USM El Harrach

Union Sportive de la Médina d'El Harrach ( ar, الإتحاد الرياضي لمدينة الحراش), 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 5,000 spectators. The club is currently playing in the Algerian Ligue 2.

History

In March 1935, the idea of creating a football club for young Muslims in Maison Carrée was born. 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.

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

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

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

*

Football clubs in Algeria
Football clubs in Algiers
Association football clubs established in 1935
Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 clubs
1935 establishments in Algeria
Sports clubs and teams in Algeria

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