 Originally five teams representing the various communities of Addis Ababa including St. George (Ethiopian), Fortitudo (Italian), Ararat (Armenian), Olympiakos (Greek) and the British Military Mission in Ethiopia (BMME) contested for the title which was won by the BMME.In 1947, the country's formal national league kicked off with three teams; St. George, Mechale and Ke'ay Bahir.The club remained within the league for twenty-five years before the Derg reorganized the football leagues, and forced all existing clubs to shut down.