Raja CA


Raja Club Athletic, widely known as Raja Casablanca, Raja CA or simply Raja, is a football club based in Casablanca, Morocco, that competes in Botola Pro, the top flight of Moroccan football.
Founded on 20 March 1949 in the district of Derb Sultan, the club has traditionally worn a green home kit since inception. Raja is a well known club for the success of its football section, very popular in and outside the country. The club sits at the Raja CA Academy for training and plays home games in the Stade Mohammed V since 1955.
The club is one of the most widely supported teams in Africa. Raja were a founding member of the Botola and is one of three clubs that have never been relegated, along with founding club Wydad AC and AS FAR. The club holds many long-standing rivalries, most notably in the Casablanca Derby with Wydad AC and the Classico with the capital side AS FAR.
Raja established itself as a major force in both Moroccan and African football in the late 1980s, winning three CAF Champions League. This success was replicated in the league, which the club won seven times in ten years, including six titles in a row between 1995 and 2001. This team, which included club icons such as Mustapha Moustawdaa, Mustapha Chadili, Salaheddine Bassir and Abdellatif Jrindou, is considered by some in the sport to be the greatest African team in the 1990s. Club and Moroccan national team legend, Abdelmajid Dolmy holds the record for most appearances for the club. In 2000, Raja was ranked by CAF as the 3rd best African club of the 20th century, after Al Ahly and Zamalek.
In domestic football, the club has won 22 trophies; 13 Botola titles, and 9 Moroccan Throne Cup. In international competitions, Raja have won 9 trophies; 3 CAF Champions League titles, two CAF Confederation Cup, two CAF Super Cup and 1 CAF Cup. It is the only African team, with TP Mazembe, to reach the final of the FIFA Club World Cup in 2013 when they faced Bayern Munich.

History

Foundation and first steps (1949-1956)

Raja Club Athletic was founded by the Moroccan resistance and more particularly by the honorary president Moulay Sassi Ben Ahmed El Alaoui Aboudarka and the heads of the Moroccan unions, in particular the first president of the Moroccan Workers' Union, Mahjoub Ben Seddik, as well as the former president of the Union of Arab Lawyers and ex-prime minister Mohamed Maâti Bouabid.
Boujemaa Kadri took charge of the administrative organization, necessary for the foundation of Raja CA. Other personalities behind the club's creation included Tibari, Salah Medkouri, Mustapha Chemseddine, Karim Hajjaj, Si Ahmed Skalli Haddaoui, Choukri, Daoudi, Hachmi Nejjar, Mohamed Charfaoui, Laachfoubi El Bouazzaoui, Abdelkader Jalal, Naoui, and some other Moroccan intellectuals and resistance fighters who met often at a café named Al Watan, owned at the time by Hmidou El Watani, in Derb Sultan.
The ban on entrusting the presidency of the club to a Moroccan is circumvented by leaving the chair for six months to Ben Abadji Hejji, a Muslim of Algerian origin who had the French nationality. The French authorities, are thus forced to accept that. After several attempts to find a name for the club, a draw between the names of Raja and Fath, allowed the name Raja, picked three consecutive times, to be chosen.

Early years (1956–1973)

After the independence of Morocco in 1956, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation is created and therefore replaces one of the twenty-two leagues of the French Football Federation during the time of the French Protectorate which was called Ligue du Maroc de Football. In their first season, Raja successfully defeated the Sports Union of Ben Ahmed 4–1, Ennasr of Casablanca 2–0 and finally Olympique Ouezzane 7–0. They were thus the first team to enter the first division. Kacem Kacemi then retired from his coaching position for personal reasons. Raja lost their first match 2–0 in the 1956–57 Botola against Fath Union Sport, but they managed to beat SC Roches Noires in the next leg with the same score. The team finished the season in tenth, barely avoiding relegation. The following year, thanks to the arrival of Affani Mohamed Ben Lahcen known as Père Jégo, the club finished fourth.
In the 1964–1965 season, the club finished twelfth and almost got relegated, but they still managed to reach the final of the Throne Cup for the first time in its history, where they faced KAC Marrakech on 13 June 1965 at the Stade Mohammed V. KACM won the match 3–1. It was the third consecutive coronation of the Merrakchis in the competition, and the first defeat in the final for Raja. During this season, the Green Eagles defeated Wydad in the quarterfinals with a score of two to one. The team finished the 1966–1967 season in third place in the championship with 65 points. Houmane Jarir finished as the top scorer with 18 goals.
On 14 July 1968, the final of the Throne Cup took place, between Raja and Racing de Casablanca. RAC won the title for the first time in its history and the Eagles, still unable to claim their first title, lost 1–0.

