JS Kabylie

Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (Kabyle: Ilemẓiyen inaddalen n leqvayel; Tamazight: ⵉⵍⵎⵣⵢⵏ ⵉⵏⴰⴷⴰⵍⵏ ⵏ ⵍⵇⵠⴰⵢⵍ; Arabic: شبيبة القبائل), known as JS Kabylie or JSK, is an Algerian professional football club based in Tizi Ouzou, Kabylia. The club is named after the cultural, natural and historical region (Kabylia) that is home to the Kabyle Berber people speaking Kabyle (the ⵊ ⵙ ⴽ on the center of the club logo means J S K in the Tifinagh alphabet and the Yaz (ⵣ) at the bottom of the club logo is the most famous Amazigh (Berber) symbol considering it as the symbol of the Berber language and culture in North Africa, which gives a representation of the free person). The club was founded in 1946 and its colours are yellow and green. The club currently plays in the Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1.
JS Kabylie is the most successful Algerian club at the national level, having won the Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 title a record 14 times, the Algerian Cup five times, the Algerian League Cup once and the Algerian Super Cup once. It is the only Algerian club that has never been relegated to the second division, with a record 56 seasons in the row in top level, since the 1969–70 season.
JS Kabylie is also the most successful Algerian club at the African level, having won a number of African titles, including the most prestigious African competition CAF Champions League twice in 1981 and 1990, the African Cup Winners' Cup once in 1995, the CAF Cup a record three times in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and the first ever (albeit unofficial) African Super Cup once in 1982 during the Tournament of Fraternity.
JS Kabylie has a total of 28 major trophies (record in Algeria).
On the African level, JS Kabylie is the most successful Algerian club, but also the one which has played the most African competitions matches and the one of only two African clubs to have won the three different African competitions before 2005 (CAF Champions League, African Cup Winners' Cup and CAF Cup). It is also the one of only two clubs in Africa to win an African competition three times in a row, which is a record. According to the CAF, this performance ranks the club among the 10 best African clubs of the 20th century occupying the 9th place (8th overall). The IFFHS ranks JS Kabylie in Africa at the 8th place during the 20th century and at the 7th place during the first decade of the 21st century (2001–2010). JS Kabylie is elected by the IFFHS as the best Algerian club of the 20th century. In Africa, JS Kabylie is the 6th most successful club, with seven African titles.
Following numerous events which took place in Kabylia in the 1980s (Berber Spring), and because the name of this club includes the word « Kabylie », it has since been considered by certain regionalists as being the gateway-torch of political-cultural ideas of the Kabylia region and the symbol of its identity struggle.
JS Kabylie had several names during its existence such as the Jamiat Sari' Kawkabi from 1974 to 1977, the Jeunesse Électronique de Tizi-Ouzou with the abbreviation JET from 1977 to 1987 and also covered a short period of two calendar years between 1987 and 1989, the name of Jeunesse Sportive de Tizi-Ouzou, with the abbreviation JST.
In the 1920s, young Kabyles who played football in the streets of the city of Tizi-Ouzou organized a mini inter-district championship under the leadership of Ahmed Astouati. Each district of the upper town (the indigenous town, taddart or tribe) had its team; participated in this tournament, young people from the districts of Aïn Hallouf, Tazegourt, Ihammoutène, Zellal and Tabnahlit. It is from these neighborhoods that a group of young people will emerge who aspired to the creation of a football club different from the Olympique de Tizi-Ouzou, a club created by the Europeans of Algeria. These young people formed a neighborhood selection made up of brothers Mesbahi Saïd and Ramdane, brothers Sebti Samir and Sofiane and brothers Rafaï Mohamed and Hocine, Harchaoui Omar, Zemirli Saïd, Souibes Rabah, Loukab Mohamed, Mekacher Amar, Boussad Ouamar, Mammar Mohamed, cousins Hammoutène Abderezak and Mohamed, Belhadj Khelifa, Chabaraka Ahmed, Assas Hocine, grouped around their dean Chikhaoui Mohamed Seghir then aged twenty, to create a sports society in order to participate in an official championship.
From the beginning of the year 1929 and after many difficulties, the young Kabyles who had come together to form a sports association, managed to finalize and file their status. The sports company called Rapid Club de Tizi-Ouzou was born, the name of the association was borrowed from the Austrian club Rapid Vienna, as well as its colors: green and white. The declaration of the association also appears in the JORF. For the costs of commitments to the championship of the season 1929–30 and the purchase of equipment, each member brought back his own equipment (shoes, stockings, shorts). As for the jerseys and the expenses, they were the object of a quest from their parents, allies and friends and from certain notables of the village. The football was bought and graciously donated by Chikhaoui Mohamed Seghir, team captain.
The first season was very difficult not from the point of view of sporting results but from a financial point of view. The money was sorely lacking, it was then that they were aware that they could not get by on their own; they got in touch with personalities of the city able to bring them a financial help and a representativeness near the administration to have a possible subsidy and certain facilities of access to the municipal stadium for the drives. This is how they entrusted their association to Nouri Mohamed Saïd elected president and to Derridj Idir and Kezzoul Ahmed in charge of finance and administration. The functions of assessor are occupied by the players themselves responsible in particular for the equipment and the organization. Belhadj Khelifa and Chikhaoui Mohamed Seghir are in charge of the technical aspect (coaches).
The 1930–31 season was full of promise, the sporting results were encouraging; the young people and the association were starting to be talked about in the region. This beginning of notoriety aroused some questions among the leaders of the OTO who were not long in manifesting themselves during the 1931–32 season. They approached the leaders of the RCTO in order to integrate them into the ranks of the OTO while showing interest in certain players. Finally no longer being able to support themselves with their derisory means, the young people of the Rapid could not ensure the start of the 1932–33 season and had to forfeit and dissolve their sports society. Faced with the insistence and threats of the leaders of the OTO and some local elected officials, some players joined the OTO, others the Jeunesse Sportive Isserville-Les Issers, while others again put an end to their adventure.
It was not until 10 years after the dissolution of the Rapid Club de Tizi-Ouzou that there was talk of the creation of an "indigenous" football club in the city of Tizi-Ouzou, following the installation of Master Sidi Saïd Hanafi, criminal lawyer, in the rue Saint-Eustache in 1942. His meeting with some nationalist personalities who gathered at the bookseller Keddache Youcef, made it possible to relaunch the project of creation of a sports society, called Association Sportive de Kabylie (ASK) representing the whole region, replacing the former Rapid society which had lacked the support of its leaders. The idea began to take shape and Sidi Saïd Hanafi was given the task of initiating the procedure for creating the sports company by preparing the statutes and compiling an approval file. Former Rapid and OTO players were approached to be part of the new company, but following the death of Sidi Hanafi in July 1943, the project fell apart and stopped.
The project was taken over by a group of former Olympique de Tizi-Ouzou players, who attempted to complete the affiliation arrangements players.
