Espérance Sportive de Tunis

Espérance Sportive de Tunis
Full name	Espérance Sportive de Tunis
Nickname(s)	The Smiling One; The Red and Yellow; The Blood and Gold; The Beast of Africa; The Elder of Tunisan Clubs
Short name	Espérance ST
Founded	15 January 1919; 105 years ago
Ground	Stade Hammadi Agrebi
Capacity	60,000
Chairman	Hamdi Meddeb
Head coach	Laurențiu Reghecampf
League	Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1
2023–24	Ligue 1, 1st of 14 (champions)
Website	e-s-tunis.com
	Current season

Espérance Sportive de Tunis (EST, French pronunciation: [ɛspeʁɑ̃s spɔʁtiv də tynis]; Arabic: الترجي الرياضي التونسي, romanized: Attarajī ar-Riyāḍi Attūnisī), known as ES Tunis, and nicknamed “Mkashkha”, The Elder of Tunisian Clubs, The Blood and Gold Club and The Beast of Africa is a Tunisian professional sports club. It was founded on 15 January 1919 in the Bab Souika neighborhood in Tunis. Its best known football section has been active in the first Tunisian Professional League 1 since 1936, during which it played 63 seasons, except for the 1970–71 season.

It is the most successful Tunisian club nationally and internationally in all competitions, with 33 Tunisian Professional League 1 titles (record), the last of which was the 2023–24 season, 15 Tunisian Cup titles (record), the last of which was the 2015–16 season, and 5 Tunisian Super Cup titles (record), the most recent of which is the 2020–21 edition, the Hedi Shaker Cup in 1968 and the Hamda El Aouani tournament in 1978. At the African level, Esperance won the CAF Champions League title four times in 1994, 2011, 2018, 2018–19, the CAF Cup in 1997, the CAF Super Cup in 1995 and the African Cup Winners' Cup in 1998. At the Arab level, Esperance is the most Arab club to have won the Arab Club Champions Cup title three times (a record) in the 1993, 2008–09, 2017 editions and the Arab Super Cup in 1996. Globally, Esperance won the Afro-Asian Club Championship in 1995. It participated three times in the FIFA Club World Cup in 2011, 2018, and 2019, and was satisfied with fifth place as the best participation.

Esperance Sportive de Tunis ranked seventh in the ranking of the best African clubs of the twentieth century compiled by FIFA. The Confederation of African Football also chose it as the fifth best African club in the twentieth century, and it topped the ranking of African clubs several times, most recently in 2018. It also won the Best African Club Award in 2011 and the FIFA Fair Play Award in 2019. There is a certain rivalry with Club Africain, which it plays against in the Tunis derby every season of the Tunisian Professional League 1 and sometimes the Tunisian Cup, and another competition in the Tunisian Clásico with Étoile Sportive du Sahel and CS Sfaxien. Former Esperance player Tarak Dhiab is considered a legend and icon of the club, as he is the most participating player with 427 matches and the all-time top scorer, scoring 127 goals. Tunisian businessman Hamdi Meddeb has been president of the club since 2007, and it has been coached by Portuguese coach Miguel Cardoso since January 2024. Espérance de Tunis will host its competitors on the field of the Hammadi Agrebi Stadium, located in the city of Radès, in the southern suburb of the city Tunis. After his name, several clubs in the region were named after Esperance, such as Espérance Sportive de Zarzis, Esperance Wadi Al-Nis of Palestine, Esperance Club of Saudi Arabia and Esperance Mostaganem of algeria.

Espérance de Tunis has a wide fan base in Tunisia, not only in the capital but throughout the country. After winning the CAF Champions League title twice in a row, the club's popularity has also appeared in Africa, and fans abroad frame some of its beloved cells such as France, Germany, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. In the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup, more than 15,000 supporters were transported to the United Arab Emirates to support the team.

History

Founding and early years

Mohamed Zouaoui, the co-founder of Espérance

The club was founded at the Café de L'Espérance (Arabic: مقهى الترجي) in the Bab Souika neighborhood of Tunis, by Mohamed Zouaoui (of Kabyle heritage)^[1] and Hédi Kallel.^[2] They appealed to Louis Montassier, a member of the French colonial administration, to obtain authorization, as according to the regulations of the time, all such clubs and societies had to be legally chaired by a French national. EST was officially registered on 15 January 1919, its first colours being green and white.^[3]^[4]

Their first colours were green and white. In 1920, the club recruited a young high school student, Chedly Zouiten, who provided a set of jersey with vertical red and yellow bands, which became the club's new colors.^[5] Zouiten became a member of the club's management committee in 1923 before becoming president in 1931. .,