Three cups in a decade (1973–1982)

The 1974 Throne Cup final opposed the semi-final winners, Raja who beat Wydad AC on penalties, against the Maghreb de Fès. During a match played in the Stade Mohammed V on 28 July 1974, Raja led by coach Mohammed Tibari, wins the cup against MAS thanks to the goal of El Arabi 1–0. The Green Eagles won this competition for the first time and also won the first title in their history.
On 17 July 1977, Raja CA moved to Rabat to face Difaâ Hassani El Jadidi at the Stade du FUS on behalf of the Throne Cup final. The Greens won the match 1–0 on a penalty from Abdellatif Beggar and therefore won the competition for the second time.
On 14 March 1982 at the Stade Roches Noires in Casablanca, the final of the Throne Cup was played between Raja and the KAC Kénitra. In 1977,Raja won its third title in the competition after a goal by Abdellatif Beggar. This season will also witness the first appearance of Raja on the African scene, more precisely in the 1983 African Cup Winners' Cup, unexperienced Raja was eliminated in the first round.

First titles in Africa and Morocco (1982–1995)

In 1982–1983, reached the final of the Throne Cup for the second time in a row, this time against the Olympique de Casablanca. The final took place on 21 August 1983 at the Stade Mohamed V, Raja loses the title this time on penalties, after the match ended in a draw 1–1. Raja finished second in the 1985–1986 championship, behind his rival Wydad AC, who edged him 2 points on the last day. Furthermore, he was eliminated in the cup by the future champion, AS Far in the round of 16 2–0.
In the 1987–1988 season, then coached by the Portuguese Fernando Cabrita, Raja defeated US Sidi Kacem 1–0 on the penultimate day thanks to the goal of Abderrahim Hamraoui. The Greens finally manage to win their first championship title after 39 years. Following this, Raja participates in the 1989 African Cup of Clubs, the Eagles of Rabah Saâdane wrap up this edition by winning in the final against the Algerian side of MC Oran on penalties after a cumulative score of 1–1. Raja succeeds in winning this competition from its first participation.
In the 1991–92 season, Raja reached the 1991–92 Throne Cup final to face Olympique de Casa again. The match took place on 11 January 1993 at the El Harti Stadium in Marrakesh and Olympique managed to beat Raja another time in the final with a score of 1–0.

Supremacy (1995–2006)

On 18 February 1996, in the quarterfinals of the 1995–96 Throne Cup, Raja recorded the highest score in the history of Derby and overpowered Wydad. He then eliminated Rachad Bernoussi in the semi-finals before defeating ASFAR in the final with a goal scored by Jrindou in the 119th minute. Two months later, Green Eagles won their first domestic double and the third of Moroccan football history.
On 16 September 1996, Raja lost the final of the 1996 Arab Club Champions Cup, against Al Ahly SC with a score of 3–1. On 15 June 1997, Raja, secured their second Botola title in a row with 2 matches to go, 2 points ahead of their rival. On 14 December 1997, and after losing the first leg against Ashanti Gold S.C., the Green Eagles won their second Champions League title, on penalties after winning the match. On 15 March 1998 at Stade Mohammed V, Raja lost the African Super Cup to Étoile du Sahel on penalties after 2-2 a draw.
On 3 May, Raja defeated Hassania Agadir and won the Championship with a record of 67 points and one loss conceded, an all-time record also. On 8 November, the Greens Eagles were eliminated from the semi-finals of the 1998 Champions League. On 25 April 1999 at Stade Mohamed V, the Green Eagles won the Afro-Asian Cup against South Korean side Pohang Steelers. On 29 June 1999, under the direction of Oscar Fulloné, Raja defeated JS Massira and won his 4th League title in a row. In the second leg of the 1999 Champions League final, and after a draw at Stade Père Jégo, Fulloné's men face Espérance Sportive de Tunis at Stade El Menzah. The match stayed goalless 0–0. Then came the penalty shootout, and the success of Mustapha Chadili who stopped the last penalty and offered the title to his team.
Raja qualified for the 2000 FIFA Club World Cup. Raja is eliminated from the first round after three defeats against S.C Corinthians 0–2, Al Nassr FC and Real Madrid. On 5 March 2000, in a full and enthousiastic Stade Mohammed V, Raja beat the Ivorian side Africa Sports thanks to the goals of Bouchaib El Moubarki and Mohamed Armoumen 2–0 and won its first CAF Super Cup. On 21 June, after their victory against JS Massira 4–1, the Eagles set a new record and won their 5th championship in a row with 59 points, ahead of Wydad and Maghreb de Fès.
On 20 May 2001, Silvester Takač won Raja their 6th consecutive championship with a total of 64 points. On 17 November 2002, in a memorable match, the Green Devils overcomes a 2–0 first-leg deficit by beating ASEC Abidjan in the semi-finals at Mohamed V. Raja thus enters its 4th Champions League final to face Zamalek SC. After a draw in Casablanca, Walter Meeuws' men were defeated in Cairo 0–1. On 9 November 2003 at Stade Roumdé Adjia, Henri Michel's men won the CAF Cup against the Cameroonian side of Cotonsport, after their 2–0 first leg victory.
On 11 January 2004, Raja won the Throne Cup for the 5th time in its history by beating MAS of Fez with the score of 2–0. On 20 June, Raja was crowned champion of Morocco for the 8th time in its history. On 16 July 2005 at the Moulay Abdallah stadium, Raja won the 6th throne cup, beating Olympique Khouribga on penalties in the final after a 0–0 draw. Raja won the 2006 Arab Champions League by beating ENPPI Club in the final with respective scores of 2–1 and 1–0.