GVAV-Rapiditas is a Dutch

multi-sport A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) Nation state, nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport ev ...

club based in

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

, Netherlands. From 1954 to 1971, the club played professional football, and was a founder member of the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

. GVAV returned to amateur football in 1971, with the newly-founded

FC Groningen Football Club Groningen () is a Dutch professional association football club based in Groningen, Groningen (province), Groningen province. Founded in 1971 as the successor of GVAV-Rapiditas, GVAV, Groningen compete in the Eredivisie, the first t ...

taking their place in professional football.

History

GVAV (''Groninger Voetbal en Atletiek Vereniging''; Groninger Football and Athletics Association in English) was founded in 1915. The athletics club Rapiditas was established two years later. Both clubs merged on 26 January 1921, and was named "Groningse sportvereniging GVAV-Rapiditas", whose membership was only open to men. It was not until the 1970s that the club was also opened to female athletes. The new association consisted of a number of sections, including athletics, boxing, gymnastics, football and swimming. Rugby was also played for some time. Many sporting successes were achieved in these branches of sport, making GVAV-Rapiditas a well-known name in the Netherlands. In football, the club reached the first tier. In 1940, GVAV won the . In 1956, after the introduction of professional football, the club was a founder member of the first-tier

. GVAV returned to amateur football in 1971, with the newly-founded

taking their place in professional football. In 1997, the organisation of GVAV-Rapiditas was changed. GVAV-Rapiditas became the Sports Federation GVAV-Rapiditas with a number of sections that became more or less independent clubs: gymnastics, triathlon and football. The athletics department merged in 2003 with ARGO '77 to become Groningen Atletiek. In September 2004, it was decided to dissolve the federation. Fellow consultation continued to exist at chairman level. On 22 May 2022, GVAV-Rapiditas' first men's team won promotion to 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 ...

, the sixth 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 ...

, after winning the

Tweede Klasse The Tweede Klasse () is the seventh tier of football in the Netherlands and the fifth tier of Dutch amateur football. The league is divided into 21 divisions, 12 played on Saturday and nine on Sunday. Each division consists of 14 teams. The ch ...

Sunday L group.

References

{{Eerste Klasse Football clubs in Groningen (city) 1921 establishments in the Netherlands FC Groningen Multi-sport clubs in the Netherlands Sports clubs and teams in Groningen (city)