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US Monastir (football)

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Union Monastirienne
Full nameUnion Sportive Monastirienne
Nickname(s)Sons of the capital of Ribat (أبناء عاصمة الرباط)
Founded17 March 1923; 101 years ago (17 March 1923)
GroundMustapha Ben Jannet Stadium
Monastir, Tunisia
Capacity22,000
ChairmanTunisia Amir Hizem (interim)
ManagerTunisia Mohamed Sahli
LeagueTunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1
2023–24Ligue 1, 2nd of 14
WebsiteClub website

Union Sportive Monastirienne (Arabic: الاتحاد الرياضي المنستيري), known as US Monastir or simply USM for short, is a Tunisian football club based in Monastir. The club was founded in 1923 and its colours are blue and white. Their home stadium, Mustapha Ben Jannet Stadium, has a capacity of 20,000 spectators. The club is currently playing in the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1.

Founded in 1923 under the name Ruspina Sports, it was renamed Union Sportive Monastirienne in 1942. The new name reflects the union between Ruspina Sports and other clubs in town (swimming, petanque, etc.) and the Nationalists of Monastir (like Mustapha Ben Jannet). Monastir has won two trophies in its history, as it won both the Tunisian Cup and Tunisian Super Cup in 2020.

History

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Beginnings (1923–1956)

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After being founded in 1923, Ruspina Sports was officially renamed US Monastir on 13 June 1942, the date of publication in the official journal of the decree of her creation.

Ribat of Monastir which is one of the important monuments of Monastir that gave the nickname of the team.

At the end of the 1930s, Ruspina Sports experienced innumerable financial difficulties and a series of disgraces within the general public which, far from being insensitive to the misdeeds of colonialism, resolutely committed against it by creating teams of neighborhoods. Just as Ruspina Sports is in decline, voices are being raised to unify the other teams and create a kind of unique selection. On 13 June 1942, the decree creating USM was signed and the new association inherited Ruspina Sports' credit balance, i.e. 5,395 Tunisian francs.

If the end of the war coincided with a renewed interest and enthusiasm among the Monastirians for football, the USM has more than one hundred players, half of whom play in the senior team and the second half in the junior categories, the following years will be more difficult.

After independence (1956–1979)

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Habib Bourguiba, the first president of Tunisia, who supported USM a lot after independence.

With the independence of Tunisia, USM knew a turning point. In the field, USM did not win any titles either in the Tunisian Cup or in the league. Each time, the USM returned to the charge and, after its successive relegations, goes back to the first division. It is during the 1961–1962 season that the USM reached for the first time in the national division after having spent two seasons in the third division (1957-1958 and 1958–1959) and one season (1959–1960) in the honor division.

Results between rise and fall (1980–2019)

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The club's son, Faouzi Benzarti, is the most successful Tunisian coach

The 1980s were a turning point for the club, which became semi-professional and allowed the team to remain in the national division for fourteen consecutive years. During the same season, USM qualified for the quarter-finals of the Tunisian Cup but lost in Monastir against the Club African (1–0) during the overtime session. With eight wins, eight losses and ten draws, USM occupied a comfortable fifth place.

2009 Tunisian Cup Final between CS Sfaxien and US Monastir.

This situation does not last and the 1993–1994 season promised to be very difficult on all fronts and more particularly material. Four coaches followed one another to help a team in crisis since it suffered from several shortcomings. During the 1994–1995 season, the team found itself relegated to the third division according to the new organization of the Tunisian Football Federation. During the 1995–1996 season, Habib Allègue took the reins of the team which managed to win and advance to the honor division (southern pool) before returning to League I two seasons later and maintaining his position. In July 2006, Néji Stambouli succeeded Zouhair Chaouch, in place for six years, at the head of the club.

On 3 May 2009, after a victory against Esperance Sportif de Tunis at Stade El Menzah, on the score of three goals to two, the club qualified for the first Tunisian Cup final in its history: it opposed CS Sfaxien on May 24 at the November 7 stadium in Radès, and ends with a score of 1 to 0 for the Sfaxiens with the presence of president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

At the end of the 2009–2010 season, the club was relegated to Ligue II.

However, the team re-promoted to the first division after one season, and its ranking ranged between fifth and tenth in the following years until it relegated in 2015 and the team spent two seasons in the second division before rising again in 2017.

Lassaad Chabbi guided the team to win the Tunisian Cup.

After that, the teams presented respectable levels after the assignment of coach Skandar Kasri and Lassaad Dridi to finish the ranking in 2019 in seventh place.

Golden generation (2019–)

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And at the beginning of the 2019 season, a contract was signed with Lassaad Chabbi. The 2019–2020 season the team managed to take third place in the national league, which enabled it to participate in a continental competition for the first time in its history, namely the 2020–21 CAF Confederation Cup.

As for the Tunisian Cup (named the Habib Bourguiba Cup this season, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of his death), the team managed to win it for the first time in its history, after beating Espérance Tunis in the final 2–0.

After Chabbi resigned from coaching the team, Afouène Gharbi, who finished the season in tenth place, was appointed. The team then contracted with Mourad Okbi, who succeeded in winning the team's second title in its history by obtaining the Tunisian Super Cup.

