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Ittihad Riadi Tanger (Arabic: الاتحاد الرياضي لطنجة, lit.'Sports Union of Tangier'),[2] often shortened to IR Tanger or the abbreviation IRT, is a Moroccan football club based in Tangier, that competes in Botola, Morocco's top professional football league.[3]
 | This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. (October 2022) |
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| Full name | Ittihad Riadi de Tanger الاتحاد الرياضي لطنجة | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Faris Al Boughaz (team) Hercules (supporters) | |||
| Short name | IRT | |||
| Founded | 1936 as Unión Deportiva España de Tánger officially: 1944 | |||
| Ground | Ibn Batouta Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 65,000[1] | |||
| Chairman | Mohammed Cherkaoui | |||
| Manager | Hilal Et-Tair | |||
| League | Botola | |||
| 2023–24 | 12th of 16 | |||
| Website | http://irtfoot.ma/ | |||
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The club was founded in 1936 as Unión Deportiva España de Tánger (UDET); After the independence of Morocco in 1956, the club changed was renamed to Unión Deportiva de Tánger (UDT). In 1983, several local football clubs were merged into UDT, and Ittihad Riadi Tanger was formed.
IR Tanger's home games are hosted at Ibn Batouta Stadium. In the past, Stade de Marchan was their home stadium until its demolition.
IR Tanger has a large fan base in northern Morocco, particularly in the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region.
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IR Tanger was created by the fusion of several clubs in 1944. In the early 1990s, IR Tangier became one of the most successful clubs in the Botola. However, the club failed to win any trophies, although they came close in the 1989–90 season when they finished as runners-up. The 1989 season was considered by many to be their best season, as the team was victorious over many other notable Botola clubs, defeating Raja Casablanca 3-1 and Maghreb de Fès 3–0.
During the late 1990s, IR Tanger failed to achieve anything besides maintaining itself in the Botola. The club ended up getting relegated twice before the early 2000s, finishing unsuccessfully during the 1995–96 and 1997–98 seasons.
In July 2000, the club hired Coach Omar Raiss. He oversaw the improvement in the club's performance during the 2000–01 season, during which they scored 50 goals. Because of their performance, the club received a promotion. Their performance declined, however, with their only notable achievement in the early 2000s being a Throne Cup they won during the semi-final in the 2005–06 season. The following season became IR Tanger's last in the Botola for the next few years. During this time, the club's results were poor, and they would very often finish unsuccessfully.
During later years, after IR Tanger set up a new directive committee, it nearly made it back to the Botola during the 2013–14 season. With a series of transfers and the arrival of Coach Mohamed Amine Benhachem, the team cruised through the 2014–15 season, losing only twice and finishing first by a five-point lead.
During the 2015–16 season, the team made a comeback to the Botola Pro. The club contracted with many local and foreign players, finishing third in their first season and qualifying for the 2017 CAF Confederation Cup for the first time.
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In 2003, the club's ultras, called Ultras Tanger, was founded; this group no longer exists and has instead been replaced by the ultras group named Ultras Hercules that was founded in 2007.
IR Tanger has a rivalry with Moghreb Tétouan, which belongs to the neighboring city, Tétouan.
