The Challenge Bolanachi probably was the first organised football championship in Egypt, although
the issue of L'Imparziale of 5 Jan 1913 identified Alexandria side Devons (surely a British
military team; the 2nd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment had arrived in Alexandria in January 1912)
as "vincitori del campionato 1912".
However, note that the current Egyptian Football Association was founded in 1921 and does not
recognise these tournaments. The Union of Egyptian Sports Associations was also responsible for
the participation of the Egyptian football team
at the 1920 Olympic Games (likewise, the Greek football
team there was selected by a general sports federation, SEGAS, and not by the current Greek FA,
founded in 1926).
This was the first edition of the tournament.
Known Participants
Alexandria
Red Star Foot-Ball Club [founded 1907]
Saint Andrews Football Club [represented the St. Andrews Scottish School for Boys]
Saint François Xavier [represented the Jesuitic Collège St. François Xavier]
Savoia Foot-Ball Club [second category]
Union Sport Club [second category; later merged into Al-Ittihad]
Cairo
Boulac Rink Hockey Foot-Ball Club
C.I.S.C. [Cairo International Sports Club] [*1]
German Foot-Ball Club [Deutscher Sportverein in German] [*2]
[*1] known as Mokhtalat in Arab, later King Farouk Club; called Zamalek since 1952.
[*2] also denoted "Turn Verein Club" in December 1912.
Port Said
Melita Football Club [club of the Maltese community, founded in 1911]
Alexandria Tournament
NB: the start of the tournament was announced (on Nov 21, 1912) for Feb 13, 1913;
Greek FBC did not enter after several players had left to join Red Star;
the following three matches were played prior to the end of February 1913:
First Category
Red Star FBC 4-2 Saint Andrews FC
[played at the end of Nov 1912 and thus probably not part of the tournament]
Red Star FBC 4-0 Saint François Xavier
[reported on May 2 as part of the competition]
Second Category
Savoia FBC 2-0 Union SC
NB: Savoia Foot-Ball Club were proclaimed second level champions at the occasion
of the Egyptian final on May 4.
It is not known whether more matches were played, but on May 2 another result
between Red Star and Saint Andrews was reported as part of the competition:
Red Star FBC 2-0 Saint Andrews FC
NB: Red Star FBC qualified for Egyptian final.
Cairo Tournament
NB: no matches were played prior to March 1913 (but on Dec 1, 1912, the German FBC
lost 0-1 to Ex-Allievi in a friendly); the following three results are known:
[Mar 2, 1913]
German FBC 1-1 Melita FC (Port Said) [aet]
[15 minutes of extra time were played, but no goals were scored during that period;
no further matches of either club were reported, and it is possible both withdrew
or they were considered teams of the second category]
[Apr 13, 1913]
C.I.S.C. 0-0 Boulac Rink Hockey FBC
[Apr 27, 1913]
Boulac Rink Hockey FBC 4-0 C.I.S.C.
NB: Boulac Rink Hockey FBC qualified for Egyptian final.
Egyptian Final
[May 4, 1913; "Milon" society ground, Shatby, Alexandria]
Red Star FBC 0-2 Boulac Rink Hockey FBC [half-time: 0-2]
[Red Star: Assini, Orti, Bakir, Masri, Saffar, Jean-Jacquet,
Tsivilis, Summar, Mohless brothers (3?);
Boulac: G. Aitken; Mohamed Sayed, R. Pattonico; Robertson, Mohamed Gabr,
Aly Hilmi; Hewgill, Morley, Mackay, Maloney, Abdul Salam]
This was the second edition of the tournament.
