MC Alger

MC Alger
Full name	Mouloudia Club d'Alger
Nickname(s)	MCA; El Mouloudia (The Mouloudia); The Doyen; The People's Club
Short name	MCA
Founded	7 August 1921; 103 years ago; (as Mouloudia Club Algérois)
Ground	Ali La Pointe Stadium
Capacity	40,000
Owner	Sonatrach
President	Mohamed Hakim Hadj Redjem
Head Coach	Khaled Ben yahia
League	Ligue 1
2023–24	Ligue 1, 1st of 16 (champions)
Website	https://mouloudiaclubalger.dz/
Home colours	Away colours
	Current season

Mouloudia Club d'Alger (Arabic: نادي مولودية الجزائر), referred to as MC Alger or MCA for short, is an Algerian football club based in Algiers. The club was founded in 1921 and its colours are red, green and white. Their home stadium, Ali La Pointe Stadium, has a capacity of 40,000 spectators.The club is currently playing in the Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1.

Founded in 1921 as Mouloudia Club Algérois and Mouloudia Chaâbia d’Alger, the club was known as Mouloudia Pétroliers d'Alger from 1977 to 1986 and changed its name to Mouloudia Club d'Alger in 1986. The club colours are red and green.

MC Alger were the first Algerian club to win a continental competition, winning the 1976 African Cup of Champions Clubs. They are one of the most successful Algerian clubs having won the domestic league 8 times, and the domestic cup 8 times, tied with USM Alger, CR Belouizdad and ES Sétif.

History

Birth of Mouloudia, the dean of Algerian clubs

In 1921, Aouf Ahmed, a member of a wealthy family from the Casbah and a former student at the Sarrouy school, witnessed a scene that made him want to create a football club. On the Place du Gouvernement, now Place des Martyrs5, children were playing football with a ball made from paper.^[2] French soldiers were watching them, and a sergeant declared: "Here is the Parc des Princes of the Arabs!" This statement annoyed him and prompted him to talk about his project to his friends the next day. The meeting that gave birth to the club took place in the back room of the café on rue Bénachère (called Souikia). Several names were proposed: Éclair sportif d’Alger, Croissant club d’Alger, Étoile sportive d'Alger, Jeunesse sportive d'Alger, until the name chosen Mouloudia Club Algérois. The colors (green and red) were chosen for these reasons: green represents the hope of the Algerian people, it is also the symbolic color of Islam. Red symbolizes love of the nation and sacrifice, it is also one of the favorite colors of the prophet Mohammed.

Encouraged by his friends, Ahmed Aouf organized the club statutes and regulations of the association, staff, preparation of resources (materials and finances), choice of acronym, problems of supervision, acquisition of a playing field and a sports club. Aouf sent a request to the prefecture to obtain approval for the founding of the club. The response was negative, Aouf Ahmed being then twenty-six years old. He therefore wrote the name of Abdelmalek, his aunt's husband, so that his project would be accepted. Abdelrrahmane Aouf was summoned twice by the prefecture to examine the file concerning the creation of the Muslim club. During the interviews, Aouf convinced the municipality of the legitimacy of his project. Thus, he said that the club would aim to train young people for military service and explained: "green, paradise, red hell for others seeking training". The colonial authorities sent a note to the headquarters specifying that the club's premises should be used only for sporting purposes (in order to prohibit political gatherings)6. On August 31, 1921 (26 Dhou Al-Hijja 1339) the Mouloudia Club Algérois was created. Its headquarters are located at the American refreshment bar, Place Mahon, in Algiers.

The beginnings

In 1976, MC Alger qualified for the African Cup of Champions Clubs for the first time in its history after winning the 1974–75 Algerian Championnat National. They reached the final after beating Al-Ahly Benghazi of Libya, Al Ahly of Egypt, Luo Union of Kenya and Enugu Rangers of Nigeria, respectively.^[3] In the final, they met Guinean club Hafia Conakry, who had won the last edition of the competition. In the first leg in Conakry, MC Alger lost 3–0 and faced the difficult task of having to score three goals in the return leg. However, in the return leg, they managed to score the three goals with a brace from Omar Betrouni and a goal from Zoubir Bachi.^[4] They went on to win the penalty shootout 4–1 to win their first African title and also become the first Algerian club to win a continental competition.