| Botola Pro 1 matches | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| There were no matches between the teams in the First Division before 1990. | ||||||||
| # | Date | Matchweek | Home team | Away team | Score (FT/HT) | Goals (Home) | Goals (Away) | |
| 1 | 1990 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 4–1 | ?, ?, ?, ? | ? | ||
| 2 | 1991 | MA Tetouan | IR Tanger | 0–2 | ?, ? | |||
| 1991–1995 | There were no matches between the teams in the First Division. For the 1991–92 season, MA Tetouan was relegated to Second Division. | |||||||
| 3 | 1995 | MA Tetouan | IR Tanger | 1–0 | ? | |||
| 4 | 1996 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 1–3 | ? | ?, ?, ? | ||
| 1996–2005 | there were no matches between them in the First Division, each having returned to it at different moments, but not together. | |||||||
| 5 | 17 December 2005 | 12 | MA Tetouan | IR Tanger | 0–0 (0–0) | |||
| 6 | 21 May 2006 | 27 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 0–1 (0–0) | Moussafi (88) | ||
| 7 | 18 November 2006 | 8 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 0–0 (0–0) | |||
| 8 | 8 April 2007 | 23 | MA Tetouan | IR Tanger | 1–0 | ? | ||
| 2007–2015 | There were no matches between the teams in the First Division. For the 2006–07 season, IR Tanger was relegated to Second Division. | |||||||
| 9 | 3 October 2015 | 3 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 2–2 (2–0) | Rafik (p. (28), Boukhriss (42) | El Maimouni (58), Krouch (64) | |
| 10 | 28 February 2016 | 18 | MA Tetouan | IR Tanger | 1–0 (0–0) | Hawassi (89) | ||
| 11 | 11 December 2016 | 12 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 0–1 (0–1) | Krouch ((p. 27) | ||
| 12 | 7 May 2017 | 27 | MA Tetouan | IR Tanger | 0–1 (0–1) | Hervé (38) | ||
| 13 | 27 December 2017 | 14 | MA Tetouan | IR Tanger | 0–1 (0–1 | Hamoudan (45) | ||
| 14 | 12 May 2018 | 29 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 2–1 (0–1) | Chentouf 48), El Moussaoui (o.g. 60) | Fall (28) | |
| 15 | 22 September 2018 | 3 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 1–1 (1–0) | El Ouadi (42) | Lakhal (69) | |
| 16 | 16 February 2019 | 18 | MA Tetouan | IR Tanger | 1–1 (1–0) | Hawassi (10) | El Ouadi (66) | |
| 17 | 11 January 2020 | 12 | MA Tetouan | IR Tanger | 0–0 (0–0) | |||
| 18 | 30 September 2020 | 27 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 1–0 (1–0) | Ijroten (46) | ||
| 19 | 20 December 2020 | 4 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 1–1 (1–1) | Méyé (p. 6) | Bemammer (o.g. 26) | |
| 20 | 23 May 2021 | 19 | MA Tetouan | IR Tanger | 1–0 (0–0) | Gueye (90+4) | ||
| 2021–2022 | For the 2021–22 season, MA Tetouan was relegated to Second Division. | |||||||
| 21 | 9 September 2022 | 2 | MA Tetouan | IR Tanger | 1–0 (0–0) | Kamal (63) | ||
| 22 | 21 February 2023 | 17 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 2–0 (2–0) | El Ouassli (7), Moutouali (18) | ||
| 23 | 26 November 2023 | 10 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 1–1 (1–1) | El Wasti (45+2) | Badji (20) | |
| 24 | 14 April 2024 | 25 | MA Tetouan | IR Tanger | 1–1 (0–0) | Badji (p. 74) | Saoud (83) | |
| 25 | 23 November 2024 | 11 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 1–2 (0–2) | Jawad Ghabra (p. 55) | Darai (12), Kamal (p. 19) | |
| 26 | 2025 | 26 | MA Tetouan | IR Tanger | – (–) | |||
