Paradou Athletic Club (
Arabic: نادي أتليتيك بارادو), known as Paradou AC or simply PAC for short, is an Algerian
football club based in
Algiers. The club was founded in 1994 by members of the
Hydra AC junior team, the club colours are blue and yellow. Their home stadium, Ahmed Fellak Stadium, has a capacity of some 5,000 spectators but the club receives its opponents in
Omar Benrabah Stadium. The club is currently playing in the
Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1.
The ambition of a group of friends was to create a space where young people could meet in search of leisure, hobbies especially after hard days of schooling, mostly studying. After careful consideration and various proposals, it was decided to set up a classic football team and the name of Paradou Athletic Club (by abbreviation PAC) was chosen. As for the colors of the club the choice was made in a really anecdotal way, indeed several proposals were made but none was unanimous. We were in the midst of a discussion when the Swedish ambassador passed in his vehicle with his country's flag, the idea immediately emerged. (Yellow and blue).
A first meeting of the founding members was held at the COLOMBA restaurant, were present: Mahi Ali, Mahi Mohamed, Kabla Kamel, Kabla Rezki,
Kheiredine Zetchi, Oudghiri Ahmed, Mahi Abdelfettah, Zetchi Hassen, Kabla Toufik, Hammouche Abdennour, Chitour Omar, Oudghiri Rafik, Guecem Kamel, Bouhellal Kamel. A few people who contributed to the creation of the club also participated in this "Collation" meeting. The Paradou AC epic began in September 1994 with an Algiers Wilaya Cup match at the Ben Aknoun stadium which ended in a 3–2 victory, a victory foreshadowing a bright future. This is how the administrative procedures to obtain approval were carried out by law with all the authorities concerned. This document was issued on August 16, 1994 under number 359. As soon as it was obtained, the managers of the club set about setting up the Senior teams and the young categories and set training as an objective.[2]
The founding members of the Paradou Athlétic Club, including the brothers
Kheiredine and Hassen Zetchi, have taken care to structure this club with rigorous management since its creation and to make it, as far as possible, an example, by developing moral values such as brotherhood, humanity, respect for others which are the basis of any success of a high level athlete. From its first sporting season 1994–95, the Paradou AC reached all levels until it ended up in 2005 in
Ligue 1 and ended up making a place for itself among all Algerian clubs and gaining respect thanks to its career. After three years in
DNA, Paradou AC has finally found the elite and is back playing in
Ligue 2 as a professional. Several players trained by Paradou AC, whose vocation it is, have made and still make the heyday of certain D1 clubs, such as
Lamouri Djediat,
Mokhtar Benmoussa,
Hocine El Orfi,
Saad Tedjar,
Billel Ouali and
Hichem Nekkache.[3]
Algerian teams are limited to three foreign players. The squad list includes only the principal nationality of each player;
Current squad
As of 5 February 2024[update][4][5]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under
FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under
FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
No.
Pos.
Nation
Player
No.
Pos.
Nation
Player
Personnel
Current technical staff
Position
Staff
Head coach
Assistant coach
Goalkeeping coach
Fitness coach
Paradou AC/JMG "El Ankaoui" Academy
In 2007, Paradou AC launched their academy in a partnership with
JMG Academy, run by Frenchman
Jean-Marc Guillou.[6] The cost of the academy is estimated to be about 600 000 € over 7 years, including the purchase of land at a site in
Tessala El Merdja (in the outskirts of
Alger), and construction of housing and facilities for the players and staff. Since its creation, the academy has had a tremendous amount of success. The current team is made up of players aged 13 to 15 years old, and they have regularly beaten much older teams, while playing without shoes or a goalie.[7] The team is coached by
Olivier Guillou and
Djamel Aïch.[8][9]