The stadium was built in 1955 in the El Hamri district of Oran, known as Lyautey at the time, by mayor Henri Fouquès-Duparc. The stadium was inaugurated on 5 May 1957 with a capacity of 40,000 spectators, making it the biggest stadium in Africa at the time. After the independence of Algeria it was renamed Municipal Stadium. After it was named again Stade du 19 Juin 1965 in commemoration of the military coup of Ahmed Ben Bella by Houari Boumediene made at that date.
In 1992, the stadium was then renamed again to Stade Ahmed Zabana by the Algerian president at this time Mohamed Boudiaf, in honor of Algerian revolutionary Ahmed Zabana.
In January 2008, it was renovated to make it compatible with the practice of Rugby union. It was equipped with artificial turf (fifth generation) to replace natural grass in poor condition. In the 2016-17 domestic league season, tenants MC Oran drew an average home attendance of 12,000.
These are some historically important matches that have been played in the stadium around its history:
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