Union Sportive de la Médina d'El Harrach (Arabic: 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 8,000 spectators. The club is currently playing in the Algerian Ligue 2.
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.[1] 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
The Union Sportive de la Médina d’El Harrach is a team that I have always supported, and I am determined to take up this challenge with an ambitious sporting project. I will make my material and moral contribution, and I will spare no effort for the good of the club.
— Sofiane Touahria a statement about his ambitions with the team.[2][3]
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.[3] 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.[2] 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.[2]
Honours
USM El Harrach players lining up before a Ligue 1 match against USM Alger at Omar Hamadi Stadium on February 15, 2014.
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.
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.
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