Étoile Sportive du Sahel (), known as ES Sahel or simply ESS for short, is a Tunisian football club based in Sousse in the Sahel region of Tunisia. Their home stadium, Sousse Olympic Stadium, has a capacity of 50,000 spectators. The club is currently playing in the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1, the Tunisian top-flight football league.
The club was founded on 11 May 1925 after a general meeting under the chairmanship of Chedly Boujemla, Ali Laârbi and Ahmed Zeglaoui, at the headquarters of the Association of the ancient French-Arab School in Laroussi Zarouk Street, in the heart of the old town of Sousse. The aim of the meeting was to establish a sports education society. The Tunisian flag was chosen in the selection of the colors of the team. The red shirt with the star and the white shorts. The French colonial authorities prevented the use of these colors, but with the insistence of the team leaders they prevailed and in the latter they played this kit. In English the name means Sport (or Athletic) Star of the Sahel (coast).
On the continental side, Étoile du Sahel has won 9 trophies of competitions of the Confederation of African Football, more than any other Tunisian team. The club has 1 CAF Champions League, 2 CAF Cups, 2 CAF Super Cups titles, 2 CAF Confederation Cups titles and 2 African Cup Winners' Cups.
Internationally, Étoile du Sahel was the first Tunisian club to participate in the FIFA Club World Cup. They competed in the fifth edition that took place in 2007 in Japan. The club became the second club to reach the FIFA Club World semi-final as the representative of CAF, after Al Ahly SC in 2006, as they defeated Pachuca CF at the quarter-final of 2007 FIFA Club World Cup.
History
Beginnings (1925–1931)
The club was founded during a public meeting at the French-Tunisian school on Laroussi Zarrouk Street, in Sousse. Chedli Boujemla was elected as the first chairman of the multi-sport club. La Soussienne and La Musulmane ("The Muslim") were rejected as club names in favor of Etoile Sportive. Club members eventually settled on Etoile Sportive du Sahel to reflect the goal of representing a broader region than Sousse alone. The Protectorate administration officially recognized the club on 17 July 1925. In March 1926, Ali Larbi became chairman of the soccer section of the club, which entered the Tunisian Football Federation.
Its first team members were Mohamed Bouraoui, Abdelkader Ben Amor, Abdelhamid Baddaï, Sadok Zmentar, Ali Guermachi, Mohamed Mtir, Benaïssa Hicheri, Béchir Dardour et Tahar Kenani.
In March 1926, Ali Laarbi became president of the football section affiliated to the Tunisian Football League (number 4922). After a year of running in which the club played friendly matches, it enters the Honor Promotion Division Center, which corresponds to the second division ranked under the South-South Division of Honor, which awards the title of regional champion.
ESS played in the final of the national championship against the North Champion. The lineup was: Mohamed Bouraoui, Abdelkader Ben Amor, Abdelhamid Baddai, Sadok Zmentar, Sadok Chalouat, Ali Guermachi, Mohamed Mtir, Benaïssa Hicheri, Bashir Dardour and Tahar Kenani.
The club played the leading roles and matured in 1930–1931, where it won the regional championship and then played against the champions of the Southwest (La Gafsienne) and the South (Club Sportif Gabesien). He entered the honor division to no longer experience a lower division demotion.
Stability and improvement (1931–1939)
On 25 June 1931, the club held its general meeting early enough to prepare the new season. The elected committee is composed of:
Ali Laâdhari (President) Abderrahman Limam and Mustapha Ghachem (vice-president) Salah Baddaï (Secretary General) Bouraoui Nabli (Assistant Secretary) Mohamed Letaïef (treasurer) Hassine Kamoun (Assistant Treasurer) Ahmed Mlayeh and Salem Ben Hmida (members)
Abdelhamid Baddai is appointed coach. With young Habib Sayeh, Mustapha Ksia, Bouraoui Gnaba and Abdessalem Saad joining in quickly, the club won the district championship by scoring 31 goals in fourteen games and conceding ten goals. But it fails at the national level against the Italia, champion of the North (1–3 with a goal of Bashir Dardour and 2–4 with goals of Sadok Zmentar and Bashir Dardour), after leading 2–0 in the middle. time.
In 1934, he hired for the first time a qualified coach, the first Tunisian to obtain the license of the French Football Federation, Mohamed Boudhina, former coach of Esperance Sports Tunis and former player of FC Metz and AS Nancy. The team improves and reaches the semi-finals of the Tunisian Football Cup in 1937 and the final in 1939.
The Ligue de Tunisie de Football Association (LTFA) which was a Tunisian body affiliated to the French Football Federation has organized the national competitions during this period of the French protectorate of Tunisia.
Disruptions (1940–1946) The outbreak of the Second World War disrupts sports activity: the team plays against El Makarem de Mahdia and the Patriote de Sousse in 1941 and a lost final of a Center-South region against the CS Gabèsien in 1942. This period saw the confirmation of great players like Habib Mougou, Sadok Soussi, Abdallah Ghomrasni, Abdelhamid Blal and Aleya Douik. The halting of competitions in the region leads to join the ranks of Grombalia Sports. The team resumed its activity in 1946: they won the Center-South championship but failed against the CA Bizertin in the national final and also lost the final of the Tunisian Cup against the other club of Bizerte, the Patrie Football Club bizertin.
