ZED Football Club (), formerly known as FC Masr, is an Egyptian professional football club based in

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah, Gizeh, Geeza, Jiza''; , , ' ) is the third-largest city in Egypt by area after Cairo and Alexandria; and fourth-largest city in Africa by population after Kinshasa, Lagos, and Cairo. It is the capital of ...

, Egypt. The club currently plays in the

Egyptian Premier League The Egyptian Premier League (), also known as the Nile League () for sponsorship reasons, after the addition of title sponsor Nile Developments, is a professional association football league in Egypt and the highest level of the Egyptian football ...

, the highest tier in the

Egyptian football league system The Egyptian football league system refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system (league pyramid) for Football in Egypt, association football in Egypt. All divisions are bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation. The ...

. 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

only once during the 2019–20 season under the name of FC Masr; their last season under that name.

History

2009–2014: Founding and time in lower leagues

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 In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

. As the 2009–10 season in Egyptian football had already started before November, the club couldn't participate in the lowest league in the

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 Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. 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 The Egyptian Football Association () is the governing body of association football in Egypt. A member of FIFA since 1923 and a founding member of the CAF, the EFA has jurisdiction over the Egyptian football league system and is responsible for ...

after the

Port Said Stadium riot The Port Said Stadium riot was a riot which occurred at Port Said Stadium in Port Said, Egypt on 1 February 2012, following an Egyptian Premier League football match between Al Masry and Al Ahly. Seventy-four people were killed and more than ...

occurred in February 2012 following a

2011–12 Egyptian Premier League The 2011–12 Egyptian Premier League was the fifty-fifth season of the Egyptian Premier League since its establishment in 1948. The season began on 14 October 2011, with a total of 19 teams contesting the league. Al Ahly won the last seven lea ...

match between Al Masry and

Al Ahly Al-Ahly Sporting Club (), commonly known as Al-Ahly, is an Egyptian professional sports club based in Cairo, Egypt. The club is mainly known for its professional football team which currently plays in the Egyptian Premier League, the highest ...

, which resulted in the death of 74 attendants. 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 The Egyptian Third Division () is an Egyptian professional football league that represented the third tier of the Egyptian football league system until 2023. It is administered by the Egyptian Football Association. It is below the Egyptian Seco ...

. In the Third Division, and similar to the lowest league, FC Masr entered a group for teams from Cairo,

, El Monufia and other nearby

governorates A governorate or governate is an administrative division headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is typically used to calque divisions o ...

. 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 The Egyptian Second Division () was an Egyptian semi-professional football league representing the second tier of the Egyptian football league system until 2023. It was administered by the Egyptian Football Association. It was below the top profes ...

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 Osama Nabieh (; born 20 January 1975) is a former Egyptian professional footballer who currently coaches Sudanese club Al-Merrikh. Nabih has played for several clubs in Egypt, including Zamalek, Tersana and Baladeyet Al-Mahalla, and also spent t ...

as manager. ZED FC's academy won the "Best Academy in Africa", as well as the "Best Middle East Academy" awards at the 2021 and 2023

Globe Soccer Awards The Globe Soccer Awards are awards which acknowledge achievements in football. The event is organized by Globe Soccer and involves participation from international football organizations such as UEFA, UAE Pro League, ECA (European Clubs Associ ...

respectively. In December 2021, the club announced a partnership with English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

(which is part-owned by ZED FC owner

Naguib Sawiris Naguib Onsi Sawiris ( ; ; born 15 June 1954) is an Egyptian businessman. Sawiris is chairman of Weather Investments's parent company, and the former chairman and CEO of Orascom Telecom Holding and Orascom Investment Holding S.A.E. Early li ...

' brother

Nassef Sawiris Nassef Onsi Sawiris (; born 19 January 1961) is an Egyptian businessman, and the youngest of Onsi Sawiris' three sons (his brothers are Naguib and Samih). As of October 2021, his net worth was estimated at US$8.7 billion, making him the riche ...

) to allow young players from their academy to play in Europe. 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 V Sports is a holding company that administers association football clubs. The company is jointly owned by American billionaire Wes Edens and Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris, with a minority stake held by American investment firm Atairos. ...

group, Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

club Vitória. The partnership was further expanded in October 2023 with the addition of Japanese

J1 League The , the J.League or the for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Japan and the highest level of the Japanese football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation ...

club

Vissel Kobe is a Japanese professional football club based in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. They are currently the J1 League champions. The club's home stadium is Noevir Stad ...

. After finishing top of Group B in the 2022/2023 Season, ZED FC was promoted to the Egyptian Premier League where it finished in 7th position in the 2023/2024 season. In the 2023/2024 season, ZED FC finished in 2nd place of the Egyptian Cup, after losing the 1-0 in the final.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Recent seasons

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

Current squad

Managers

* Hesham Zakaria (1 August 2014 - 30 June 2015) *

Mohamed Salah Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly (, ; born 15 June 1992), also known as Mo Salah, is an Egyptian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a right winger or Forward (association football), forward for club Liverpool F.C., L ...

- 2 Times - (22 September 2015 - 30 December 2015, 13 October 2018 - 5 August 2019) *

Ahmed El-Kass Ahmed Abdou Abd El-Aziz El-Kass (; born 8 July 1965), is an Egyptian football manager and former football player. Career El-Kass played for Olympic, Zamalek and Ittihad Alexandria in the Egyptian Premier League. He is the league's fifth all- ...

(11 December 2016 - 21 January 2017) * Ayman El Mizzayn (1 July 2017 - 18 December 2017) * Khaled Galal - 2 Times - (18 December 2017 - 13 April 2018, 5 February 2020 –17 September 2020) *

- 2 Times - (5 August 2019 - 6 September 2019, 1 November 2020 - 13 March 2021) * Abdelnaser Mohamed (7 September 2019 - 5 February 2020) * Tareq Abdullah (15 September 2020 - 1 November 2020) *

Ismail Youssef Ismail Youssef Awadallah Mohamed (; born 28 June 1964 in Giza) is a former Egyptian football player. He is currently the assistant manager of the Egyptian Premier League team; Zamalek. Ismail is the youngest brother of two football players; El ...

(15 March 2021 – 1 June 2022) * Magdy Abdel Aaty (18 June 2022 – Present)

References

External links

ZED FC
at Egyptian Premier League {{Egyptian Premier League Egyptian Premier League clubs Egyptian Second Division clubs Football clubs in Cairo Football clubs in Egypt Association football clubs established in 2009 2009 establishments in Egypt