The massacres of Setif, Guelma and Kherrata jeopardized this project: less than a week later, on 14 May 1945, an order was promulgated in which a prohibition on any Muslim from creating an association and to come together is imposed. Indeed, nationalist militants from the Comité d'Action Révolutionnaire Nord-Africain had infiltrated the various cultural and sports associations to promote the idea of independence, following the events that occurred in Setif. The fear was then that it would immediately be assimilated to a plot aimed at state security. Finally, in order to calm things down, on 20 January 1946 the ban on Muslims creating associations was lifted: with this gesture the French administration tried to restore order and ease tensions within the country.
During the year 1946, the union section of the CGT of Tizi Ouzou launched the project to create a football club in the corporate setting. Alongside this initiative, some young "natives" from the same locality who practice this sport and are interested in the project, jump at the chance to speed up the process. Contacts were very quickly made and a few meetings were thus organized at the CGT headquarters, chaired by Hamouda Abbas with the sponsorship of Saadi Ouakli, a retired former school principal and president of the district's veterans. The latter, well known and respected by the colonial authorities, was often called upon to chair conciliation meetings or meetings of civil society on the right or on the left. The colonial authorities did not lend too much interest to these groupings for union purposes and the creation of a football team within the corporative framework did not risk any inconvenience.
At the end of the last meeting held at the headquarters of the CGT with the aim of finalizing the project by preparing the statutes with the constitution of the first general assembly of the club, a questioning of the objective of the creation of the new sports society divided the leaders and the young people. Indeed, the latter proposed rather the affiliation of the future company to the FFFA instead of making it a corporate team. This discrepancy angered Abbas, who threatened to withdraw and at the same time to deprive the future sports association of its domicile as well as the elements of the CGT. Nevertheless, after a final debate, he invited all the actors present to finalize the preparation of the constitution of the sports society and to leave the choice of the objective to the members of the assembly.
On 29 July 1946, the session is chaired by Abbas Hamouda, member of the CGT.
Were present :
On the eve of the month of Ramadan of the year 1946, it is at the café called "La Jeunesse Sportive" located rue de l'ancienne poste held by Mohamed Seghir Baïlèche dit Dris and Rezki Bournane dit Diouni, that the invitations of the members of the constituent general assembly were grouped together and distributed by Saïd Amirouche, Ali Benslama, Boualem Iratni and Ali Stambouli. On Monday 29 July coinciding with the start of Ramadan, the majority of those invited showed up at the meeting at the CGT headquarters despite some absentees who were excused because of professional obligations or family.
After a debate, the members present agreed on the creation of an omnisports civil society within the civil framework representing the youth of Kabylia. Thus the sports association would bear the name of Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie (JSK) after having rejected those of "Association Sportive de Kabylie" and "Union Sportive Musulmane de Tizi-Ouzou", and the colors retained are green and red. Affiliation would be with the FFFA in the civilian context and two teams (senior and reserve) would be involved in competitions.
Among the members of the CGT present at this meeting, Hamouda Abbas who wanted to make the club a sports company with a corporate purpose and therefore an affiliation to the FSGT, signified his disagreement and the withdrawal of his institution. This resulted in the refusal of domiciliation of the new sports company at the headquarters of the CGT. Mohamed Seghir Baïleche offered his commercial premises to house the headquarters of the new association while waiting to find something better, and so the "Café de la Jeunesse" served as a gathering place for the JSK. A few days later, on 2 August 1946, the club is officially founded as an association whose decision is published in the No. 196 edition of the Official Journal of the French Republic published on 22 on page 7348; as well as to the FFFA under number 8153.
The year 1946 therefore saw the beginnings of the club in competition at Tizi Ouzou at the Arsène Weinmann Stadium, which began in a particular context because it was the first season since the end of World War II, after years of regional criteriums.
The beginning: JSK in the third division (1946–47)
The 1946–47 season of the Ligue d'Alger de Football Association was a pivotal season. This marked the end of the critériums de guerre for a return to normal; but also the entry into the running of the JSK in sports competition. In order to understand the sporting beginnings of the club, it is useful to recall a little the particular sporting context of the league at the start of the season. Indeed, the "Bureau of the League" at a meeting in August 1946 and after careful consideration decided on the following arrangements for the organization of the season. First of all, in order to break definitively with these criteria of war, the Bureau reconsidered the situation of all the existing clubs before the war and decided on the composition of the divisions with the newcomers of which the JSK is a part. The Office of the League of Algiers therefore decided on the composition of each of the divisions; i.e. 10 clubs in the Honor Division, 18 clubs in the First Division (two groups of nine); 16 Second Division clubs; as for the Third Division: all other clubs.
The club, affiliated with the FFFA, made its entry into the history of Algerian football. As provided for in the regulations, the JSK is integrated into the third division of the Algiers League, the equivalent of the Algerian seventh division. During its first season of existence, the club finished 3rd in its championship, which allowed it to move up to the second division of the Algiers league.
The JSK held on in the second division (1947–48)
The narrowly missed accession (1948–49)
In 1948–49, the club managed to win its group and therefore qualified for the inter-group play-offs in order to reach the second division. Qualified along with Widad Adabi Boufarik, GS Hydra and OM Saint-Eugénois, the JSK must avoid the last place of this pool in order to move up to the first division of Algiers. By losing in each of its three games, the JSK does not reach the next level and therefore remains in the second division of Algiers.
The JSK champion of the second division (1949–50)
The following season, the club still wins the title of group champion which allows it to reach the same stage as last season. This time the club finished first in its pool (1 win and 1 draw) and was crowned champion. The JSK therefore reaches division one.
The confrontation with the Olympique de Tizi-Ouzou : the JSK in the first division (1950–51)
The first season in the 1st division of Algiers ended with a second place in the league, which allowed the club to compete in the play-offs which were ultimately unsuccessful.
The withdrawal of Saâdi Ouakli (1951–52)
A new generation of players (1952–53)
The missed chance with the elite (1953–54)
The JSK in honor promotion (1954–55)
Two seasons without relief followed, before the rise in the pre-honor category obtained during the 1953–54 season thanks to the title of champion of division one.
Algeria's war of independence led to the interruption of all sports competitions. On May 13, 1956, at the request of the FLN, all the Algerian associations ceased to participate in the official competitions of the 3 regional leagues: the JSK stopped its activities. During the freezing of sports activities advocated by the FLN between 1956 and 1962, the JSK went into the back burner until independence in 1962.
The JSK taking part in the struggle for the independence of Algeria : the martyrs of the club (1956–1962)
Several JSK players died during the Algerian War. From the 1956–57 season, all the Muslim clubs put their associations to sleep and froze their participation in the various championships which took place throughout the Algerian territory. At the end of 1956, war was everywhere and the JSK, like all Muslim clubs, would not take part in the various championships for the 1956–57 season or the following ones. All have put their sports companies to sleep by declaring a general package. Only colonial (European) clubs took part in the championships.
