-63 season, the Olympic Club won its only title in the 1965-66 season, and the Arab Contractors won its only title in the 1982 season. -83, while Ghazl El Mahalla won its only title in the 1972-73 season, and Zamalek holds the record for the number of times it achieved league runner-up, as it won 34 times, while Ismaily holds the record for the number of times it achieved third place, as it won 17. Once, Al-Ismaily also holds the record for the number of times obtaining fourth place in the league, as it obtained it 11 times, and Al-Masry holds the record for the number of times obtaining fifth place, as it obtained it 8 times, and Al-Ahly and Zamalek are considered the only two clubs in Egypt to They have not been relegated to the second division since the start of the tournament. The current title holder is Al-Ahly Club after winning the title in the 2022-23 season.
the date
The origins of heroism
The owner of the idea of establishing the Egyptian League was the journalist Mahmoud Badr El-Din, who thought of creating it to become like the English League. Some consider that the establishment of the league was more a political reason than a sporting one, as well as the creation of a new interest other than the interest in losing in the 1948 war, which would have caused the collapse of the king’s rule. Farouk agreed with Egypt, so the idea was approved by the Egyptian Football Association.
Beginnig of the tournament (1948–1959)
The first edition of the tournament was played in the 1948-49 season, and 11 teams participated in it. The names of the teams that played in the first season were Al-Tersana, Al-Tram, Al-Ahly, Al-Masry, Port Fouad, Farouk, Al-Ittihad of Alexandria, Olympic, Ismaili, the Greek Sports Federation in Alexandria, and Al-Sekka. Al-Ahly won this season; This would be the first team to win the league title.
Al-Ahly team won the first league championship.
Al-Ahly’s control over the tournament continued, winning its title in the 1949-50 seasons, which witnessed a decrease in the number of teams to 10 teams, and 1950-51. In the 1951-52 season, the league was suspended due to Egypt’s participation in the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, and league competitions returned. In the 1952-53 season, Al-Ahly won it, and it also won in the 1953-54 season, and in the 1954-55 season the league stopped because some clubs postponed the matches due to the Al-Ahly and Al-Tram match, and it was decided to replay the match by the Competitions Committee due to the violence of Al-Ahly fans. Al-Ahly withdrew from all tournaments, but later the decision was reversed by the Federation due to the withdrawal of the tram this time. It was then decided that the remaining matches would be played after the 1955 Mediterranean Games held in Barcelona, but the postponed matches were not played and the league was cancelled. After that season, Al-Ahly’s control over the championship continued, as it won it in the seasons of 1955-56, which witnessed the number of teams increase to 11 teams, 1956-57, which witnessed the number of teams increase to 14 teams, and 1957-58, which witnessed the number of teams increase to 16 teams and divided into two groups for the first time in the history of the tournament, and 1958-59, which saw the number of teams reduced to 10 teams; Thus, Al-Ahly won the first nine copies of the tournament.
Multiple champions 1960–1967)
In the 1959-60 season, Zamalek won its first title in the tournament, after topping the league after obtaining 28 points. In the 1960-61 season, Al-Ahly returned to winning the championship, after obtaining 28 points. Al-Ahly maintained its title in the 1961-62 season, after obtaining 29 points. ; Thus, he won his eleventh title in the tournament.
Zamalek_SC_(1964)
Zamalek team, winner of the 1963-64 league championship.
In the 1962-63 season, which saw the number of teams increase to 24 teams and their division into two groups, Al-Tersana Club won its first and only title in the tournament, and in the 1963-64 season, Zamalek won its second title in the tournament, and Zamalek maintained its title in the 1964-65 season, which witnessed... Team numbers reduced to 12 teams; Thus, Zamalek won its third title in the tournament, and in the 1965-66 season, the Olympic team won its first and only title in the tournament, and in the 1966-67 season, Al-Ismaily won its first title in the tournament.
