Tewfik Abdullah

Tewfik Abdullah (Arabic: توفيق عبد الله) (born 23 June 1896 in Cairo, Egypt) was an Egyptian football player.^[1] He was the second Egyptian to play in the English Football League. In this period he played for Derby, Hartlepools, Bridgend Town, and Cowdenbeath. Later on, he played four seasons in the American Soccer League, two seasons with Al Ahly, and one season with his home team El Mokhtalat (Zamalek) before finishing his career with a Canadian league in the 1930s. Following his retirement from the sport, he became the manager of the Farouk Club (now known as Zamalek Club), eventually managing the national team of Egypt during the 1940s and at the Summer Olympic Games in 1952 held in Helsinki, Finland.

Early career

Abdullah was born in 1896 AD, in Cairo, Egypt. He began his career with the International Sporting Club in Cairo and played for Egypt at the 1920 Olympic Games,^[2] it was after this that he moved to England.

United Kingdom

On arrival in England, Abdullah became one of four Egyptians^[3] who played British Professional Football before World War Il.^[4] Ron Ferguson, in his book Helicopter Dreams,^[5] tells the story of Abdullah's debut for Derby County^[6] against Manchester City where he ran onto the pitch shouting "Where's my camel?"^[7] on closer examination, it was found his actual words were "Where's Mick Hammill?".^[8] Abdullah then moved to Scotland to play with Cowdenbeath, then to Wales to play for Bridgend Town F.C.^[9] He returned to England for a brief time with Hartlepool United,^[10] before moving to the United States.^[11]

United States and Canada

Nicknamed "Toothpick" for his chewing habit, Abdullah signed with the Providence Clamdiggers of the American Soccer League in 1924. He spent three seasons with Providence before transferring to the powerhouse Fall River Marksmen during the 1926-1927 season. He then left Fall River to join the Hartford Americans for the 1927-1928 season. Hartford played only eleven games that season, folding following the 23 October 1927 game with the New Bedford Whalers. Abdullah then played eight games with the New York Nationals before finishing the year by returning to play for Fall River. After this he moved to Montreal Carsteel of the Canadian National Soccer League where he spent the last days of his playing career.^[9]

References