Official honours

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Type Competition Titles Winning Seasons
Domestic Tunisian League 1 0 Best performance: 2021–22, 2023-24 Runners-up
Tunisian Cup 1 2019–20
Tunisian Super Cup 1 2020
Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 2 4 1975-76, 1979–80, 1997–98, 2010–11

African competitions

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2022–23 – Second Round
2020–21 – Second Round
2022-23 – Quarter-finals

Regional competitions

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2006–07 – Round of 32
2007–08 – Round of 32
2008–09 – Quarter-finals
2022-23 – Group stage

Colors

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The colors of US Monastir are white and blue. At home, the player wears a blue jersey, blue shorts and white socks. Outside of Monastir, the player wears a white jersey, white shorts and blue socks.

  • US Monastir's Press Conference Room Logo
    US Monastir's Press Conference Room Logo
  • A boutique in Monastir honoring the colors of the team
    A boutique in Monastir honoring the colors of the team

Players

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Current squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Tunisia TUN Rayen Besbes
2 DF Algeria ALG Nassim Mekidèche
4 DF Tunisia TUN Wael Ben Othmane
5 DF Ivory Coast CIV Naude Zeguei
6 MF Democratic Republic of the Congo COD Benny Mongo
7 FW Tunisia TUN Ahmed Jafeli
8 MF Tunisia TUN Haytham Dhaou
9 FW Mali MLI Elhadji Omar Fall
10 MF Tunisia TUN Faissal Mannai
12 DF Tunisia TUN Fourat Soltani
14 MF Tunisia TUN Alaeddine Dridi
18 MF Tunisia TUN Adem Kouraichi
19 FW Tunisia TUN Zied Aloui
20 DF Tunisia TUN Chiheb Salhi
21 DF Tunisia TUN Hichem Baccar
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 GK Tunisia TUN Sadok Yedes
23 MF Tunisia TUN Idriss Mhirsi
24 GK Tunisia TUN Ahmed Slimane
26 DF Tunisia TUN Dhiaeddine Jouini
27 MF Tunisia TUN Mohamed Aziz Ouerfelli
28 FW Mauritania MTN Yassin El Welly
30 FW Tunisia TUN Chiheb Jebali
32 GK Tunisia TUN Bechir Ben Saïd (captain)
33 GK Tunisia TUN Charfeddine Nasreli
-- DF Tunisia TUN Mohamed Ameur Belghith
-- DF Tunisia TUN Malek Miladi
-- MF Tunisia TUN Louay Trayi
-- MF Tunisia TUN Riadh Frioui
-- FW Tunisia TUN Anas Bouati

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK Tunisia TUN Zied Lazreg (on loan to AS Menzel Ennour)
— MF Tunisia TUN Zahreddine Sassi (on loan to CS M'saken)

Current technical staff

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Role Name
Manager Tunisia Mohamed Sahli
Assistant manager ?

Managers

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Presidents

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Abdelwahab Abdallah, who was one of the team's presidents in the 1980s.

The first president of the club is the French Joseph Kalfati, followed by four other French: Peteche, Georges Rambi, Renaud and Fenech, while the first Tunisian president is Mohamed Salah Sayadi who takes the head of the club in 1929.

N° Nat Name Period N° Nat Name Period
1 Tunisia Bechir Charnine 1955–1956 16 Tunisia Zouhair Chaouche 1996–1999
2 Tunisia Mohamed Salah Chedly 1956–1962 17 Tunisia Ali Benzarti 1999–2002
3 Tunisia Mahmoud Chaouche 1962–1963 18 Tunisia Zouhair Chaouche 2002–2006
4 Tunisia Allala Laouiti 1963–1980 19 Tunisia Neji Stambouli 2006–2008
5 Tunisia Mohamed El May 1980–1981 20 Tunisia Frej Meddeb 2008–2009
6 Tunisia Abdelwahab Abdallah 1981–1982 21 Tunisia Zouhair Chaouche / Riadh Bhouri 2009–2010
7 Tunisia Hedi Benzarti 1982–1983 22 Tunisia Hedi Benzarti 2010–2011
8 Tunisia Moncef Skhiri 1983–1985 23 Tunisia Ahmed Belli 2011–2014
9 Tunisia Naceur Ktari 1985–1988 24 Tunisia Salem Harzallah / Ali Mzali 2014–2015
10 Tunisia Hedi Benzarti 1988–1990 25 Tunisia Hamed Zenati 2015–2016
11 Tunisia Slaheddine Ferchiou 1990–1992 26 Tunisia Ahmed Belli 2016–2023
12 Tunisia Naceur Ktari 1992–1993 27 Tunisia Amir Hizem (interim) 2023–present
13 Tunisia Abdelkader Aguir 1993–1994
14 Tunisia Mohamed El May / Naceur Skandrani 1994–1995
15 Tunisia Habib Allegue 1995–1996

Home stadium

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The home stadium of US Monastir

The home stadium of US Monastir is the Mustapha Ben Jannet Stadium which is a multi-use stadium in Monastir, Tunisia. It was used for the 2004 African Cup of Nations. The stadium holds 20,000 people and sometimes, it's used as a home for Tunisia national football team.

It was inaugurated in 1958, this stadium with suspended tiers thanks to the technique of "cantilevered ball joint" used by the architect Olivier-Clément Cacoub initially offers a capacity of 3,000 places. Over time, several expansion works were carried out: its capacity was increased in the late 1990s to more than 10,000 places. On the occasion of the organization of the 2004 African Cup of Nations, new works allow to reach a capacity of 20,000 places.

The stadium is integrated into the sports complex of the city of Monastir, Tunisia, located a few hundred meters from the city center.

Rival clubs

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