Tewfik Abdullah

Tewfik Abdullah

Personal information
Full name	Tewfik Abdullah
Date of birth	23 June 1896
Place of birth	Cairo, Egypt
Position(s)	Inside Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
	Elmoktalat (Zamalek) - Sporting Club in Cairo	15	(1)
1920-1921	Derby County 1920 _ 1922	11	(1)
1922	Cowdenbeath 1922 _ 1923	62	(24)
1923	Bridgend Town 1923 _ 1924	6	(1)
1924	Hartlepools United	11	(0)
1924-1926	Providence Clamdiggers	8	(0)
1927	Fall River Marksmen	1	(1)
1927	Hartford Americans
1928	New York Nationals
1928	Fall River Marksmen al ahly 2 seasons el mokhtalt ( zamalek now ) one season
	Montreal Carsteel
International career
1940-1944	Egypt
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Tewfik Abdullah (Arabic: توفيق عبد الله) (born 23 June 1896 or 1897 in Cairo, Egypt) was an Egyptian footballer. He was the second Egyptian to play in the English Football League, where he played for Derby, Hartlepools, Bridgend Town, and Cowdenbeath. Later on, he played four seasons in the American Soccer League before finishing his career in Canada. After leaving Egypt, he joined Al Ahly for two seasons and played for his home team El Mokhtalat (Zamalek) for one season. He finished his playing career while playing for Canada in the 1930s. He then became a manager of the Farouk club (now known as Zamalek) in the 1930s. He managed the national team of Egypt during the 1940s and at the Summer Olympic Games in 1952, which were held in Helsinki, Finland.

Early career

Abdullah was born in 1897, in Cairo, Egypt. He began his career with the International Sporting Club in Cairo, and played for Egypt at the 1920 Olympic Games before moving to England.

United Kingdom

On arrival in England, Abdullah became one of a quartet of Egyptians who played British Professional Football before World War Il. Ron Ferguson, in his book Helicopter Dreams, tells the story that when Abdullah made his debut for Derby County against Manchester City he ran onto the pitch shouting "Where's my camel?"— on closer examination, it was found his actual words were "Where's Mick Hammill?". Abdullah then moved to Scotland to play with Cowdenbeath, then to Wales to play for Bridgend Town F.C. He returned to England for a brief spell with Hartlepool United, before moving to the United States.

United States and Canada

Nicknamed Toothpick, 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. However, he left Fall River to join the Hartford Americans for the 1927-1928 season. Hartford lasted only eleven games that season, folding following the 23 October 1927 game with the New Bedford Whalers. Adbullah then played eight games with the New York Nationals before finishing the year back with Fall River. He then moved to Montreal Carsteel of the Canadian National Soccer League where he finished his career.