Many football enthusiasts in Egypt long for the days when football was a beautiful game, and clubs with massive fanbases were the backbone of the Premier League teams. Considering that football is for the fans, and the popularity of competing teams adds a distinctive flavor to local competitions, the presence of corporate-owned teams is seen as detrimental to the enjoyment of football. This shift occurred after the professional era, transforming the sport into a business.

Supporting fan-based clubs is seen as crucial to bringing back the essence of football to the people. Remembering the glorious days of clubs like Tanta, Mansoura, Damietta, and other fan-favorite clubs in the Premier League, especially the venerable Tersana Club, once the third most popular after Ahly and Zamalek, evokes a sense of nostalgia.

Selecting teams based on their popularity, like the legendary Tersana Club, highlights the impact of the changing dynamics on their fanbase. Once boasting a third of Cairo's football audience, Tersana's decline over time and the loss of its fanbase are poignant reminders of a bygone era. Many recount the tales of glory, with legends like Hassan El Shazly and Mustafa Riad contributing to the club's rich history.

Before delving into childhood memories and the achievements of Tersana Club, it's essential to address the misconception that these clubs were corporate entities solely responsible for spoiling the joy of football. In reality, there are factors that have shaped the perception of corporate-owned clubs over time:

1. Fan-based Success in the Pre-professional Era:

   The success of corporate-owned clubs in terms of fan engagement was more prominent in the pre-professional era when the game was a hobby for players and a source of enjoyment for fans, detached from profit and loss criteria.

2. Skillful Players from the Workforce:

   In the past, corporate-owned clubs relied on skillful players among their employees or those scouted from neighborhoods, playing in popular squares and streets. These players, often local talents, were integrated into the company's teams and retained a connection with the passionate football-loving community.

3. Social and Recreational Activities for Workers:

   These clubs served as social and recreational outlets for workers and residents in the area or neighborhood where the companies were located. There was a close relationship between the company or factory and the people, as the company provided employment to local residents and engaged neighbors in its sporting activities. Unlike today, where industrial and commercial areas are often distant from residential neighborhoods.

4. Corporate Foundation during Egypt's Economic Development:

   In the early 20th century, establishing Egyptian companies was a significant social, cultural, and intellectual event. Building the national economy was crucial in resisting foreign influence. Egyptians viewed major companies with a mix of pride and belonging. Until nationalization in the 1970s, most large companies were nationalized, and the public perceived them as national projects, representing their dreams.

5. Professional Era Challenges:

   In the modern era with professionalism in sports, players in corporate clubs no longer represent the companies they work for. They become the property of the club that buys their skills for several seasons. Fans no longer see a player from their neighborhood representing their local company as a hero who emerged from their community. Instead, players may leave their local areas to live in affluent neighborhoods or gated communities.

6. Changing Perceptions of Corporations:

   Over time, Egyptians' perception of major corporations and factories has shifted from seeing them as economic ventures aiming for independence from foreign powers or as projects representing national pride, to viewing them as profit-driven entities. Many citizens now perceive these corporations as profit-oriented businesses that prioritize their interests over workers' rights or community engagement, especially since the economic openness in the latter half of the 20th century.

All these changes in football, society, and the economy created a significant gap between passionate football fans, who often mirror their political, social, and economic ideologies in football, and corporate-owned clubs.

What makes a club a popular one?

Simply put, it's the story—the narrative of the club, the tale embraced by the fans. It's a story that represents them, their dreams, hopes, and aspirations in a profound and subconscious way. The club's story intersects with the emotions of a segment of the people—the largest block of supporters. While some fans may affiliate with a club due to the presence of outstanding players, such popularity might be limited, transient, and not generational. In contrast, generational popularity is rooted in the story, which may change over time but always remains the source of the club's popularity, whether it's a true story or a fictional one cultivated in the collective consciousness of its fans.

Take, for instance, Al Ahly Club; it's the story of resistance against colonization, the story of affirming sports, the story of having a club on Egyptian soil for Egyptians, away from foreign control that extended to all aspects of life in Egypt, including sports clubs. Over time, as the idea of resistance faded with years of independence and the emergence of new generations unfamiliar with the struggles of resisting occupation, the notion of creating a club to resist colonization became unrealistic. The new narrative for Al Ahly, shaped by the late great Saleh Selim, became a story of success, organization, prioritizing the club's interests over personal interests, principles, values, and the excellence of management leading to continuous successes in various sports. When there is a sporting setback, the fans feel the need to adhere to the club's principles to overcome the crisis, and when a victory occurs, everyone firmly believes that the main reason is aligning with the principles of the club.

This idea, revived by Saleh Selim, was indeed one of the pillars of Al Ahly Club's management. However, his genius was in recreating it in a modern form to fill a gap that had appeared and widened for a long time after independence until the 1980s and 1990s. On the other hand, Zamalek's story changed several times with changing times, from the mixed club (I believe it was an attempt to coexist between Egyptians and foreigners without attempting confrontation) to Farouk Club, exporting its story to its current version as the modern Zamalek Club. The latter portrays itself as the white knight standing alone amid conspiracies threatening it from all sides. It is a fitting story that found an audience—a minority trying to withstand corruption and conspiracies without any room for ridicule. I am merely narrating Zamalek's story as perceived by its fans from a purely marketing perspective, whether intentionally crafted or unconsciously formulated by the club's supporters. It may be due to actual events magnified and emphasized in the story, but it has succeeded excellently in creating a fan base that resonates with it. I would argue that even if Zamalek overcomes all its financial and administrative crises, possessing the most successful sports management in the world and winning all championships easily due to its administrative successes, its popularity will collapse because its current populist story, where good triumphs over evil every few years, does not align with its new situation. It would be necessary for Zamalek to formulate a new populist story to sustain its popularity.