| Botola Pro 2 matches | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Date | Matchweek | Home team | Away team | Score (FT/HT) | Goals (Home) | Goals (Away) |
| There is no data for the 1983/84–1986/87 and 1998/99 seasons. | |||||||
| 16 January 2000 | 14 | MA Tetouan | IR Tanger | 0–2 | ?, ? | ||
| 3 June 2000 | 29 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 2–3 | ?, ? | ?, ?, ? | |
| 3 December 2000 | 10 | MA Tetouan | IR Tanger | 2–1 | ?, ? | ? | |
| 7 April 2001 | 25 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 1–1 | |||
| Moroccan Throne Cup matches | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Round | Home team | Away team | Score (FT/HT) | Goals (Home) | Goals (Away) | |
| 1994–95 | Round of 16 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 2–1 | ?, ? | ? | |
| 2000–01 | Round of 32 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 0–1 | ? | ||
| 2016 | Round of 32 | 1st leg | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 4–0 (2–0) | Hervé (34), El Helali (39), Boukhriss (67), Mouaoui (74) | |
| 2nd leg | MA Tetouan | IR Tanger | 2–0 (0–0) | Krouch (55, 90+1) | |||
| 2018 | Round of 32 | IR Tanger | MA Tetouan | 1–0 (0–0) | M'baï | ||
| Matches summary | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matches | Wins | Draws | Goals | Home wins | Home draws | Away wins | |||||||
| IRT | MAT | IRT | MAT | IRT | MAT | IRT | MAT | IRT | MAT | ||||
| Botola | 25 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 22 | 21 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | |
| Botola 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Moroccan Throne Cup | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| All competitions | 34 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 35 | 31 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 | |
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The official crest was designed by the club's founders. It depicts the full name of the club and the year it was founded. The blue lining represents the club's location in northern Morocco.
The official home shirts are similar to the crest, colored blue and white. IR Tanger's traditional away colors change every season but are usually based on light blue with a sponsor's logo on the top.
Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt main sponsor | Shirt sub sponsor | League sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–2016 | Bang Sports | None | 
| |
| 2016–2017 |  
ONDA & UNE & APM Terminals | |||
| 2017–2018 | 
|
Tanger-Med & Valencia (juice) & RCI Finance Maroc | ||
| 2018–2019 | Gloria |
|
Valencia (juice) & STG Telecom & RCI Finance Maroc | |
| 2019–2020 | STG Telecom & RCI Finance Maroc | None | ||
| 2020–2021 |
|
Experience Majorel | 
| |
| 2021–2022 | Biougnach | |||
| 2022– | None |
The club hosted their home matches in the Stade de Marchan, a stadium with a capacity of 15,000 seats, until it was demolished. The Stade de Marchan hosted several notable matches like the one between IR Tanger vs. Wydad Casablanca during the 1989–90 season. In 2011 the club moved to the then-new Ibn Batouta Stadium, which has a capacity of 65,000 (that will be increased to a maximum of 92,000 seats).
| Stadium | Period |
|---|---|
| Stade de Marchan | 1983–2011 |
| Ibn Batouta Stadium | 2012–present |
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League and cup
| Season | League | Top goalscorer | Moroccan Cup | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Div. | Pos. | Pl. | W | D | L | GS | GA | P | Name | League | ||
