AS FAR (football club)
Association sportive des Forces armées royales (transl. Sports Association of the Royal Armed Forces, Arabic: الجمعية الرياضية للقوات المسلحة الملكية), commonly known 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.
Full name | Association's Sports of Forces Armed Royal | |||
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Nickname(s) | الزعيم (The Leader, Boss) العساكر (Militarians) الجيش الأسود (Black Army) | |||
Short name | AS FAR, FAR, Asker | |||
Founded | 1 September 1958 | |||
Ground | Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium | |||
Capacity | 53,000 | |||
President | Mohamed Haramou | |||
Manager | Nasreddine Nabi | |||
League | Botola | |||
2022–23 | Botola, 1st of 16 (champions) | |||
Website | Club website | |||
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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 its inception in 1956, along with Wydad AC and Raja CA. 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 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.
AS FAR is the most successful Moroccan club of the 20st century, 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.