Al-Merrikh SC

Al-Merrikh SC

Full name	Al-Merrikh Sporting Club
Nickname(s)	Al-Zaeem (The Leader) The Red Devils Al-Ahmar Al-Wahhag
Founded	Initially as Al-Masalam in 1908 – November 14, 1927
Ground	Al-Merrikh Stadium Omdurman, Sudan
Capacity	45,000
President	Gamal Al-Wali
Manager	Luc Eymael
League	Sudan Premier League
2015	Sudan Premier League, 1st
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

Al-Merrikh Sporting Club (Arabic: نادي المريخ الرياضي‎) is a Sudanese football club based in Omdurman. Their home stadium is Al-Merrikh Stadium, which is locally known as The Red Castle. Founded in 1908, Al-Merrikh is one of the oldest football clubs in Africa, and have won the Sudan Premier League 20 times and Sudan Cup 24 times. Al-Merrikh means Mars in Arabic. The club share a fierce rivalry with Al-Hilal, the games between them regularly selling out, as well as being the only other realistic challenger to the league crown. Al-Hilal are also based in Omdurman and between them they are Sudan's most powerful and successful football clubs.

Club history

Al-Merrikh was founded under the name of Al-Masalma Sporting Club in 1908 by students from Al-Masalam district in Omdurman of Gordon Memorial College. The club renamed as Al-Merrikh Sporting Club on 14 November 1927.^[1]

Crest

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  Old crest

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  Present crest

Honours

National titles

• Sudan Premier League^[2]

Champions (16): 1971, 1972, 1974, 1977, 1982, 1985, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2015

• Sudan Cup^[3]

Winners (14): 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

• Khartoum League 1

Champions (17): 1954, 1956, 1962, 1966, 1968, 1972, 1974, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997

International titles

• CAF Confederation Cup

Runner-up (1): 2007

• African Cup Winners' Cup

Winners (1): 1989

• CECAFA Clubs Cup

Winners (3): 1986, 1994, 2014

Runners-up (3): 1987, 1988, 2009

• Dubai Golden Cup

Winners (1): 1987

Performance in CAF competitions

Participated 36 times in all CAF championships

• African Cup of Champions Clubs / CAF Champions League: 19 appearances

( 8 times First Round – 7 times Second Round – 1 time Quarter-Finals – 1 time Group Stage – 1 time semifinal– 1 time Preliminary Round) –

1971 – Second Round 1973 – Second Round 1975 – Quarter-Finals 1978 – Second Round

1983 – First Round 1986 – First Round 1991 – First Round 1994 – First Round 1998 – First Round 2001 – Second Round

2002 – Second Round 2003 – First Round 2009 – Group Stage 2010 – Second Round 2011 – First Round 2012 – Second Round 2013 – First Round 2014 – Preliminary Round 2015 – Semifinals 2016 – Second Round

• CAF Confederation Cup: 7 appearances

(1 time as Finalist – 1 time semifinal – 1 time – 1 time Quarter-Finals – 1 time Intermediate Round – 1 time Preliminary Round) – Semifinals

2004 – Preliminary Round 2005 – Quarter-Finals 2006 – Intermediate Round

2007 – Final 2008 – Group Stage

2010 – Second Round of 16 2012 – Semifinals

2016 – in progress

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• African Cup Winners' Cup: 11

appearances (1 time Winner – 2 times semi-finals – 1 time Quarter-Finals – 3 times Second Round – 4 times First Round)

1984 – Second Round 1985 – First Round 1987 – First Round 1989 – Winner 1990 – semi-finals

1992 – semi-finals 1993 – Quarter-Finals 1995 – Second Round

1997 – First Round 1999 – First Round 2000 – Second Round

Current squad (2014–15)

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK El Muez Mahgoub 2 GK Ehab Zoghber 3 GK Atef Abdallah 4 FW Bakri Al-Madina 5 DF Ahmed El-Basha 6 DF Ahmed Abdalla 7 DF El Rayah Maki 8 DF Omer Bakhit 9 DF Ali Gaffar 10 DF Ala'a Eldin Yousif 11 DF Bakhit Khamis 12 MF Ragei Adbdalla 13 MF Ramadan Agab

