AS FAR

AS FAR
Full nameAssociation's Sports of Forces Armed Royal
Nickname(s)
  • Al Zaeem
    (The Leader, Boss)
  • Al Asakir
    (Militarians)
  • Al Qalaa Al Malakiya
    (The Royal Castle)
  • Al Madfaajiya
    (The Gunners)
  • Black Army (supporters)
Short nameFAR,JAY,ASF
Founded1 September 1958; 66 years ago (1958-09-01)
GroundPrince Moulay Abdellah Stadium
Capacity53,000
PresidentG.Mohamed Haramou
ManagerHubert Velud
LeagueBotola
2023–24Botola, 2nd of 16
Websitehttp://www.as-far.ma
Current season

Association sportive des Forces armées royales (transl. Sports Association of the Royal Armed Forces, Arabic: الجمعية الرياضية للقوات المسلحة الملكية), abbreviated as AS FAR (Arabic: نادي الجيش الملكي, romanized: Nādī al-Jaysh al-Malakī), is a professional sport club based in Morocco's capital Rabat, that competes in Botola, the top tier of Moroccan football.

The club was founded in 1958, 3 years after Morocco had gained their independence and is one of the most famous football clubs in Morocco. The club has traditionally worn a black home kit since inception. AS FAR is a well known club for the success of its football section, very popular in and outside the country. The team played its home matches in the 53,000 capacity Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in downtown Rabat from 1983 to 2023.

The club is one of the most widely supported teams in Africa. AS FAR is one of three founding members of Botola that have never been relegated from the top division, Since the club's inception in 1958, along with Wydad AC and Raja CA.[1][2] The club holds many long-standing rivalries, most notably the rivalries with Wydad AC, Raja CA and FUS Rabat, whom they contest the "Capital Derby".

AS FAR is among the clubs with the most titles in Morocco, and was ranked first locally, 10 continental and 201 universally, in the international rankings of clubs during the first ten years of the 21st century (2001–2010), issued by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics in 2011.[3]

AS FAR is one of the most successful clubs in Morocco with 31 titles in total: 13 Botola, 12 Moroccan Throne Cup, 4 Moroccan Super Cup, 1 African Champions League and 1 African Confederation Cup. They are the first Moroccan team to win the African Champions League in 1985 and the African Confederation Cup in 2005.[4][5][6]

  1. ^ "ثلاثة أندية مغربية فقط لم تذق طعم الهبوط للقسم الثاني". medi1news. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  2. ^ "3 أندية مغربية فقط لم تهبط للقسم الثاني .. هل تعرفها ؟". al3omk.com (in Arabic). 8 August 2017. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  3. ^ "IFFHS HISTORY : THE WORLD'S BEST CLUB OF THE FIRST DECADE (2001–2010)". iffhs.de. Bonn, Germany: International Federation of Football History & Statistics. 2010. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  4. ^ "المغرب سيد كأس الكونفدرالية". المغرب سيد كأس الكونفدرالية (in Arabic). 20 May 2022. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  5. ^ "الجيش المغربي يفوز بكأس الاتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم". www.aljazeera.net (in Arabic). Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  6. ^ "سيدات الجيش يكتبن رقما مميزا للكرة المغربية". كووورة. 2022-11-14. Retrieved 2023-04-22.