The 2018–19 Egyptian Premier League, also known as The WE League for sponsorship purposes, was the 60th season of 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 top Egyptian professional league for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

clubs, since its establishment in 1948. The season started on 31 July 2018 and concluded on 28 July 2019. Fixtures for the 2018–19 season were announced on 8 July 2018.

El Gouna ( , "the Lagoon") is an Egyptian tourist city located on the Red Sea in the Red Sea Governorate, Egypt. It is located north of Hurghada. It is part of the Red Sea Riviera, and a host city of the El Gouna Film Festival. It was created in 1990, ...

, Nogoom and Haras El Hodoud entered as the promoted teams from the

2017–18 Egyptian Second Division The 2017–18 Egyptian Second Division was the 38th edition of the Egyptian Second Division, the top Egyptian semi-professional level for football clubs, since its establishment in 1977. The season began on 14 September 2017 and concluded on 19 Apr ...

. They replaced El Raja,

Tanta Tanta ( ' ) is a city in Egypt. Tanta had a population of 658,798 in 2018, making it the fifth most populous city in Egypt. Tanta is located between Cairo and Alexandria: north of Cairo and southeast of Alexandria. The capital of Gharbia Gove ...

and Al Nasr who were relegated to the

2018–19 Egyptian Second Division The 2018–19 Egyptian Second Division was the 39th edition of the Egyptian Second Division, the top Egyptian semi-professional level for football clubs, since its establishment in 1977. The season started on 8 August 2018 and concluded on 19 April ...

. Defending champions

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 ...

won their 4th consecutive and 41st overall Egyptian Premier League title on 24 July 2019, following their 3–1 away win against Al Mokawloon Al Arab.

Overview

Fans return to the stadiums

From this season on, 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 ...

(EFA) officially allowed the fans to attend league matches again, after they showed great discipline while attending non-league matches in the previous years. The EFA banned all fans from attending all matches back in February 2012, where 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 during Al Masry and

match in the

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 ...

, which resulted in the death of 72 Al Ahly fans, 1 Al Masry fan and 1 police officer. All

fixtures since then was played behind closed doors, and sometimes with a group of people who were invited by the clubs involving in a match.

Al Masry return to Port Said

From this season on, the

(EFA) was supposed to allow Al Masry to play all local home matches at Al Masry Club Stadium (previously known as Port Said Stadium) in

Port Said Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...

, after the club successfully acquired the stadium from the Governorate of Port Said on 5 January 2016. However the local security authorities refused this decision, and the club ended up playing their home matches at various stadiums in different cities. The EFA banned Al Masry Club Stadium from hosting all football or sport activities after the

occurred in 2012, and Al Masry played all of their local matches, both home and away, at

Borg El Arab Stadium The Borg El Arab Stadium (), sometimes referred to as the Egyptian Army Stadium or El Geish Stadium - Alexandria (), is a stadium commissioned in 2005 in the Mediterranean Sea city of Amreya; 25 km west of Alexandria, Egypt. It is the sec ...

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

and at

Ismailia Stadium The Ismailia Stadium () is located in Ismailia, Egypt, and has a total capacity of 18,525 after the remodelation in 2009, then it was upgraded to 30,000 seats after the remodelation in 2019 for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, It is used by Ismai ...

Ismailia Ismailia ( ', ) is a city in north-eastern Egypt. Situated on the west bank of the Suez Canal, it is the capital of the Ismailia Governorate. The city had an estimated population of about 1,434,741 according to the statistics issued by the Cen ...

for CAF matches since then.

Al Assiouty Sport takeover

On 18 June 2018, Mahmoud Al Assiouty, president of

Al Assiouty Sport Pyramids Football Club ( or ) is an Egyptian professional football club based in New Cairo, Cairo that competes in the Egyptian Premier League, the highest league in the Egyptian football league system. Formed in 2008 as Al Assiouty Sport in Ass ...

, announced that the club was officially sold to two investors from

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. The club name was changed to Pyramids Football Club, and the deal was later confirmed on 27 June 2018.

Nogoom El Mostakbal rebranding

On 29 July 2018, just two days before the start of the season, Nogoom El Mostakbal announced on their official

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page that the club name has been changed to Nogoom Football Club. Club president Mohamed El Tawila stated that the decision to rename the club came after they reached their goal by promoting to the

for the first time. The old name, Nogoom El Mostakbal, in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, means "Future Stars", and the new name, Nogoom, means "Stars".