In Tizi-Ouzou, l'Olympique resumed its activities, some Muslim elements stopped their activities and joined the ranks of the FLN organization and its armed branch the ALN in the same way as some JSK players.
Many members of the JSK: leaders, players and supporters were militants of the National Liberation Front like the secretary general, Mohamed Baïlèche, who was responsible for political and military Tizi-Ouzou. Several of them will join the ranks of the National Liberation Army for the independence of Algeria. Many of them will die in combat, some with arms in their hands, others under torture, or under the guillotine.
In the aftermath of independence in Algeria, sports associations return to the field where several friendly tournaments are organized in order to prepare for the resumption of competitions. On September 16, 1962, the representatives of the regional leagues (Oran, Algiers and Constantine) met at the headquarters of the Algiers league to discuss the launch and organization of football competitions across the national territory, pending the installation of a national federation. They agree to launch a first large-scale championship, where each league organizes its championship bringing together all the existing Algerian clubs. Those who evolved during the colonial era in the first four levels (Honour Division, Honor Promotion, 1st Division and 2nd Division) form the Honor Criterium; all the others as well as the new affiliated clubs form the Regional Criterium, a kind of second level, with the aim of creating a hierarchy of football. The JSK belonging to the central region, whose football is governed by the League of Algiers, therefore disputes the Criterium Honor of the central region during the 1962–63 season.
The draw places JSK in Group I of this region along with nine other clubs, where only the first has the opportunity to play the final tournament of the region (with the winners of the other groups) and then possibly the national tournament if he qualifies. JSK finally finished the season in second place in Group I, although tied behind MC Alger on goal difference, following an honorable run of which they were winter champions. The latter played in the regional tournament and lost to USM Algiers. The final national tournament taking place in Algiers, the winner of the central region and his runner-up are therefore both qualified. Finally, we find the two representatives of the central region in the final of the competition and it is once again the USMA which wins against the MCA, making it the first Algerian football champion.
In the Algerian football cup, which is also the first edition, the final victory goes to ES Sétif who win two goals to nil against ES Mostaganem. JSK, meanwhile, stopped in the fourth round of the competition against Stade Guyotville, defeated by the rule of the first goal scored, while the match ended in a draw of three goals everywhere.
After a complex first season in terms of organization, Algerian football experienced a major change in the organization of its competitions for the 1963–64 season. This proceeds to the establishment of a new division called "Honour Division" abandoning the complex system of regional criteria. A new hierarchy of Algerian football appears, which is then composed of five levels which are the championships of the Honor Division, the Honor Promotion, the 1st division, the 2nd division and the 3rd division. The determination of the Honor Division group is based on the rankings obtained by the clubs in the different groups during the group stage of the previous season. Thus we have for the center group of the Honor Division the first, second and third of each of the five groups of the Criterium Honor last season, plus a team drawn from the play-offs at the end of a tournament. JSK, having finished second in its group last year, is therefore qualified to compete in this new format. In addition, the system of maintenance and relegation as it had been stopped, will allow for this second season, to have a championship in the round trip phase consisting of: a group of 16 clubs for the central region, a group of 17 clubs for the western region and two groups of eight clubs each for the eastern region which is responsible for organizing the final tournament. At the end of the competition, the winners of each of the four groups (the Eastern region having two groups), compete for the title of Algerian football champion, which takes place in Constantine. The leaders of the JSK appeal to a former glory of the club, Hassoun Saïd to succeed Hassan Hammoutène and take over the reins of the team. He advocates the policy of rejuvenating the workforce and integrates the club's ex-juniors, namely Djaffar Harouni, Ferhat Merad, Smaïl Karamani and Aziz Tamine. Other players from elsewhere are: Rabah Ziane, Ramdane Djezzar and Yahia Ouahabi, complete the arrivals in the workforce.
This inexperienced youth started the season timidly and recorded three draws and one defeat for its first four games of the season. At the end of the first leg, the first results are mixed since JSK find themselves in eleventh place in the standings with six draws, five defeats and only four wins. The return phase is much better, the team plays better and records this time, six wins, five draws and four defeats. She even allows herself to hang on her list of winners a prestigious victory against the reigning Algerian champion USMA and another against a serious contender for the title NAHD, later crowned winner of the Center group. Finally the young players of the JSK manage to stay in the middle of the ranking and end the season in eighth place, something to hope for better for the future. NA Hussein Dey, first in the standings, represents the central region in the national tournament but is defeated in the final by USM Annaba with a score of one goal to nil, thus succeeding USM Algiers. In the Algerian Cup, ES Sétif did it again and kept the trophy by winning the final against MO Constantine with a score of two goals to one. As for the JSK, its journey ends at the same stage as last year, that is to say in the fourth round of the competition defeated one goal to nil by ESM Algiers.
The 1964–65 season saw the appearance of a new competition system with the creation of the National Division. After the first two seasons of regional championships followed by a final national tournament, the leaders of Algerian football decided to create a national elite grouping together the first four in the classification of the Center and West groups of the Honor Division during the 1963 season. 1964 and the first two of each of the two East groups. Added to this are promotion play-offs for teams that finished fifth in the Center and West groups and third and fourth in the two East groups, giving a total of 16 teams to make up the elite. JSK, having finished last season in eighth place, cannot claim to join the elite for this season. It remains in the Honor Division which then becomes the second level in the new hierarchy of Algerian football.
Coach Hassoun Saïd is not taking over the technical management of the club this season to resume his position as leader and follow the progress of the team. The one who took the responsibility of trusting the young people of the club gave way to the new Hungarian coach Guela Leneïr whom the club management went to seek to supervise this new generation. The latter imports a European innovation in the design and organization of training. He had a wall built on which squares are drawn to improve the accuracy of passes and shots on goal, and before starting training he drove stakes on the sideline allowing players to do slaloms with or without balls. These new changes did not take long to show convincing results since the young people of JSK finished the first leg of the Honor Division championship in first place with 10 wins for two draws and only one defeat. Unfortunately during the return phase, although the results of the JSK remain correct, it plummets to third place in the standings following its defeat two goals to nil against the WAB, a place it did not leave until at the end of the season. The RCK is finally crowned champion of the Honor Division for the Center region and reaches the National Division; Next in the standings are OMR, second in the standings, one point behind the leader, and JSK third, five points behind. In the Algerian Cup, it stops in the fifth round of the competition by losing heavily four goals to one against CR Belcourt, in an edition which saw MC Saïda winner of the trophy in the final against ES Mostaganem who lost for the second time at this stage of the competition.
