RKC Waalwijk

RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional football club based in Waalwijk. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2024–25 season. Its name is derived from 'Rooms Katholieke Combinatie Waalwijk' ('Roman Catholic Combination Waalwijk' in Dutch) and was established as a merger of HEC, WVB and Hercules.

History

The club was formed on 26 August 1940 and used to play its home games at Sportpark Olympia. Its new stadium, the 7,500 seater Mandemakers Stadion was opened in 1996 and featured the home match against Roda JC. RKC's clubname was also expanded with the name of the town before that 1996–97 season. While considered one of the Eredivisie's smaller clubs, it nevertheless maintained its top flight status for many years. Its home colors are yellow and blue.

At the end of the 2006–07 season, RKC Waalwijk were relegated from the Eredivisie after a defeat in play-offs against VVV-Venlo.

On 3 June 2009 they were promoted to the Eredivisie division after a win in the play-offs against De Graafschap. Though, their spell didn't last long ending in the last place with only 15 points. In the season followed they would finish first in the Eerste Divisie promoting back in the top flight of Dutch football.

After another relegation at the end of the 2013–14 season, RKC Waalwijk finished 20th (last) in the 2014–15 season of Eerste Divisie. However, they didn't relegate to Topklasse (amateurs) because both of the two Topklasse champions declined promotion into professionalism. In 2016–17, they made the Eerste Divisie playoffs, losing 5–2 on aggregate to FC Emmen.

In the 2017–18 season, RKC was placed 16th out of 20 teams in the Eerste Divisie. In 2019, Waalwijk promoted back to the Eredivisie after a five-year absence, after beating Go Ahead Eagles in the play-off finals. After a 0–0 draw in the first leg at home, RKC won the second leg 5–4 away.

In the 2019–20 season, RKC finished in last place, but they survived relegation due to the season being declared void due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the subsequent 2020–21 season, the club managed to avoid relegation on their own by finishing in 15th place. RKC were relegated from the Eredivisie at the end of the 2024–25 season, finishing 17th. The club endured a historically poor start, equalling the league record for most consecutive defeats to start a season, and struggled with discipline, receiving six red cards in the first twelve matches. Head coach Henk Fraser remained in charge throughout, despite mounting criticism. In October, the club attracted national attention by signing former prodigy Mohamed Ihattaren, whose arrival briefly lifted morale and media focus. A short resurgence in early 2025, including a 5–0 win over NAC Breda, proved insufficient, and relegation to the Eerste Divisie was confirmed on the final matchday.

Results

ImageSize = width:800 height:60
PlotArea = left:10 right:10 bottom:30 top:10
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1984 till:01/01/2025
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:1984
Colors =
id:bl1 value:rgb(0.5,0.8,0.5)
id:bl2 value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.3)
id:rs value:rgb(0.8,0.6,0.6)
id:rn value:rgb(0.9,0.1,0.1)

PlotData=
bar:Position width:15 color:white align:center

from:01/01/1984 till:01/01/1985 shift:(0,-4) text:5
from:01/01/1985 till:01/01/1986 shift:(0,-4) text:3
from:01/01/1986 till:01/01/1987 shift:(0,-4) text:4
from:01/01/1987 till:01/01/1988 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/01/1988 till:01/01/1989 shift:(0,-4) text:11
from:01/01/1989 till:01/01/1990 shift:(0,-4) text:8
from:01/01/1990 till:01/01/1991 shift:(0,-4) text:7
from:01/01/1991 till:01/01/1992 shift:(0,-4) text:10
from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1993 shift:(0,-4) text:9
from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/1994 shift:(0,-4) text:16
from:01/01/1994 till:01/01/1995 shift:(0,-4) text:8
from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/1996 shift:(0,-4) text:11
from:01/01/1996 till:01/01/1997 shift:(0,-4) text:16
from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/1998 shift:(0,-4) text:16
from:01/01/1998 till:01/01/1999 shift:(0,-4) text:16
from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2000 shift:(0,-4) text:11
from:01/01/2000 till:01/01/2001 shift:(0,-4) text:7
from:01/01/2001 till:01/01/2002 shift:(0,-4) text:8
from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2003 shift:(0,-4) text:9
from:01/01/2003 till:01/01/2004 shift:(0,-4) text:11
from:01/01/2004 till:01/01/2005 shift:(0,-4) text:9
from:01/01/2005 till:01/01/2006 shift:(0,-4) text:12
from:01/01/2006 till:01/01/2007 shift:(0,-4) text:17
from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2008 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/01/2008 till:01/01/2009 shift:(0,-4) text:2
from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2010 shift:(0,-4) text:18
from:01/01/2010 till:01/01/2011 shift:(0,-4) text:1
from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2012 shift:(0,-4) text:9
from:01/01/2012 till:01/01/2013 shift:(0,-4) text:14
from:01/01/2013 till:01/01/2014 shift:(0,-4) text:16
from:01/01/2014 till:01/01/2015 shift:(0,-4) text:20
from:01/01/2015 till:01/01/2016 shift:(0,-4) text:18
from:01/01/2016 till:01/01/2017 shift:(0,-4) text:10
from:01/01/2017 till:01/01/2018 shift:(0,-4) text:18
from:01/01/2018 till:01/01/2019 shift:(0,-4) text:8
from:01/01/2019 till:01/01/2020 shift:(0,-4) text:18
from:01/01/2020 till:01/01/2021 shift:(0,-4) text:15
from:01/01/2021 till:01/01/2022 shift:(0,-4) text:10
from:01/01/2022 till:01/01/2023 shift:(0,-4) text:9
from:01/01/2023 till:01/01/2024 shift:(0,-4) text:15
from:01/01/2024 till:01/01/2025 shift:(0,-4) text:17

from:01/01/1984 till:01/01/1988 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: "Eerste Divisie"
from:01/01/1988 till:01/01/2007 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: "Eredivisie"
from:01/01/2007 till:01/01/2009 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: " 1e Div."
from:01/01/2009 till:01/01/2010 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: " Erediv."
from:01/01/2010 till:01/01/2011 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: " 1e Div."
from:01/01/2011 till:01/01/2014 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: " Erediv."
from:01/01/2014 till:01/01/2019 color:bl2 shift:(0,13) text: " 1e Div."
from:01/01/2019 till:01/01/2025 color:bl1 shift:(0,13) text: " Erediv."

Below is a table with RKC's domestic results since the introduction of professional football in 1984.

European record

Current squad

Honours

*Eerste Divisie
**Champions (2): 1987–88, 2010–11

Club officials

Former coaches

See also

* Dutch football league teams

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waalwijk

Association football clubs established in 1940
1940 establishments in the Netherlands
Football clubs in the Netherlands
Football clubs in North Brabant
Sport in Waalwijk