Real de Banjul Football Club is a Gambian professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in

Banjul Banjul (,"Banjul"
(US) and ), officially the City of Ba ...

. The team compete in the GFA League First Division, the top flight of Gambian football league system. Real de Banjul is the most successful club in Gambian football history, having won a record 12 national titles

History

Real de Banjul was founded in the 1966–67 season after a group of secondary schoolboys international team returned from a trip to Thiès in Senegal and named it as Benson and Hedges FC. The name was eventually changed by the then Director of Youth and Sports to Real de Bathurst FC and upon its registration with the

Gambia Football Federation The Gambia Football Federation (GFF), formerly known as the Gambia Football Association, is the governing body of football in Gambia. It was founded in 1952, and affiliated to FIFA in 1968 and to CAF in 1966. It organizes the GFA League First D ...

, it headquartered at 81 Lancaster Street, Banjul. The team witnessed another name change in 1970 changing to its present name of Real de Banjul which led to the expansion of the team having basketball, volleyball and athletics teams. The team then consisted of the youngest talented players in comparison to other local teams and won its first league title in 1971–72. The first two cup titles were won in 1969 and 1970. Real de Banjul's cup final results in 1970 defeated White Phantoms 2–1, the club lost to

Gambia Ports Authority The Gambia Ports Authority (GPA) is a government agency responsible for the governance and maintenance of the ports and port facilities of the Gambia, principally that of the Port of Banjul on the Gambia River. The GPA was founded in 1972 and it ...

in 1975 and later in 1980. Real lost to win their third title in 1993 after losing to Wallidan 2–1, they got their recent cup title in 1997 after defeating

Hawks Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily a ...

. The club lost to again to Wallidan in 2002 in their recent cup final appearance. As champion winner, the club competed in the 2012 Gambian Super Cup and won their only title. Their first continental appearance was in 1975 after winning their second title and withdrew from a match with Guinea's

Hafia FC Hafia Football Club is a football club based in Conakry, Guinea. Founded in 1951, the team was known as Conakry II in the 1960s and won three titles under that name. Hafia have won 15 league titles overall having dominated in 1960s and 70s, but t ...

. Their first match was played a year later against Mali's

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. After winning their fourth title, the club advanced in the second round and challenged Liberia's Saint Joseph Warriors where they scored their first goal and won their first match at the continentals for Real, later the club lost two legs to Ghana's Hearts of Oak. Real Banjul competed against the club from Guinea-Bissau further south Sporting Bissau and lost the second leg. The club competed in 1995 and defeated Cape Verde's

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, then the club faced Mbilnga from Gabon and the second match was abandoned at the 70th minute. Four years later in 1999, the club faced another Guinea's club

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, the first leg won 0–2 while the second lost 4–1, in 2001, the club faced

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from Mindelo, Cape Verde and defeated 1–0 in the second leg, then faced

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from Dakar in the neighboring Senegal up northwest and scored only a goal in the first match, as they scored nothing in the second match, they lost. As the 2007 national champion, Real Banjul withdrew in early December and did not participate in the 2008 CAF Champions League. Their next appearance was twelve years later in the 2013 season, the club challenged with

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and won 2–1 and was out as the away team succeeded. Their recent appearance was the 2015 season and succeeded up to the first round.

Uniform

Its uniform color is red with a white right sash, sleeve and short edges for home games and the opposite being white with a red right sash, sleeve and short edges. Its uniform color for home games was white with blue lining near its edges.

Achievements

* GFA League First Division: 12 :: 1972, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1983, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2007, 2012, 2014. *

Gambian Cup The Gambian Cup is the top knockout tournament of the Gambian football. The current champion is Real Banjul who won their four title in 2019. The winner competes in the Gambian Super Cup and also qualifies into the CAF Confederation Cup each seas ...

: 3 :: 1969, 1970, 1997. *

Gambian Super Cup Gambian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of the Gambia * Gambian people, a person from the Gambia, or of Gambian descent * Culture of the Gambia * Gambian cuisine See also * *Languages of the Gambia In The Gambia, M ...

: 3 :: 2000, 2012, 2014.

League and cup history

Performance in CAF competitions

National level

Statistics

*Best position: Second Round (continental) *Best position at a cup competition: First Round (continental) *Total matches played at the CAF Champions League: 22 **Total matches played at home: 11 **Total matches played away: 11 *Total matches played at the continental cup competitions: 2

Managers

Notes

References

External links

Realdebanjul.gm
(official website) Banjul Football clubs in the Gambia 1966 establishments in the Gambia Association football clubs established in 1966