(CNN) – In a country obsessed with its premier sport, Egypt's football season kicks off Saturday to heavy anticipation - but without any fans in the stands.

Instead of the roars of raucous crowds, players take the pitch to the relative silence of secure military stadiums.

Saturday's matches are the first since a gruesome riot at a football match last year that left 74 dead and 1,000 injured.

Dubbed the "massacre at Port Said," the riot in February 2012 broke out after Port Said-based Al-Masry defeated Cairo's Al-Ahly, 3-1.