Espérance Sportive de Tunis

Espérance Sportive de Tunis. ES Tunis. Blood and Gold. A club that stands as Tunisia’s most decorated, most followed, and in many ways, its most politically and culturally complicated football institution. So, Let’s #GetTheBadgeIn and see what we can learn.

Founded in 1919, in the Bab Souika district of Tunis, ES Tunis was born from the ambitions of two young Tunisians who wanted a sporting club of their own—something rooted in the local Arabic-speaking population, not shaped by French colonial authorities.

So it was that in 1919 that Mohamed Zouaoui, a shoemakers apprentice who came from Damascus in Syria and Hédi Kallel, who would become the treasurer - met at Café de l’Espérance. Here they agreed to found a team - and they borrowed the name of the café (which means ‘Hope’ in French) to get started - and it became a name that stuck.

At the time, local regulations required any sports club to be led by a Frenchman. They found a willing local French official and were up and running. Their iconic yellow and red colours were chosen to make them stand out against their more French friendly, and less colourful, rivals.

The club quickly became a symbol of resistance and identity with Tunisians flocking to watch their games.

In 2012 a rebrand introduced the current logo which also featured the cartoon boy. His name is Taraji which means Hope in Arabic (So we have this in both French in the name and in Arabic with the cartoon). He is the club’s mascot and appears in the local Tunisian Fez to ground him in the local area.

Like so many non-English teams, ES Tunis began as a multi-sport club, including boxing, athletics, and handball alongside football. Its rapid rise in the 1920s and 30s made it a focal point of social energy in the city—particularly among working-class supporters.

That energy occasionally clashed with authority. In 1971, the Tunisian government dissolved Espérance Sportive de Tunis after violence erupted around the delayed Cup Final, blaming the club’s fans and leadership for unrest. However, President Habib Bourguiba quickly reversed the decision by decree. The club was seen as strong backers of Bourguiba (Tunisa's first independent President) and he recognised the club’s deep national significance and feared a wider public backlash.

In 1987 the club's significance to local politics again took centre stage. As Bourguiba turned 87 his younger Prime Minister, a man called Ben Ali had the older President declared medically unfit. This so called "Medical Coup" on November 7th 1987 saw Ben Ali come to power.

Looking to carry favour with the fans of ES Tunis he made his son-in-law, Slim Chiboub, president of the club. The stadium they played in was itself also named "November 7th Stadium" to hammer home the point about who the fans owed their allegiance to.

The club won eight league titles in a row during this time, but many claimed that success came under the shadow of political favouritism and intimidation of rival fans.

Even so, the club’s sporting accomplishments are difficult to dismiss. 34 national league titles, over a dozen Tunisian Cups, and four CAF Champions League trophies—most recently in 2019—make it one of Africa’s most successful clubs. In 2025, it qualified again for the FIFA Club World Cup, and defeated America's LAFC in the group stages.

The club now plays its home matches at the Hammadi Agrebi Stadium (The 7th November stadium was renamed after a famous footballer after the 2011 Arab Spring) with a capacity of over 60,000. They share a with fierce city rivals Club Africain.

Tunis, the club’s home city, mirrors the club’s character: ancient and layered, yet forward-facing. Originally a Berber and Phoenician trading post, the city grew in importance under the Carthaginians, Romans, and later Arab Muslim rulers. The Al-Zaytuna Mosque, founded in the 8th century, became one of North Africa’s key centres of Islamic scholarship. By the 19th century, the city was the capital of a semi-independent province within the Ottoman Empire, until French colonisation in 1881 brought dramatic urban planning changes—boulevards, tramlines, and French civic institutions.

Modern-day Tunis is a mix of styles and rhythms. Its medina, with its covered markets and twisting alleyways, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Just outside its old walls, the French-built city centre hums with modern life: cafés, street murals, boutique hotels, and art galleries. The Bardo Museum, home to one of the world’s finest collections of Roman mosaics, sits just a tram ride away.

Since the Jasmine Revolution in 2011, the city has become a centre for democratic energy and cultural experimentation. Reading clubs, calligraphy pop-ups, and artisan workshops now feature alongside mosques and colonial facades. Even its Light Metro system, launched in 1985, is a rare example of long-standing mass transit in the region.

That balance between tradition and innovation defines Espérance Sportive de Tunis. The club’s Nationale training complex is among the best in North Africa. Its youth development programme continues to produce talent not just for Tunisian football, but for clubs across Europe and the Gulf.

Current President, Hamdi Meddeb (a successful entrepreneur who once produced Virgin Cola under licence in Tunisia), was elected by members and has invested in modernisation while retaining the club’s community model. Unlike many modern clubs, ES Tunis remains member-owned, with a strong supporter base that is both fiercely loyal and deeply involved. It has big ambitions for the future and in 2025 became the first African club to get an IPO (floated on the stock market) to secure a funding boost to fuel its longer term aims – watch this space!

The club’s badge may seem modest— but it tells a wider story: of a team founded under colonial rule, tested through dictatorship, and now thriving in a city at the crossroads of empire, religion, revolution, and renewal. And with this new round of funding – you’ll be hearing more from them very soon.