Shortly before the start of the 1965–66 season, the Hungarian technician Leïner, who had brought rigor and discipline to the team last year, decided not to renew his contract. The president of the club Hassan Hamoutène who had officiated during the first post-independence season as a coach, therefore resumes service in order to ensure the interim. During the period of friendly matches, JS Kabylie is invited to a tournament organized by OM Ruisseau, which it wins. For this season, the Center group of the Honor Division is made up of the OMR, downgraded champion of the past season in favor of the RCK and are added two old acquaintances of the JSK, namely the MCA and the USMA who demote of the National. JSK started the season with three draws and two wins and ended the first leg in fourth place in the standings behind USMA, WAB and MCA who monopolized the first three places in the standings. During the return phase, the JSK recorded uneven results and never won against the top three in the standings; a defeat against the WAB on the score of three goals to one on the occasion of the twenty-second day of the championship and another against the USMA on the score of four goals on the occasion of the twenty-seventh daytime. She managed to share the best points at home against MCA, three goals everywhere while she was leading three goals to two with one minute remaining. Finally, the team finished the season in fifth place in the standings with the satisfaction of having been able to stay in a very strong group in the Honor Division. For the record the USMA and the MCA which finish in the first two places do not reach the National Division but in a new level of Algerian football the National II. In the Algerian Cup, CR Belcourt won the trophy for the first time against RC Kouba, an edition which saw JS Kabylie lose at the stage of the 32nd finals against their pet peeve WA Boufarik with a score of two goals to nil.
In 1966, Algerian football changed and experienced a new hierarchy of its elite with the creation of a level below the National Division, called National II. This is made up of the top two from each of the Honor Division groups plus the four teams relegated from the National Division last year. JSK, having finished the previous year in fifth place in the ranking, cannot claim to be part of it and remains once again in the Center group of the Honor Division which then becomes the third level in the new hierarchy of Algerian football. New leaders joined the management committee of the JSK, which then had five sports sections (Athletics, Basketball, Boxing, Football and now Volleyball). Omar Bouzar, a former Tizi-Ouzou Olympique player, becomes the manager of the JSK football section. He will convince Abderrahmane Defnoun, the former defender of SCO Angers and the FLN football team, to leave the NAHD team of which he was the coach, in order to take charge of that of the JSK. For its first match of the season, JSK moves on the field of Hydra AC which defeats it with the score of three goals to zero. Nevertheless, reservations are filed by the secretary of the JSK on the identity, participation and qualification of the HAC players, reservations which were supported by justifications and which gave the victory of the match on green carpet by penalty (three goals to nil) for the benefit of the JSK. The defeat on the pitch will not affect the morale of the JSK players who will chain four wins and three draws, propelling them to the top of the championship followed closely by the WAB and the OMR. During the sixth day, the JSK receives the WAB, one of its direct competitors for the title but the game ends in a draw of zero everywhere. It was not until the ninth day of the championship to see the JSK lose their first match of the season and at the same time their chair as leader; was faced with the OMR on the score of two goals to one allowing the WAB to take control of the championship. On the evening of the eleventh day and despite a one-goal victory over Bordj Menaïel's neighbor, the JSBM, the JSK finished the phase: Go, in second place behind the WAB but ahead of the OMR.
The twelfth day of the championship which is the first of the return phase, the JSK loses against all odds on its ground against the HAC which takes its revenge on the score of a goal to nil. It will be the same the following day with the USMMC at Stade Lavigerie. The JSK is in crisis and the coach is blacklisted not because of his choices but because he is far from his group. Indeed, Defnoun lives in Algiers and the regular back and forth between Algiers and Tizi-Ouzou is not made to weld and follow his team. The workforce eventually recovered and the club went on to win two and a draw, before moving onto the pitch of its pet peeve, the WAB.
The game began at a committed and sustained pace, the first to stand out were the Kabyles who, thanks to a magnificent left-footed shot from Karamani, allowed his club to lead in the twelfth minute. The boufarikois then leveled the mark, one from their own, although in an offside position, therefore equalized because the goal was granted by Aouissi, the referee of the meeting. However, just before half-time, the Kabyles react again, a strike from Ouahabi accompanied by Kolli allows JSK to lead two goals to one. But the meeting was unusually long because the referee had both teams play for one hundred and five minutes. The final whistle sounded sixty minutes later as the ball had just entered the nets of JSK, final score two goals everywhere. In Boufarik it's madness, this result allows WA Boufarik to come back up to the Kabyles and still claim the title.
Following this incredible meeting which ended in a draw, two victories followed by the same score of a goal to nil, whose scorer was none other than Karamani who scored respectively against AS Orléansville then the WO Rouiba.
The two victories are followed by two defeats, one, by the same score of one goal to nil against OM Ruisseau, his second defeat of the season against the same club, then one, by three goals to one against MS Cherchell who will have taken five points from him this season. JSK will finally end the season with a victory against JS Bordj Menaiel, on the score of three goals to one, condemned to relegation. This last victory will be insufficient, OM Ruisseau finishes Champion of the Center Group of the Honor Division with four points in advance and reaches National II alone. His only satisfaction was to be ahead of his pet peeve in the standings by one point, despite the result and the course of the match having counted for the seventeenth day of the championship.
In the Algerian Cup, the JSK will be beaten in the 32nd round stage, by AS Orléansville in Mouzaia, in an edition marked by the final victory of ES Sétif, which won its third title.
The JSK champion of the Third Division (1967–68)
The JSK champion of the Second Division (1968–69)
The JSK therefore disputed the National II in 1968–69. From its first season, the club crowned with the title of champion reached the first division of the Algerian championship during the 1969–1970 season and this by winning against the team of Widad de Boufarik 2–1, for then not never leave it until today.
Discovering the elite (1969–70)
For its first appearance in the first division, the JSK made an honorable run by finishing in sixth place.
The ephemeral passage of Abdelaziz Ben Tifour (1970–71)
The JSK had a difficult season finishing in seventh place, marked in particular by the death of its coach Abdelaziz Ben Tifour on 19 November 1970, but also of the president of the Algerian Football Federation, doctor Mohand Amokrane Maouche on 2 January 1971.
The JSK finishes in 9th place (1971–72)
The JSK champion of National I (1972–73)
During the 1972–73 season, for its 4th season in the elite, the JSK won its first Algerian championship title.
The JSK double champion of National I and winner of the trophy of champions (1973–74)
The following season, the JSK won the trophy of champions against MC Alger (3–2) at the beginning of the season and were crowned Algerian champions for the second consecutive time. The club was then renamed Jamiat Sari' Kawkabi by the then president, Houari Boumediene.
Instability of the technical staff and transition (1974–75)
The 1974–75 season, completed in the seventh place.
JSK back on the podium (1975–76)
The 1975–76 season, completed in the third place.
The first Cup-Championship double (1976–77)
The 1976–77 season saw the club regain the title of Algerian champion. Striker Mokrane Baïleche finished top scorer in the competition with 20 goals. At the same time, the club achieved its first Cup-Championship double.
