2008–09 Egyptian Premier League

The 2008–09 Egyptian Premier League was the fifty-second season of the Egyptian Premier League since its establishment in 1948. The league is composed of sixteen teams. Al Ahly SC became the defending champions for the fourth year in a row and the thirty-third time in the league's history. This season began on 8 August 2008 and ended on 24 May 2009.

Egyptian Premier League
Season2008–09
ChampionsAl Ahly SC
RelegatedTelecom Egypt SC
Tersana SC
Olympic Club
CAF Champions LeagueAl Ahly SC (1st),
Ismaily SC (2nd)
CAF Confederation CupHaras El Hodoud SC (Cup Winner),
Petrojet SC (3rd)
Goals scored582
Average goals/game2.42
Top goalscorerErnest Papa Arko (Tala'ea El Gaish SC),Flavio Amado (Al Ahly SC) both 12 goals
Biggest home winIsmaily SC 5–1 Al-Mokawloon
Al Ahly SC 4–0 Petrojet SC
Al Ahly SC 4–0 Tersana SC
Al Ittihad Alexandria Club 4–0 Olympic Club
Tersana SC 4–0 Olympic Club
Biggest away winTala'ea El Gaish SC 2–6 Petrojet SC
Highest scoringTala'ea El Gaish SC 2–6 Petrojet SC (8 goals)

Television

Multiple television channels broadcast the league:

  • Egyptian Channel 2
  • Egyptian Channel 3
  • Nile Sport
  • Egyptian Satellite TV
  • Modern Sport
  • Dream 1
  • A-R-T Sports (1, 2, 3, 4)
  • Al-Riyadiyah (Orbit)
  • Al-Hayat TV (1, 2)
  • Egyptian Channel 5 (Alexandria Teams)

Special matches

In Egypt, the most anticipated matches are among the "triangle of power": Al Ahly SC, Zamalek SC, and Ismaily SC.

Al Ahly versus Zamalek SC is one of the top derbies in the region, referred to as the "Egyptian Derby," the "Cairo Derby," or "Africa's Derby." It is a match between two successful clubs, as they have 13 Champions League titles distributed among them, five for Zamalek SC and eight for Al Ahly SC.

The Cairo–Ismailia rivalry is another challenging competition in Egyptian football, as Cairo-based clubs Al Ahly SC and Zamalek SC have mixed relations with the city of Ismailia, home to the Ismaily Sports Club, the third most decorated team in Egypt. The Zamalek SC–Ismaily SC games are usually peaceful as the clubs' boards and fans have had traditionally good relations with each other, while the relationship between Al Ahly SC and Ismaily SC fans have typically not been well.

The reason for the conflict between Al Ahly SC and Ismaily SC fans is not clear, but possibly stems back to the 1967 Six-Day War. Israeli troops forced the people of Ismailia and most of the people living on the Suez Canal to evacuate and leave their homes, going westwards towards the inside of Egypt. Ismaily SC asked Al Ahly SC to host them, but the team refused. This spoiled the relationship between the clubs. During Al Ahly SC's reconstruction period in 2004, Al Ahly SC signed a group of former Ismaily SC players including Mohamed Barakat, Islam El-Shater, and Emad El Nahhas, further destroying the relationship between fans.