Crest

Former logo
Present logo

Kit manufacturers

Kit suppliers
Dates	Supplier
2009–2012	Adidas
2012–2016	Joma
2016–2019	Umbro
2019–2021	Puma
2021–2023	Joma
2023	Puma

Honours

Domestic competitions

Algerian League 1
- Champions (8): 1971–72, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1998–99, 2009–10, 2023–24
- Runners-up (5): 1962–63, 1969–70, 1988–89, 2016–17, 2019–20
Algerian Cup
- Winners (8): 1970–71, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1982–83, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2013–14, 2015–16
- Runners-up (2): 2012–13, 2023-24
Algerian Super Cup
- Winners (3) (record): 2006, 2007, 2014
- Runner-up (1): 2016
Algerian League Cup
- Winners (1): 1998

International competitions

CAF Champions League
- Winners (1): 1976

Regional competitions

Maghreb Cup Winners Cup
- Winners (2): 1971, 1974
North African Cup of Champions
- Runners-up (1): 2010
Maghreb Champions Cup
- Runners-up (1): 1975

Performance in CAF competitions

African Cup of Champions Clubs / CAF Champions League: 9 appearances

1976 – Champion

1977 – Quarter-finals

1979 – Second Round

1980 – Quarter-finals

2000 – First Round

2011 – Group stage

2018 – Group stage

2021 – Quarter - finals

2024 – Group stage (in progress)

CAF Confederation Cup: 4 appearances

2007 – First Round

2008 – First Round

2015 – First Round

2017 – Quarter-finals

CAF Cup Winners' Cup: 1 appearance

1984 – Second Round

Players

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

Current squad

As of 31 August 2024^[update]^[5]^[6] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ALG	Abdelatif Ramdane
2	GK	ALG	Seifeddine Belkhir
3	DF	ALG	Marwane Khelif
4	DF	CIV	Serge Badjo
5	DF	ALG	Ayoub Abdellaoui (captain)
6	MF	ALG	Mohammed Benkhemassa
7	FW	ALG	Sofiane Bayazid
8	FW	CIV	Romaric Ouattara
9	FW	ALG	Andy Delort
10	FW	ALG	Zakaria Naidji
11	MF	ALG	Zakaria Draoui
12	MF	CIV	Mohamed Zougrana
14	DF	ALG	Hamza Mouali


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
16	GK	ALG	Toufik Moussaoui
17	DF	ALG	Kamel Hamidi
18	FW	ALG	Khayreddine Merzougui
19	DF	ALG	Ayoub Ghezala
20	DF	ALG	Réda Halaïmia
21	MF	ALG	Larbi Tabti
22	MF	CIV	Kipré Zunon
25	MF	ALG	Badreddine Touki
26	MF	ALG	Akram Bouras
27	DF	ALG	Abdelkader Menezla
29	FW	FRA	Amine Messoussa
41	FW	ALG	Mehdi Boucherit
—	FW	ALG	Tayeb Meziani

Reserve Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player

Personnel

Current technical staff

Position	Staff
Head coach	Patrice Beaumelle
Assistant coach	Saad Ichalalène
Goalkeeping coach	Fouad Cheriet
Fitness coach	Cheikh Bouziane

Notable players

Below are the notable former players who have represented MC Alger in league and international competition since the club's foundation in 1921. To appear in the section below, a player must have played in at least 100 official matches for the club or represented the national team for which the player is eligible during his stint with MC Alger or following his departure.