The JSK becomes the "Jeunesse Électronique de Tizi-Ouzou" (1977–78)
During the 1977–78 season, the team changed its name once again, this time to be called the Jeunesse Électronique de Tizi-Ouzou. This season ends in 2nd place in the championship and marks the debut of the Mahieddine Khalef - Stefan Zywotko tandem. Following its championship title in the 1976–77 season, JSK played for the first time in an international club cup. She will lose in the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Champions Clubs against the Congolese club AS Vita Club.
JET narrowly misses the double Cup-Championship (1978–79)
In 1978, the club moved from the Oukil Ramdane stadium to the 1 November 1954 stadium. The 1978–79 season ended with a double disappointment, as JSK finished 2nd in the championship and finalist in the Algerian Cup.
The JET champion for the fourth time (1979–80)
During the 1979–80 season, JE Tizi Ouzou finished in first place in the championship, becoming champion of Algeria for the fourth time in its history.
The JET wins his first African Cup of Champions Clubs (1980–81)
In 1981 JSK won the African Cup of champion clubs without losing a match by beating in the final the Congolese of AS Vita Club 5–0 over the two matches (4–0 at the go then 1–0 on the return). The club therefore joined its rival MC Algiers, the only other Algerian club to win this African competition in 1976 (ES Sétif won it in 1988), and achieved the double African Cup of Champions Clubs - Championship.
The JET champion for the fifth time and first ever African Super Champion (1981–82)
In 1982, due to its status as African clubs champion in 1981, the club received an invitation to participate in the Tournament of Fraternity in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. JSK wins the first ever African Super Cup against Union Douala, Cameroonian club winner of the African Cup Winners' Cup 1981 (1–1 then 4–3 on penalties).
The JET champion for the sixth time (1982–83)
The defense of its title of African champion will be unsuccessful because the JSK will bow as soon as it enters the running against the Sudanese club Al Hilal Omdurman. At the national level, the following year, the club managed for the second time in history to retain its title of Algerian champion. This is the club's sixth title.
The JET overtaken by west (1983–84)
The JET finished in 3rd place in 1984, 2 points behind the champion GCR Mascara and was defeated in the semi-final of the Algerian Cup by MC Oran, winner of the event.
The JET champion for the seventh time (1984–85)
The JSK became champion again for the seventh time in its history in 1985.
JET achieves its second Championship-Cup double (1985–86)
The year 1986 ended with a new title with 98 points on the clock (record for a championship with 20 clubs). The club also won the Algerian Cup, and Nacer Bouiche finished top scorer in the championship for the second time in his career with 36 goals, an unequaled record to date.
The JET off the podium, a first in 12 years (1986–87)
The season 1986–87, completed in the sixth place.
The JSK becomes the "Jeunesse Sportive de Tizi-Ouzou" (1987–88)
The season 1987–88, completed in the second place.
The JST champion for the ninth time (1988–89)
For their last year together, the two technicians won a new title of champion in 1989.
10 times champion of Algeria and double champion of Africa (1989–90)
The club retains its title during the 1989–90 season, and becomes double Algerian football champion for the fourth time in its history. This is his 10th championship title. Also note that during this season, the Algerian Cup is not organized. The 1990–91 season ended with a fourth place in the championship and a cup final lost to USM Bel Abbès. At the same time, the JSK carried out a fine African competition by winning for the second time in its history the African Cup of champion clubs on penalties against the Zambian club Nkana Red Devils (1–1 in the two matches then 5–3 on penalties). It is the first Algerian club to have won the prestigious African Cup of Champions Clubs twice (ES Sétif will win it in 1988 and 2014).
After a long cohabitation of 12 years, the coaching duo Mahieddine Khalef and Stefan Zywotko are retiring but remain at the club as advisers. During their joint stint at the head of JSK, the club won six championships, a national cup, an African Cup of champion clubs and an African Super Cup. In the league, JSK has only finished off the podium once during these 12 seasons.
The 1991–92 championship was catastrophic for the JSK which finished 13th and first non-relegation. The club won all the same during this season its third Algerian Cup. During the 1992–93 season, the JSK won a new national trophy in its list, namely the Algerian Super Cup against MC Oran (2–2 then 6–5 on penalties).
Participations in African competitions (1993–1996)
On the African side, it is participating for the very first time in the African Cup Winners' Cup. The club made an honorable run in this competition by failing in the quarter-finals. The 1993–94 season ended in third place in the standings. The club retains the Algerian Cup (there was no cup the previous season). The year 1994–95 saw the arrival of a new president at the JSK, Mohand Chérif Hannachi, who trusted the Djaâfar Harouni-Djamel Menad duo.
A new African title : African Cup Winners' Cup (1995)
The JSK won during the 1995 season, for the first and last time in its history (given that this competition no longer exists), the African Cup Winners' Cup (C2) against the Nigerians of Julius Berger (3–2 in both games). This is the first and only Algerian club to win this African trophy. It is also playing for the first time in its history, the CAF Super Cup, (match between the winner of the Cup of Champions Clubs and the winner of the Cup Winners' Cup at the time). She is playing this competition against the South African club Orlando Pirates, winner of the 1995 African Cup of Champions Clubs. Unfortunately, she will lose away on the score of one goal to nil. His title of champion, authorizes him to play the African Cup of champion clubs, where the team reaches the semi-finals, but fails against the Nigerian team of Shooting Stars.
Period of great uncertainty (1996–2000)
Kamel Mouassa was appointed coach at the start of the 1996–97 season. The club finished 8th. The following season, the Algerian football championship takes place in the form of a group. By finishing 2nd in its own, the JSK did not play in the championship final. The following year 1998–99, the club finished in second place. The only consolation, the player Farid Ghazi finished top scorer in the championship with a total of 19 goals. The club also failed in the Algerian Cup final against USM Alger. In 1999–00, JSK coach Kamel Mouassa was replaced by Bulgarian Janko Guelov. This takes the JSK to a disappointing sixth place. In the Algerian Cup, despite a good run, the club stopped in the semi-finals.
Came from MC Alger in 1999, Hocine Gasmi was of great interest to RC Lens but he died three days later on 21 May 2000 following his last goal scored against USM Annaba on 18 May 2000, in the 1 November 1954 Stadium of Tizi Ouzou. On a cross from his teammate Fawzi Moussouni, Gasmi managed to score a goal with a header but could not avoid a collision with opposing defender Mourad Slatni. Gasmi falls violently on his head and loses consciousness. He was taken to the Tizi Ouzou hospital, then to the Hôpital de la Salpêtrière in Paris, but he died of his head injury. It was a great loss for the Algerian football.
