Egypt Stadiums

It is my intention to contribute to this website with a pictorial series of the Egyptian footballing landscape. Egypt is the cradle of ancient civilization, the museum of history, and the melting pot for all the greatest civilizations over centuries.

We embark on our Egyptian Fields of Dreams tour in Cairo. Al Qahira is the capital of the Arab Republic of Egypt and is the largest city in Africa. A bird’s eye view of the city would include a skyline that is highlighted with lofty minarets and a large number of high-rising, gigantic floodlights.

Some seven miles up the road from Cairo International Stadium, heading for Cairo International Airport, we hit the Cairo Military Academy Stadium at the far end of Orouba Street in the north-eastern Heliopolis district of Cairo.

On the immense scale of Heliopolis in north-west Cairo, El Shams Club is only a stone throne away from Estad El Koleya El Harbeya; or as the birds fly, only a few flapping of the wings.

Traveling back from Heliopolis to Nasr City, one miniscule pixel on the map of Cairo in Google Earth, one giant leap for driving mankind, the Osman Ahmed Osman Stadium beckons.

Fetishists who visit Arab Contactor’s stadium for the first time will not only be baffled by its huge floodlights but also stupefied by a set of stunning counterparts further up on the road.

Had Joe Cocker been an Egyptian crooner from days gone by the lump in his throat would have produced the wonderful isle of Zamalek when singing ‘Cry Me A River’.

Helmi Zamora’s premises would have physically touched Tersana’s Mit Okba if it hadn’t been for the dual carriageway separating the ground twins in Mohandessin.

The Desert Road between Cairo and Alexandria roughly begins at Gizeh where the baffling pyramids sculpture the world’s most fascinating horizon. The Desert Road marks the west boundaries of The Delta on its far edge. To the right there’s the fascinating sight of lush green and parading palm trees, sculpturing the second horizon of intriguing Egypt.

Claustrophobically set in the Hay Charg district of the city, its turnstiles boasts mahogany and oak wood panel doors with the stands resembling any archetype Greek Olympic Stadium, calling for Chariots of Fire, Ben Hur and classic football drama. Its seating capacity is 19,676, the majority taking up at each home game of Itthad.

A 25 kilometer drive by traditional tram from the Alexandria city centre brings us to the 22,000 capacity purpose-built and unimaginative brand new Max Stadium in the buzzing district of the same name. It is home to The Border Guards Military team, locally known as Haras El Haddood, playing at top level in Egypt.

Port Said lies some 200km away from Cairo and is located on the meeting point between Africa and Asia. The origins of Port Said are that of a working camp founded in 1859 by Said Pasha to house men working on the Suez Canal.

Another ground that saw major changes for the Fifa under-17 World Championship, including the incorporation of an artificial pitch and the introduction of an electronic scoreboard is the 16,500 capacity Estad Ismailia on Reda Street in Ismailia, home to Ismaila.

The Cairo-Aswan stretch along the Nile and its periphery accommodates communities that feature grounds as if developed to be each other’s spitting images. The Estad Fayoum, home to Fayoum and Ceramic La Farana is no exception and borders on to neighbouring council houses, giving tenants a spectacular free view.

Qena on the Nile, north of Luxor features four floodlights with a tannoy system , daily summoning locals for their traditional prayers as can be heard on the youtube clip in the previous post.

One enters to ground by an open end behind one of the goals, revealing trees neighbouring the plain main stand.

After having covered Cairo, The Delta and the Suez Canal peripher, we interrupted this thread at La Farana’s ground in Fayoum on the Nile near Cairo, to take a giant step southbound along the river to Aswan.