These populist stories are not exclusive to Egyptian clubs; on the contrary, Egyptian clubs may have fewer of them embedded in the collective consciousness of their fans. I believe one of the most populist stories is the tale of FC Barcelona, reflecting the struggle of the Catalan people for independence from Spain and their victories over Real Madrid, representing the story of Spanish royalist control and absolute political dominance. The conflict between freedom and political oppression is manifested in the club's narrative. This is the story of the most famous clubs globally, and it's a story that has been politically, socially, and sports-wise crafted over decades. The smartness of administrations lies in leveraging these stories and increasing their popularity from local to global. Of course, the number of Barcelona fans worldwide increased after Lionel Messi played for the team, and the number of Real Madrid fans increased after Cristiano Ronaldo played for them. However, this temporary popularity we've witnessed throughout history, as seen with the Brazilian Santos Club when Pelé played for them, is transient. If Barcelona and Real Madrid can't bring in new legends to support their stories, their popularity will decline. The temporary popularity that arises from these exceptional players will wane as the current generation of fans, who witnessed Messi and Ronaldo playing for these clubs, fades away. The clubs need to continuously create new populist stories to maintain their popularity.

Marketing is the story—the narrative told to create a specific mental image in the minds of the target audience, one that resonates with them, prompts them to buy a product or adopt an idea, instills loyalty, and encourages them to defend it. The greatest success for a marketer is when a consumer reaches the stage of defending the product as if they own or sell it. This is precisely the state a football fan reaches when defending the colors of their team, even if they are not a club member and do not receive money from it; on the contrary, they are the ones spending money to support their club. All of this happens only when the fan embraces the idea expressed by the club, symbolized by it, a concept they are willing to defend because it represents them and encapsulates a part of their consciousness and existence.

Sadly, the only club recently established that adopted a story had a disastrous marketing perspective. This was when Turki Al-Alsheikh founded Pyramids FC after acquiring Al Assiouty Sport, a club that had recently been promoted to the Premier League. He changed its name to Pyramids FC, and its main story was a mockery of Al Ahly, the club with the primary popular support in Egypt. Even after the club was sold to another owner, the story inflated further with players transferring from Al Ahly to Pyramids enticed by substantial financial rewards. It became a story of principles that Al Ahly tries to maintain versus the story of wealth that can buy anything and destroy all that is beautiful. This is not my personal football or fan analysis; it's a marketing perspective, trying to observe the scene from a distance to understand how the audience receives the stories of Al Ahly and Pyramids and their conflict.

The maximization of popularity is fundamentally the primary task of sports marketing and can be achieved by crafting a story, a story that finds an audience that embraces it, defends it to the death because it represents them and summarizes a part of their awareness and existence.

What's disheartening is that the only club that was recently established and adopted a story had a disastrous marketing story when Turki Al-Alsheikh founded Pyramids FC after acquiring Al Assiouty Sport, a club that had recently been promoted to the Premier League. He changed its name to Pyramids FC, and its main story was a mockery of Al Ahly, the club with the primary popular support in Egypt. Even after the club was sold to another owner, the story inflated further with players transferring from Al Ahly to Pyramids enticed by substantial financial rewards. It became a story of principles that Al Ahly tries to maintain versus the story of wealth that can buy anything and destroy all that is beautiful. This is not my personal football or fan analysis; it's a marketing perspective, trying to observe the scene from a distance to understand how the audience receives the stories of Al Ahly and Pyramids and their conflict.

The sad part is that the only newly established club that crafted a story had a disastrous marketing perspective when Turki Al-Alsheikh founded Pyramids FC after acquiring Al Assiouty Sport, a club that had recently been promoted to the Premier League. He changed its name to Pyramids FC, and its main story was a mockery of Al Ahly, the club with the primary popular support in Egypt. Even after the club was sold to another owner, the story inflated further with players transferring from Al Ahly to Pyramids enticed by substantial financial rewards. It became a story of principles that Al Ahly tries to maintain versus the story of wealth that can buy anything and destroy all that is beautiful. This is not my personal football or fan analysis; it's a marketing perspective, trying to observe the scene from a distance to understand how the audience receives the stories of Al Ahly and Pyramids and their conflict.

In essence, the only thing a club cannot buy with money is the audience, the fans who embrace your idea, pay for it with their time, money, and effort, and sometimes even lose their lives in defense of it.

Images have been selected according to the Creative Commons license.

• https://www.needpix.com/photo/download/444782/stadium-football-rugby-croke-park-dublin-ireland-gaelic-football
• https://www.cromptonhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/AdobeStock_565914118-768x512.jpeg

Translated by ChatGPT.