SC Bel-Abbès (Algeria)
Founded in 1906 by European settlers (notably Georges Lhermine as first president and Edmond Veith), it became a dominant force in North African football under French rule. Nicknamed the “Real of North Africa,” it played in white and sky-blue and used the Stade Paul André (capacity around 7,000).
They won the League of Oran / Oranie championships a record amount of times with various sources listing 15–18 wins, including long dominance in the 1920s and again in the 1950s (e.g., 1911–1913, 1922–1928, 1947, 1952–1958).
They won the North African Championship a record 7 times including 1922, 1924–1927, 1953, and 1954 (plus several runner-up finishes).
They also won Algerian Cup (organized by the French Football Federation, 1956-1962) on 3 consecutive occasions. (1958, 1959, 1960).
Other honours included being the winner of the Algerian CFA championship in 1960 (runner-up in 1961).
It regularly competed against other strong colonial clubs and in broader North African competitions until those ended around 1956 amid decolonization of Morocco and Tunisia.
The club was dissolved in 1962 following Algerian independence. Most European-settler (“colon”) clubs ceased operations as the French population left and Algerian football was reorganized under the new national federation. A separate Muslim club from the same city, USM Bel Abbès (founded 1933), continues today as a different entity and has had its own successes in independent Algeria’s leagues and cups.
#NeverForget