Ittihad Riadi Tanger
 |
|
| Full name | Ittihad Riadi Tanger الاتحاد الرياضي لطنجة |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Hercules, Boughaz's Knight |
| Short name | IRT |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Ground |
Stade Ibn Batouta Tangier, Morocco |
| Capacity | 45,000 |
| Chairman | Abdelhamid Abarchan |
| Manager | Ezzaki Badou |
| League |
 Botola
|
| 2015–16 | 3rd |
| Website | Club website |
Ittihad Tanger or Ittihad Riadi Tanger, abbreviation IRT (Arabic: الاتحاد الرياضي لطنجة), which means literally "Union Sportive of Tangier" 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 (including "Tangier Rebirth", "FC Iberia" as the main figures of the fusion). Ittihad Riadi Tanger has a basketball team, football, volleyball and Rugby teams, supporting wide range of sports as well. Their home games are hosted at Stade Ibn Batouta ( Stade de Marchan was their former home ground before it was diminished and rebuilt as a park). IR Tanger has a large fanbase in northern Morocco, especially in the Tanger–Tetouan-Alhoceima region as it is the only relatively one of the biggest clubs in the region and the country itself.
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, alongside 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.
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.
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Wikipedia