Repeated cancellation of the tournament (1967–1974)
Due to the 1967 war and the War of Attrition, the tournament was canceled for four consecutive years. The 1967-68, 1968-69, 1969-70, and 1970-71 seasons were cancelled. The tournament returned again in the 1971-72 season, making it the first tournament to be played since 1967, with 11 teams participating. However, the season was not completed, due to riots occurring in the Al-Ahly and Zamalek match in the ninth week, where Al-Ahly fans attacked Zamalek fans, and the referee canceled the match, and the Football Association then decided to cancel the season, and in the 1972-73 season, which witnessed the number of teams rise to With 12 teams, Ghazl El Mahalla won its first and only title, and in the 1973-74 season, which witnessed the number of teams rise to 18 teams, the season was not completed due to the October War and Egypt’s hosting of the African Cup of Nations, and the tournament was replaced by a mini-tournament called the October Cup, which Zamalek won.
1974-75 Al-Ahly returned to win the league title; Thus, Al-Ahly achieved its twelfth title in the tournament, and Al-Ahly maintained the title for two consecutive seasons, as it obtained it in the 1975-76 season, which witnessed the number of teams increase to 24 teams and the division of the teams into two groups, and the 1976-77 season, which witnessed the number of teams decrease to 15 teams. Before Zamalek returned in the 1977-78 season, which saw the number of teams decrease to 14 teams, they won the league title for the fourth time in its history. After that, Al-Ahly dominated the league for four consecutive seasons, winning the league title in the 1978-79 season, which saw the number of teams decrease to 12 teams. The 1979-80 season, which saw the number of teams increase to 16 teams, the 1980-81 season, which saw the number of teams decrease to 14 teams, and the 1981-82 season; Al-Ahly increased its titles to 18 league titles, and in the 1982-83 season, which witnessed a decrease in the number of teams to 12 teams, the Arab Contractors won its first and only league title, and after that, Zamalek returned to win its fifth league title in the 1983-84 season, after which Al-Ahly returned. To win the nineteenth league title in its history in 1984-85, Al-Ahly maintained its title in two consecutive seasons, namely the 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons. In the 1987-88 season, Zamalek won the sixth league title in its history, and in the 1988-89 season, Al-Ahly won the title. The twentieth league in its history, and in the 1989–90 season, which witnessed the number of teams rise to 14 teams, the league was canceled due to Egypt’s participation in the 1990 World Cup.
The 1990s (1990–2000)
In the 1990-91 season, which saw the number of teams increase to 18 teams, Al-Ismaily won the second title in its history, after winning the league deciding match against Al-Ahly with a score of 2-0, and in the 1991-92 season, which witnessed the number of teams decrease to 14 teams, Zamalek won. With its seventh title in the tournament, Zamalek maintained its title in the 1992-93 season; Zamalek increased its titles to 8 league titles, after which Al-Ahly maintained the league title for seven consecutive seasons, winning it in the 1993-94 season after winning the league deciding match against Al-Ismaily with a score of 4-3, the 1994-95 season, and the 1995-96 season, which witnessed... The number of teams increased to 16 teams, the 1996-97 season, the 1997-98 season, and the 1998-99 season, which witnessed a decrease in the number of teams to 14 teams. It ended the twentieth century by winning the league title in the 1999-2000 season. Al-Ahly increased its titles to 29 league titles.
The beginning of the new millennium (2000–2013)
Zamalek returned to win the ninth championship in its history in the 2000-01 season, and in the 2001-02 season, Al-Ismaily won its third championship title, and in the 2002-03 season, Zamalek won the tenth league title in its history, and Zamalek maintained its title in the 2003-04 season. Zamalek increased its titles to 11 in the league, after which Al-Ahly maintained its title for seven consecutive seasons, winning the league in the 2004-05 season, the 2005-06 season, the 2006-07 season, which witnessed an increase in the number of teams to 16 teams, the 2007-08 season, and the 2008-09 season. After he faced Al-Ismaily in the match to determine the champion and defeated him with a score of 1-0, in the 2009-10 season and the 2010-11 season; Al-Ahly increased its titles to 36 league titles.
In the 2011-12 season, which saw the number of teams increase to 19 teams, the league was canceled due to the events at Port Said Stadium, which resulted in the deaths of 74 Al-Ahly fans. In the 2012-13 season, which saw the number of teams decrease to 18 teams and their division into two groups, the league was cancelled. Because of political events.
