RC Carpentras XIII are a semi-professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

club based in the city of

Carpentras Carpentras (, formerly ; Provençal dialect, Provençal Occitan language, Occitan: ''Carpentràs'' in classical norm or ''Carpentras'' in Mistralian norm; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the ...

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.

in the south of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Formed in 1938, they play in the

Elite Two Championship Elite 2 (formerly the Elite Two Championship) is the second tier semi-professional rugby league competition in France below Super XIII, but above the National Division 1. The season runs from September to April. The clubs play each other hom ...

in France, which is the 2nd tier. Their home ground is the Stade de la Roseraire.

History

The club was founded in 1938 under their original name Racing Club de Carpentras XIII du Comtat. The club competed in the amateur rugby league but at the end of just their second season war broke out and brought an end to French sport. Worse was to come when the

Vichy Government Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

sanctioned sport to restart but banned rugby league. The club had to change their name to Union Sportive Carpentrassienne and were forced to play rugby union. After the war the club reverted to their original name and gained almost immediate success winning back-to-back amateur titles in 1949 and 1950 in front of regular crowds of between 1,000 and 1,500. The club turned semi-professional in 1951 after their promotion but would have to wait until 1983 to win their next silverware. The National League 1, now called the

was won when they beat

Toulouse Olympique Toulouse Olympique or TO XIII is a professional rugby league club in Toulouse, south-west France. Founded in 1937, two years after the French Rugby League Federation, the club is a six-time winner of the French Rugby League Championship. The clu ...

in the final 14-6. In 1992, the club reached the final of the

Lord Derby Cup The Coupe de France Lord Derby (), or just Coupe Lord Derby ('Lord Derby Cup'), is the premier knockout competition for the sport of rugby league football in France, as well as the name of its championship trophy. The tournament was first conte ...

. In season 2000-01 they once again lifted the National League 1 title this time beating RC Albi in the final 20-15 and in 2004 they made it three 2nd tier titles when they beat

UTC 2 UTC+02:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +02:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2020-11-08T23:41:45+02:00. As standard time (year-round) Principal cities: Pretoria, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Por ...

14-10. None of these victories brought promotion for one reason or another but the following season 2004-05 promotion was secured despite losing the final to

Marseille XIII Marseille XIII was a French rugby league club from the city of Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and o ...

10-12. Top flight finishes followed of 10th, 10th, 5th, 6th and then 8th the last of which sent them back down to the Elite Two Championship in 2011.

Crest

The club's logo is a red

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not Castration, castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e. cows proper), bulls have long been an important symbol cattle in r ...

uncannily similar in style to that of the club logo of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

; it has only adopted this logo in more recent times.

Stadium

The Stade Municipal (Carpentras) was the club's first stadium. The first rugby league match played in Carpentras came at this ground when it hosted an exhibition game between RC Roanne XIII and

Lyon Villeurbanne Lyon Villeurbanne XIII are a semi-professional rugby league club from the town of Lyon, Rhône-Alpes in France. Formed in 1934 they are one of the oldest clubs in France. During the 1950s they won both the league and cup. Their home stadium is ...

in 1938. The Stade Municipal had a 2,000 capacity of which 300 were seated. In 1947 the club moved to a purpose built rugby ground in the town. The Stade de la Roseraie hosted the 1955

final when SO Avignon beat

18-10 in front of a record crowd for any rugby match in Carpentras of 11,600. The current capacity is set at 5,000. The ground underwent a major refurbishment in 1997.

Honours

* National League 1 (Elite Two) (3): 1982-83, 2000–01, 2003–04 * Federal Division (National Division 2) (2): 1948-49, 1949–50 * Coupe Falcou (1): 1948

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpentras XIII, Racing Club 1947 establishments in France Rugby league teams in France RC Capentras XIII Rugby clubs established in 1947 Sport in Vaucluse