Privileged position at the national level (1947–1955) From 1946 to 1947, the Tunisian football championship was organized at the national level. The team that has never left the national division that called "Division of Excellence". In 1947, the team settled in fourth place in the local league in addition to the early exit of the cup from the round of 16 against the US Béja and Habib Mougou scored 13 goals to be the scorer of the team followed by Hamed Douik with 6 goals.
In the following year, ES Sahel maintained the same position in the league and was defeated in the Cup against Patrie Football Club bizertin in the semi-final. Mougou was the team's top scorer for the second year in a row with 11 goals.
In 1949 the team advanced and a finished second in the tournament and Habib Mougou was again a scorer with 10 goals and withdrew from the cup in the quarter-finals against the CS Hammam-Lif.
The team waited until 1950 to win their first league title, and Habib Mougou was the national league's top scorer with 20 goals, but he lost the cup final to CS Hammam-Lif again. ESS's first major honour was the Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 title in 1950, but they had to wait 8 years to pick it up again.
In the year that followed this season, the team finished sixth in the championship, as was Bechir Jerbi, the team's top scorer, ending the domination of Mogou, in addition to the exit from the quarter-final against CS Hammam-Lif for the third year.
The tournament was interrupted in 1952 because of the political events and the demands for Tunisia's independence from France. This did not prevent the end of the cup competition in which ES Sahel lost to ES Tunis in the quarter-final.
The tournament came back two years later and the team finished in fourth place and Habib Mougou scored 11 goals and the team lost in the cup against CS Hammam-Lif in the final.
In the following year, the team was in the same position finished us the fact that he was defeated in the cup against the same team but from the quarter-finals. Habib also finished the season with 12 goals.
They also reached the quarter-finals of the North African Cup in 1950 by eliminating the Racing de Casablanca, the oldest Moroccan clubs still active.
Post-independence and dissolution (1956–1961) After the independence of the country, the club often oscillated between first and third place. He played four successive finals of the Tunisian Cup but won only one, and won the championship in 1958. They won their first Tunisian President Cup in 1959, and completed a league and cup double in 1963.
The team settled in the second place of the Tunisian league which was organized by the Tunisian Football Federation after being organized by the French Football Federation. Habib Mougou has scored 25 goals to be the scorer of the championship, despite not winning the title of how they lost to Club Africain in the Tunisian Cup in the quarterfinals 3–0. In the following year, the team signed with coach George Berry to be the first English coach of the team and the team could get third place in the championship and reached the final of the cup before losing to Espérance de Tunis 2–1.
Berry remained in charge for the season, where ES Sahel won the league title and reached the Tunisian Cup final before losing to Stade Tunisien 2–0. In 1959, the team finished second in the local league, but won the Tunisian Cup for the first time in their history after beating ES Tunis in the final 3–2.
In 1960, the team's level dropped as they finished at the seventh place in the league and was defeated in the Cup final against Stade Tunisien 2–0.
The 1961 season was catastrophic for ES Sahel after being defeated in the Cup from the quarter-final against Esperance 2–0 and the team which was in third place and competing for the title until the round 17 before being dissolved.
His rivalry with Esperance sportive de Tunis unleashes passions and excesses occur after a match lost in the quarterfinals of the Cup in 1961, against the rival of always (0–2). The national authorities then decide to dissolve the club; the youth and sports directorate issued a statement indicating that the President of the Republic received, on 20 March at 5 pm, at his home in Monastir, the steering committee to inform his members of his deep dissatisfaction: that the incidents which occurred during the match in question are likely to feed the animosity and the hatred in the hearts of the young people and to sow discord among them ... As these incidents reached a such as the safety of citizens may be in danger, as the leaders of the association in question have not lived up to their duty and to bring all football officials in Tunisia to meditate on in this example, the President of the Republic has decided – in addition to ongoing legal proceedings – to dissolve the association of the Etoile Sportive du Sahel and to suspend its leaders and players.
Outstanding results (1962–1978)
Back, after a year of dissolution, it is a period of ostentation during which the club wins titles at the national and Maghreb. Two figures symbolize this period: President Hamed Karoui (1961–1981) and Abdelmajid Chetali, player until 1970 then coach (1971–1978).
The team's return to the competition was accompanied by the arrival of Yugoslavian coach Božidar Drenovac and was able to win the league title and the Tunisian Cup after beating Club Africain 2–1 to achieve the first-ever double for the team. In the next season, the team finished the season in sixth place and defeated them in the quarter-finals of the Cup against Stade Tunisien in the quarter-finals 2–0. Drenovac continued to lead the team to 1965 where they finished third in the league but withdrew from the cup early after the sudden defeat to AS Marsa 1–0 to end the five-year-old Yugoslav coach.