Union Sportive de la Médina d'El Harrach (), known as USM El Harrach or simply USMH for short, is an Algerian football club based in El Harrach, a suburb of Algiers. The club was founded in 1935 as Union Sportive Musulmane Maison-Carréenne and its colours are yellow and black. Their home stadium, 1 November 1954 Stadium, has a capacity of 8,000 spectators. The club is currently playing in the Algerian Ligue 2.
History
In 17th juin 1931, the idea of creating a football club for young Muslims in Maison Carrée was born after what the founder witnessed, it was a bunch of Algerian kids playing football in the street when the French soldiers attacked them with dogs and the incident ended with a serious injuries for the kids. It took the name of Union sportive musulmane de Maison-Carrée (USMMC) and played friendly games until its affiliation on January 23, 1935. Towards the end of 1977, a sports reform took place because it was wanted by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, in order to give elite clubs a good financial basis allowing them to structure themselves professionally (in ASP which means Association sportive de performances). The goal was therefore for them to have total autonomy of management with the creation of their own training center. For this, many clubs had to sacrifice their names and rename them according to the main sponsor. In some club names the letter P of the Sonatrach oil companies sponsoring MC Alger, MC Oran and ES Sétif, renamed MP Alger, MP Oran and EP Sétif. Similarly, Sonelgaz, with the K of Kahraba (gas), sponsored JS Kabylie, which abandoned its name of Jeunesse sportive de Kabylie in Jamiat Sari' Kawkabi, or USM Alger renamed USK Alger. But also the CNAN (Compagnie national algérienne de navigation) with the M of Milaha (meaning navigator) which sponsored the athletic Nasr Hussein Dey which became Milaha Athletic of Hussein Dey and many others. The USMMC will be sponsored by the national mining research and exploitation company (SONAREM) which leads to the change of its name which becomes Union sportive Manadjem El Harrach.
Boualem Charef era After seven years in the second division since 2001, USMH is making its return to the elite of Algerian football in controversial conditions, particularly due to the RCK-FAF affair. The club, led since 2007 by the returning Mohamed Laïb, has appointed Boualem Charef as head of its technical bar. After that, the team managed to stay in place while producing beautiful play, notably thanks to the stability of the bench and the team's policy which is based on young players trained or recruited from small Algerian clubs. During this period, the club managed to reach the final of the Algerian Cup in the 2010–11 season, lost to JS Kabylie, and to rank second in the championship for the third time in the 2012–13 season, 2 points behind the winner ES Sétif.
New era
On January 8, 2025, during the inauguration ceremony of the new president of the Union Sportive de la Médina d’El Harrach, several personalities were invited and honored. Among them, sports journalist Hafid Derradji and actor Salah Aougrout, two highly respected figures in their respective fields. Sofiane Touahria was inducted as the new president of the amateur sports club USM El Harrach, this ceremony marked by an important speech by the new president, highlighted the ambitions of the USMH for the coming seasons. For his part, Mustapha Maza, the new sports director, declared that "this day marks the beginning of a new era for the city of El Harrach and its supporters. In a period of transition like this, the ultimate goal is to play for promotion to Ligue 1. In the same context, Maza revealed that the 1 November 1954 Stadium will be completely demolished and rebuilt with a capacity of 25,000 seats to international standards, while a training center will be built on an area of 12,000 square meters.
Honours
Domestic competitions Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 Champions (1): 1997–98 Algerian Cup Winners (2): 1973–74, 1986–87
Managers Azzedine Aït Djoudi (July 1, 2000 – June 30, 2001) Khaled Lounici (2005–07) Nacer Bechouche (interim) (Oct 1, 2012 – April 1, 2013) Boualem Charef (July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2014) Abdelkader Yaïche (July 1, 2014–)
Notable players Had senior international cap(s) for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for USM El Harrach.
