Sudan - List of Champions (original) (raw)

In the early 20th century, football was played at Khartoum's elite Gordon Memorial College (opened in 1902), which played annual matches against the Khartoum Military School (founded in 1905).
Sudan's oldest football stadium was the Parker Stadium, built in Atbara in 1927, where the Railway Department held "regular football tournaments". The Omdurman Stadium was opened on Nov 1, 1935 with a match between Khartoum and Khartoum North (who drew 2-2).
The Khartoum State League was founded in the 1920s as the oldest provincial league (other sources state a Khartoum league was founded 1936; a first Sudanese championship was played in 1934 with Al-Merreikh as winners) and comprised 14 clubs.
In the 1936/37 season 36 clubs were active, in 1945/46 already 103. Already then, Al-Hilal and Al-Merreikh were the "uncrowned kings" of local football. Other active clubs included some with names out of the Koran (e.g. Kawther (Khartoum North), Abbassia (Omdurman), Abu Rouf (Omdurman), Abu Anga (Omdurman)) or with a historical reference (e.g. Kitchener, Slattin, Wingate).
The Khartoum Premier League was founded in 1951. and was reportedly won by Al-Tahrir (1951), Al-Hilal (1952, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1960) and Al-Merreikh (1953, 1955 and 1961) prior to the establishment of a national championship. Initially that was held as a playoff between provincial championship for the "Shield" until a national premier league was founded in the early 1990s.

Year Champions Runners-Up 1962 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) 1963 not held 1964 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 1965 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Shati (Atbara) 1966 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) 1967 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 1968 Al-Mawrada (Omdurman) Al-Hilal (Omdurman)
1969 Burri (Khartoum) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 1970 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 1971 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Hilal (Omdurman)
1972 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Hilal (Omdurman)
1973 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 1974,1 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) 1974,2 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Hilal (Omdurman)
1975 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 1976 no competition 1977 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Hilal (Omdurman)
1978 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 1979 no competition 1980 no competition 1981 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Hay al-Arab (Port Sudan) 1982 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Ahli (Wad Medani) 1983 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 1984 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 1985 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Obayed) 1986 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 1987 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Mawrada (Omdurman) 1988 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 1989 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) 1990 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Mawrada (Omdurman) 1991 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 1992 Al-Hilal (Port Sudan) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 1993 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Mawrada (Omdurman) 1994 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 1995 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Mawrada (Omdurman) 1996 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Mawrada (Omdurman) 1997 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Mawrada (Omdurman) 1998 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 1999 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Hay al-Arab (Port Sudan) 2000 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Hilal (Omdurman)
2001 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Hilal (Omdurman)
2002 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Hilal (Omdurman)
2003 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 2004 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 2005 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 2006 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 2007 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 2008 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Hilal (Omdurman) 2009 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 2010 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 2011 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Hilal (Omdurman) 2012 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 2013 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Hilal (Omdurman) 2014 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 2015 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Hilal (Omdurman) 2016 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 2017 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 2018 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Hilal (Omdurman) 2019 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Hilal (Omdurman) 2020 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) Al-Hilal (Omdurman) 2021 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 2022 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman) 2023 abandoned 2024 Al-Hilal (Omdurman) Al-Merreikh (Omdurman)

Notes: there were two championships in 1974; the 2024 "Super league" was a 3-team and 2-match farce played in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, and not an official championship (although it was used to "determine" the 3 Sudanese entrants in the CAF club competitions 2024/25).

Number of Titles (58; without 2024)

32 Al-Hilal (Omdurman)

23 Al-Merreikh (Omdurman)

1 Burri (Khartoum) Al-Hilal (Port Sudan) Al-Mourada (Omdurman)

About this document

Sources for introduction: [Tou 18], https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khartoum\_League

With thanks to Mikael Jönsson and Ian King

Prepared and maintained by Hans Schöggl and Karel Stokkermans for theRec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

Authors: Hans Schöggl and Karel Stokkermans Last updated: 12 Jul 2024

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