R.F.C. Seraing was a Belgian

football club In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...

from the municipality of

Seraing Seraing (; ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia located in the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boncelles, Jemeppe-sur-M ...

, province of Liège, founded in 1904.

History

It was created in as ''F.C. Sérésien'' and registered to the FA in 1906 receiving

matricule Association football is the most popular sport in Belgium, which has been played since the end of the 19th century. The national association was founded in 1895 with the intention of bringing some order and organization to the sport. The fir ...

n°17. The club received the "Royal" designation upon 25 years of existence, becoming ''RFC Sérésien''. From 1930 until 1952, the club was playing steadily at the second level of Belgian football, however the following thirty years, the club would hover between the second, third and fourth level of Belgian Football, moving up or down a level roughly every three or four seasons, before finally reaching the

Belgian First Division The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

in the 1982–83 season. The club was able to stay at the top level for five seasons and briefly even dropped back to the third level, before returning to the highest level for the 1993–94 season, immediately finishing in third position, qualifying for the

1994–95 UEFA Cup The 1994–95 UEFA Cup was won by Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a po ...

where the club lost in the first round on

away goals The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

FC Dynamo Moscow FC Dynamo Moscow (''FC Dynamo Moskva'', , ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Footba ...

. The club name changed in 1994 to ''RFC Seraing'' and two years later, the club was forced to merge with neighbours

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

(matricule n°16) due to financial difficulties. Officially, the club matricule was terminated and the club ceased to exist in . At that same time, another club from the city, called ''Royale Union Liégeoise'' (matricule 23, founded in 1922 and formerly known as RFC Bressoux), renamed itself to Seraing RUL and started playing at the Stade du Pairay where RFC Seraing played until its default, but it is an entirely different club and is entirely distinct from the former RFC Seraing. Seraing RUL was at that level playing at the fourth level of Belgian football. But there's no link and no fusion between these two clubs. This new club would remain at the lower levels of Belgian football, never higher than the third level. It 2006, this club changed its name to RFC Seraing to recapture the past of the club whose place it took, but dropped further, even sinking to the fifth level in 2014, at which point it bought the rights (and place) of another club (Boussu Dour Borinage) to swap places. As a result, the club was able to immediately jump three levels and started the 2014–15 season in the Belgian Second Division. It started in the Second Division under the new name ''Seraing United'', but reverted to ''RFC Seraing'' one season later.

Notable players

External links

* Association football clubs established in 1904 Defunct football clubs in Belgium Association football clubs disestablished in 1996 1904 establishments in Belgium 1996 disestablishments in Belgium Organisations based in Belgium with royal patronage R.F.C. Seraing Belgian Pro League clubs Sport in Liège Province {{Belgium-footyclub-stub