Lamine Abid Khaled Lounici 6 Merouane Abdouni 7 Ibrahim Amada Azzedine Doukha 8 Abdelmoumene Djabou Fayçal Badji Hakim Medane 3 Layachi Nouri 2 Nacerdine Drid Tarek Ghoul 6 Djamel Jefjef 4 Mohamed Benyettou Hadj Bouguèche Hamid Berguiga Baghdad Bounedjah Salim Boumechra Abdelghani Demmou Sofiane Hanitser Younès Ifticen Karim Hendou Moustapha Zeghba Sofiane Younès Ali Sami Yachir Youcef Saïbi Mohamed Tiaïba Mohamed Rahem 1 5 Slimane Ould Mata Hicham Belkaroui Farid Chaâl 9
Notes
Note 1: played at the 1990 African Cup of Nations. Note 2: played at the 1988 African Cup of Nations. Note 3: played at the 1986 African Cup of Nations. Note 4: played at the 1984 African Cup of Nations. Note 5: played at the 1992 African Cup of Nations. Note 6: played at the 1996 African Cup of Nations. Note 7: played at the 2002 African Cup of Nations. Note 8: played at the 2013 African Cup of Nations. Note 9: played at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Statistics
Recent seasons SeasonLeagueCupOtherAfricaTop goalscorer(s)DivisionPosPtsPWDLGFGANameGoals1962–63Critérium Honneur 3rd 42 18 10 4 4 48 18? 1963–64Division Honneur 10th 59 30 9 11 10 40 41R64 1973–74National II 2nd W 1974–75National II 1st R16 1975–76Nationale I 7th 63 30 12 9 9 39 42R64 1976–77Nationale I 9th 50 26 8 8 10 29 35R32 1977–78Division 1 10th 51 26 9 7 10 23 30R32 1978–79Division 1 5th 53 26 8 11 7 26 25QF 1979–80Division 1 9th 59 30 9 11 10 27 26R16 1980–81Division 1 4th 61 28 13 7 8 33 22QF 1981–82Division 1 4th 62 30 12 8 10 39 20QF 1982–83Division 1 6th 59 30 9 12 9 25 25SF 1983–84Division 1 2nd 65 30 13 9 8 27 25R32 1984–85Division 1 11th 76 38 11 16 11 38 31R16 1985–86Division 1 11th 75 38 14 9 15 43 39R32Mohamed El Djazzar 131986–87Division 1 11th 38 38 12 14 12 41 36WMohamed El Djazzar 141987–88Division 1 5th 35 34 8 19 7 31 25SFCup Winners' CupR1Mohamed El-Djezzar 101988–89Division 1 9th 29 30 10 9 11 20 28R16 1989–90Division 1 12th 28 30 10 8 12 28 35NPAbdennour Baya 61990–91Division 1 9th 29 30 10 9 11 30 28R16Khaled Lounici 131991–92Division 1 2nd 35 30 12 11 7 29 20R16Cnl 1992–93Division 1 6th 33 30 12 9 9 29 20NPBoutaleb, Rahem 71993–94Division 1 10th 30 30 9 12 9 23 21R16 1994–95Division 1 12th 29 30 10 9 11 23 33R32Nacer Zekri 121995–96Division 1 7th 43 30 12 7 11 24 26R64GrpKhaled Lounici 71996–97Division 1 5th 44 30 12 9 9 27 24R64Khaled Lounici 101997–98Division 1 1st 25 14 6 7 1 19 9R16R16Dahmani, Benchikha 41998–99Super Division 9th 33 26 9 6 11 22 25R64Champions LeagueR2Khaled Lounici 71999–2000National 1 3rd 47 26 13 8 5 35 22R32QF 2000–01Super Division 15th 29 30 7 8 15 24 41R64Hamid Berguiga 92001–02Division 1 6th 45 29 13 6 10 39 27R64 2002–03Division 2 3rd 60 28 18 6 4 46 15R32 2003–04Division 2 2nd 65 30 20 5 5 50 18R64 2004–05Division 2 4th 59 34 18 5 11 40 25R32 2005–06Division 2 6th 51 34 14 9 11 47 29R32 2006–07Division 2 10th 43 34 12 7 15 26 32R4Rachid Bentaleb 92007–08Division 2 4th 68 36 19 11 6 49 20R4 2008–09Division 1 11th 40 32 10 10 12 36 40R64Youcef Saïbi 92009–10Division 1 6th 52 34 13 13 8 46 33R64Sofiane Hanitser 162010–11Ligue 1 4th 46 30 12 10 8 36 31RUSalim Boumechra 132011–12Ligue 1 10th 38 30 11 5 14 28 31SFBaghdad Bounedjah 72012–13Ligue 1 2nd 57 30 17 6 7 38 22R16Bounedjah, El Amalli 112013–14Ligue 1 5th 47 30 13 8 9 34 27R64Champions LeagueWithdrawLamine Abid 72014–15Ligue 1 4th 43 30 13 4 13 30 32R32Lamine Abid 92015–16Ligue 1 9th 41 30 10 11 9 28 27R16Hadj Bouguèche 82016–17Ligue 1 13th 36 30 7 15 8 15 21R16Dahar, Mellel 42017–18Ligue 1 15th 28 30 7 7 16 27 37R32Hadj Bouguèche 62018–19Ligue 2 11th 36 30 7 15 8 22 24R16Mohamed Reda Boumechra 42019–20Ligue 2 16th 22 22 5 7 10 20 31R64Fayçal Abdat 52020–21Ligue 2 7th 31 22 8 7 7 19 22NP 2021–22Ligue 2 6th 47 30 14 5 11 34 22NP 2022–23Ligue 2 7th 42 30 11 9 10 37 33R64 2023–24Ligue 2 7th 41 30 12 5 13 35 34R4 2024–25Ligue 2
Key to league record: P = Played W = Games won D = Games drawn L = Games lost GF = Goals for GA = Goals against Pts = Points Pos = Final position
Key to divisions: 1 = Ligue 1 2 = Ligue 2 3 = Division 3
Key to rounds: DNE = Did not enter Cnl = Cancel NP = Not played PR = Preliminary round Grp = Group stage R1 = First Round R2 = Second Round PO = Play-off round
R64 = Round of 64 R32 = Round of 32 R16 = Round of 16 QF = Quarter-finals SF = Semi-finals RU = Runners-up W = Winners
ChampionsRunners-upPromotedRelegated
Division shown in bold to indicate a change in division. Top scorers shown in bold are players who were also top scorers in their division that season.
Notes
References
External links