Contemporary era (2013–present)
In the 2013-14 season, which witnessed the number of teams increase to 22 teams and their division into two groups, Al-Ahly won its thirty-seventh title in the league, after it and Smouha advanced from the first group, and Zamalek and Petrojet advanced to a four-way round to determine the league champion, which Al-Ahly won, and in In the 2014-15 season, which witnessed the number of teams increasing to 24 teams, Zamalek won the twelfth title in its history and its first in 11 years. After that, Al-Ahly maintained the league title for five consecutive seasons, winning the league in the 2015-16 season, which saw the number of teams decrease to 18. teams, the 2016-17 season, the 2017-18 season, and the 2018-19 season. In the 2019-20 season, the league stopped in the middle of the season due to the spread of the Corona virus, so it stopped from March 12, 2020 until August 6 of the same year, and clubs were allowed to make 5 substitutions per match. Instead of 3, but in a maximum of 3 periods, and Al-Ahly won this edition as well. Al-Ahly increased its number of titles to 42 league titles. In the 2020-21 season, Zamalek won the championship for the thirteenth time.
Tournament rules
Tie-breaking criteria
In the event that two or more teams are equal in number of points, the teams’ ranking and positions will be determined according to the following system:
The number of points obtained by both teams.
Direct confrontations between the two teams (without resorting to the away goals law).
Goal difference.
The team with the most goals scored.
Drawing lots by the Egyptian Football Association.
statistics
Statistics were last updated on April 10, 2021:
Goal statistics
First goal: Mohamed Amin, Farouk player, against Al-Masry (October 22, 1948).
First hat-trick: Saad Rostom, Farouk player, against Al-Masry (October 22, 1948).
The first Super Hat-trick: Mr. Attia (Toto), Al-Ahly player, against the Olympic (October 7, 1949).
The player who scored the most hat-tricks: Hassan Chadli (10 times).
The player who has scored the most super hat-tricks: Mr. Attia (Toto) (3 times).
Fastest goal: Ahmed Ali Kamel, Arab Contractors player, against Al-Dakhiliya (11.32 seconds after the start of the match) (2018-19 season).
The team that scored the most goals in one match: Al-Masry vs. Beni Suef (11-0) (1963-64 season).
The player who scored the most goals in one match: Saleh Selim, Al-Ahly player against Al-Ismaily (7 goals) (1957-58).
The player who scored the most goals in one season: Hassan Chadli, Al-Tarsena player (34 goals) (1974-75).
The player who scored the fewest goals and won the league’s top scorer title: Ayman Shawky, Al-Karroum player (8 goals) (1983-84).
statistical
These are titles
The player who won the most league titles: Hossam Hassan (11 with Al-Ahly and 3 with Zamalek).
The player who won the most consecutive titles: Saleh Slim and El-Sayed Attia (Toto) (9 consecutive titles).
The club that won the most consecutive titles: Al-Ahly (9 consecutive titles).
Club statistics
Clubs that finished the league undefeated:
Al-Ahly (7 times, 1975-76, 1978-79, 1985-86, 1998-99, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2016-17).
Zamalek (twice, 1980-81, 2003-04).
Al-Ismaily (once, 2001–02).
Longest unbeaten period: Al-Ahly (71 matches, from the defeat by Zamalek on May 15, 2004 until the defeat by Ismaily on May 25, 2007).
Longest winning period: Al-Ahly (21 matches, from May 19, 2004 until January 14, 2005).
Clubs that have never been relegated since the start of the league: Al-Ahly and Zamalek.
Clubs that have never been relegated since rising to the league:
Al-Ahly (since the 1948-49 season).
Zamalek (since the 1948–49 season).
Enppi (since 2002-03 season).
Talaea El Gaish (since 2004–05 season).
Smouha (since 2010–11 season).
Ceramica Cleopatra (since 2020–21 season).
National Bank (since the 2020–21 season).
Future (since 2021-22 season).
Varcoe (since 2021–22 season).
The most relegated club to the second division: Mansoura (8 times).
The club that won the most in one season: Al-Ahly (28 matches, 2017-18 season and 2019-20 season).
