ARC (Alphense Racing Club) is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in Alphen aan de Rijn, Netherlands. Founded in 1927, they are currently members of the

Vierde Divisie The Vierde Divisie (; "Fourth Division"), formerly known as Hoofdklasse () is the second-highest league of amateur football in the Netherlands, and the fifth tier in general. Background The league was divided into two sections: Saturday and Sunda ...

, the fifth tier of the

Dutch football league system The Dutch football league system consists of two fully professional leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie) and eight levels of amateur football leagues. The three highest amateur leagues, the Tweede, Derde and Vierde Divisie play in nationwide ...

. They play their home matches at Zegersloot. ARC played several times in the national

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

History

ARC was established on 22 February 1927.

1990s: Eerste Klasse era

In the 1990s ARC played mostly in the Eerste Klasse. It won the title in the Saturday Hoofdklasse A division in 1998. That same year, it agreed with the neighboring football clubs not to offer improved contracts to each other's players. In the national cup of 1998–99 and 1999–00 ARC competed in the group rounds but failed to classify for the finals.

2000s: Hoofdklasse era

In the 2000s ARC played mostly in the Hoofdklasse.

2010s: To Topklasse and back to Eerste Klasse

In the 2010–11 KNVB Cup ARC beat SV Venray 4–0. In the next round it lost against

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to t ...

, 3–0. In the 2011–12 national cup it beat Quick '20 6–2. In the next round it lost against

MVV Maastricht Maatschappelijke Voetbal Vereniging Maastricht (), commonly known as MVV Maastricht (, ) or simply as MVV, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from the city of Maastricht. Founded on 2 April 1902, MVV Maastricht currently ...

, 8–0. In 2010 the club was a serious candidate for Topklasse even though it had finished the season only in the position in the

Hoofdklasse The Vierde Divisie (; "Fourth Division"), formerly known as Hoofdklasse () is the second-highest league of amateur football in the Netherlands, and the fifth tier in general. Background The league was divided into two sections: Saturday and Sunda ...

. The opportunity was there because the

Topklasse The Derde Divisie (; ), formerly known as Topklasse (; ), is the fourth tier of football in the Netherlands, which had its inaugural season as a third tier in 2010–11 and as a fourth tier in 2016–17. The league is placed between the Tweede Div ...

was founded that year and would fill with Hoofdklasse teams, among others. Still the decisive game against

Be Quick 1887 Be Quick 1887 is a football club based in Groningen, Netherlands. Currently members of the Vierde Divisie, the fifth tier of the Dutch football league system, the club was established in 1887, and the first team play their home matches at the ...

finished in 1–1 also after extra time. ARC finally made it in through penalties. Subsequently, ARC played two years in the Topklasse. It was never a natural fit. Its best achievement was an 11th position in 2011. In 2012 it ended 16th out of 16 and relegated. In 2013 relegated once more, this time from the 12th slot in the

. Since, it competes successfully in the

Eerste Klasse The Eerste Klasse () started as the 1st tier of football in the Netherlands and is now the 6th tier. The league is divided into ten divisions. These divisions correspond to the six districts of the Royal Dutch Football Association: each district i ...

. Its high was 2nd in 2018 and its low was 11th in 2017.

References

External links

Club website
{{DEFAULTSORT:ARC Football clubs in the Netherlands Football clubs in Alphen aan den Rijn Association football clubs established in 1927 1927 establishments in the Netherlands