Calais RUFC

CRUFC
Full name Calais Racing Union Football Club
Nickname(s) Les Sangs et Ors (The Blood(-Reds) and Golds)
Les Canaris (The Canaries)
Founded 1974
Ground Stade de l'Épopée
Capacity 12,432
Chairman France Pascal Joly
Manager France Djézon Boutoille
League Championnat de France amateur
2013-2014 CFA 2, 2nd (77 pts, Runners Up)

Calais Racing Union FC (Calais RUFC) is a French football club based in Calais, France. It is a currently playing in Group A of the Championnat de France amateur 2, the fifth tier of French football.[1]

Calais RUFC was founded in 1974 after a merger of two local clubs and, as an amateur club, reached the 2000 Coupe de France Final which it lost to top-flight FC Nantes Atlantique. The club plays at the 12,342-seater Stade de l'Épopée.

History

Foundations

Racing Club de Calais

The club was founded in 1902 as Racing Club de Calais. RC Calais had excellent results in the first editions of the Coupe 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 beat CASG 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 the CFA in 1962 but the following years were spent oscillating between the CFA and Division d'Honneur.

Union Sportive

Union Sportive was founded after the war in 1947, after a merger of two local clubs. Its main successes were reaching the last 32 of Coupe de France and notable appearances in Coupe Gambardella.

Merger

Racing Club was merged with Union Sportive in 1974, renamed as Calais 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.

1999-2000 Coupe de France

Calais RUFC entered the international spotlight during their run to the final of the 2000 Coupe de France, under Spanish coach Ladislas Lozano. Made up of teachers, dock workers and office clerks, Calais' cup run saw the team defeat first division teams Racing Strasbourg and Bordeaux.[3]

They eventually lost 2-1 to Nantes in the final at the Stade de France in Paris on 7 May 2000, despite leading 1-0 at half-time.[4]

Recent history

The club played their first match in their new Stade de l'Épopée on 27 September 2008, losing 4-1 to Laval in a Championnat 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 the CFA, but on 14 July 2009, it was announced by the DNCG that Calais RUFC had been relegated to the CFA 2 due to administrative reasons. On 17 April 2010, the club broke the attendance record for a CFA 2 game, which had previously stood at 3,078. The game against Wasquehal had an attendance of around 4,000.

On 15 May 2010, CRUFC won the CFA 2 Group A by defeating Gravelines 2-0, with Alexandre Danset scoring both of the goals. They would therefore compete in the CFA for the 2010-11 season. However, on 3 June 2010, the club were placed into liquidation by the Boulogne central court.

Honours

French Cup

CFA Group A

Division Three (North)

CFA 2 Group A

DH North

DH North pas de Calais

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 France GK Kevin Demassieux
16 France GK Cédric Schille
6 France DF Judicaël Briesmalien
4 Algeria DF Rafael Hakda
2 France DF Kilian Hurtrel
15 France DF Olivier Sborgni
23 France DF Romain Blerard
3 France DF Arnold Boukamoukou
17 French Guiana DF Alain Moges
No. Position Player
10 France MF Alexandre Danset
12 France MF Jean Deledeuil
5 France MF Frédéric Gaillard
11 France MF Mathieu Millien
13 France MF Maxime Mantel
8 France MF Samuel Marque
7 Senegal MF Maurice Sankharé
14 Algeria FW Malik Bellaredj

Staff

Management

Sports

Medical

Notable coaches

Reserve squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
France GK Antoine Fermon
Algeria DF Benoît Hakda
France DF Cedric Liebart
Algeria DF Raphaël Hakda
No. Position Player
France DF Mathieu Gamard
France MF Thibault Rivière
Mali FW Adama Traoré

Notable players

External links

References

  1. ↑ http://www.fff.fr/presentationfff/liens/35821.shtml
  2. ↑ http://www.rsssf.com/players/trainers-fran-clubs.html France - Trainers of First and Second Division Clubs - RSSSF
  3. ↑ "A Baseball Cup", Mravic, Mark, Sports Illustrated May 16, 2000, http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/scorecard/news/2000/05/16/sc0522/
  4. ↑ http://www.rsssf.com/tablesf/francup00.html