On 5 January 1911 a club was founded in Cairo that is now one of the best loved in Africa. Zamalek turns 116 on 5 January 2027. Behind the white shirt with the two red stripes lies a story with four names, a king and a revolution.

A Belgian lawyer in Cairo

The founder was George Merzbach, a Belgian lawyer living in the Egyptian capital. The club was established on 5 January and officially opened its doors on 6 February 1911.

In its early years it was run solely by foreigners, and its official papers were written mostly in French. That changed around 1930, when the team's star Hussein Hegazi led the push to put the club in Egyptian hands.

Four names, one soul

The first name was Kasr El Nil, meaning 'Nile Palace'. In 1913 it became the Cairo International Sports Club, known to the public as 'Mokhtalat', 'the mixed one', and that was when its first football team was set up.

In the 1940s King Farouk took the club under his patronage and it was renamed 'Farouk I'. After the 1952 revolution it took its current name, Zamalek, after the Cairo district where it was based.

White for peace, red for the fight

Zamalek has worn white since its early years, which is why its best-known nickname is 'the White Knight'. Its crest draws on Pharaonic times and shows a figure throwing a spear inside a red frame.

The shirt's most recognisable feature is the two parallel red stripes across the chest. According to a popular interpretation in the Egyptian media, the white stands for peace and the red stripes for the struggle for victory.

Exactly when the stripes first appeared is unclear, since old photos also show shirts without them. What is certain is that today the white shirt with two red stripes is recognised instantly across the Arab world.

The team's elegant play earned it another lovely nickname, the 'School of Art and Engineering'. The years of royal patronage live on in the name 'the Royal Club'.

The 'conqueror of foreigners' and African triumphs

In 1921 the team won the Sultan Hussein Cup, and became the first Egyptian team to win a title. Those victories left it with the nickname 'conqueror of foreigners'.

In 1922 it won the first Egypt Cup, the Egyptian FA's first official competition, and its first league title came in 1960. Since then it has filled its trophy cabinet with dozens of domestic honours.

Its big moment in Africa came in 1984, when it won its first African Champions League against Nigeria's Shooting Stars. More titles followed in 1986, 1993, 1996 and 2002, and CAF named it the second-best African club of the 20th century.

Its trophy haul also includes the 2000 African Cup Winners' Cup and two Afro-Asian Cups. Its big games are usually played at Cairo International Stadium, which holds 75,000, while its own ground was completed in 1959 and now bears the name Helmy Zamora.

The legends in white

The first great star was Hegazi, and later came Hassan Shehata, Farouk Gaafar, Ali Khalil and Hazem Emam. In the modern era Shikabala became the face of the club, and the white shirt has also been worn by Amr Zaki, Mido and Nigeria's Emmanuel Amunike.

Celebrate with us

From a club of foreigners in Cairo to a symbol of Egypt, Zamalek has always kept its white colours and its pride. Happy 116th birthday, White Knight!

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Zamalek fans' tifo at the 2015 Egyptian Super Cup – Saiflee100, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.