ZED FC
Full nameZED Football Club
نادي زد لكرة القدم
Short nameZED
Founded1 November 2009 (2009-11-01) as FC Masr
24 November 2020 (2020-11-24) as ZED FC
GroundZED Park
Capacity4,000
ChairmanOnsi Sawiris II
ManagerMagdy Abdel Aaty
LeagueEgyptian Premier League
2022–23Second Division Group B, Champions
WebsiteClub website

ZED Football Club (Arabic: نادي زد لكرة القدم), formerly known as FC Masr, is an Egyptian professional football club based in Giza, Egypt. The club currently plays in the Egyptian Premier League, the highest league in the Egyptian football league system.

The club was known as FC Masr since its establishment in 2009 until 24 November 2020, when ZED Egypt acquired the club and renamed it to ZED FC prior to the start of the 2020–21 season in Egypt. They previously played in the Egyptian Premier League only once during the 2019–20 season under the name of FC Masr; their last season under that name.[1]

History

2009–2014: Founding and time in lower leagues

FC Masr logo from 2016 to 2020. The club used two other variants of the logo in 2009–2013 and 2013–2016.

On 1 November 2009, Egyptian football management company Masr for Football SAE announced the establishment of the club, with the aim of becoming a leading football club in Egypt concentrating on the youth system. As the 2009–10 season in Egyptian football had already started before November, the club couldn't participate in the lowest league in the Egyptian football league system and was available to enter the Egyptian Fourth Division from the next season. However, FC Masr registered for the league for the 2011–12 season, almost two years after the club was officially founded. Since the Egyptian Fourth Division is a regional league, FC Masr were placed into a group for teams from Cairo.

FC Masr enjoyed a good start to their first-ever season and were close to secure a place in the promotion play-offs, however all football related activities in Egypt were suspended (later abandoned) by the Egyptian Football Association after the Port Said Stadium riot occurred in February 2012 following a 2011–12 Egyptian Premier League match between Al Masry and Al Ahly, which resulted in the death of 74 attendants.[2] In the following season, the club competed in the same group and again finished first, earning themselves this time an immediate promotion to the Egyptian Third Division.

In the Third Division, and similar to the lowest league, FC Masr entered a group for teams from Cairo, Giza, El Monufia and other nearby governorates. The club qualified to the next round of the league, known as the Promotion Groups where teams are divided into groups of 6 teams per group, after leading their regional group. In the Promotion Groups, they succeeded in earning promotion to the Egyptian Second Division for the first time in their history; earning back-to-back promotions from the lowest league to the second-tier league in the league system in only two years.

In November 2020, the club was renamed to ZED FC after the club was purchased by ZED Sports. The new ownership structure implemented former captain Osama Nabieh as manager.[3]

ZED FC's academy won the "Best Academy in Africa" award at the 2021 Globe Soccer Awards.[4]

In December 2021, the club announced a partnership with English Premier League club Aston Villa (which is part-owned by ZED FC owner Naguib Sawiris' brother Nassef Sawiris) to allow young players from their academy to play in Europe.[5] In April 2023, this partnership was expanded and formalised as ZED FC became part of a three-way collaboration with Aston Villa and another part of Nassef Sawiris' V Sports group, Portuguese Primeira Liga club Vitória.[6] The partnership was further expanded in October 2023 with the addition of Japanese J1 League club Vissel Kobe.[7]

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Period Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
2011–2015 Italy Diadora None
2015–2020 Italy Macron
2020–2021 United States Nike
2021–2022 WE
2022– England Umbro

Recent seasons

The recent season-by-season performance of the club:

Season Division Position
2012–13 Egyptian Fourth Division 1st ↑
2013–14 Egyptian Third Division 1st ↑
2014–15 Egyptian Second Division 4th (Group C)
2015–16 Egyptian Second Division 2nd (Group C)
2016–17 Egyptian Second Division 2nd (Group B)
2017–18 Egyptian Second Division 4th (Group B)
2018–19 Egyptian Second Division 1st (Group B) ↑
2019–20 Egyptian Premier League 18th ↓
2020–21 Egyptian Second Division 9th (Group B)
2021–22 Egyptian Second Division 4th (Group B)

