 | |||
| Full name | Calais Racing Union Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Les Sangs et Ors (The Blood(-Reds) and Golds) Les Canaris (The Canaries) | ||
| Founded | 1974 | ||
| Dissolved | 2017 | ||
| Ground | Stade de l'Épopée | ||
| Capacity | 12,432 | ||
Calais Racing Union FC (Calais RUFC) was a Frenchfootball club based inCalais, France.
Calais RUFC was founded in 1974 after a merger of two local clubs and, as an amateur club, reached the2000 Coupe de France Final which it lost to top-flightNantes. The club played at the 12,342-seaterStade de l'Épopée. Calais Racing Union was liquidated in September 2017.[1]
The club was founded in 1902 asRacing Club de Calais. RC Calais had excellent results in the first editions of theCoupe de France, taking part in the quarter-finals of the competition in 1921, the last 8 in 1922 and the last 16 in 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926 and 1930. In 1921 Calais even beatCASG Paris in the second round 3–2. The club joined the professional ranks in 1933. Lack of sufficient financial resources, Calais opted to give up its professional status in 1938, which remain the only 5 years of professional football in Calais. RC Calais remained in the amateur divisions, rejoining theCFA in 1962 but the following years were spent oscillating between theCFA andDivision d'Honneur.
Union Sportive was founded after the war in 1947, after a merger of two local clubs. Its main successes were reaching the last 32 ofCoupe de France and notable appearances inCoupe Gambardella.
Racing Club was merged withUnion Sportive in 1974, renamed asCalais Racing Union Football Club to reflect the names of the 2 clubs, and was given both the clubs' colours.[2] Before the merger derby matches between the two attracted up to 5000 fans.
Calais RUFC entered the international spotlight during their run to the final of the1999–2000 Coupe de France, under Spanish coachLadislas Lozano. Made up of teachers, dock workers and office clerks, Calais' ten-round cup run saw the team defeat regional heavyweightsLille and first division teamsRacing Strasbourg andBordeaux;[3] they played no games at their own ground, drawn as the away team in most rounds and the later 'home' ties played at theStade Félix-Bollaert inLens due to issues with facilities and capacity.
They eventually lost 2–1 toNantes Atlantique in the final at theStade de France inParis on 7 May 2000, despite leading 1–0 at half-time.[4][5]
There was another creditable run in the2005–06 Coupe de France, as Calais progressed through eight rounds, including a win over top-divisionTroyes, before losing narrowly in the quarter-finals, again to Nantes.[6]
The club played their first match in their newStade de l'Épopée on 27 September 2008, losing 4–1 toLaval in aChampionnat National (third tier) match. Calais were relegated from the Championnat National at the end of the 2008–09 season, which would have resulted in them playing in theCFA, but on 14 July 2009, it was announced by the DNCG that Calais RUFC had been relegated to theCFA 2 due to administrative reasons. On 17 April 2010, the club broke the attendance record for aCFA 2 game, which had previously stood at 3,078. The game againstWasquehal had an attendance of around 4,000.[citation needed]
On 15 May 2010, CRUFC won theCFA 2 Group A by defeatingGravelines 2–0, with Alexandre Danset scoring both of the goals. They therefore qualified to compete in theCFA for the 2010–11 season. However, on 3 June 2010, the club were placed into liquidation by the Boulogne central court, and the FFF subsequently denied the club promotion. They again won their group in the 2010−11 CFA 2 season, and were again denied promotion by the FFF. They remained in CFA 2 until the 2013–14 season, when they were promoted toCFA as one of the best runners up.
In the2016–17 season they finished bottom of CFA group B and were relegated, having had seven points deducted for various reasons during the season.[7][8] Subsequently, the FFF gave them an Administrative relegation, meaning they would play the 2017–18 season at Regional level at best.[9]
Calais RUFC eventually dissolved in September 2017.
Dimitri Antonov(1965–1966)
Mohamed Lekkak (1982–1983)
Gabriel Desmenez (1985–1987)
Richard Ellena (1987–1991)
Daniel Fuchs (1994–1995)
Ladislas Lozano(1995–2001)
Manuel Abreu Freitas (2001–2002)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
