![]() “I look at Assem as an older brother, and seeing him put this effort into the team makes me want to put in a similar effort,” says Mahmoud Aziz, board member and player. It’s no secret most of Assem’s savings went to Vikings, and it’s his efforts that keep everyone motivated. “Despite him trying to avoid the spotlight and focusing on enhancing the team’s structure, he has been the flag of the team since its founding.” “Compared to other amateur teams, they are well-organised and that’s because Assem is by far the most dedicated person I have seen in the amateur football scene in Egypt,” says Sakr. Their co-founder, Youssof Sakr, acknowledges that Vikings are Assem. Higher in the stands were the founders of a third amateur team, called Eagers. ![]() That sentiment doesn’t only come from Vikings players. “That means he sometimes is the assistant coach, sometimes the analyst ahead of games, the funder of the team, the owner of the team, and he also used to play more - back then, when there were fewer responsibilities.” “He is really a Swiss army knife he does everything there is to do in a team,” says Youssef Sabek, co-founder and player. Since founding Vikings in 2021, the 26-year-old hasn’t only been running the team, but doing anything needed to keep it afloat. In the No 2 shirt, watching from the touchline, Assem is following his side’s game with a keen eye. “The team is a byproduct of the community, not the other way around.”ĭespite being a huge squad, it’s easy to notice who is the main figure at the club while watching their friendly game against the GUC Lions near the outskirts of Cairo. “At our essence, we are a community, not just a team,” says Mohamed Tharwat, co-founder and player. ![]() In Vikings, Assem and his closest friends founded a team with the idea of creating a football community, where experience at a professional football club isn’t a prerequisite, the social class you are coming from isn’t part of the equation, and winning isn’t the only thing that matters. “There are a lot of people who are interested in football, and they want to belong to a team but they aren’t able to.” “Amateur teams or teams in the fourth division only want to pick good players, and that’s it,” says Assem. One of the main problems in the amateur football scene in Egypt is that it’s an exclusive circle you can only break into it if you have enough talent or have played professionally. “If I have a community of 250-300 people supporting the club, that’s better than winning five titles with only 15 players.” “We win a lot, but that’s the least of my interest,” he says. Vikings FC are two-time ERL champions (Credit: Vikings) They are twice ERL champions and have also lifted both the ERL Cup and ERL Super Cup winner, but Assem doesn’t care about the trophies. He runs a team of 37 players with an average age of 24.5 years. But it wasn’t until 2021, when the Egyptian Recreational League (ERL) and the Egyptian Amateur League (EAL) were created, that the amateur football scene in Egypt really took off.ĪFC Vikings are one of the teams that used to compete in the ERL - on an 11-a-side pitch next to the 30 June Stadium, which they rent twice a week for training and matches - and their founder and chairman, Ahmed Assem, took inspiration from English clubs SE Dons and Hashtag United. In the following years, three amateur leagues were formed. But, the lack of match-day experience and the sense of watching a hollow version of the game through a TV screen meant something was missing. Over time, many reconnected with the professional side of football, despite being unable to watch their teams from the stadium for years. After the Port Said Stadium riot in February 2012, the tragic events at the gates of the 30 June Stadium broke the emotional connection most people had with the game.
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