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- History
of Ethiopian Soccer
- Key periods in
Ethiopia's soccer history are listed below in chronological order.
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- 1924 This is believed to be the
year when soccer was first introduced to Ethiopia by foreigners
residing in the capital, Addis Abeba.
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- 1935 Although not listed as an
official international game, the first soccer match between an
Ethiopian side and a foreign team took place in the capital when
an Addis Abeba selection team defeated a French Navy side from
Djibouti 3-1. Yervant Abraham , an Armenian student, scored all
three goals. His two brothers, Haigaz and Torkom, also featured
in the line-up for the Addis selection.
- In December
of that year, a group of youngsters, who lived around the
Saint George church in the capital , founded the Saint George
Football Association, the oldest and most successful team
in Ethiopia.
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- 1936-41 The country was occupied
by fascist Italy, and during that time, Ethiopians were barred
from playing with Europeans. The Italians then established the
"Sports Office for the Indigenous". Furthermore, all
Ethiopian teams were renamed, thus Saint George became Littorio
Wube Sefer, the Kabana team became Villa Italia, the Sidist Kilo
team became Piazza Roma and the Gullele team became Consolata.
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- 1942 The first Ethiopian vs
foreign expatriate team game was held in the capital between
Saint George and Fortitudo of the Italian community, with the
Saints winning 4-1. It is quite amazing that sport can bring
the two bitter enemies together, just a year after a very brutal
5-year occupation by the Italians.
- The Ethiopian Sports
Office, which would lay the foundation for the creation of the
Ethiopian Football Federation, was also established that same
year. Its first task was to draft the regulations for the national
soccer championship.
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- 1943 The Ethiopian Football
Federation (EFF) was established.
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- 1944 The first Ethiopian Championship
was held in Addis Abeba, with 5 teams representing the various
communities in the capital. The five were: St. George (Ethiopian),
BMME (British), Fortitudo (Italian), Ararat (Armenian) and Olympiakos
(Greek). BMME defeated Fortitudo in the final to became the first
champion.
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- 1945 The First Ethiopian Cup
(Cup Winners Cup) was held. Once again, BMME won the first cup.
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- 1947 The Ethiopia national team
defeated the Djibouti selection 5-0 in the the first official
international match in the country.
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- 1950 Norkoping of Sweden became
the first European side to play in Ethiopia. The Swedes defeated
the Ethiopian national side 6-3.
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- 1952 Ismael Kassab of Egypt became
the first international referee to conduct a match in Ethiopia,
when the national team played against Panionis of Greece. That
same year, the national team visited Europe for the first time.
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- 1953 Teams from Hararghe and
Eritrea (an Italian-colony for 60 years prior to its annexation
with Ethiopia in 1952) were allowed to compete for the first
time, in both the national championship and the Ethiopian Cup
tournaments. Army ( Addis Abeba) defeated Hamassien ( Eritrea)
4-3 in the finals, to win the first inter-province national championship.
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- 1957 Ethiopia together with Egypt
and Sudan co-founded the Confederation Africaine de Football
(CAF) and took part in the 1st African Nations Cup tournament
in Sudan.
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- 1962 Ethiopia hosted and won
the 3rd African Nations Cup after defeating Egypt 4-2 in the
first overtime final.
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- 1965 The military and police
teams were expelled from all competitions, after several disturbances
and fist fights in their matches with civilian teams. It would
be another ten years before these teams were re-admitted in league
competitions after a military regime took power of the country
a year earlier.
- That same year,
Cotton FC of Dire Dawa represented Ethiopia in the first African
Clubs Championships.
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- 1967 Between 1953-66, the "National
League Championships" were decided through playoffs held
in Addis Abeba, between regional champions of Shoa, Hararghe
and Eritrea provinces. The EFF felt that the format did not really
reflect the true quality of a champion and established the first
true National League Championship, consisting of the best 8 teams
from Shoa (3), Eritrea (3) and Hararghe (2). And unlike the previous
championships, the new system required each team to play home
and away.
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- 1968 Ethiopia hosted the 6th
African Nations Cup. That same year, the Ethiopian Football Federation
(EFF) celebrated its 25th year anniversary.
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- 1974 Eritrean teams withdrew
from all competitions.
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- 1975 St. George took part in
the 1st African Cup Winners Cup.
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- 1976 Ethiopia hosted the African
Nations Cup for the 3rd time in the tournament history. That
same year, 6 players from Mechal (the army team), defected to
Egypt, and seeked political asylum. This would become all
too familiar for the country as more than 85 players chose to
do just that during the following two decades.
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- 1979 All existing teams were
disbanded and a new league, made up of teams representing the
armed forces, the universities, the workers unions and urban
dwellers associations, was established. Ethiopia clubs also withdrew
from all African clubs competitions for the next five years (1980-84).
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- 1982 Ethiopia took part in the
13th African Nations Cup held in Libya.
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- 1987 Ethiopia hosted and won
the East and Central African Championship when she defeated Zimbabwe
on penalty kicks after the two teams drew 1-1 in regulation.
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- 1993 Medin (Insurance) took part
in the first African CAF Cup. At the time of the competition,
Medhin was struggling in the bottom of the domestic league table
but surprised everyone, when the team reached the semi-finals.
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- 1995 The Ethiopian youth team
won the East and Central African Youth Cup in Kenya, after defeating
their Tanzanian counterparts 3-2 in the final.
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- 1996 Ethiopia hosted and won
the East and Central African Youth Cup for the second consecutive
time, after defeating the Ugandan youngsters 2-0 in the final.
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- 1997 After a 23-year abscence,
the Ethiopian National Championship resumed with 8 teams, representing
Addis Abeba, Dire Dawa, Awassa, Tigray and Wollo, taking part
in the tournament.
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- EELPA (Electric)
of Addis Abeba won the championship.
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- 1998 Ethiopian Coffee won the
Ethiopian championship, which was renamed "National League".
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- 1999 St. George won the League
double.
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- 2000/01 EEPCO (formerly known as
EELPA) won the League Double.
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- Back to Ethiopian
Soccer
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