Al Masry Club Stadium (), formerly known as Port Said Stadium (), was a multi-use all-seated stadium in Al Manakh,

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 ...

, Egypt, which was mostly used for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and was the home of Al Masry since 1958 and until 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 ...

in 2012. In 2021, the stadium was closed to prepare for the demolition process, which was completed in mid-2022. The stadium, which had a seating capacity of 18,000, was opened on 16 October 1955, and was the main sports venue in

. It was completely demolished in 2021, and a new sports complex is currently being built in the same area that will include a new stadium. The stadium also hosted some matches in tournaments held in Egypt, including

1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 1997 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the seventh edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Cairo, Ismailia, Alexandria, and Port Said in Egypt from 4 to 21 September 1997. Players born after 1 January 1980 could participate in this t ...

2006 Africa Cup of Nations The 2006 Africa Cup of Nations was the 25th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of Africa. It was hosted by Egypt, from 20 January to 10 February. Just like in 2004, the field of sixteen teams was split int ...

, 2007 Pan Arab Games Football Tournament and

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 17th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which was hosted by Egypt from 24 September to 16 October 2009. The tournament was initially going to take place between 10 and 31 July. However, the 2009 FIFA Confede ...

Port Said Stadium riot

On 1 February 2012, following a league 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 ...

, the

took place, which resulted in the deaths of 72 Al Ahly fans, alongside 1 Al Masry supporter and 1 police officer, making it the deadliest tragedy in Egyptian sporting history. Some were stabbed and clubbed, while others were thrown off the stands or died in a

crowd crush Crowd collapses and crowd crushes are catastrophic incidents that can occur when a body of people becomes dangerously overcrowded. When numbers are up to about five people per square meter, the environment may feel cramped but manageable; when nu ...

as they were trying to escape through a closed stadium gate in the back of the stands. Hisham Sheha, an official in the Egyptian health ministry, said the deaths were caused by stab wounds, brain hemorrhages, and concussions. Over 500 were injured.

Later history

Al Masry continued to use the stadium as a training ground, and hosted friendly matches on the ground; usually against the youth team or other local clubs. On 5 January 2016, Port Said governor Adel El Ghadban agreed to transfer the stadium's ownership to Al Masry and changing its name to Al Masry Club Stadium as a result. The stadium was banned from hosting any official football matches following the 2012 incident, with an exception made in 2018 when the stadium hosted all Al Masry home fixtures in their

CAF Confederation Cup The CAF Confederation Cup, known as the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup for sponsorship purposes, is an annual association football football team, club competition established in 2004 and organized by Confederation of African Football, CAF ...

campaigns during the

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and 2018–19 seasons. The last official match hosted by the stadium was played on 15 December 2018; a 2–0 defeat against Salitas from

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...

. On 17 February 2019, the stadium was announced as one of the venues to host the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total SE, Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's associati ...

, however, on 13 March, the stadium was replaced by Al Salam Stadium in

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 ...

after discovering a major problem with one of the stadium's main stands. The stand's infrastructure was severely damaged and irreparable, and had to be completely demolished. Later, a decision was made to completely demolish the whole stadium and build a new one on the same location. In late 2019, the stadium was closed to prepare for the demolition process, which was originally scheduled to take place in 2020, but was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt The COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached Egypt on 14 February 2020. Background On ...

. More than one year later, demolition work finally began on 4 July 2021, and was completed in June 2022.

References

External links

Photos
a
worldstadiums.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masry Club Stadium Football venues in Egypt

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 ...

History of Port Said Sport in Port Said Sports venues completed in 1955 1955 establishments in Egypt 2021 disestablishments in Egypt Defunct football venues in Egypt Sports venues demolished in 2021