The JSK reconnects with African success : Three consecutive CAF Cups (2000, 2001 and 2002)
The Bulgarian coach was fired before the start of the 2000–01 season and Nedjmeddine Belayachi replaced him when JSK were in the quarter-finals of the CAF Cup. At this stage, the JSK has the Tunisian club Etoile Sportive du Sahel in the competition (4–1 victory on penalties in Tunisia, each having won 1–0 at home) and eliminates the Nigerian club Heartland. After a heavy defeat against Entente sportive Sétifienne in the league, Belayachi was ousted a few days before the first leg of the CAF Cup final, he was replaced by the duo Mahieddine Khalef and Nacer Sandjak. The final therefore opposes JSK to the Egyptian club Ismaily SC. On December 1, 2000, JSK won the first CAF Cup in its history thanks to the away goals rule (1–1 then 0–0). This is the first and only C3 won by an Algerian club. With this title, the JSK became the second African club to win the three African competitions.
The following season, 2001–02, marked a new change at the technical helm with the return of Kamel Mouassa who succeeded with the team in the feat of retaining their African CAF Cup title against the Tunisians of ES Sahel thanks to the away goals rule (2–1 then 1–0). In 2002–03, the French technician Jean-Yves Chay was chosen to lead the team this season.
The club won the C3 for the third consecutive time this season (the first club in the world to win the continental C3 three times in a row), this time against the Cameroonians of Tonnerre Yaoundé (4–1 over the two games).
During this period, the Algerian Championship was somewhat neglected because the JSK did not win it, finishing respectively 3rd in 2001, 2nd in 2002 and 4th in 2003.
With its title of winner of the CAF Cup, JSK participated in the 2003 edition, but lost this time in the quarter-finals against Coton Sport FC de Garoua.
National renewal (2004–2011)
In 2004, after nine years of waiting, the JSK reconquers the Championship of Algeria. JSK misses the double by failing against USM Algiers in the final of the Algerian Cup five shots on goal to four (0–0 in regulation time).
The 2004–05 season saw two coaching duos succeed each other at the head of the club (Kamel Mouassa and Moussa Saïb then Christian Coste and Kamel Aouis), and the team finished runner-up to USM Algiers in the league. During the 2005–06 season, the club reached the group stage of the CAF Champions League, for the first time in the Champions League system, but did not manage to reach the semis-finals. This season also saw a new title of Algerian champion for JSK, its 13th title. Hamid Berguiga is the league's top scorer for the second time in a row with 18 goals to his name. The following season, the club finished in second place on the podium, and was eliminated in the semi-finals of the Algerian Cup by USM Alger.
The 2007–08 season was a good season for JSK, since the only team capable of holding its own in the league would be the outgoing champions of the last exercise, ES Sétif. The suspense of the championship remains intact, as these two teams are close to each other throughout the season. Finally, a match lost on green carpet by ES Sétif, for having refused to play a match against JSK, marked a decisive turning point in the season. This allows the JSK to win its 14th title of champion of Algeria. Once again, a club player finished top scorer of the season. This is Nabil Hemani with a personal total of 16 goals. Another highlight of this season, Kabylie is at the top of Algerian football with a victory in the Algerian Cup for the other Kabyle club JSMB. This bodes well for an Algerian Super Cup between these two formations, for an unprecedented Kabyle derby at this national level, which was ultimately not contested because of the work on the ground at the Stadium of 5 July 1962, but also because the JSK is playing the CAF Champions League with a particularly busy schedule and therefore refuses to participate in this competition. The two teams therefore ignore this trophy by mutual agreement.
Beaten in the round of 16 of the CAF Champions League, JSK is transferred to the Confederation Cup, passes a round, but fails to qualify for the final in the pool round. During the 2008–09 season, JSK obtained third place in the 2008 North African Cup of Champions Clubs by drawing a draw against the Libyan club Al Ittihad Tripoli. However, and despite a catastrophic start to the season, JSK ended the 2008–09 season in second place in the championship for the tenth time in its history. This recovery is only possible after a series of eleven consecutive games without defeat.
The JSK, during the 2009–10 season, obtained places of honor but did not win any trophies (3rd in the league, semi-finalist in the Algerian Cup and semi-finalist in the CAF Champions League).
In 2011, JSK won its fifth Algerian Cup, after 17 years, against USM El Harrach (1–0).
Desert crossing (2011–2017)
During the 2010–11 season, JSK finished in 11th place only 1 point ahead of the first relegated (USM Annaba). In the CAF Confederation Cup, the club reaches the group stage but loses its six matches. The season was saved by winning the Algerian Cup at the expense of USM El Harrach (1–0). This cup victory qualified the Canaries for the 2012 CAF Confederation Cup, but club president Mohand Chérif Hannachi decided not to register the club to focus on the championship.
The 2011–12 season is no better since it ends in ninth place and by elimination in the round of 16 of the Algerian Cup.
In July 2012, Italian coach Enrico Fabbro was recruited, but he was fired in November (due to a disastrous start to the season including seven defeats in ten games). Nacer Sandjak replaced him and the club ended the championship in seventh place. In addition, the team is eliminated from the round of 16 of the Algerian Cup.
After three difficult seasons, JSK began the 2013–14 season with the return of Azzedine Aït Djoudi as coach. He aims to conquer an African place for the following season. The club finished in second place in the final standings, fourteen points behind rival USM Alger, and thus qualified for the 2015 CAF Champions League. In the 2014 Algerian Cup, JSK lost in the final against MC Alger on penalties.
Tragic death of Albert Ebossé Bodjongo (2014)
The 2014–15 season got off to a very bad start for this club : on August 23, 2014, during the match between JSK and USM Algiers on the second day of the championship (1–2 defeat), the club's Cameroonian striker Kabyle, Albert Ebossé Bodjongo, who is also his team's only scorer, dies after the match. A few weeks later, the Belgian coach Hugo Broos, in office since July 2014, decided to resign after verbal remarks received by the president of the club. At the end of the championship, the JSK finished in twelfth position just one point behind the first relegated ASO Chlef. Thousands of supporters are unhappy with the results and large marches take place in the streets of Tizi Ouzou to demand the departure of President Mohand Cherif Hannachi.
During the 2015–16 season, the team finished in 3rd place, thus qualifying for the 2017 CAF Confederation Cup.
During the 2016–17 season, the team finished in 12th place two points behind the first relegation club RC Relizane and the club was eliminated by TP Mazembe in the third round of the 2017 CAF Confederation Cup.
End of cycle for Hannachi (2017)
In August 2017, the board of directors decided to dismiss president Mohand Cherif Hannachi as head of the club and he was replaced by Abdelhamid Sadmi, a former emblematic player of the club, but he resigned from his post in November 2017 and was replaced by Lakhdar Madjene.
President of the club for 24 years, successfully during the first half of his reign, Mohand Cherif Hannachi has since disappointed the supporters of JSK, which has ended up losing its former luster due to chaotic management. Since 2010, no investor has been able to bail out the club's coffers. Under Hannachi's leadership, the club won 10 trophies including four African titles and six national titles.
On February 8, 2018, the board of directors decided to appoint a businessman, Cherif Mellal, as president of the club, replacing Lakhdar Madjene. The new president decides to appoint Youcef Bouzidi as the new coach. In this season, with a rather well reorganized team at the end of the championship, the club did not manage to win the Algerian Cup, beaten in the final by USM Bel Abbès 2–1.