Highlights
  • Mahmoud "Shikabala" Abd El Razek, the Zamalek SC play-maker, was given a 6-month ban by FIFA due to irregularities in his transfer to Zamalek SC from Greek team PAOK FC on July 23 and fined 990.000Euros. He made his comeback on November 7th during a match against Al Mokawloon Al Arab SC.
  • Ahmed Hassan, Egypt's National Team captain, makes his first entrance to the Egyptian Premier League since 1998 with his new club Al Ahly SC from R.S.C. Andelecht for an undisclosed amount.
  • Ghanaian player "Junior" Agogo was transferred from Nottingham Forest FC to Zamalek SC for a reported 800,000 Euros, a record signing of an African player in Egypt.
  • Former PetroJet SC's Ivorian forward Zika Jori stirred Egyptian news with his flight to UAE to complete a transfer to Al-Wasl through buying out the remainder of his contract with the Suez-based club amounting to US$350,000. At the time he was the Egyptian Premier League's top goalscorer.
  • Al Masry SC's general manager Hossam Hassan was given a 6 match touchline ban by the Egyptian FA and fined 50,000 Egyptian Pounds in Week 5 due to his arguments with the referee and the fourth official in Al Masry SC's away match with Egyptian Telecom.
  • Al Ismaili managed to re-enter former forward Mohamed Mohsen Abo Greisha into their ranks after returning from a one-year loan spell in Zhejiang Lucheng of the Chinese Super League. They contracted the striker to a 3 and a half year contract.
  • El-Masry Chairman and Port Said businessman Sayed Metwally died during Week 10 due to Cardiac arrest. As such in the second set of matches of the week, teams wore black armbands. He was 68.
  • Zamalek SC contained Al Ahly SC in the 2nd leg Cairo derby and drew 0–0. Emerging as the star of the night was Hazem Mohamed Emam, 21-year-old full-back as he passed AL Ahly SC defenses early on in the game.
  • The draw with Zamalek SC and Ismaily SC with Zamalek SC winning meant Al Ahly SC needed to win against ENPPI SC at home to maintain a 2-point, but stiff opposition and several refereeing arguments ensured that AL Ahly SC drew 2–2. The trophy had a hand in red and a hand in yellow.
  • The last match of the season saw Ismaili SC facing Tersana SC and AL Ahly SC facing Tala'ea El Gaish SC simultaneously . Ismaily SC played their game and won 3–0 and had to wait for AL Ahly SC's match to end. They had suffered a setback with Tala'ea El Gaish SC drawing first blood with a 1–0 lead. Al Ahly SC pushed on during one of the team's most tense moments in the league. In the 88th minute Abo Trika scored a header into the top corner of the goal drawing the game and AL Ahly SC pushed on for the second. That came during the 93rd minute through Ahmed Fathi to score AL Ahly SC's second goal of the game. 19-year-old striker Mohamed Talaat scored his first-ever goal for Al Ahly SC since his transfer to the team a moment later with a goal above the opposing goalkeeper to confirm Al Ahly SC's win and the league ends with tie-breaking match in Al Max Stadium in Alexandria.
  • 12,000 fans rallied in the 18,000 capacity Al Max Stadium in Alexandria, home of Haras El Hodoud SC. Al Ahly SC faced Ismaily SC in a 1-leg play-off final after both teams scored the same number of points. Al Ahly SC managed a 1–0 victory over their opponents through Angolan pair Gilberto and Flavio. The Angolan winger made a pass inside the box for Flavio to score his 12th goal of the season.

Governorates
Nr. Name Area (km²) Population (2006) Capital Club(s)
1 Alexandria 2,900 4,110,015 Alexandria Al Ittihad Alexandria Club – Olympic Club – Haras El Hodoud SC
2 Asyut 25,926 3,441,597 Asyut Asyut Petroleum SC
3 Cairo 3,435 7,786,640 Cairo Al Ahly SC – Al Mokawloon Al Arab SC – ENPPI – Tala'ea El Gaish SC –Ittihad El Shorta SC – Telecom Egypt SC
4 Gharbia 25,400 3,790,670 Tanta Ghazl El Mahalla SC
5 Giza 85,153 6,272,571 Giza Zamalek SC- Tersana SC
6 Ismailia 1,442 942,832 Ismailia Ismaily SC
7 Port Said 72 570,768 Port Said Al Masry SC
6 Suez 17,840 510,935 Suez Petrojet SC

Title playoff
Al Ahly SC1–0Ismaily SC
Flavio Amado 5'
Attendance: ~ 16,000

League table
Pos Prg Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 = Al Ahly SC (C) 30 18 9 3 52 25 +27 63 2010 CAF Champions League
1 = Ismaily SC 30 20 3 7 52 31 +21 63
3 Petrojet SC 30 13 12 5 47 38 +9 51 2010 CAF Confederation Cup
4 Haras El Hodoud SC 30 14 8 8 34 22 +12 50
5 ENPPI SC 30 13 10 7 49 39 +10 49
6 = Zamalek SC 30 11 9 10 34 29 +5 42
7 = El Geish 30 10 8 12 40 50 −10 38
8 Al Masry SC 30 9 10 11 36 34 +2 37
9 Ittihad El Shorta 30 9 10 11 28 29 −1 37
10 Al Mokawloon Al Arab SC 30 8 13 9 35 37 −2 37
11 Al Ittihad Alexandria Club 30 10 7 13 29 35 −6 37
12 Ghazl El Mahalla SC 30 8 9 13 20 26 −6 33
13 Asyut Petroleum SC 30 9 6 15 25 39 −14 33
14 = Telecom Egypt SC (R) 30 7 11 12 43 46 −3 32 Relegation to 2009–10 Egyptian Second Division
15 = Tersana SC (R) 30 5 9 16 28 45 −17 24
16 = Olympic Club (R) 30 6 7 17 30 57 −27 24[lower-alpha 1]
Updated to match(es) played on May 24, 2009. Source: FIFA.com
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. 1 point deducted?

