February 17, 1974: The Zamalek Stadium Disaster

February 17, 1974: Tragedy strikes the Zamalek Stadium in Egypt, causing the deaths of 48 people.

The Zamalek Stadium opened in 1959, in Giza, across the Nile River from Cairo. It was the home of Zamalek Sporting Club, which won the Egyptian Premier League title the next season. They've won it 13 times. (UPDATE: In 2022, they won a 14th title.)

Their arch-rivals are Cairo team Al-Ahly S.C., and their games are called the Cairo Derby. Al-Ahly are the most successful soccer team on the continent of Africa, having won their national league 43 times. However, they have never won the Confederation of African Football's Champions League, while Zamalek have won it 5 times, most recently in 2002.

In 1959, the stadium's opening was for an exhibition game, a "friendly," between Zamalek and Czech team Dukla Prague. On February 17, 1974, the same 2 teams were set to play another friendly. At the time, Zamalek Stadium had a capacity of 40,000 people. The match was originally set for Egypt's national stadium, the 120,000-seat Nasser Stadium in Cairo. But the site was changed to the Zamalek Stadium.

Because of this many supporters thought they would not be able to enter the newly chosen stadium. There was a stampede before the game, some walls crumbled, and many people were left dead. According to reports, up to 80,000 people tried to access the stadium, twice the capacity. Before the dead could be counted, the decision was made to cancel the game. The death toll has been reported as 48, 49 or 50. Over 800 people reported injuries.

The stadium was seriously renovated, and now seats just 20,000. It has been renamed the Abdel-Latif Abu-Rajelha Stadium, after Zamalek's former team president.

The Nasser Stadium, named for Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egypt's dictatorial President from 1953 until his death in 1970, has also been modernized and converted to all-seater. It is named the Cairo International Stadium, and seats 75,000.

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February 17, 1974 was a Sunday. Actor Jerry O'Connell was born.

Baseball and football were out of season. There were 8 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, 97-86 at the Milwaukee Exposition & Convention Center Arena, a.k.a. The MECCA. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 32 points and 23 rebounds.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 118-107 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Capital Bullets -- as the Washington Bullets were known in their 1st season only -- beat the Boston Celtics, 99-95 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Chicago Bulls, 108-105 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Buffalo Braves beat the Houston Rockets, 135-118 at the Hofheinz Pavilion (now the Fertitta Center) in Houston. Bob McAdoo scored 38 points.

* The Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 112-100 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 113-110 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Gail Goodrich of the Lakers and Lou Hudson of the Hawks each scored 35 points. Pete Maravich of the Hawks scored 32.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 106-97 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There were 3 games in the American Basketball Association:

* The Virginia Squires beat the Kentucky Colonels, 118-113 at The Scope in Norfolk, Virginia. Jim Eakins scored 41 points.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Denver Rockets, 93-92 at the Auditorium Arena in Denver.

* And the San Diego Conquistadors beat the Carolina Cougars, 129-123 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena). Travis Grant scored 41.

There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The Montreal Canadiens and the Philadelphia Flyers played to a tie, 2-2 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-1 at the Chicago Stadium. Yes, it hosted an NBA game and an NHL game on the same day.

* And the Minnesota North Stars beat the California Golden Seals, 7-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

And there were 6 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The Jersey Knights beat the Quebec Nordiques, 10-3 at the Cherry Hill Arena in the Philadelphia suburb of Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

* The Cleveland Crusaders beat the Chicago Cougars, 6-5 at the Cleveland Arena.

* The New England Whalers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 3-2 in overtime at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Houston Aeros, 6-1 at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Toronto Toros, 3-2 in overtime at the Edmonton Gardens.

* And the Vancouver Blazers beat the Los Angeles Sharks, 4-0 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

One more sports note: On this day, FC Barcelona beat arch-rival Real Madrid, 5-0 at Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. It is considered Barcelona's greatest La Liga game, not just for the performance, but for what it represented against the Fascist regime then ruling Spain. I have a separate entry for that event.