USM Khenchela
Association football club in Algeria
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Union Sportive Madinet 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, Hammam Ammar Stadium, has a capacity of 8,000 spectators. The club is currently playing in the Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1.
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| Full name | Union sportive Madinet Khenchela | |||
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| Nickname | Lions des Aurés - Ciskaoua - Les bagnards | |||
| Founded | July 28, 1943 (as Union sportive Madinet Khenchela) | |||
| Ground | Amar Hamam Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 8,000 | |||
| Owner | Algérie Télécom[1] | |||
| President | Walid Boukrouma | |||
| Head Coach | Billel Dziri[2] | |||
| League | Ligue 1 | |||
| 2025–26 | Ligue 1, 7th of 16 | |||
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History
In 1970–71 Algerian Cup semi-finals in Khenchela against USM Alger who was not welcomed because of a word used by their supporters which is that Khenchela is “Shawiya” a term that has been misinterpreted and they prepared a hostile reception, and the match lasted four hours due to the storming to the stadium several times by the supporters.[3] After the end of the match USM Alger players who were accompanied by a handful of fans, remained locked in the dressing rooms until midnight and after the intervention of a Gendarmerie brigade sent from Batna, then the Algerian Football Federation at that time punished the two clubs by playing 50 kilometers away from its stadium for one year.[3] Khenchela saw the birth of another club that became known thanks to its good performances during the 1990s, at a time when USM Khenchela was struggling in the lower divisions, Ittihad Riadhi Baladiat Khenchela. created in 1985, Subsequently, the authorities decided to merge these two clubs into one, but the project fell through and a few years later IRBK ended up disappearing from the football scene after 28 years of existence.[4][5]
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.[6]
On August 5, 2020, USM Khenchela were promoted to the Algerian Ligue 2.[7]
Promotion to Ligue 1 for the first time
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.[8] 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.[9]
During the visit of the President of the Republic Abdelmadjid Tebboune on May 31, 2024, to Khenchela, he promised the leaders and fans of USM Khenchela to find a lessor capable of taking charge of L'USMK.[10] The Algerian public telecommunications company Algérie Télécom, will apparently be the new owner of USM Khenchela, according to a post published on the club's official page. The club's president, Walid Boukrouma, said that "preliminary discussions addressing the aspects of the transfer of ownership of the club to this national company have already been initiated with its CEO, stressing that the realization of this acquisition will not happen overnight. It will take a few months to finalize all the necessary administrative procedures.[11]
On August 1, 2024, Algérie Télécom and Union Sportive Madinet Khenchela have signed a partnership agreement, making Algérie Télécom the official sponsor.[12] The signing ceremony took place at the headquarters of the General Directorate of Algérie Télécom in Algiers, in the presence of the Chairman and CEO of Algérie Télécom and the President of USM Khenchela Walid Boukrouma.[12] Knowing that Algérie Télécom has started procedures to buy the club, this partnership is part of a global approach aimed at supporting the club in the development and strengthening of its capacities for the 2024–25 season.[12]
On 20 January 2026, Algérie Télécom announced its takeover of the club.[13]
Players
Algerian teams are limited to four foreign players. The squad list includes only the principal nationality of each player;
Current squad
As of 31 August 2026[update][14] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Personnel
Current technical staff
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Billel Dziri |
| Assistant coach | Moulay Haddou |
| Goalkeeping coach |  Rabie Bouazzi |