Highest rate of victories in one season: Al-Ahly (92.3%, 2004-05 season).
The club with the most draws in one season: Al-Ismaily (19 matches, 2014-15 season).
Highest draw rate in one season: Ghazl Damietta (63.3%, 1986-87 season).
Most defeated club in one season: Damanhour Games (30 matches, 2014–15).
Highest defeat rate in one season: Suez Petroleum (86.3%, 1963-64 season).
The club with the most goals in one season: Al-Ahly (75 goals, 2017-18 season).
Highest goal scoring average in one season: Al-Ahly (3.06, 1957-58 season).
The club that scored the least goals in one season: Naseej Helwan (6 goals, 1987-88 season).
Lowest goal scoring rate in one season: Naseej Helwan (0.27, 1987–88 season).
The club that conceded the most goals in one season: Al-Assiouty Sport (88 goals, 2014-15).
Highest goals conceded rate in one season: Olympic (2.67, 1953-54 season).
The club that conceded the least goals in one season: Al-Ahly (two goals, 1975-76 season).
Lowest goals conceded rate in one season: Al-Ahly (0.09, 1975-76 season).
Most points achieved in one season: Al-Ahly (89 points, 2019-20 season).
Highest average points achieved in one season: Al-Ahly (2.84, 2004-05 season).
The club with the least points in one season: Naseej Helwan (4 points, 1987-88 season).
Lowest average of points achieved in one season: Naseef Helwan (0.18, 1987-88 season).
Seasons statistics
Season with most goals scored: 2014-15 season (907 goals).
Highest goal average: 1962-63 season (3.62).
Lowest season in which goals were scored: 1950-51 season (206 goals).
Lowest goal average: 1948-49 season (1.58).
Season with most victories: 2014-15 season (262 victories).
Highest win rate: 1961-62 season (81.1%).
Season with fewest wins: 1959-60 season (62 wins).
Lowest win rate: 1991-92 season (56.5%).
Record of heroes
1948–49: Al-Ahly
1949–50: Al-Ahly
1950–51: Al-Ahly
1951–52: Did not
1952–53: Al-Ahly
1953–54: Al-Ahly
1955–54: Not completed
1955–56: Al-Ahly
1956–57: Al-Ahly
1957–58: Al-Ahly
1958–59: Al-Ahly
1959–60: Zamalek
1960–61: Al-Ahly
1961–62: Al-Ahly
1962–63: The Arsenal
1963–64: Zamalek
1964–65: Zamalek
1965–66: Olympic
1966–67: Al-Ismaili
1967-68 to 1971-72: It did not occur
1972–73: Ghazl El Mahalla
1973–74: Not completed
1974–75: Al-Ahly
1975–76: Al-Ahly
1976–77: Al-Ahly
1977–78: Zamalek
1978–79: Al-Ahly
1979–80: Al-Ahly
1980–81: Al-Ahly
1981–82: Al-Ahly
1982–83: Arab Contractors
1983–84: Zamalek
1984–85: Al-Ahly
1985–86: Al-Ahly
1986–87: Al-Ahly
1987–88: Zamalek
1988–89: Al-Ahly
1989–90: Not completed
1990–91: Al-Ismaili
1991–92: Zamalek
1992–93: Zamalek
1993–94: Al-Ahly
1994–95: Al-Ahly
1995–96: Al-Ahly
1996–97: Al-Ahly
1997–98: Al-Ahly
1998–99: Al-Ahly
1999–00: Al-Ahly
2000–01: Zamalek
2001–02: Al-Ismaily
2002–03: Zamalek
2003–04: Zamalek
2004–05: Al-Ahly
2005–06: Al-Ahly
2006–07: Al-Ahly
2007–08: Al-Ahly
2008–09: Al-Ahly
2009–10: Al-Ahly
2010–11: Al-Ahly
2011–12: Not completed
2012–13: Not completed
2013–14: Al-Ahly
2014–15: Zamalek
2015–16: Al-Ahly
2016–17: Al-Ahly
2017–18: Al-Ahly
2018–19: Al-Ahly
2019–20: Al-Ahly
2020–21: Zamalek
2021–22: Zamalek
2022–23: Al-Ahly