Current squad

As of 31 October 2023[8]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Egypt EGY Ali Lotfi
2 MF Egypt EGY Omar Ragab
3 DF Egypt EGY Islam Abdel Ghani
4 DF Egypt EGY Ahmed Mohsen
5 MF Egypt EGY Waleed Hassan
6 DF Egypt EGY Milo
7 FW Egypt EGY Omar El Habashi
8 MF Egypt EGY Karim Bedir
9 FW Egypt EGY Mohamed Nasr
10 FW Brazil BRA Ygor
13 DF Egypt EGY Sherif Ashraf
14 MF Egypt EGY Moemen Mohamed
15 MF Kenya KEN Cliff Nyakeya
16 MF Egypt EGY Ramzy Khaled
17 FW Egypt EGY Omar Farouk
21 FW Egypt EGY Osama Refai Shakhlot
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 MF Egypt EGY Mohamed Hamdy
23 FW Egypt EGY Mohamed Shahin
25 GK Egypt EGY Mohamed Sherif
26 MF Egypt EGY Islam El Far
27 MF Egypt EGY Ramez Farag
29 MF Egypt EGY Mohammed El Kott
30 DF Egypt EGY Ali Gamal
31 MF Egypt EGY Hossny Zaki
34 GK Egypt EGY Abdul Aziz Ahmed
35 GK Egypt EGY Saeed Fathi
36 DF Egypt EGY Mostafa Kalosha
37 DF Egypt EGY Belal Salem
38 MF Egypt EGY Hesham Abdelhamid
39 FW Egypt EGY Mahmoud Rambo
40 FW Egypt EGY Ahmed Tarik
44 DF Egypt EGY Ahmed Dowidar
— MF Egypt EGY Mohamed Ashraf

Managers

  • Egypt Hesham Zakaria (1 August 2014 - 30 June 2015)
  • Egypt Mohamed Salah - 2 Times - (22 September 2015 - 30 December 2015, 13 October 2018 - 5 August 2019)
  • Egypt Ahmed El-Kass (11 December 2016 - 21 January 2017)
  • Egypt Ayman El Mizzayn (1 July 2017 - 18 December 2017)
  • Egypt Khaled Galal - 2 Times - (18 December 2017 - 13 April 2018, 5 February 2020 –17 September 2020)
  • Egypt Osama Nabieh - 2 Times - (5 August 2019 - 6 September 2019, 1 November 2020 - 13 March 2021)
  • Egypt Abdelnaser Mohamed (7 September 2019 - 5 February 2020)
  • Egypt Tareq Abdullah (15 September 2020 - 1 November 2020)
  • Egypt Ismail Youssef (15 March 2021 – 1 June 2022)
  • Egypt Magdy Abdel Aaty (18 June 2022 – Present)


References

  1. ↑ "About us" (in Arabic). FC Masr. Archived from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  2. ↑ "In pictures: Jubilation in Cairo, riots in Port Said". The Independent. 26 January 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  3. ↑ Al-Aees, Shaimaa (26 November 2020). "Zed Sports acquires majority stake in FC Masr". Egypt Daily News. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  4. ↑ "ZED FC (Best Youth Academy in Africa)". Globe Soccer Awards. Retrieved 2021-12-30.
  5. ↑ Ismail, Ali (29 December 2021). "Egypt's ZED academy reach agreement with Aston Villa". KingFUT. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  6. ↑ "Aston Villa confirm ZED FC partnership". Aston Villa Football Club. 3 April 2023. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
  7. ↑ Club, Aston Villa Football (2023-10-19). "Aston Villa and Vissel Kobe seal exciting new strategic partnership". Aston Villa Football Club. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
  8. ↑ "ZED: Squad". Egyptian Premier League. Retrieved 31 December 2023.

Independent websites

  • ZED FC at Egyptian Premier League
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