Top scorers
Rank Scorer Team Goals
1 Ernest Papa Arko Tala'ea El Gaish SC 12
Flavio Amado Al Ahly SC
2 Ahmed Gaafar Telecom Egypt SC 11
Mostafa Karim Ismaily SC
Ihab El-Masry Al Mokawloon Al Arab SC
3 Mohamed Barakat Al Ahly SC 10
Mohamed Aboutrika Al Ahly SC
Adel Moustafa ENPPI SC
4 Mohamed El-Gabbas Al Masry SC 9
Ahmed Raouf ENPPI SC
Abdallah Said Ismaily SC
Ahmed Omran Telecom Egypt SC

Top Scorer by Field Position

POS Scorer Team Goals
FW Ernest Papa Arko Tala'ea El Gaish SC 12
Flavio Amado Al Ahly SC
MF Mohamed Barakat Al Ahly SC 10
Mohamed Aboutraika Al Ahly SC
Adel Moustafa ENPPI SC
DF Mahmoud Fathalla Zamalek SC 5

Last updated May 24, 2009, 11:59 AM UTC.

  • Event: Week 30 is over.
  • Postponed Games: None

Results
Home \ Away AHL MOK ENP TGS GMH HRS ISM ITH MAS OLY PET ASP ITS TEL TER ZAM
Al Ahly SC — 2–1 2–2 3–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 2–1 2–1 3–0 4–0 3–0 0–0 2–1 4–0 1–0
Al Mokawloon Al Arab SC 0–0 — 3–3 2–0 2–0 2–1 3–2 0–0 1–1 3–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 2–1 3–1 1–1
ENPPI SC 3–3 2–2 — 4–1 0–0 4–2 3–0 3–2 1–0 1–0 1–1 3–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 1–4
Tala'ea El Gaish SC 2–2 3–2 1–1 — 1–2 2–2 1–0 4–1 0–0 2–1 2–6 1–0 1–0 2–2 1–0 1–0
Ghazl El Mahalla SC 0–0 1–0 1–1 0–0 — 1–0 1–1 2–0 0–1 1–1 2–1 0–1 0–0 0–0 4–1 0–2
Haras El Hodoud SC 0–1 0–0 3–0 1–1 1–0 — 0–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 0–1 0–0 1–0 2–1
Ismaily SC 0–1 5–1 3–1 3–1 2–0 2–0 — 3–2 3–2 1–0 1–2 1–0 0–2 2–1 3–0 3–1
Al Ittihad Alexandria SC 1–2 1–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–2 — 2–5 4–0 2–3 0–0 0–0 2–1 0–0 1–0
Al Masry SC 2–0 2–2 0–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 1–2 0–0 — 1–1 2–2 3–1 2–1 2–1 0–2 1–1
Olympic Club 0–3 2–0 1–5 1–1 2–1 1–3 2–3 0–1 1–1 — 3–1 2–2 1–0 2–2 2–0 1–2
Petrojet FC 2–2 1–1 3–2 3–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–3 3–1 — 2–1 2–1 2–2 1–1 0–0
Asyut Petroleum 2–2 3–2 1–2 2–1 1–0 0–1 1–3 1–0 0–1 2–1 1–1 — 0–2 0–2 1–0 2–0
Ittihad El Shorta 1–0 1–0 1–2 3–4 0–0 0–2 2–2 0–0 3–0 3–0 1–1 2–0 — 0–1 2–1 0–2
Telecom SC 2–3 1–0 1–1 3–2 3–1 2–2 0–1 1–2 2–1 2–0 1–2 1–2 2–2 — 3–3 2–4
Tersana SC 2–3 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–2 0–2 1–2 1–2 2–1 4–0 1–1 0–0 2–1 2–2 — 0–0
Zamalek SC 0–0 0–0 1–0 4–2 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 2–1 1–3 2–1 0–0 3–1 1–1 1–0 —
Updated to match(es) played on 24 May 2009. Source: angelfire.com
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Statistics

Non-Egyptian Players

Stadiums

Cairo International Stadium is home to Cairo teams Al Ahly and Zamalek. Ismailia Stadium is home to Ismaily SC. The Borg El Arab Stadium in Alexandria (capacity: 80,000) is currently mainly used for international competition, as it was constructed as part of Egypt's bid to land the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Clubs Stadiums
Club City Stadium
Al Ahly SCCairoCairo International Stadium
Zamalek SCGizaCairo International Stadium
Ismaily SCIsmailiaIsmailia Stadium
Al Ittihad Alexandria ClubAlexandriaAlexandria Stadium
Al Masry SCPort SaidAl Masry Club Stadium
Al Mokawloon Al Arab SCCairoArab Contractors Stadium
ENPPI SCCairoPetro Sport Stadium
Tala'ea El Gaish SCCairoGehaz El Reyada Stadium
Olympic ClubAlexandriaAlexandria Stadium
Ittihad El Shorta SCCairoArab Contractors Stadium
Ghazl El Mahalla SCEl Mahalla El KubraGhazl El Mahalla Stadium
Haras El Hodoud SCAlexandriaHaras El Hodoud Stadium
Telecom Egypt SCCairoArab Contractors Stadium
Asyut Petroleum SCAsyutPetro Sport Stadium
Petrojet SCCairoSuez Stadium
Tersana SCGizaMit Okba Stadium
For a full list of clubs see List of football clubs in Egypt.

See also
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