| 2015–16 | 1st | 3rd | 30 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 36 | 23 | 50 |  Hervé Guy |
7 | Quarter-finals |
| 2016–17 | 1st | 5th | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 33 | 25 | 45 |  Ahmed Hammoudan |
6 | Semi-finals |
| 2017–18 | 1st | 1st | 30 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 34 | 23 | 52 | Mehdi Naghmi |
13 | Round of 16 |
| 2018–19 | 1st | 5th | 30 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 27 | 30 | 40 | Mehdi Naghmi |
9 | Round of 16 |
| 2019–20 | 1st | 14th | 30 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 20 | 36 | 32 | Sofian El Moudane |
4 | Quarter-finals |
| 2020–21 | 1st | 8th | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 29 | 36 | 36 |  Axel Méyé |
12 | Round of 16 |
| 2021–22 | 1st | 13th | 30 | 8 | 9 | 13 | 31 | 41 | 33 | Axel Méyé |
12 | Round of 16 |
| 2022–23 | 1st | 14th | 30 | 8 | 5 | 17 | 23 | 39 | 29 | Sofian El Moudane |
5 | Round of 16 |
| 2023–24 | 1st | 12th | 30 | 7 | 12 | 11 | 29 | 38 | 33 | Ismail Khafi |
13 | Round of 32 |
African competitions
| Year | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate | Q |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | CAF Confederation Cup | PR |  AS Douanes |
1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 |  |
| 1R |  AS Kaloum |
3–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | | ||
| PO | Horoya AC |
3–2 | 0–2 | 3–4 |  | ||
| 2018–19 | CAF Champions League | PR |  Elect-Sport FC |
1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | |
| 1R |  JS Saoura |
1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | | ||
| 2018–19 | CAF Confederation Cup | PO |  Zamalek SC |
0–0 | 1–3 | 1–3 | |
Arab competition
| Year | Competition | Round | Opponent | Score | Position | Q |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019–20 | Arab Club Champions Cup | PR |  Riffa SC |
0–2 | 2nd | |
 Al-Zawraa SC |
3–0 | |||||
 Horseed FC |
1–6 |
- Notes
- PR: Preliminary round
- 1R: First round
- PO: Play-off round
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Current squad
- As of 16 October 2024[4]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Reserve team and Youth Academy
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Former players
Abdellah El Moudene- Gaya Merbah
Bassirou Compaoré
Enes Šipović
Hugo Almeida
Ismaël Ankobo
Hervé Guy- Jacques N'da
Alexis Enam- Brice Owona
Mukoko Batezadio
Zoran Plazonić
Pablo Ganet
Pape Paye
Abdou Atchabao- Axel Méyé
- Stévy Nzambé
Zakaria Alharaish
Abdelatif Noussir- Abdellatif Akhrif
- Abdelfettah Boukhriss
- Abdelghani Mouaoui
- Abdelhakim Aklidou
- Abdelkabir El Ouadi
- Abdessamad Rafik
- Adil Chihi
- Adil Lamrabet
- Ahmad Hamoudan
- Ahmed Mohamadina
- Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti
- Aissa Sioudi
- Anas El Asbahi
- Ayoub El Khaliqi
- Badr Zaki Nacer
- Benaissa Benamar
- Bilal Danguir
- Driss El Mrabet
- Faouzi Abdelghani
- Habib Allah Dahmani
- Hamdi Laachir
- Hafid Abdessadek
- Hicham El Mejhed
- Ibrahim Bezghoudi
- Ismail Belmaalem
- Issam Badda
- Ismail Khafi
- Issam Erraki
- Jalal Daoudi
- Khalid Fouhami
- Lahcen Abrami
- Mehdi Naghmi
- Mohamed Amsif
- Mohamed Bouldini
- Mohamed Chibi
- Mohamed Fouzair
- Mohamed Madihi
- Mohamed Souboul
- Mohammed Ali Bemammer
- Mohsine Moutouali
- Nabil Jaadi
- Noussair El Maimouni
- Omar Arjoune
