The African Champions Cup finished in December 1982. There was a sense of normalization at last – only one club withdrew, US Goree (Senegal). The other sign of normalization was the clubs, reaching the semi-finals – they represented Nigeria (Enugu Rangers), Egypt (Al-Ahly), Zaire (FC Lupopo), and Ghana (Asante Kotoko). That is, teams from the countries recognized for advanced football on the continent. Al-Ahly and Asante Kotoko qualified to the final. On the surface, the finalists were different – Al-Ahly never reached continental final. Asante Kotoko was going to its 5th final, having won the Cup once in 1970. As a whole, Ghanaian football was represented at the final for 7th time and Egypt’s – for a 3rd time. However, both countries won the trophy only once before – Asante Kotoko in the 1970s and Al Ismaily in 1969 for Egypt. Technically, Asante Kotoko should have had the edge not only by tradition, but also because Ghana just became the continental champion, but the Egyptians were economically better and since they did not participated in the last issue of the African Cup of Nations, there was no way of comparing strength.
The first leg was in Cairo and it pretty much decided the winner – Al-Ahly finished with a 3-0 lead. Two weeks later, in Kumasi, Al-Ahly tied the second leg 1-1 and won the Cup.
This is picture of Al-Ahly in 1981, which at least is a close approximation of the new cup holders. It was a great triumph for the club, but also for the country. As for the squad… nothing really can be said. May be the only thing of real import was the coming of sponsorship to Africa – in this case, the deodorant firm Old Spice. The international victory was important in another sense too – Al-Ahly was the strongest Egyptian club – since the establishment of the national championship in 1949, they won 17 titles (including 1982) in the 26 championships played. Such strong tradition needed international success and at last Al-Ahly got it.