Al-Merreikh

Al-Merreikh (Arabic: نادي المريخ السوداني ) is a Sudanese football club based in Omdurman, Sudan. Along with AlHilal and Al-Mourada, it forms the triplet of Sudanese football. Their home stadium is Stade de Al-Merreikh.

Name and meaning

Al-Merreikh is the Arabic translation for planet Mars.

Leagues

Primarily, Al-Merreikh competes in the Sudanese Premier league, Sudan's top football league. Based on the club's end-of-season standing, it competes in the Arabic and African CAF tournaments including Arab Champions League, African Champions League or African Confederation Cup.

Al-Merreikh Stadium

Al-Merreikh Stadium was first Opened in 1962 when Al Mawrada Omdurman defeated Al-Hilal Omdurman 2/0 , the second stage opening of Al-Merreikh stadium was in 1964 when Al-Merreikh played against Daynamo Kiev of Soviet Union and the result was 2/0 for the visitors .Alhilal stadium opening was in 1968 when Ghana defeated Alhilal Omdurman 2/1

African Champions League

Al-Merreikh daily sport newspaper

AlMerrikh fc daily newspaper was first published in 1965 in Khartoum , it is the oldest sport newspaper in Sudan [http://www.mariekhnews.com]

Achievements

:: Al-Merreikh Was the winner of the first Official cup in Sudan ( 1934 )
*Sudan Premier League: 16 [http://rsssf.com/tabless/soedchamp.html] ::1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1982, 1985, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002

*Sudan Cup: 18 [http://rsssf.com/tabless/soedcuphist.html] :: 1963, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007

*Khartoum League: 17:: 1953 - 1954 , 1955 - 1956 , 1961 - 1962 , 1965 - 1966 , 1967 - 1968 , 1971 - 1972 , 1972 - 1973, 1978 - 1979 , 1980 - 1981 , 1982 - 1983 , 1984 - 1985 , 1985 - 1986 , 1990 - 1991 , 1991 - 1992 , 1992 - 1993 , 1995 - 1996 , 1996 - 1997

*CECAFA Clubs Cup: 2:: 1986,1994,

*African Cup Winners' Cup: 1 :: 1989

*CAF Confederation Cup: 0 :: Runner-Up 2007

Performance in CAF competitions

30 times participations total in all CAF championships

*CAF Champions League: 3 Appearances( 2 times second round - 1 time first round ) ::2001 - Second Round::2002 - Second Round::2003 - First Round

*CAF Confederation Cup: 5 Appearances( 1 time as finalist - 1 time quarter final - 1 time intermediate round - 1 time preliminary round ) ::2004 - Preliminary Round::2005 - Quarter Final::2006 - Intermediate Round ::2007 - Final::2008 - "in progress"

* African Cup of Champions Clubs: 12 Appearances( 2 times withdrew - 5 times first round - 4 times second round - 1 time quarter final ) ::1971: Second Round::1972: withdrew in First Round::1973: Second Round::1975: Quarter-Final::1976: Second Round::1978: Second Round::1979: withdrew in First Round::1983: First Round::1986: First Round::1991: First Round::1994: First Round::1998: First Round

* African Cup Winners' Cup: 10 Appearances( 1 time winner - 2 times Semifinal - 1 time Quarterfinal - 3 times second round - 3 times first round ) ::1984: Second Round::1985: First Round::1989: Cup Winner ::1990: Semifinal::1992: Semifinal::1993: Quarterfinal::1995: Second Round::1997: First Round::1999: First Round::2000: Second Round

Current squad (2008 season)

Fs start

Players U-19

Administrators

* Hassan Yousif
* Sayed Saleem

Coaches

* Mohammed Abdullah Mazda
* Ibrahim Husein
* Sayed Aldahrawy
* Sayed Yassin

Players out on loan

Club history

Al-Merreikh was founded as Sport Club of Al-Masalma in late 1908 by pupils from Al- Masalam district in Omdurman and was then renamed as Al-Merreikh Football Club in 1927. The club was the winner of the first Sudanese football championship in 1934 ,Al-Merrikh is wearing their original red and yellow kit although the original one was including black colour. There is a historical rivalry between the two strongest clubs in Sudan, Al-Merreikh and Al-Hilal , both clubs based in Omdurman , the old national capital of Sudan with Al-Hilal most winner of the Sudan premier league and Al-Merreikh as the most winner of the Sudan cup .The first match between Al-Merreikh and Al-Hilal was in 1934 when Almerrikh defeated AlHilal and the two goals of the match were scored by AlZain Haiba ,Almerrikh striker .The match is known historically as (The match of the green grass market ) since there were no stadiums at that time and the match was held in the famous square of Omdurman , the national capital of Sudan , during day times the square was used by green grass sellers and football matches were used to be played in the afternoons , up to date the match is still very famous and it was the actual start of rivalry between the two very famous Sudanese football clubs.

Famous matches

*Al-Merrikh 6-2 Al-Hilal FC - 1948 - Education day cup - Omdurman [http://hemamtec.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=14316]
*Al-Merrikh 3-5 Honvéd FC - 1956 - Friendly Match - Omdurman [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Honv%C3%A9d_FC]
*Al-Merrikh 3-1 Asante Kotoko- 1962 - Friendly - Khartoum
*Al-Merrikh 14-1 Alamir - 1966 - Khartoum League - Omdurman [http://hemamtec.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=23683]
*Al-Merrikh 0-0 Egyptian national team - 1979 - Friendly - Khartoum
*Al-Merrikh 2-0 Nigerian national team - 1988 - Friendly - Khartoum

External links

* [http://www.almerrikh.com AlMerreikh Official website]
* [http://www.mariekhnews.com AlMerreikh Official Newspaper]
* [http://www.almerreikh.com/vb AlMerreikh English Forum website]
* [http://www.hemamtec.com/phpbb AlMerreikh Fans website]
* [http://www.merrikhalsudan.com/vb Al-Merreikh supporters website]