For the 2018–19 season, President Mellal appoints Franck Dumas as the club's new coach. The club finished the season in second place and qualified for the 2019–20 CAF Champions League. The club is therefore celebrating its return to the Champions League after nine years of absence. Under the Mellal era, the club was restructured: more importance given to the youth categories who all finished 4th in the standings or even higher. Work on a training center was launched with the help of Issad Rebrab, a Kabyle industrialist and the richest businessman in Algeria. Communication is also improved by the creation of official accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram which cover all the club's news.
Nine years after their last participation in the group stage of the Champions League, JSK qualified by eliminating the Guineans of Horoya AC on penalties 5–3, after a score of 2–2 in the two games. However, the club finished 3rd in the group stages and failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019–20 season is frozen at the 22nd day (fourth in the standings) and the cancellation of the Algerian Cup allows JSK to compete in the 2020–21 CAF Confederation Cup. JSK qualifies for the group stage of the 2020–21 CAF Confederation Cup after passing the two qualifying rounds against the Nigeriens of the US GN and against Stade Malien. The club qualified for the quarter-finals after finishing 1st in the group.
Due to the impossibility of amateur clubs to play the Algerian Cup due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FAF decided to replace it with the Algerian League Cup which concerns the 20 Ligue 1 clubs. The club is exempt of the preliminary round because it plays the CAF Confederation Cup and therefore begins the competition in the round of 16 where it beats NA Hussein Dey 2–0.
The club qualified for the semi-finals of the CAF Confederation Cup after beating the Tunisians of CS Sfaxien 2–1 on aggregate (1–0 away and 1–1 at home).
The club qualified for the semi-finals of the Algerian League Cup after beating US Biskra 2–0 on the road.
The club qualified for the final of the Algerian League Cup after beating WA Tlemcen 1–0 at home.
JSK qualified for the CAF Confederation Cup final (19 years after their last African final) after beating Coton Sport 5–1 on aggregate (2–1 away win and 3–0 win home).
The club loses the CAF Confederation Cup final to Raja Casablanca 2–1 in a single match final in Cotonou, Benin.
The club added a new line to its record by winning the Algerian League Cup for the first time against NC Magra on penalties 4–1 after a score of 2–2 and ending a 10-year drought. With this victory, the club qualifies for the 2021–22 CAF Confederation Cup.
On March 21, 2021, Cherif Mellal was dismissed from his post as president by the Club Sportif Amateur (CSA) and then officially replaced by Yazid Yarichene on September 15, 2021.
On November 29, 2022, Djaffar Ait Mouloud, president of the CSA which owns JS Kabylie, announced that an agreement with the public company Mobilis would take place for the purchase of 80% of the club's shares.
On March 8, 2023, Mobilis has appointed Abdelaziz Zerrouki as head of the board of directors of SPA-JS Kabylie.
Under Miloud Hamdi management, by beating Petro de Luanda of Angola 1–0, at the Stade du 5 Juillet, in Algiers, Algeria on March 18, 2023, during the group stage of the 2022–23 CAF Champions League, JSK reaches the quarter-finals of the most prestigious African competition, for the first time in 13 years.
On May 6, 2023, Achour Cheloul take the presidency of the club.
Five days before the arrival of Achour Cheloul, after a very difficult 2022–23 season in championship for JSK, Youcef Bouzidi was named coach of the club on May 1, 2023, for the third time of his coaching career, replacing Miloud Hamdi. For the second time of his coaching career, Youcef Bouzidi has a very difficult mission to maintain JSK, in Ligue 1. From May to July 2023, in the race to maintain, he led 10 matches in the league and achieved a record of six wins and four draws, without any defeat. He achieved his objective, in a 2–0 victory, on July 10, 2023, during the 29th and penultimate day of the championship, in Tizi Ouzou, against NC Magra. For the second time of his coaching career (after the maintain of the 2017–18 season), he saved the Kabyle club, from a certain relegation to the Ligue 2.
On April 23, 2024, El Hadi Ould Ali became the new president of the club.
JSK had to wait 14 years, after the laying of the first stone in 2010, to finally receive his opponents at the Hocine Aït Ahmed Stadium, of Tizi Ouzou. On September 27, 2024, in championship, the club played his first official match in this new stadium, in a Kabyle derby against promoted team Olympique Akbou, (2–1 victory).
The Oukil Ramdane Stadium is the oldest stadium in the city of Tizi Ouzou. Dating from the colonial era, it then bore the Arsène Weinman Stadium name from the name of a former lawyer who settled in the old street Saint Eustache in the city of Tizi Ouzou in the 1920s. This man worked a lot in his time for the promotion of sport in the city, he had enormously contributed to the development of football in the city and was at the origin of the realization of this Municipal Stadium of Tizi Ouzou. When he died, the stadium was renamed after him. This stadium was tenanted at that time by the settler club called the Olympique de Tizi Ouzou, which had in its ranks the future founders of the JSK. In the 1940s, when JSK made its appearance, it also used it, it is the first stadium where it evolved, from 1946 (since the colonial era therefore) until 1978 (date of opening of the 1 November 1954 Stadium). This stadium saw JSK's first national crowns, and its rise from the equivalent of the seventh division of the colonial era to the national one of the current Algerian football championship. It currently bears the name of a former club player, Oukil Ramdane, who played in the junior and reserve team during the colonial era. This honor was done to him, because he died during the Algerian War. He is considered both as a martyr of the club but also and above all as a hero of the Algerian revolution.
During the Algerian War, it was used as a regrouping camp, which put it in a very bad state at the end of the war. The first president of the JSK, Abtouche Mansour will make every effort to make it practicable for the first Algerian championship, the famous "criterium". Nowadays, this stadium is home to the club AS Tizi-Ouzou, as well as the Union Sportive de Kabylie, clubs from lower divisions. Sometimes, the categories of young people of the JSK also evolve there.
The stadium is not just for football. As is customary in Algeria, it is also used for outdoor musical performances by famous singers; thus several great singers of traditional Kabyle music have organized concerts in this place. Currently with a capacity of 5,000, the Oukil Ramdane Stadium recently benefited from a tartan coating in 2009 and continues to exist despite its more than 100 years of existence.
The 1 November 1954 Stadium is the stadium where the JSK played from March 12, 1978 to June 11, 2024 and is the property of the municipality of the city of Tizi Ouzou.
This stadium has seen several upgrades, such as during the 2007–08 season, with the installation of a new fifth-generation synthetic turf and the addition of new places. The stadium thus becomes the second largest stadium in Kabylie with a capacity of 25,000 seats, linked by the Maghrebi Unity Stadium of Béjaïa, with a capacity of 30,000 seats, which has enabled it to achieve more than 8 million Algerian dinars in revenue in 2009.