No. Position Player 15 FW Francis Coffie 16 DF Balla Gabir 18 FW Abdu Gabir 19 MF Ahmed Abakar 21 MF Augustine Okrah 22 DF Mosaab Omer 25 DF Issac Malikh 27 FW Didier Lebri 30 FW Solomon Jabason 42 MF Magdi Abdelatif 44 MF Ayman Saied 60 FW Mohamed Traoré 99 FW Mohamed Marhoum

Managerial history

Updated: July 2014.^[4]

Mansour Ramadan John Manning Senad Kreso Ion Motroc Saleh El Ghayaty (1967–74) Jafar Dirar (1985) Ernst Röder (1989) Hassan Shehata (1989–90) Horst Köppel (1991) Hassan Al Masri (1991) Horst Köppel (1994) Hassan Al Masri (1996) Salah Mushkila (1996) Mohamed Mazda (1996) Mészáros (1997)

Jafar Dirar (1998) Salah Mushkila (1998) Mohamed Mazda (1999) Jafar Dirar (1999–00) Sadiq Al Omda (2001) Marco Cunha (2002) Ahmed Rifaat (2002–03) Carlos Roberto Pereira (2003–04) Werner (2004) Mahmoud Saad (2004–05) Branco Tucak (2005) Mahmoud Saad (2005–06) Mohammed Omar (2006) Gamal Abuanjah (2006) (CT) Otto Pfister (2006–07)

Mohamed Mazda (2007–08) Michael Krüger (2008–09) Salah Mushkila (2009) (CT) Rodion Gačanin (2009) Mohamed Mazda (2009) (CT) José Luis Carbone (2009–10) Gamal Abuanjah (2010) (CT) Michael Krüger (Jul 2010 – Nov 2010) Hossam El-Badry (Dec 2010 – Dec 2011) Farouk Jabra (Dec 2011 – Mar 2012) Heron Ricardo Ferreira (Mar 2012 – Dec 2012) Mohamed Nabil Khoukhi (Dec 2012 – Aug 2013) Michael Krüger (Aug 2013 – Feb 2014) Otto Pfister (Feb 2014 – ) Diego Garzitto (2014) Luc Eymael (Jan 2016–)

Presidential history

Al-Merrikh have had numerous presidents over the course of history, none of them was owner of the club, although the land on which the current stadium was owned by Abdularahman Shakhour, some of the presidents have been honorary players. Currently Gamal Alwali is the chairman. Here is a complete list of Al-Merrikh club presidents from 1927 until the present day.

Khaled Abdullah Sulaiman Atabani Mohammed Khair Ali Mohammed Ali Bakhiet Yousif Omer Agha Mohammed Bashier Fourawy Mohammed Sherrief Ahmed Ishag Shadad Dr. Mohammed Saeed Bayiomy Bashier Hassan Bashier

Ibrahim Mohammed Ahmed Fahmy Sulaiman Yousif Abusamra Abdulrahim Osman Saleh Dr. Mohammed Alfatih Badawy Mohammed Osman Awad Abuzeid Abdulrahman Shakhour Mahadi Alfaki Hassan Abu-ala'ila

Fouad Altoum Abdulaziz Shiddou Khalid Hassan Abbas Abdulhamid Haggoug Mahil Abu Ginna Dr. Tag Alsir Mahgoub Mohammed Eliyas mahgoub Dr. Gamal Alwali

References

1. "تأسيس نادي المريخ (Foundation of the club)". Al-Merrikh Official website. 1 September 2014.
2. "Sudan – List of Champions". Hans Schöggl and RSSSF 1999/2011. 12 December 2011.
3. "Sudan – List of Cup Winners". Hans Schöggl and RSSSF 1999/2011. 12 December 2011.
4. "22 مدربا تناوبوا على تدريب المريخ فى العشر سنوات الماضية". sudanafoogonline. Retrieved 22 July 2014.

External links

• (Arabic) Official website