Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya

Foundation and early development (1931–1948)

On 4 July 1931, 73 days after the foundation of the Iraqi Air Force, the club was founded by a group of Iraqi flight policemen at the British Royal Air Force station of RAF Hinaidi, making it the oldest existing football club in Iraq. The club was named Gipsy Moth after the model of the first fleet of the Iraqi Air Force, but soon the club was renamed to Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya Al-Malakiya, simply meaning Royal Air Force. Dressed in army fatigues and short khakis, they played their very first game a day later against a team from RAF Habbaniya and won the match. The win over the British forces helped the club grow in popularity as many Iraqis began supporting the club as its reputation spread across the nation.

As the British forces and its leaders saw that the club's activities had broadened and its members and followers had multiplied which was clearly seen in the matches they played in, the British wanted to get rid of some of its leaders, but King Ghazi, who took over as ruler of Iraq in 1933, had a strong relationship with the Iraqi flight policemen and he invited the members to have talks to solve the problem. It was not long before a solution for the development of the club had been decided on and they came under the control of another branch of the Iraqi Air Force, which opened a number of doors for the club around areas in Iraq. They won their first trophy on 19 May 1933, defeating Al-Lasilki 1–0 after extra time in the…

Major

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Minor

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