- Omar Najdi
- Rachid Housni
- Reda Jaadi
- Sofian El Moudane
- Soufian Echaraf
- Soufian El Hassnaoui
- Talal El Karkouri
- Youcef Sekour
- Youssef Benali
- Zouhair Laaroubi
Abdoulaye Demba- Abdoulaye Diarra
Ismaël Diakité
Carlos Gomes*- Carlos Fortes
Ousseynou Thioune
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Current technical staff
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| First team head coach | Hilal Et-tair |
| Assistant coach | Abdelouahed Benkacem |
| Goalkeeping coach | Mohammed Bestara |
| Fitness coach | Rachid Blej |
| Performance analyst | Ahmed Zekhnini |
| Club doctor | Houssine Azizi |
| Physiotherapist | Nacereddine Jabouri |
| Healer | Abdelmonhem Nafie |
| Delegate | Ali Haddou |
| Hope's team coach | Khalid Bahid |
| Hope's team assistant coach | Youssef Sekour |
| Hope's Team Fitness coach | Ahmed Azmi |
| Formation center manager | Abdelhakim Ben Saddik |
Managers
- Jorvan Vieira (1984–86)
- Mohamed Baltham (1986–87)
- Abdelkhalek Louzani (1987–88)
Bob Schneider (1988–89)- Mário Ribeiro Nunes (1989–91)
- Abdellah Hammouni (1993–94)
- Jorvan Vieira (1993–94)
- Aziz El Amri (1996–97)
- Omar Rais (2000–01)
- Aziz El Amri (2001–02)
- Abdelhadi Sektioui (2002–03)
- Hassan Ajenoui (2003)
- Driss El Mrabet (2003–04)
- Rachid Taoussi (2004)
Ricardo Serna (2004–05)- Hamadi Hamidouch (2005)
- Abdelhadi Sektioui (2005–06)
Raoul Savoy (2006)- Aziz El Khayati (2006–07)
- Hassan Ajenoui (2007)
- Abderrazak Khairi (2007–08)
- Omar Rais (Oct 2008– )
- Mohamed Amine Benhachem (2009)
- Mohamed Bentaleb (–Mar 2010)
- Abdelmalek Ajbaten (Mar– 2010)
- Najib Hannouni (–Sep 2010)
- Said El Khider (Sep–Dec 2010)
- Omar Rais (Dec 2010– )
- Youssef Fertout (Jul–Nov 2012)
- Hicham Rok (–Jan 2013)
- Abdelkader Youmir (Jan–Jun 2013)
- Mohamed Said Zekri (Jul–Nov 2013)
- Omar Rais (Nov 2013–Jun 2014)
- Mohamed Amine Benhachem (Jun 2014–May 2015)
- Abdelhak Benchikha (Jun 2015–Apr 2017)
- Mohamed Sabek (Apr 2017)
- Bachir Bouita (Apr–May 2017)
- Ezzaki Badou (May–Nov 2017)
- Driss El Mrabet (Nov 2017–Sep 2018)
Ahmad Al-Ajlani (Sep–Dec 2018)- Abdelouahed Benkacem (Dec–Jun 2019)
- Nabil Neghiz (Jun 2019–Oct 2019)
- Abdelouahed Benkacem (Oct–Nov 2019)
- Hicham Dmiai (Nov 2019–Jan 2020)
- Juan Pedro Benali (Jan–Oct 2020)
- Driss El Mrabet (Nov 2020–Aug 2021)
- Bernard Casoni (Aug–Nov 2021)
- Jaafar R'kyek (Nov 2021)
Miguel Ángel Gamondi (Nov 2021–Apr 2022)- Juan Pedro Benali (Apr–Jul 2022)
- Ezzaki Badou (Jul–Oct 2022)
- Hakim Daoudi (Oct 2022–Jan 2023)
- Hilal Et-tair (Jan–Sep 2023)
- Omar Najhi (Sep 2023–Jan 2024)
- Hilal Et-tair (Jan 2024–)
Board of directors
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| President | Mohammed Cherkaoui |
| Managing Director | Mohamed Hmami |
| First Vice President | Mohamed Boulaich |
| Second Vice President | Abdelhanin Gharafi |
| Third Vice President | Rachid El Hassani |
| Fourth Vice President | Anass Lamrabat |
| General Secretary | Abdellah El Mrabet Dajidi |
| Vice General Secretary | Issam El Ghachi |
| Treasurer | Redouan Bouhdid |
| Vice Treasurer | Said Zekri |
Presidents
- Abdeslam Arbaine
- Hassan Bouhrize
- Abdelhak Bakhat (2009)
- Adil Defouf (–2012)
- Abdelhamid Aberchane (2013–21)
- Mohamed Ahagan (2021–22)
- Mohammed Cherkaoui (2023–24)
- Nassrallah El Guartit (2024–)
- CR Belouizdad (2017)[9]
- RCD Espanyol (2018)[10]
- CD Leganés (2019)[11]
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