MC Alger


Mouloudia Club d'Alger, 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 green, red and gold. 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.
Mouloudia 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.
As of the 2023–24 season, Mouloudia was the Algerian football club with the highest market value. The market value was €9.68 million.

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. 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. 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 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, 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 6. On August 31, 1921 the Mouloudia Club Algérois was created. Its headquarters are located at the American refreshment bar, Place Mahon, in Algiers.

The beginnings

In 1976, Mouloudia 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. In the final, they met Guinean club Hafia Conakry, who had won the last edition of the competition. In the first leg in Conakry, Mouloudia 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. 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.

Honours

Domestic competitions

Algerian League 1

International competitions

CAF Champions League

Regional competitions

Maghreb Cup Winners Cup

Performance in CAF competitions

African Cup of Champions Clubs / CAF Champions League: 10 appearancesCAF Confederation Cup: 4 appearancesCAF Cup Winners' Cup: 1 appearance
MC Alger in African football

Players

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

Current squad

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Notable players

Below are the notable former players who have represented Mouloudia 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 Mouloudia or following his departure.
''For a complete list of Mouloudia players, see :Category:MC Alger players''

Managers