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The club was founded on July 31, 1912 by
Frans Mathijsen and Anton
Poldermans, and was given the name Excelsior. The club was not a member of
any footballing organisation at the time and didn't even have a club
house! Every Saturday an opponent was chosen, a field was found to play
on, the goal posts were put in the ground and the game started -
regardless of how many players! During the First World War the club joined
the Catholic Football Union (Rooms Katholieke Voetbalbond). In 1912 the
first championship was played and the club gained their first promotion
and in 1913 they repeated this success. At the time they played in what
was known as the A-Class (A-Klasse), the top division of that league. In
1919 the club's name was changed to Oranje - Wit (the colour of the club's
strip) to avoid confusion with another club playing under the same name.
Within one year of the name change they were promoted to the Dutch
Football Association (Nederlands Voetbalbond). Another promotion followed
and another name change - this time to V.V.Roosendaal. Finally, after
enjoying further successes under this name they gained royal recognition
in 1922. The club's good fortune continued, they were promoted from the
third division to the second division, were champions in 1924 but had to
take part in promotion playoffs where they missed out by a whisker on the
chance to move up the ladder. This situation was repeated in 1926 and from
then on it was all downhill. The
club's misfortunes forced them to merge with the Roosendaalsche Boys on
16th July 1927 which gave them their current name - RBC. Both clubs came
from the same part of Roosendaal town and the decision was made to
continue playing in the orange and white strip. The merger proved a success
and RBC became one of the top amateur sides in the south of Holland. At
the end of the Second World War the club started afresh, at first without
much luck, but after a move to "Sportpark Red Band" they became
champions in 1949 with an 'eleven' that included G. Knobel. In 1950 their
new ground wasd - "Sportpark De Luiten"- where they regularly
drew crowds of 6 - 7,000 spectators.The
beginning of Professional Football in 1954 saw various reorganisations of
the ranking system, resulting in a Premier, two First (A and
B) and two Second Divisions (A and B). RBC settled into the
higher of the two 2nd divisions. 1957 was a good year and the club were
promoted to the First Division where they stayed until 1969 (in 1963 they
ended joint 3rd with Go Ahead Eagles behind champions DWS - who were at the time
the first fully professional club in Holland). RBC
fought hard after relegation to the second division but finally saw
themselves removed from the ranks of the professionals. As amateurs they
went on the offensive and won 5 championships in a row - including a
national title for Sunday amateurs and the very first
"Hoofdklasse" championship of Holland. The desire to
return to professional football remained and the club applied for a place
in the Dutch League in 1982. They were granted a place in the First
Division where they have achieved considerable success. In 1986 they
reached the final of the Dutch FA Cup against Ajax (under Johan
Cruijff) who beat them 3 - 0. In 1988 they ended 3rd behind MVV and
Vitesse and between 1990 and 1993 were 4th, 5th and 7th. Six
new players joined the squad at the beginning of last season and a new
trainer/coach Robert Maaskant. The result was immediate promotion to the
Premier Division! The club is engaged in building a new stadium at a new
location and in February of this year 2000 work was begun. At the same
time there was a presentation of its new emblem and name - RBC Roosendaal.
In November RBC Roosendaal expect to move into their new "Vast
Goed" stadium on the Borchwerf !
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