For a complete list of MC Alger players, see Category:MC Alger players

Algeria

Mali

Togo

Mamam Cherif Touré

Managers

Mahmoud Hamid Bacha, Mustapha Biskri (1998)
Abdelhamid Kermali, Mustapha Biski (1983–89), (1998–1999)
Michel Renquin (2000–2001)
Bachir Mechri, Ali Bencheikh, Bachta (2001–2002)
Noureddine Saâdi (2002– Dec 4, 2003)
Hervé Revelli (Jan 1, 2004 – May 1, 2004)
Jean-Paul Rabier (2004–05)
Robert Nouzaret (July 1, 2005 – Dec 24, 2005)
Noureddine Saâdi (Dec 2005 – March 2006)
François Bracci (March 2006 – Oct 06)
Hacène Matallah (Oct 2006 – Nov 06)
Enrico Fabbro (Nov 2006 – Nov 07)
Jean Thissen (Nov 2007 – Jan 08)
Enrico Fabbro (Jan 2008 – Feb 08)
Mohamed Mekhazni (Feb 2008 – March 8)
Ameur Djamil (March 27, 2008 – Sept 21, 2008)
Alain Michel (Sept 21, 2008 – Dec 09)
François Bracci (Dec 2009–10)
Alain Michel (June 2010 – March 15, 2011)
Noureddine Zekri (March 11, 2011 – July 19, 2011)
Abdelhak Menguellati (June 2011 – Aug 11)
Abdelhak Benchikha (Sept 1, 2011 – Oct 5, 2011)
François Bracci (Oct 23, 2011 – Feb 11, 2012)
Kamel Bouhellal (Feb 10, 2012 – May 5, 2012)
Abdelkrim Bira (May 4, 2012 – June 30, 2012)
Patrick Liewig (July 1, 2012 – Aug 20, 2012)
Jean-Paul Rabier (Aug 27, 2012 – Sept 23, 2012)
Djamel Menad (Sept 24, 2012 – May 9, 2013)
Farid Zemiti (interim) (May 10, 2013 – June 30, 2013)
Alain Geiger (July 1, 2013 – Nov 10, 2013)
Fouad Bouali (Nov 18, 2013–14)
Artur Jorge (2014 – October 8, 2015)
Meziane Ighil (October 13, 2015– February 2016)
Lotfi Amrouche (Mars, 2016 – May 27, 2016)
Djamel Menad (June, 2016– October, 2016)
Kamel Mouassa (October, 2016– July, 2017)
Bernard Casoni (August, 2017– August, 2018)
Rafik Saifi (September 15, 2018– October 23, 2018)
Adel Amrouche (October, 2018– March 12, 2019)
Bernard Casoni (July, 2019– December 8, 2019)
Mohamed Mekhazni (December 8, 2019– February 5, 2020)
Nabil Neghiz (February 5, 2020 – February 4, 2021)
Abdelkader Amrani (February 7, 2021 – April 12, 2021)
Nabil Neghiz (April 28, 2021 –August 10, 2021)
Khaled Ben Yahia (September 1, 2021 –June 10, 2022)
Faruk Hadžibegić (July 16, 2022 –September 10, 2022)
Faouzi Benzarti (September 25, 2022 –February, 2023)
Patrice Beaumelle (Mars 3, 2023 –)

References

^ "MCA : Amir (Patrice) Beaumelle est le nouvel entraîneur du club". dzfoot.com. 3 March 2023. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
^ "le MC Alger : un club, une histoire, un palmarès" (in French). APS.dz. August 29, 2012. Archived from the original on January 6, 2013. Retrieved August 30, 2012.
^ "African Club Competitions 1976". Rsssf.com. 2012-03-28. Archived from the original on 2022-12-25. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
^ "Le MCA en compétition Africaine". Kazeo.com. Archived from the original on 2012-04-24. Retrieved 2015-07-10.
^ "FICHE DU CLUB: MC ALGER". Archived from the original on 2019-08-16. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
^ "Joueurs du MC Alger". Archived from the original on 2023-09-03. Retrieved 2023-09-03.