Highly criticized and little liked by the Kabyles, particularly for its architecture (a single covered stand, fence avoiding seeing the match) and the insecurity that reigns there, the 1 November 1954 Stadium is still the object of several projects aimed at improving it.
The Hocine Aït Ahmed Stadium is the club's third football stadium after the Oukil Ramdane Stadium (1946–1978) and the 1 November 1954 Stadium (1978–2024). This stadium has a capacity of 50,766 seats.
It is integrated by a group of companies made up of the Spanish group Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas and the Algerian group ETRHB Haddad with an estimated value of 930 million Algerian dinars (the equivalent of €9,400,000) with a duration of the works spread over 13 years from 2010 to 2023. The JSK had succeeded in obtaining the promise of the construction of this new stadium from the former President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika, just after the club's third consecutive coronation in the 2002 CAF Cup.
On September 27, 2024, in championship, the JSK played his first official match in this stadium.
JS Kabylie has a rivalry with MC Alger (Classico algérien) and USM Alger (Clasico kabylo-algérois).
The match with JSM Béjaïa is known as the Derby de la Kabylie.
The matches between JS Kabylie and MC Alger is the most important matches in the Algerian League. This rivalry has been full of excitement, anger and conflicts from 1960's.
The matches between JS Kabylie and USM Alger is one of the most important matches in the Algerian League. This rivalry has been full of excitement, anger and conflicts from 1995, and peaked between 2001 and 2006 when the two teams dominated the Algerian football.
JS Kabylie faces JSM Béjaïa, in a very popular derby in the Kabylia region.
Before the 1998–99 season, the Kabylia region was only represented by JS Kabylie in the elite, asserting itself as the best club in the country both at national and international level. The number of her fans numbered in the thousands, all of Kabylia found themselves in her and remained proud to be part of this region. The prestige of the Canaries (nickname of the JSK) did not come simply from its exceptional records; in fact it must be understood above all that this club played a political role in the defense of Kabyle cultural identity. She is considered the standard bearer of the political-cultural ideas of the Kabylia region. When the JSMB reaches the first division in 1998–99, the cards are redistributed for the region of Kabylia alone where the meetings between the two clubs sometimes offer matches of rare intensity. During the 1998–99 season, the first leg ended in favor of the JSK with a score of 3 to 2, on the return leg the JSMB won by the smallest step of 1 to 0.
The JSMB now plays in the Algerian Third Division since the 2022–23 season. The last confrontation between the JSK and the JSMB in Ligue 1 dates from the season 2013–14 where the first leg ended in favor of the JSK with a score of 1 to 0, on the return the JSMB won 2 to 1.
The JSK, officially created in 1946, entered the competition in the Third Division and played its first official match on 13 October 1946. Affiliated to both the French Football Association and the Algiers Football Association League, it participated in all possible competitions in Algeria governed by these two organizations. The JSK won only one title during this period, it is a title of champion of the Second Division acquired at the end of the 1949–50 season. An unofficial title of Premier Division champion also appears in its record when the team reached the Honor Promotion Division. Finally the JSK will play its last match on 11 March 1956 and will cease all its activities following the appeal of the FLN.
The Algerian teams are limited to five foreign players.
As of 11 March 2025 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
JSK is the most stable club in Algeria. It has only known 21 presidents (Rabah Mohammedi was president of the club twice) since its creation in 1946. The president who has been the club president for the shortest time is Mouloud Iboud for a period of three months in 1993. The president who has been the club president for the longest time is Mohand Chérif Hannachi who was in office for 24 years from 1993 to 2017. The most successful president is Boussad Benkaci with 14 titles in 15 years.
No activity between 1956 and 1962 due to the Algerian war.
The presidents who have succeeded at its head are :
From Ali Benslama in 1946 to Josef Zinnbauer in 2025, 86 changes of trainers have taken place. They involved 76 different people and the club has known no less than 19 coaching duos during its history. Some coaches have been at the head of JS Kabylie several times, such as Abderrahmane Boubekeur, Mahieddine Khalef, Djaâfar Harouni and Youcef Bouzidi. During this period, a coach stays in place for an average of one year and four months, or just over a championship season. The instability in this position is particularly strong during the period 1965–1977 since the club knows 15 changes of coaches during this period, which is equivalent to a different coach every seven and a half months. The arrival of the duo Mahieddine Khalef and Stefan Zywotko at the technical bar of the JSK for 13 seasons (from 1977 to 1990) stops this instability. However, after the departure of this duo, the JSK knows again a new waltz of coaches, which lasts until today, like the 29 coaches or duo of coaches that the club had between 1989 and 2011, or a trainer every nine months or so. The longevity record is attributed to Stefan Zywotko (summer 1977 to December 1991, 14 years and six months). In its history JSK, had 32 foreign technicians who are 12 French, four Romanians, three Tunisians, three Belgians, two Hungarians, a Polish, a Yugoslav, a Swiss, a Brazilian, a Bulgarian, an Italian, a Portuguese and a German.
Mahieddine Khalef is the most successful coach of JSK and Algeria (13 titles), with eight Algerian championship titles (1977, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1989 and 1990), two Algerian Cups (1977 and 1986), an African Cup of Champions Clubs in 1981 as well as an African Super Cup in 1982. He also won the CAF Cup in 2000 with Nasser Sendjak.
The Khalef-Zywotko duo is the most successful technical staff (nine titles) with the JSK since they won the Algerian championships in 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986 and 1989 as well as the Algerian Cup in 1986, the African Cup of Champion Clubs in 1981 and the African Super Cup in 1982. This duo is considered legendary in the ranks of JSK supporters. Other coaches brought titles to the club: the JSK thus won the CAF Cup under the orders of the Sendjak-Khalef duo (who replaced Nadjmeddine Belayachi just before the final of 2000), Kamel Mouassa, and Jean-Yves Chay in 2000, 2001 and 2002 respectively. Djamel Menad, while being at the same time assistant coach of Djaâfar Harouni and player, allows the club to win the African Cup Winners' Cup in 1995 and the championship.
After nine years without a title of champion, the JSK won the title of champion of Algeria under the leadership of Azzedine Aït Djoudi in 2004.
After 17 years without winning the Algerian Cup, the JSK won the Algerian Cup in 2011 under the direction of Rachid Belhout.
After 10 years without a title, the JSK won the Algerian League Cup in 2021 under the direction of Denis Lavagne and added a new line to its list.
Unless otherwise indicated, the periods indicated in the following table begin and end respectively at the start and end of the season.
No activity between 1956 and 1962 due to the Algerian war.
Some players have contributed to the great successes of this team, and a few have become legends for fans of the Canaries. Here are some big names of football players who have worn the colors of the JSK.
To date, there have been 33 players who became captains (Mustafa Rafaï and Driss Kolli became captains twice).
No activity between 1956 and 1962 due to the Algerian war.
The JSK has many records in Algeria, in Africa and in the World.