Under Zouiten's tenure, which lasts more than three decades, Espérance was nearly on the verge of abandonment until promotion to the honorary division of the League of Tunisia in 1936. Espérance also managed to reach the final of the Tunisian Cup, but were beaten by Stade Gaulois. Three years after its failure against the Stade Gaulois, Espérance won the Tunisian Cup (1939) against the Etoile Sportive du Sahel (3–1), its first ever triumph and title. It was in 1955 that Espérance qualified to represent the Tunisian League in the North African championship. In the knockout match, two of the five teams were drawn at random to compete against each other and the winner immediately qualifies for the semi-finals. Wydad of the Moroccan League and the Espérance Sportive de Tunis faced each other; the meeting took place in Tunis on 15 May 1955, the Tunisian club losing on the score of 2 goals to 1. Between the start of the Second World War and independence (1956), the squad quality improved.

Post independence

The titles (champion in 1958 and 1960 and winner of the cup in 1957) but also the style of play explain the popular enthusiasm. Attacking football was abandoned in 1963 following the passage of Ben Azzedine as coach. The latter opts for Italian-style defensive principles.

In 1971, violent riots occurred in Stade El Menzah by Espérance supporters following the final lost against the Club Sportive Sfaxien (historic goal of Abdelwahed Trabelsi in the first minute of the game). The authorities then sanctioned Espérance and withdrew the right to play in the first division. The football section of the Espérance was dissolved while the team was one day away from being crowned as champions.

Slim Chiboub era and national dominance (1989–2004)

Slim Chiboub took charge of the club in 1989. Quickly, he kept one of his promises with a double in 1990–1991. In 1993, he won international and local titles. Espérance also won its first regional cup, the Arab Club Champions Cup, becoming the first Tunisian team to do so in 1993. The following year, the club won its first CAF Champions League at the expense of defending champion Zamalek. In 1995, EST won the CAF Super Cup as well as the Afro-Asian Cup, becoming the first Tunisian club to win all possible continental titles. Espérance Sportive de Tunis won ten Tunisian league titles, including seven successive titles between 1998 and 2004 and set a new national record.^[6]

Hamdi Meddeb era and sustained success (2007–present)

Espérance Sportive de Tunis, CAF Champions League Champions in 2011

Espérance Sportive de Tunis, CAF Champions League Champions in 2018

Between 2005 and 2007, Aziz Zouhir led the club, which won the double (championship and cup) in 2006. In 2007, Hamdi Meddeb took charge of the club. He focused on boosting Espérance financially and recruiting African and Tunisian talents.

The 2010–2011 season Espérance completed a historical treble by winning the League, National Cup and the African Champions League, under coach Nabil Maâloul.^[7] Following this success, a new committee chaired by Hamdi Meddeb was elected on 25 September 2011 for a three-year term. However, Maâloul resigned after a sixth place in the FIFA Club World Cup. However, the team lost the 2012 CAF Champions League final to Al Ahly, and the team star Youssef Msakni was sold to Qatari club Lekhwiya for 23 million Tunisian dinars.^[8]

On 6 August 2017, the club won their fourth Arab title and third Arab club championship by beating the Jordanian side Al Faisaly (3–2) after extra time.^[9] After winning its 28 league title on 8 April, Espérance won its third CAF Champions League against Al Ahly despite a defeat (3–1) on the home soil of the eight-time African champions in the first leg. In the second match, the Tunisians won with a score of 3–0, in front of a crowd of 60,000 people, with goals from Saad Bguir and Anice Badri. With the help of the young coach Moïne Chaâbani the club clinched the third Champions League in its history, a few months before its centenary on 15 January 2019.^[10] The club ended the 2018–2019 season as African champions for the fourth time after winning the CAF Champions League against Wydad (1–1 away and 1–0 at home), due to Wydad refusing to play in protest of VAR decision.^[11]^[12]

Colors and symbols

Logos throughout history

1919
1924
1950
1969
1987
2012

Red & Yellow

During the first year of its establishment, Espérance played in white and green, their uniform green with the elegance of the shirt and hands and black veil. Chadli Zouiten's share was the red and yellow sports uniforms, which were better than Esperance's uniforms. He gifted them to Esperance, and since then red and yellow become their official colors.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors


Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor	Ref
1993-94	Uhlsport	Boga/Noumêm	^[13]
1994-95	Lotto	Coca-Cola
1995-96		Coca-Cola
1996-97		Coca-Cola/ Opel
1997-98		Coca-Cola/ Danone
1998-99	Uhlsport
1999-00	Esperance
2000-01	Lotto
2001-02	Lotto
2002-03	Adidas
2003-04	Adidas	Danone/ Boga
2004-05	Atletica	Danone/ Virgin
2005-06	Nike	Danone/ Virgin
2006-10		Groupe Délice [fr]/ Danone
2010-11		Groupe Délice [fr]/ Danone/ KIA
2011-16		Groupe Délice [fr]/ Danone
2016-17
2017-2022	Umbro
2022-	Kappa

Popular culture

Support

The club is supported throughout the country and in the Tunisian diaspora in Europe, Middle East and North America.