| Fitness coach | Ahmed Khebbeb |
Statistics
Recent seasons
| Season | League | Cup | Other | Africa | Top goalscorer(s)[note 1] | Ref. | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Pos | Pts | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Name | Goals | |||||||
| 1962–63 | Critérium d'Honneur | 2nd | 42 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | Unknown | |||||||||
| 1963–64 | Division d'Honneur | 3rd | 14 | Round of 16 | |||||||||||||
| 1964–65 | Division d'Honneur | 11th | 26 | Round of 32 | |||||||||||||
| 1965–66 | Division d'Honneur | 7th | 30 | Round of 32 | |||||||||||||
| 1966–67 | Division d'Honneur | Unknown | |||||||||||||||
| 1967–68 | Division d'Honneur | 1st | Unknown | ||||||||||||||
| 1968–69 | Nationale II | 6th | 42 | 22 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 25 | 29 | Round of 64 | |||||||
| 1969–70 | Nationale II | 6th | 44 | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 27 | 27 | Round of 32 | |||||||
| 1970–71 | Nationale II | 3rd | 51 | 24 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 20 | Semi-finals | |||||||
| 1971–72 | Nationale II | Unknown | |||||||||||||||
| 1972–73 | National II | 3rd | 60 | 26 | 14 | 6 | 6 | 44 | 20 | Unknown | |||||||
| 1973–74 | National II | 1st | 51 | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 35 | 11 | Unknown | |||||||
| 1974–75 | Nationale I | 11th | 57 | 30 | 11 | 5 | 14 | 24 | 40 | Round of 64 | |||||||
| 1975–76 | Nationale I | 14th | 47 | 30 | 4 | 9 | 17 | 28 | 53 | Round of 16 | |||||||
| 1976–77 | Nationale II | 2nd | 26 | Round of 16 | |||||||||||||
| 1977–78 | Division 2 | 2nd | 26 | Unknown | |||||||||||||
| 1978–79 | National II | 2nd | 26 | Unknown | |||||||||||||
| 1979–80 | National II | 9th | 43 | 22 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 18 | 21 | Round of 32 | |||||||
| 2009–10 | Inter-régions | 5th | 49 | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 39 | 28 | Round of 16 | |||||||
| 2010–11 | DNA | 12th | 23 | 26 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 18 | 33 | Last regional round | |||||||
| 2011–12 | DNA | 3rd | 44 | 26 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 32 | 28 | Penultimate Regional Round |
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| 2012–13 | DNA | 8th | 37 | 26 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 28 | 28 | Unknown | |||||||
| 2013–14 | DNA | 7th | 40 | 30 | 12 | 4 | 14 | 35 | 44 | Last regional round | |||||||
| 2014–15 | DNA | 10th | 36 | 30 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 23 | 26 | Last regional round | |||||||
| 2015–16 | DNA | 9th | 37 | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 33 | 40 | Penultimate Regional Round |
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| 2016–17 | DNA | 6th | 39 | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 39 | 37 | Round of 32 | |||||||
| 2017–18 | DNA | 2nd | 50 | 30 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 36 | 25 | Round of 64 | |||||||
| 2018–19 | DNA | 2nd | 62 | 30 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 38 | 20 | Round of 32 | |||||||
| 2019–20 | DNA[note 2] | 6th | 36 | 24 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 28 | 19 | Round of 64 | |||||||
| 2020–21 | Ligue 2 | 4th | 38 | 22 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 26 | 19 | Not played | |||||||
| 2021–22 | Ligue 2 | 1st | 67 | 30 | 19 | 10 | 1 | 60 | 22 | Not played | Sofiane Bayazid | 16 | |||||
| 2022–23 | Ligue 1 | 8th | 42 | 30 | 12 | 6 | 12 | 29 | 29 | Round of 16 | Sofiane Bayazid | 14 | |||||
| 2023–24 | Ligue 1 | 10th | 39 | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 33 | 39 | Round of 16 | Tosin Omoyele | 10 | |||||
| 2024–25 | Ligue 1 | 9th | 40 | 30 | 11 | 7 | 12 | 28 | 38 | Round of 64 | Hamid Djaouchi | 9 | |||||
Notes
- Goals in all competitions (Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1, Algerian Cup, League Cup, African and Super Cup) are counted.
- On March 15, 2020, the Ministry of Youth and Sports decided to stop the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Algeria, Then it was canceled with the rise of the first eight teams to the Ligue 2 and the relegation was cancelled.[15][16]