Teams

Eighteen teams competed in the league - the top fifteen teams from the previous season, and three teams promoted from the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. Teams promoted to the Egyptian Premier League
The first team to be promoted was Haras El Hodoud from Group C, following their 1–0 away win against Al Hammam on 10 April 2018. The

n side returned to the Premier League after staying only two season in the Second Division, and participated in the top flight for the fifteenth time in their history. The second team to be promoted was

from Group A, following their 1–0 away win against Al Salam on 11 April 2018. El Gouna earned a spot in the Premier League for the fifth time in the club's history, having played four seasons in the top flight before with the 2014–15 season being the most recent. The third team to be promoted was Nogoom (which was known as Nogoom El Mostakbal during that time) from Group B, following their 1–0 home win against Montakhab Suez on 18 April 2018. Nogoom managed to secure the promotion spot after a fierce contest that lasted until the last day of the league with

Tersana Tersana Sporting Club () is an Egyptian sports club based in Meet Okba, Giza, Egypt. It is best known for its professional football team, which plays in the Egyptian Second Division, the second-highest tier in the Egyptian football league syste ...

, who lost 1–0 to Gomhoriat Shebin on the same day to confirm the promotion of Nogoom El Mostakbal to the Premier League for the first time in the club's history. Teams relegated to the Egyptian Second Division
The first club to be relegated was Al Nasr, who suffered an immediate return to the Second Division following a 2–1 away defeat to Al Masry on 12 April 2018. The second club to be relegated was

, their stay in the Premier League came to an end after spending only two season in the top flight following a 1–2 home defeat to Al Masry on 21 April 2018. The third club to be relegated was El Raja, who also suffered an immediate return to the Second Division after Wadi Degla secured the last safe spot in the Premier League following a 2–1 home win against El Entag El Harby on 21 April 2018.

Venues

;Notes

Personnel and kits

:1. On the back of shirt. :2. On the sleeves. :3. Al Ahly used previous season's kits made by Sporta until January 2019. :4. Ismaily's captain, Hosny Abd Rabo, announced his retirement from football in January 2019. :5. Misr Lel Makkasa's captain, Mahmoud Wahid, transferred to Al Ahly during the winter transfer window. :6. Petrojet's captain,

Shimelis Bekele Shimelis Bekele Godo (; born 2 January 1990) is an Ethiopian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Ethiopian Premier League club Defence Force. He represented Ethiopia at the 2013 and 2021 Africa Cup of Nations ...

, transferred to Misr Lel Makkasa during the winter transfer window. :7. Pyramids's captain,

Hamada Tolba Hamada Tolba (; born 17 June 1981) is an Egyptian footballer who currently plays for Petrojet SC and the Egyptian National Team as a defender. Career El Merreikh Tolba started playing football at youth level in Merreikh FC in Port Said. Mimi ...

, transferred to Petrojet during the winter transfer window. :8. Wadi Degla's captain, El Sayed Salem, transferred to Al Ittihad during the winter transfer window. :9. Zamalek used previous season's kits made by

Joma Joma Sport, S.A. is a Spanish sports clothing and shoes brand. History Joma was founded in 1965 by Fructuoso López to produce shoes for general use. The brand name comes from the given name of Fructuoso's first born son (José Manuel). In 196 ...

until October 2018. * WE,

Oppo Oppo (sometimes stylized as OPPO) is a private company, private China, Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Founded in 2004, its major product lines include Oppo phones, smartphones, Smart device, sm ...

, El Kasrawy Group, SAIB Bank, EgyptAir and GLC Paints are the league's main sponsors, and their logos are printed on most of the teams' kits. * Additionally, referee kits are made by

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...

Managerial changes

;Notes

Foreign players

Clubs could have a maximum of four foreign players registered during the season. Clubs could not sign foreign players unless these players had played in the first or second tier in their countries. Clubs also could not sign any foreign goalkeepers. In addition, each club could register a total of two players from

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

; those players were treated as

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

ians, and did not count as foreign players. *Players name in bold indicates the player is registered during the mid-season transfer window. *Players name in ''ITALICS'' indicates the player have left the club during the mid-season transfer window.

Results

League table

Positions by round

The table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches were not included in the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match was scheduled for matchday 13, but then postponed and played between days 16 and 17, it was added to the standings for day 16. Source
Soccerway

Results table

Season statistics

Scoring

*First goal of the season:

Emmanuel Banahene Emmanuel Banahene Osei (born August 16, 1988) is a Ghanaian footballer. Banahene is most comfortable in attacking roles, mainly striker, winger or offensive midfielder. Career Banahene started his career at Ghanaian side Stay Cool F.C. He then ...

for Al Ittihad against Al Mokawloon Al Arab (31 July 2018) *Last goal of the season:

Ali Maâloul Ali Maâloul (; born 1 January 1990) is a retired Tunisian footballer who used to play as a left-back for Egyptian Premier League club Al Ahly and the Tunisia national team. Club career Maâloul started his career with hometown club CS Sfaxien ...

for

against

Zamalek Zamalek ( , ''al zamalek'') is a ''qism'' (ward) within the West District (''hayy gharb'') in the Western Area of Cairo, Egypt. It is an affluent district on a man-made island which is geologically a part of the west bank of the Nile River, wit ...

(28 July 2019)

Top goalscorers

;Notes

Hat-tricks

;Note (H) – Home; (A) – Away

Top assists

;Notes

Clean sheets

Monthly awards

Number of teams by governorate

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Egyptian Premier League, 2018-19 1