RBC Roosendaal

THE 'MASTERPLAN' OF RBC ROOSENDAAL

Of all Eredivisie clubs RBC Roosendaal have the shortest history on the highest level of Dutch football. In fact, until 04 June 2000 - the day of RBC's first ever promotion to the top flight - there was no Eredivisie history whatsoever in Roosendaal, a town close to Breda and the Belgian border. The club dropped back to the First Division after only one season, but immediately proved that its visit to the Eredivisie was not an incident: Roosendaal's Old Market turned orange again in May 2002, after the club had gotten promoted for the second time. This time the small but ambitious club intended to stay. And they did, mainly thanks to healthy, professional club management.

Eredivisie sides RBC and RKC have more things in common than their modesty, their origin from small towns in the province of Noord-Brabant, their tiny home grounds and 66% of their respective club names: both clubs also have a very short history in Dutch professional football. RKC left the amateur ranks to enter the First Division in 1984. The orange and white from Roosendaal preceded them one year earlier, in 1983. The difference: RKC got promoted in 1988, never dropped back and developed into a steady Eredivisie outfit. RBC remained a small-timer for a much longer time. But beware: a similar success story may be in the making in Roosendaal.

RBC fans celebrate the club's 2002 promotion
to the Eredivisie at Roosendaal's Market square.

Like so many Dutch clubs RBC have a history of mergers. The club was founded in 1927 when two local sides joined forces: Roosendaal football club and Roosendaalsche Boys. Roosendaal FC was founded as Excelsior in 1912, but soon changed their name to Oranje-Wit ('Orange-White', still the RBC club colours today). The 1927 merger - Roosendaalsche Boys Combinatie, or RBC - played in the first ever professional league in The Netherlands in 1954. Seventeen years in the Second and First Divisions followed, until the pauper club lost their professional status and (despite furious protests) were thrown back to the amateur ranks of Dutch football.

However, RBC made the most out of their undesired non-league amateur status: they were literally unbeatable for three Hoofdklasse ('Top Class') seasons in a row and won the championship in their division five times in a row. The over-all Dutch amateur championship was clinched in 1973. Club and fans seemed ready for revenge in professional football. The KNVB's liberating 'yes' finally came in 1983. RBC got their professional license and returned to the First Division.

The tiniest ground of the Eredivisie: RBC's Vast & Goed
Stadium in Roosendaal (capacity: 5,000).

A new generation of Dutch football fans had hardly gotten used to the presence of the orange newcomers when the tiny club surprised everyone (including themselves) by making it all the way to the KNVB Cup final of 1986. Ajax proved too strong in De Meer in Amsterdam (3-0), but what an adventure it was. The 1990s brought several top five rankings in the First Division, as well as the début of the central forward who is probably (along with Oranje international Theo Laseroms) the most famous player to have started his career in the orange and white of RBC: Pierre van Hooydonk. However, if you think he's a hero in Roosendaal you are mistaken: just like striker Henk Vos in 2003 Van Hooydonk joined RBC's neighbours and supreme arch-enemies, NAC Breda. High-treason in the eyes of the Roosendaal faithful.

RBC took their time to patiently climb from the Hoofdklasse to the First Division and from there to the Eredivisie. Roughly, the 1970s were RBC's amateur decade, the 1980s their decade as a modest First Division side and the 1990s their decade as a prominent First Division side. The first decade of the 21st century should be the club's first as a stabile Eredivisie outfit. The beginning of that next phase was marked by the opening of a tiny, but nice new home-ground, the design of a new club logo and a slightly adjusted club name (the name of Roosendaal was officially added to the club name in 2000). It's all part of the 'masterplan of Roosendaal'. In spite of a tough battle against relegation in 2004-2005 it seems like RBC Roosendaal are here to stay. (MP)

RBC ROOSENDAAL FACTS

Founded: 16 July 1927. Merger of Roosendaalsche Boys and Roosendaal. Roosendaal founded as Excelsior in 1912, name changed into Oranje-Wit (1919), then Roosendaal (1922). City name added in February 2000. 
City: Roosendaal
Stadium: Vast & Goed Stadium
Capacity: 5,000
Official website: www.rbconline.nl

Honors:

• Over-all Dutch amateur champions: 1973

Recent History: Ajax vs RBC Roosendaal