RWB Adria (full name: ''Red White and Blue Adria'', Croatian: ''Crven, bijeli, plavi Jadran'') is an American

soccer 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 from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. The club currently competes in the Midwest Premier League as well as the

National Soccer League of Chicago The Greater Chicago Soccer League , formerly the National Soccer League (Chicago), formed by the merger of the Chicago Soccer League and International Soccer Football League of Chicago in 1928, is a semi-professional U.S. soccer league which claim ...

History

RWB Adria was founded in 1959 by Croatian immigrants in the city of

. From its humble beginnings the club has gone on to become one of the most successful soccer clubs in Illinois, and is believed to have won the most trophies of any club in Illinois soccer. The most high-profile player to have played for RWB Adria is the legendary Portuguese player

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Stri ...

who had a stint at the club in the late 1970s. The club has been a regular participant in the Croatian North American Soccer Tournament since the competitions inception in 1964. RWB Adria has won the tournament on 12 occasions, second only to

Toronto Croatia C.N.S.C. Toronto Croatia (Croatian National Sports Club Toronto Croatia) is a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that plays in the Supergroup Open Division in the Canadian Academy of Football. The team's colours are red, white and b ...

. RWB Adria has also participated in the U.S. Open Cup, the American equivalent of the

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 ...

, five times: in 1991 (where the club was a semi-finalist), in 1996, in 2007, in 2008, and 2014. The club’s main rivals include fellow Croatian-American sides from Chicago, HNK Zrinski Chicago and HNNK Hrvat Chicago. 2015 saw RWB compete in the fledgling Great Lakes Premier League along with teams from Wisconsin and Michigan. RWB won the league with a 100% record in the five games played by the time the final decision went their way with Oakland United's 3-4 home defeat on July 12. The team announced it would play in the Midwest Premier League in 2020, but the

covid pandemic Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fev ...

forced cancellation of that season and a delay until 2021

Honors

MWPL Heartland Conference Champs: 2024 *

National Amateur Cup The National Amateur Cup, also known as the USASA Amateur Cup, is an American knockout soccer competition open to all amateur teams affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation through United States Adult Soccer Association The Unite ...

: 2011, 2013 * Great Lakes Premier League: 2015 *

champions (8): 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 * Peel Cup (Illinois State Cup) champions (9): 1988, 1989, 1993, 1994, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008 * Croatian-North American Soccer Tournament champions (12): 1966, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007 * Hank Steinbrecher Cup (US Soccer Amateur Championship): 2014

U.S. Open Cup

*1996 First Round:

El Paso Patriots El Paso Patriots was an American soccer team based in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1989, the team played in the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Mid South Division of the South ...

- RWB Adria 3-0 *2008 First Round:

Rochester Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-MLS team has won the U.S. Open Cup sinc ...

- RWB Adria 2-1United Soccer Leagues (USL)
*

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

First Round: Pittsburgh Riverhounds - RWB Adria 1-1 (5-3 p) *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

First Round:

Detroit City FC Detroit City FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Detroit, Michigan, that competes in the USL Championship. The club played in the National Premier Soccer League from 2012 to 2019 and the National Independen ...

- RWB Adria 2-2 aet (1-3 p)
Second Round:

Michigan Bucks Flint City Bucks is an American soccer team based in Flint, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1995, the team plays in USL League Two. The club was founded in 1995 as the Mid-Michigan Bucks, playing in Saginaw, and began playing in 1996. In ...

- RWB Adria 0-1 aet
Third round: Pittsburgh Riverhounds - RWB Adria 3-2 aet *

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

First Round: Lansing United - RWB Adria 0-0 (4-2 p)

References

{{reflist Association football clubs established in 1959 Croatian-American culture in Illinois Croatian-American history Soccer clubs in Chicago Soccer clubs in Illinois United Premier Soccer League teams National Soccer League (Chicago) teams 1959 establishments in Illinois Great Lakes Premier League teams Croatian sports clubs outside Croatia Diaspora soccer clubs in the United States