Sunderland Ryhope Community Association Football Club are an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club, based in

Ryhope Ryhope ( ) is a coastal village along the southern boundary of the City of Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, England. With a population of approximately 14,000, measured at 10.484 in the 2011 census, Ryhope is 2.9 miles to the centre of Sunderland ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

, currently playing in the

Northern League Division One The Northern League is a British men's football league in north east England. Having been founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest football league in the world still in existence after the English Football League. It contains two divisions; Di ...

History

Sunderland RCA FC started its life as Ryhope Youth Club FC. Its first season was in the Seaham & District League in 1963. The first game was against Seaham UDC at the Seaham CW ground, now home to Seaham Red Star, and it was a 3–3 draw. The first seeds had been sown three years earlier, in 1960, when the Ryhope Youth Club Centre opened in the Welfare Hall. In 1965 the club moved to the Colliery Welfare ground and in 1971 changed its name to Ryhope Community Association. Competing in the Seaham, then Houghton & District Leagues, the club had nine cup wins and four league titles. Rejected by the Wearside League because a Ryhope team already played in it, the club folded after the 1974–75 season. Re-formed three years later, the club joined the Northern Alliance in 1978 and won the League Challenge Cup at St James Park in Newcastle, in only their third season. Ryhope CA were also league runners up that year, even though they were reduced to playing on a school field. After some persuasion, the club convinced the council to lease then some derelict land - Meadow Park was underway. Financial help was obtained from Sunderland and Tyne and Wear Councils and the Sports Council to build a football ground. The club members and community joined to carry out the building work, resulting in the enclosed ground. In 1982 the club was a founder member of the Northern League Second Division, achieving promotion as runner up in the 1983–84 season. Despite achieving a league placing of tenth the next season, survival proved difficult and the club was relegated in 1988. In 1999 a new era commenced with the amalgamation with Kennek Roker of the Wearside League to form Kennek Ryhope Community Association. The seasons from 2003 onwards were tough, but for the season 2006–07, the club joined forces with Springboard Sunderland and a new era as Sunderland RCA FC began. Progress continued to be made both on and off the pitch and after finishing fourth in the previous two seasons Sunderland RCA FC were promoted as runners-up to Stokesley FC in season 2009–10.

Club records

*Best league performance: 4th in

, 2011–12 *Best

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

performance: Third qualifying round, 1984–85, 1997–98 *Best

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

performance: First round, 1985–86 *Best

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...

performance: Fourth round, 2018–19

Honours

* Northern League Division 2 Runners-Up 1983–84, 2009–10 *

Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance ( ''Da Šumāl E'tilāf'' or ''Ettehād Šumāl''), officially known as the United National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( ''Jabha-ye Muttahid-e barāye Afğānistān''), was a military alliance of groups that op ...

Runners-Up 1980–81 *Northern Alliance Cup Winners 1980–81

References

* * *

External links

Official website
{{coord, 54, 52, 02.27, N, 1, 22, 06.08, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Football clubs in England Football clubs in Tyne and Wear Association football clubs established in 1963 1963 establishments in England Northern Football Alliance Northern Football League Sunderland