Supporters Groups

Scene from a 2007 Tunis derby at the Radès Stadium

Officially, the club's fans and supporters are framed by the Espérance Sportive de Tunis, but many ultras groups have appeared alongside it that organize the club's income during major interviews. The oldest group of them is the Ultras L'Emkachkhines, which belong to the ultras movement but do not have any legal system as is the case for the European bands' lovers groups. We also find the Supras, which appeared in 2004, the Blood & Gold group appeared in 2005, Zapatista Esperanza in 2007 and Torcida in 2008, and in the same year the Matadors group appeared. In 2009 the Fedayn, Ayounos Algres and Strano Boys group appeared, and in 2010 the Los guerreros group, the Resista Armada group and others... All of these groups share the southern runways behind a guard the goal under the banner of Curva Sud. Among the acronics that some of these groups raise is A.C.A.B, which is also raised by other groups in Europe and even in Tunisia. The elderly Ultras made many incomes and carcasses and created more than 35 for them at the local level only, without counting the years of repression from 2009 to 2011 when Ultras in Tunisia were prevented from entering.

Ultras L'Emkachkhines

Ultras L'Emkachkhines, and its symbol (ULE02), is an ultras group established in 2002 by a group of fans of Espérance Sportive de Tunis. Ultras was established in the summer of 2002, and it was the result of the idea of a group of Esperance fans who love the team and were influenced by the activity of long-standing ultras groups in Europe, such as Ultras Romani and Fossa Dei Leoni.

After many consultations and discussions via the Internet, they decided to organize Their first meeting was in the Tunisian capital, where it was agreed to establish the group under the name Ultras Giallorosso, but soon the name was changed through a proposal by one of the members to replace the word Galloroso with L'Emkachkhines for the symbolism of this word among the supporters of Esperance and to impart a spirit of belonging and identity More for the group, and the image of the warrior leader Geranimo was chosen as the group's emblem. Ultras L'Emkachkhines had the first match and the initiation of creativity in the Esperance match against the Egyptian Zamalek in 2002.

Ultras Zapatista Esperanza 2007

Zapatista Esperanza (ZE07), the ultras group supporting Esperance Sportive de Tunis, was founded on June 23, 2007. symbols are (siamo solo noi) and (no justice no peace). The name comes from the Zapatista National Liberation Army (Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, EZLN) which is an armed revolutionary group from the state of Chiapas in southern Mexico. The movement takes the name of Emiliano Zapata - one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. It is considered the most mysterious group in Africa and one of the most dangerous, as it was classified as a criminal gang by the former Tunisian Ministry of Interior.

Accidents

Tragedy of 13 June 1971

The tragedy of 13 June 1971, when the red and yellow lost the Tunisian Cup final against CS Sfaxien at Stade El Menzah, and from it a spark of a conflict with the security erupted behind several human and material losses to order the Minister of Interior and Sports at that time to dissolve the team until President Habib Bourguiba returned to bring him back to the sports arena.

The events of 8 April 2010

Espérance lived several stations that its sons considered as a struggle, such as the events of 8 April 2010 against the security, which witnessed several wounded and arrested as a result of unprecedented clashes with the security in a famous match in which the lights of El Menzah stadium went out in a match between Espérance and CS Hammam-Lif that ended in a 3–3 draw.

Infrastructure

Stadiums

Stade Hammadi Agrebi

Stade Olympique Hamadi Agrebi, opened as Stade 7 November, is a multi-purpose stadium in Radès, Tunis, Tunisia about 10 kilometers south-east of downtown Tunis, in the center of the Olympic City. It is currently used mostly for football matches and it also has facilities for athletics. The stadium has a capacity of up to 60,000 spectators and was built in 2001 for the 2001 Mediterranean Games.

The exterior of Radès stadium

It was inaugurated in July 2001 for the final of the Tunisian Cup between CS Hammam-Lif and Étoile du Sahel (1–0).

