Tewfik Abdullah
Personal information
Full name	Tewfik Abdullah
Date of birth	June 23 1896
Place of birth	Cairo, Egypt
Playing position	Inside Forward
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1920-1921 1922 1923 1924 1924-1926 1927 1927 1928 1928	Al Ahly-Sporting Club in Cairo Derby County Cowdenbeath Bridgend Town Hartlepools United Providence Clamdiggers Fall River Marksmen Hartford Americans New York Nationals Fall River Marksmen Montreal Carsteel	15 0(1) 11 0 (1) 62 (24) 06 0(1) 11 0(0) 08 0(0) 01 0(1)
National team
1940-1944	Egypt
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Tewfik Abdullah (born June 23, 1896 or 1897 in Cairo, Egypt) was an Egyptian football player^[1] who was the second Egyptian to appear in the English Football League. He later played four seasons in the American Soccer League before finishing his career in Canada.

[edit] Early career

Abdullah was born in either 1896 or 1897^[2][3] in Cairo, Egypt. He began his career with International Sporting Club in Cairo and played for Egypt at the 1920 Olympic Games^[4] before moving to England.

[edit] United Kingdom

On arriving in England, Abdullah became one of a quartet of Egyptians^[5] who played British Professional Football before World War II.^[6].Ron Ferguson, in his book Helicopter Dreams^[7], tells the story that when Abdullah made his debut for Derby County^[8] against Manchester City he ran onto the pitch shouting "Where's my camel?"^[9] -on closer examination it was found his actual words were "Where's Mick Hammill?"^[10]. Abdullah then moved to Scotland to play with Cowdenbeath, then to Wales to play with Bridgend Town F.C.^[3] He returned England for a brief spell with Hartlepool United^[11], before moving to the United States.^[12]

[edit] United States and Canada

Nicknamed Toothpick, Abdullah signed with the Providence Clamdiggers of the American Soccer League in 1924. He spent three season 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 October 23, 1927 game with the New Bedford Whalers. Adbullah then played eight games with the New York Nationals ^[13] 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.^[3]

[edit] References