Ouled EL Bahdja was a supporters' group of USM Algerfootball fans established in the 1990s by a group of fans from Casbah. Members were known for chanting songs in support of their club, USM Alger.[1] Members wished to remain anonymous, and refused public appearance and media interviews. The group was officially disbanded in 2022, citing problems and harassment facing its members.[2]
History
...Our intervention [at a commemoration of footballer Rino Della Negra] was mainly focused on the history and history of protest of our club, USM Alger, both on the role played by the club in the war of liberation and on the role played by the fans in the social movements that the country has experienced.
— Ouled EL Bahdja to its members on the 10th anniversary of its founding[3]
Ouled EL Bahdja was founded in the 1990s, the only such supporters' group in Algeria at the time. The group regularly organized tifo among fans at games, both in the Ligue Professionnelle 1 and continental competitions. Support for the group extended into Tunisia and Morocco.
With the advent of Groupe SERPORT, the group suffered legal prosecutions from people from the company's surroundings because of their criticism of the management method, and it increased because of the stadium issue, where Ouled EL Bahdja insisted on returning to its stronghold, the Omar Hamadi Stadium.[incomprehensible]
On December 14, 2022, Ouled EL Bahdja announced that it was stopping its activity after 15 years. In a press release, its members stated that the group was unable to continue serving the best interests of USM Alger, and that its disbandment was partially due to the group's legal problems and harassment.[2]
Notable activities
On 21 June 2017, in a match against Zamalek in the CAF Champions League, USM Alger supporters hoisted their biggest banner (spanning between runway 13 and runway 21 of the Stade du 5 Juillet) bearing the phrase "Islamic Union" in Arabic, a reference to the old name of the club, Union Sportive Musulmane d'Alger.
In the match against CAPS United F.C. on the 80th anniversary of the founding of USM Alger, supporters lifted a banner with the number 80 and a logo written in French ("Ensemble"); 80 minutes into the game, fans celebrated with fireworks such as smoke grenades.[4] The tifo of USM Alger fans in the quarterfinals of the 2017 CAF Champions League against Ferroviário Beira (Mozambique) was ranked second in the "Top 10 tifos of the week" by the specialized site La Grinta. The tifo had a banner written in English with "I will try until I die", implying the team's intent to win its first African cup.[5]
The principal and oldest rivalry of Ouled EL Bahdja was against supporters of MC Alger, the other football club in Algiers. Other rivalries included against supporters of CR Belouizdad, JS Kabylie, and USM El Harrach. The group had few local friendships; its only twinning was with the ultras of CS Constantine and WA Tlemcen.
Ouled EL Bahdja is considered the best in Algeria in the field of sports songs.[by whom?] Some of its popular songs have been modified by fans of other clubs in Algeria. From 2018, the band led in political songs about the ruling regime and the owner of the club, Ali Haddad, known for his close relations with Saïd Bouteflika (brother of then-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika).[9] In the song "ULTIMA VERBA", the verse "Down of the state and those who built the highway" criticizes Haddad and his construction company, ETRHB Haddad [fr].
At the start of the 2019–2021 Algerian protests, protesters used the club's song; most notably, "La Casa Del Mouradia" and "Babor Ellouh".[10] On 14 March 2019, Algerian singer Soolking released a song with Ouled EL Bahdja about the protests called "Liberté".[11][12] The song's video approached 18 million views within its first week on YouTube,[13] and surpassed 100 million views on 10 June 2019.[14]