Stade El Menzah

Stade El Menzah is a multi-purpose stadium, located in the north of Tunis, Tunisia.

El Menzah Stadium

It is built to host the 1967 Mediterranean Games at the same time as the Olympic swimming pool and gymnasium. Since then, it is an integral part of Tunisia's main sports complex. Tunisia's three major football teams, Espérance de Tunis, Club Africain and Stade Tunisien played their games there.

The stadium was completely renovated for the 1994 African Cup of Nations. It has a capacity of 45,000 seats.^[14] The VIP section consists of a grandstand and 2 salons that can accommodate 300 people in a "cocktail" configuration. The stadium hosted the matches of Tunisia national football team until the inauguration of the Stade 7 November in the south of Tunis in 2001.

Honours

Type	Competition	Titles	Winning Seasons
Domestic	Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1	33	1941–42, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1969–70, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1981–82, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2023–24
	Tunisian Cup	15	1938–39, 1956–57, 1963–64, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1985–86, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1996–97, 1998–99, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2015–16
	Tunisian Super Cup	6	1960, 1993, 2001, 2018, 2019, 2021
Continental	CAF Champions League	4	1994, 2011, 2018, 2019
	African Cup Winners' Cup	1	1998
	CAF Cup	1	1997
	CAF Super Cup	1	1995
Regional	Arab Club Champions Cup	3^S	1993, 2008–09, 2017
	Arab Super Cup	1	1996
	North African Cup Winners Cup	1	2008
Intercontinental	Afro-Asian Club Championship	1	1995

record
^S shared record

Club prizes

African Inter-Club Team of the Year: 2011
FIFA Fair Play Award: 2019

Individual awards

Players awards

African Footballer of the Year

1977:

Tarak Dhiab

Tunisian Athlete of the Year Award

1977:

Tarak Dhiab

1989:

Khaled Ben Yahia

2000:

Chokri El Ouaer

Tunisian Golden Boot

1981:

Khaled Ben Yahia

1982:

Tarak Dhiab

1987:

Khaled Ben Yahia

Tunisian Golden Ball

2009:

Oussama Darragi

2012:

Moez Ben Cherifia

2013:

Youssef Msakni

African Inter-Club Player of the Year

2011:

Oussama Darragi

2019:

Youcef Belaïli

Arab Golden Ball

2012:

Oussama Darragi

Best Maghreb Player Award

2018:

Anice Badri

Competition topscorers

Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 goalscorer

1959:

1960:

1962:

1975:

1982:

1988:

1993:

1994:

1997:

1998:

2000:

2002:

2006:

2009:

2010:

2012:

2013:

2017:

Taha Yassine Khenissi

2019:

Taha Yassine Khenissi

2022:

Mohamed Ali Ben Hammouda

2024:

Rodrigo Rodrigues

CAF Champions League goalscorer

2010:

Michael Eneramo

2014:

Haythem Jouini

2017:

Taha Yassine Khenissi

2018:

Anice Badri

FIFA Club World Cup goalscorer

2019:

Hamdou Elhouni

Personnel

Management

Position	Name
President	Hamdi Meddeb
Honorary President	Slim Chiboub
Financial Director	Rafik Mrabet
Law Director	Farouk Kattou
President of Football Operations	Riadh Bennour
Spokesman	Walid Guerfala

Coaching Staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Laurențiu Reghecampf^[15]
Assistant coach	Skander Kasri
Assistant coach	Viorel Dinu
Goalkeeping coach	Dan Zdranca
Fitness coaches	Mohamed Sabri Bouazizi
Team doctor	Yassine Ben Ahmed

Players

Current squad

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	TUN	Amenallah Memmiche
2	DF	TUN	Mohamed Ben Ali
4	MF	TUN	Mohamed Wael Derbali
5	DF	TUN	Yassine Meriah (captain)
6	DF	TUN	Hamza Jelassi
7	FW	TUN	Youssef Abdelli
8	MF	TUN	Houssem Tka
9	FW	BRA	Rodrigo Rodrigues
10	MF	BRA	Yan Sasse
11	FW	ALG	Youcef Belaïli
13	DF	TUN	Raed Bouchniba
14	MF	NGA	Onuche Ogbelu
15	DF	ALG	Mohamed Amine Tougai (vice-captain)
17	MF	TUN	Zakaria El Ayeb


