USM Khenchela

Union Sportive de la Médina Khenchela (Arabic: الإتحاد الرياضي لمدينة خنشلة), known as USM Khenchela or simply USMK, is an Algerian professional football club based in Khenchela. The club was founded in 1943 and its colours are white and black. Their home stadium, Amar Hamam Stadium, has a capacity of 5,000 spectators. The club is currently playing in the Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1.

USM Khenchela
Full nameUnion sportive de la Médina Khenchela
Nickname(s)Lions des Aurés - Ciskaoua
FoundedJuly 28, 1943; 80 years ago (1943-07-28) (as Union sportive de la Médina Khenchela)
GroundAmar Hamam Stadium
Capacity5,000
PresidentWalid Boukrouma
Head CoachMoufdi Cherdoud[1]
LeagueLigue 1
2023–24Ligue 1, 10th of 16
Current season

History

The club came fifth in the 2009–10 Ligue Inter-Régions de football – Groupe Est.[2]

The club was promoted for the 2010–11 season of the newly created Championnat National de Football Amateur due to the professionalisation of the first two divisions in Algeria.[3]

On August 5, 2020, USM Khenchela were promoted to the Algerian Ligue 2.[4]

On May 21, 2022, USM Khenchela were promoted to the Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 returns to the national elite that it left almost 50 years ago. The Ciskaoua will thus once again taste the sensations of the Ligue 1 where they had played for two seasons at the beginning of the 1970s.[5] On February 2, 2023, an agreement was signed between Groupe Cosider and USM Khenchela, Under this agreement which covers a renewable year, the club will benefit from financial support during the 2022–23 sports season. This agreement initialed in the presence of the Wali of Khenchela, aims underlined the CEO of Cosider to support the evolution of the club through a sponsorship formula, under which Groupe Cosider will financially support all of the activities of USM Khenchela.[6]

Players

Algerian teams are limited to three foreign players. The squad list includes only the principal nationality of each player;

Current squad

As of 5 February 2024[7][8]Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos. NationPlayer
16GK  ALGSofiane Khedairia
17FW  ALGKarim Sabouni
18MF  ALGAhmed Gagaâ
20FW  NGATosin Omoyele
21DF  ALGHamza Rebai
22DF  ALGMohamed Guemroud
24MF  MLIMoussa Coulibaly
25DF  ALGAbdelhafid Hoggas
26DF  ALGAbdellah Meddah
27MF  ALGSid Ali Lamri

Personnel

Current technical staff

PositionStaff
Head coachMoufdi Cherdoud
Assistant coach
Goalkeeping coachAllawa Ayadhi
Fitness coachAbdallah Mansouri

References