Koninklijke (, Dutch language, Dutch for 'royal') is an Title of honor, honorary title given to certain companies and non-profit organisations in the Netherlands and to a lesser extent Belgium, by the monarchs of each country. It was first introduced by Lou ...

Racing Club Gent is a Belgian association football club from the city of

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

East Flanders East Flanders ( ; ; ; ) is a Provinces of Belgium, province of Belgium. It borders (clockwise from the North) the Netherlands, Dutch province of Zeeland and the Belgian provinces of Antwerp (province), Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, Hainaut (provinc ...

. It is currently playing in the Promotion A, i.e. the fourth level in the

Belgian football league system The Belgian football league system is a series of interconnected leagues for club football in Belgium. Men's system The league system underwent restructuring which was approved by the Royal Belgian Football Association. One important step was the ...

. The club underwent 5 merges and changed its name many times. It achieved its best ranking in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in 1925 and 1929 with a 5th place in the first division.

History

The club was founded in the late nineteenth century with the fusion between Athletic Club Gantois (Gantois means "from Ghent" in French), F.C. Gantois and Sport Pédestre Gantois. The new club named Racing Club de Gand registered to the

Belgian Football Association The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA; ; ; ) is the governing body of football in Belgium. It was a founding member of FIFA in 1904 and UEFA in 1954 and was based in Brussels, not far from the King Baudouin Stadium. Since October 2021, the ...

in the late 1890s and received the matricule n°11. It took part to the 1898–99 and 1899–1900 seasons in the

first division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

B. Back in 1908 at the top level, the club finished last (12th) and played two seasons in the second division. It lost the final of the first

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

in history in 1912. From 1911 to 1935 R.C. de Gand played in the first division (except in 1922–23 and 1930–31 when it was in the second division) and so did its rivals K.A.A. Gent between 1913 and 1929. The club had meanwhile changed its name to R.R.C. de Gand in 1925. In 1952 the club played in the first division again but this time for its last season at this stage, as of 2005. Three years later it was relegated to the third division from which it would never be promoted. In 1987 R.R.C. Gent (as it was named since 1969, i.e. the name of the city was put to

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

) merged with F.C. Heirnis Gent to become R.R.C. Heirnis Gent. It then changed back briefly to R.R.C. Gent in 1999 and merged with K.V.V. Standaard Meulestede in 2000 to become R.R.C. Gent-Zeehaven. In 2002 the club merged with K.F.C. Oostakker and changed its name to K.R.C. Gent-Zeehaven. Finally in 2016 the club changed its name to K.R.C. Gent.

Honours

Belgian Second Division The Belgian Second Division was the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was founded by the Royal Belgian Football Association in 1909 and folded in 2016, when it was replace ...

**Winners (1): 1930–31 **Runners-up (1): 1922–23 *

**Runners-up (1): 1911–12

References

Belgian football clubs history

nbsp;– 1st and 2nd division final tables
Official website
Gent-Zeehaven Sport in Ghent Association football clubs established in 1899 1899 establishments in Belgium Belgian Pro League clubs K.R.C. Gent {{Belgium-footyclub-stub