ES Radès (football)

The city’s first football club was founded in 1924. It was La Radésienne, but this club only lived for three years. In 1931, a second club was born in the city: Aquila de Radès, which distinguished itself by winning the third division championship in Tunis and the suburbs in 1934, the year in which another club was created, the Radésienne Sports Union (USR), which in turn won the same title in 1935.

The two clubs found themselves in the second division and the city was entitled to its little derby. Training-oriented USR advance to the semi-finals of the 1936–37 Tunisian Cup. It gained great popularity at the expense of its rival L'Aquila, which was disbanded in 1938. But its momentum was halted by World War II. A new club, the Française de Radès, replaced her in 1942, before adopting a new name, the Sports Association of Radès. This club was open to different communities, but the nationalists created their own club in May 1948, the Etoile Sportive Radésienne, which became the first club in the city despite the short-lived rebirth of La Radésienne in 1954.

Led by a first committee chaired by Hédi Dherif, with Kaddour Ben Jannet as secretary general and Abderrazak Ben Naceur as treasurer, the club quickly rose through the ranks by successively winning the division 6, 5 and 4 championships. He reached the quarter-finals of the Tunisian Cup 1953–54. Among the players of the time were Kaddour Ben Yeflah, Mahmoud Ben Mosbah, Khemais Hamia, Ezzeddine Rehouma, Mabrouk Fezzani, Ahmed Taggoug, Chedly Derouiche, Ahmed Ben Jannet, Mohamed Hamia, Mohamed Guezih, Moncef Foudhaili, Ali Ben Saâd, Hamadi Mrabet and Salah Hajri.

After independence, the club fluctuated between the second and fifth divisions, finding themselves relegated to second place behind the more successful basketball team. However, his two performances in the Tunisian Cup where he reached the quarter-finals twice: in 1957, where he was eliminated by Stade Tunisien 0–1, and in 1974, where he played two matches against ES Métlaoui 4–2. That year, the team was coached by a young yet unknown coach, Mrad Mahjoub, and made up of the following players: Noureddine Chebbi, Béchir Chikhaoui, Ali Missaoui, Hellal, Allala Ben Younes, Belhassen Sghaier, Mustapha Ferjani, Néjib Laâbidi, Néjib Ben Ali, Mohamed Ali Chaibi and Belgacem Hamdani.

The club changes its name three times. It became the Union sportive radésienne, following the merger with La Radésienne in 1964, then the Radès Transport Club following sponsorship by transport companies in 1968, before becoming the Etoile sportive de Radès again in 1976.