Known Participants
Alexandria
Greek Foot-Ball Club [Greek name: Podosferikós Ómilos Ellínon Alexándrias; aka Hellenic FC]
Red Star Foot-Ball Club
Savoia Foot-Ball Club
Union Sport Club [later merged into Al-Ittihad]
Cairo
A.E.A.S.I. [Associazione fra gli Ex-Allievi delle Scuole Italiane] [*1]
C.I.S.C. [Cairo International Sports Club] [*2]
[*1] denoted as "Ex-Allievi" in 1912 and the beginning of 1913, later as "Ex-Alunni", but it is
difficult to see how, short of becoming late, an alumnus can stop being one and become "ex".
[*2] known as Mokhtalat in Arab, later King Farouk Club; called Zamalek since 1952.
Alexandria Tournament
NB: all matches at the Red Star ground in Shatby; set up as a league (single round robin),
with 3 points for a win, 2 for a draw and 1 for a loss.
[Nov 16, 1913]
Greek FBC 2-0 Red Star FBC
[Nov 23, 1913]
Savoia FBC 0-0 Union SC
[Nov 30, 1913]
Savoia FBC lt Greek FBC
Standings (Dec 1):
1.Greek FBC 2 2 0 0 6
2.Savoia FBC 2 0 1 1 3
3.Union SC 1 0 1 0 2
4.Red Star FBC 1 0 0 1 1
[Dec 7, 1913]
Red Star FBC abd Union SC [abandoned due to bad weather]
[Dec 14, 1913]
Union SC - Greek FBC
[match announced for "le Dimanche 24 courant" on Dec 12, but that must have been a
misprint as the 24th was a Wednesday]
NB: in the Dec 15-16 issue of L'Imparziale, Greek FBC were reported to have qualified
for the national final, which can only be the case if on the 14th they had played
Union (and did not lose); apparently the final match between Red Star and Savoia
(presumably originally fixtured for Dec 21) and the replay of the match of Dec 7
(reported on Dec 12 as to take place after all other matches had been concluded)
were cancelled.
NB: Greek FBC qualified for Egyptian final.
Cairo Tournament
NB: all matches at the Cairo International Sports Club ground in Boulaq;
only two clubs entered.
[Nov 23, 1913]
A.E.A.S.I. 0-0 C.I.S.C.
[Nov 30, 1913]
C.I.S.C. 2-0 A.E.A.S.I.
[NB: the headline above the match report on Dec 2 gave the result as 3-0, but the report
itself clearly stated: "Verso la fine dell'incontro una discesa dei forwards granati
frutta loro il 2.o e ultimo goal."]
NB: C.I.S.C. qualified for Egyptian final.
Egyptian Final
[Dec 28, 1913; Cairo International Sports Club ground, Boulaq, Cairo]
C.I.S.C. 6-0 Greek FBC [half-time 3-0 or 4-0]
[C.I.S.C.: M. Tewfi(c)k; S(o)uefi, Moh. Said; A. Jamal, Songhurst, S. Korazaty;
Aranghi, H. Korazaty, A. Leone, Southon, R. Williams;
Greek: S. Kafcalla(s); Crampani(s), Papadaki(s); J. Bas(s)iliades, Tsyvilis, Nicolaidis;
Clamos (or Hamos), Jan(n)op(o)ulo, Salvago, Stavrides (or Constantinidis),
Platon Bas(s)iliades]
[the match report in Le Phare d'Alexandrie lists Clamos and Stavrides, while that
in L'Imparziale has Hamos and Constantinidis; L'Imparziale gives the half-time
score as 3-0, Le Phare as 4-0; scorers according to L'Imparziale: Leone 1-0, 2-0,
H. Korazaty 3-0, 4-0, 5-0, 6-0; Le Phare stated Korazaty scored the second goal
and did not identity the scorers of the third and fourth goals]
Sources: Le Phare d'Alexandrie (available through Gallica), L'Imparziale (available through Endangered Archives Programme)
Prepared and maintained by Ahmed El-Gammal and Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Authors: Ahmed El-Gammal and Karel Stokkermans
Last updated: 1 Oct 2025
(C) Copyright Ahmed El-Gammal, Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 2025
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