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	MF	TOG	Roger Aholou
19	MF	TUN	Mootez Zaddem
20	DF	TUN	Mohamed Amine Ben Hamida (3rd captain)
21	MF	CIV	Abdramane Konaté
22	DF	TUN	Ayman Ben Mohamed
23	MF	TUN	Larry Azouni
24	FW	RSA	Elias Mokwana
26	GK	TUN	Mohamed Sedki Debchi
27	FW	GAM	Kebba Sowe
28	FW	TUN	Zinedine Kada
29	FW	TUN	Oussama Bouguerra
30	FW	TUN	Koussay Maacha
32	GK	TUN	Bechir Ben Saïd

Out on loan

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	TUN	Aziz Knani (at Olympique Béja until 30 June 2025)
—	DF	TUN	Amenallah Majhed (at AS Soliman until 30 June 2025)
—	MF	TUN	Aziz Fellah (at AS Gabès until 30 June 2025)
—	MF	TUN	Khalil Guenichi (at Espérance de Zarzis until 30 June 2025)
—	MF	TUN	Khairi Meddaoui (at Stade Gabèsien until 30 June 2025)


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	TUN	Montassar Triki (at AS Soliman until 30 June 2025)
—	FW	TUN	Rayen Hamrouni (at AS Soliman until 30 June 2025)
—	FW	TUN	Achref Jebri (at Espérance de Zarzis until 30 June 2025)
—	FW	TUN	Salmen Trabelsi (at AS Soliman until 30 June 2025)

Other players under contract

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	TUN	Wassim Karoui
—	DF	TUN	Raed Fedaa
—	DF	TUN	Zinedine Sassi
—	MF	TUN	Wael Chaieb


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	TUN	Ghaith Ouahabi
—	FW	ALG	Riad Benayad
—	FW	TUN	Bilel Sahli

International participations

IFFHS rankings

Club world ranking

Footballdatabase club's points 3 March 2024.^[16]

Pos.	Team	Points
107	Persepolis F.C.	1602
108	Sevilla FC	1601
109	Espérance de Tunis	1601
110	C.F. Pachuca	1599
111	RC Celta de Vigo	1599

CAF club rankings

Footballdatabase club's points 3 March 2024.

Pos.	Team	Points
1	Mamelodi Sundowns F.C.	1685
2	Al Ahly SC	1678
3	Espérance de Tunis	1601
4	TP Mazembe	1583
5	Wydad Casablanca	1564

National club rankings

Footballdatabase club's points 4 August 2024 .

Pos.	Team	Points
1	Espérance de Tunis	1619
2	US Monastir	1491
3	Étoile Sportive du Sahel	1487
4	CS Sfaxien	1469
5	Club Africain	1443

FIFA Club World Cup

Participation Record in the FIFA Club World Cup
Year	Position	Last opponent
2011	Sixth place	Monterrey
2018	Fifth place	Guadalajara
2019	Fifth place	Al-Sadd

African Cup of Champions Clubs and CAF Champions League

Participation Record in the African Cup of Champions Clubs and CAF Champions League
Year	Final position / round	Last opponent
1971	Second round	Ismaily
1986	Quarter-Finals	Africa Sports
1989	Second round	MC Oran
1990	Quarter-Finals	Iwuanyanwu Nationale
1994	Winners	Zamalek
1995	Quarter-Finals	Ismaily
1999	Runners–up	Raja Casablanca
2000	Runners–up	Hearts of Oak
2001	Semi-finals	Al Ahly
2002	Group stage	Zamalek
		ASEC Mimosas
		Costa do Sol
2003	Semi-finals	Ismaily
2004	Semi-finals	Enyimba
2005	Group stage	Étoile du Sahel
		Zamalek
		ASEC Mimosas
2007	Group stage	Al Ahly
		Al Hilal
		ASEC Mimosas
2010	Runners-up	TP Mazembe
2011	Winners	Wydad AC
2012	Runners-up	Al Ahly
2013	Semi-finals	Orlando Pirates
2014	Group stage	Club Sfaxien
		ES Sétif
		Al Ahly Benghazi
2015	Second round	Al Merrikh
2017	Quarter-finals	Al Ahly
2018	Winners	Al Ahly
2019	Winners	Wydad AC
2020	Quarter-finals	Zamalek
2021	Semi-finals	Al Ahly
2022	Quarter-finals	ES Sétif
2023	Semi-finals	Al Ahly
2024	Runners-up	Al Ahly

CAF Confederation Cup

Participation Record in the CAF Confederation Cup
Year	Position	Last opponent
2006	Group stage	Étoile du Sahel
		Saint-Éloi Lupopo
		Renacimiento
2008	Play-off round	Étoile du Sahel
2015	Group stage	Al Ahly
		Étoile du Sahel
		Stade Malien
2016	Play-off round	MO Béjaïa