IR Tanger
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| Full name | Ittihad Riadi Tanger (or Tanja) | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Hercules, Boughaz's Knight | |||
| Founded | 1983 | |||
| Ground |
Stade Ibn Batouta Tangier, Morocco | |||
| Capacity | 45,000 | |||
| Chairman | Abdelhamid Abarchan | |||
| Manager | Abdelhak Benchikha | |||
| League | Botola | |||
| 2015–16 | 5th | |||
| Website | Club home page | |||
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Ittihad Tanger or Ittihad Riadi Tanger, abbreviation IRT, which means literally "Union Sportive of Tangier"[1](Arabic: طنجة) is a Moroccan football club based in Tangier, Morocco. The club was founded in 1983 as a union of a number of old clubs around Tangier at the time. Ittihad Riadi Tanger has a basketball team, football and volleyball teams. Their home games are hosted at Stade Ibn Batouta or Stade de Marchan (their former home ground). IR Tanger has a large fanbase in northern Morocco, especially in the Tangier–Tetouan region as it is the only relatively big club in the region along Moghreb Tetouan.
Ultras Hercules 2007, an extension to the original Ultras Tanger 2003, are the main group responsible of organizing supporters and creating a loud and great overall atmosphere every game.
The club returned to the first (Botola Pro) division in the 2015–16 season after an absence of eight years from the top flight.
History
IR Tanger was set up by a fusion of a several clubs. Among these were Renaissance de Tanger ('Reborn of Tangier') and other clubs who were playing at the second Moroccan league divisions at the time. The fusion resulted in the a prominent club which stands out in Tangier, especially in the football field, without significant rivalries (Widad Juventud is another sports club operating in Tangier but with less public attention, along side with Maghreb Aqsa Club the oldest existing club participating in the third Division and the amateur section).
Around years 1989 and 1990 IR Tangier was one of the dominant club in the Botola crushing the most of the clubs in the first division, by the end of the season IR Tangier faced off Wydad Casablanca where the match made a conclusion, the team's game play was significant, entertaining with high caliber, however, the club lost due to political reasons and especially when the supporters of Wydad engaged with the most aggressive crowd of Tangier at that time.
In 2015-16 the team made a come back after 8 years in the 2nd division, the club contracted with many local and foreign players where they made a great show in the spotlight of Botola with good results, finishing the first round in the 3rd place.
Crest and shirt
The official crest was planned by the founders and decided in a democratic process. It shows the full name of the Club and the year of foundation, but different sport departments of the club replace the year with the icon of the sport. The Blue lining is in honour of the north region. The icon on the right is the symbol of Tangier.
The official home shirts are similar to the crest, colored blue and white. IRT's traditional away colors change every season but are usually based on light blue with a sponsor's logo on the top. The shirts are made by King Sports.
Home Ground
The football Club hosted the home matches in the government built Stadium of Marchan of 15,000 seats. In 2011 the club moved to a new international stadium with a capacity of 45000 (and a potential for a maximum of 75,000 seats) called Ibn Batouta Stadium. This stadium is planned to host the 2012 African Cup U21, the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations and some matches of the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup. The old grounds of Marchan Stadium hosted several historical moments like the match between IR Tangier VS Wydad Casablanca in the 1990–89 season for the first place of BOTOLA and an amical match in Ibn Batouta Stadium with Atlético Madrid.
In 2015 and 2016 the grand stadium of Batouta had an over maximum attendees estimated over than 50000, and an average of 35000 in every hosted match, the income of the club consist over 50% of match tickets sold.
Honors and Trophies
Runners-up (1): 1989–90
- 2000–01, 2014–15.
Supporters and rivalries
The club has an ultras group Ultras Hercules, who were founded in 2007, there was actually an older ultra called Ultras Tanger founded in 2003, but there is no remaining of this group since it was extended to form Ultras Hercules, even tough there are still a few existing groups on Facebook, Skyblog and Blogger mainly.
The Northern Derby
Their biggest rival is without a doubt Moghreb Tetouan, the first club of the neighboring city, Tetouan, it's one of the most awaited matches of the first division league, especially among northern Morocco as the two famous clubs of the region facing off each others, this derby is always attended by a great amount of people due to its value and importance among supporters. There is an other match considered sometimes as a Derby of region along with Chabab Rif Al Hoceima, but It's not as important as with Moghreb Tetouan.
Sponsors
Current squad
- As of 6 March 2016
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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References
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