R.C. Grove
| http://res.hattrick.org/teamlogo/1/7/64/63686/63686.png | |
| Managed by Rlinney7 | |
| Club information | |
| Location | Cheshire,  England |
| Arena | The Torkington Bowl |
| Fan Club | The Continentals |
A brief history
R.C. Grove was formed in 2004, midway through season 23, to try and bring a touch of continental flair to a small town south of Manchester in the North-West of England.
The full name of the club, Racing Club de Grove, was an attempt to capture the imagination of the local community and, to a certain extent, trick that very same paying public into thinking that the sport they were witnessing was something more than a weekly semi-professional mud-wrestling on some of the countries more 'lubricated' football pitches.
But the crowds kept turning up, and the club became reasonably skilled in the game they had previously kept so well hidden from their mystified fans - the club continues to go from strength to strength and, in season 26 they finally gained promotion after winning the series VI championship for the second successive season.
In season 27, their first season in V.72, they struggled to match their league opponents, but after getting early points on the board they managed to scrape a relegation qualifier with a couple of games to spare - which they won easily.
The next season promised to hold much of the same - the RCG boss was hoping for the safety of 4th place, but after "running the figures" he feared at one point that once again his team would have to run the gauntlet of yet another relegation playoff.
As it turned out, R.C. Grove finished 3rd in season 28, after almost threatening to take a surprise series V.72 title. Season 29 once again saw the mighty R.C. Grove fail to maintain their push to the title for the final few weeks, and they once again found themselves in 3rd place.
Just before season 30 was due to kickoff, R.C. Grove appeared to invest heavily in a new English striker, and a Peruvian winger. This appears to have had no effect but to help them consolidate their position in Series V.72 - finishing in 3rd place for the third season in a row. The inaugral Series Pool competition was won by sixtyniner from Romania (3 months HT supporter).
Season 31 saw Racing Club de Grove looking to enhance their attacking capabilities through concentrating on their wing skills and further improving their passing. Yet again, much to the frustration of the manager, they finished 3rd. AGAIN. On another note, thetycoon won the RC Grove Series Pool title (3 months HT supporter).
Season 32 was the season where R.C. Grove bulldozered their way through their series, comfortably securing the league title with 4 games still to go. The only blip in a perfect season was a terrible tactical decision against Ealing Manchurians, who finished the season in second place. The next season sees Racing Club de Grove compete at level IV for the first time in their history. IV.17 was to be their new home. Another note in RCG history was the second consecutive series pool title won by thetycoon. (6 months HT clubhouse).
Season 33 was RCG's first season at the fourth level in English football. The manager wasn't particularly confident of being able to keep the club in a position where they wouldn't be relegated, but the footballing gods once again answered his prayers - two teams went out of business during the course of the season, gifting RCG 6 points and enabling them to scrape into fifth place and a relegation qualifier. After much nail-biting, Grove squeezed through - mainly due to the manager swamping the midfield and controlling possession. The series pool was not run this season, so thetycoon was unfortunately unable to try and make it 3-in-a-row.
Season 34 was notable only for the final week of the season where RCG could conceivably have finished anywhere between 3rd and 6th place. As it was, the most likely outcome of Maine Men beating cincture rovers occurred and RCG finished safely in 4th place. No nail-biting playoffs this year, and all the players could enjoy an extra week of meaningless friendlies in far-flung corners of the globe.
Season 35 once again saw Grove wait until the final week to secure the safety of fourth place. The manager's record of always doing at least as well as the previous season was still intact, so it was classed as a reasonable performance over the whole of the season. In the cup, RCG managed a predictable 5th round exit - equalling previous record cup runs for the club.
Season 36 See Season 35 description. Seriously. Except the team progressed one round further in the cup.
Season 37 Disaster struck for The Continentals as RCG finished in the 6th place relegation playoff spot and then proceeded to lose. The first ever relegation in the club's history was greeted with dismay by the manager, who one month later would jet off to Thailand to recover.
Season 38 Back down at the fifth level of English football, RCG bounced back in style with automatic promotion by winning the V.79 series title.
Season 39, Season 40, Season 41, and Season 42 saw Grove experience their greatest spell of football in the manager's tenure so far and managed to finish second each time.
Cup History
- Season 23 - Did not participate
- Season 24 - Reached round 2
- Season 25 - Reached round 1
- Season 26 - Reached round 2
- Season 27 - Reached round 3
- Season 28 - Reached round 5
- Season 29 - Reached round 3
- Season 30 - Reached round 4
- Season 31 - Reached round 5
- Season 32 - Reached round 5
- Season 33 - Reached round 5
- Season 34 - Reached round 4
- Season 35 - Reached round 5
- Season 36 - Reached round 6
- Season 37 - Reached round 4
- Season 38 - Reached round 6
- Season 39 - Reached round 6
- Season 40 - Reached round 6
- Season 41 - Reached round 5
- Season 42 - Reached round 7
- Season 43 - Reached round 5
- Season 44 - Reached round 7
- Season 45 - Reached round 5
- Season 46 - Reached round 3
- Season 47 - Reached round 6
- Season 48 - Reached round 8
- Season 49 - Reached round 3
- Season 50 - Reached round 4
- Season 51 - Reached round 3
- Season 52 - Reached round 2
League History
- Season 23 - 3rd (VI.410)
- Season 24 - 5th (VI.410)
- Season 25 - 1st (VI.410)
- Season 26 - 1st (VI.410)
- Season 27 - 5th (V.72)
- Season 28 - 3rd (V.72)
- Season 29 - 3rd (V.72)
- Season 30 - 3rd (V.72)
- Season 31 - 3rd (V.72)
- Season 32 - 1st (V.72)
- Season 33 - 5th (IV.17)
- Season 34 - 4th (IV.17)
- Season 35 - 4th (IV.17)
- Season 36 - 4th (IV.17)
- Season 37 - 6th (IV.17)
- Season 38 - 1st (V.79)
- Season 39 - 2nd (IV.12)
- Season 40 - 2nd (IV.12)
- Season 41 - 2nd (IV.12)
- Season 42 - 2nd (IV.12)
- Season 43 - ??? (IV.12)
