While the practice of football arrived in the city of a hundred bell towers under the impetus of Willing, in 1896, the idea of ​​creating a club capable of competing with the Le Havre teams, including HAC, quickly emerged.

Thanks to its pioneers (Willing, Hurard, the Diochon brothers, Cousinard), the FCR was created on July 10, 1899 under the name of Football Club Rouennais!

The club held its first matches on the Champ de Courses in the summer of 1899 and took part a few years later in the first edition of the Haute-Normandie championship in 1903.

Despite a brief one-season hiatus and a failed merger between Football Club Rouennais and Jeunesse Sportive Rouennaise, which gave birth to Sporting Club Rouennais, FCR managed to compete with its illustrious rival HAC. While the club moved successively to Petit-Trianon and then to Grand-Trianon, President Diochon’s troops managed to obtain their first title of Champion of Upper Normandy in 1910 at the expense of HAC!

While the club won a string of regional titles, FCR continued its rise and made a name for itself in France, particularly when the Red Devils reached the final of the USFSA championship in 1913. Despite the defeat in extra time against Stade Hélvetique de Marseille in front of 10,000 spectators at the Grand-Trianon, this final laid the foundations for the mark that FCR would have on French football in the years to come.

Quickly too cramped at the Grand-Trianon, Robert Diochon and Doctor Grasset obtained from the municipality the concession of the Bruyères ground until then reserved for rugby. The FCR officially moved onto the Bruyères ground in 1914 and which several decades later would take the name of its illustrious president.

The First World War put a brake on the activities of the FCR, but as soon as the war ended, Robert Diochon’s club moved forward again and participated in the creation of the Normandy League in August 1919.

While the FCR fought for regional supremacy against the Ciel et Marine, the Red Devils distinguished themselves at the national level and reached the final of the Coupe de France in 1925! A historic final for the FCR against Sport Généraux which took place in two matches since during the first act, the two teams neutralized each other despite extra time (1-1).

Unfortunately, on May 10, 1925, the Rouennais lost to the Parisians despite Boulanger’s two goals in the first half, with a score of 3-2. The Coupe de France narrowly escaped the FCR.

While the beginning of the 1930s saw the emergence of the nuggets of the Rouennais training, including a certain Jean Nicolas, the Rouennais Football Club participated in the professionalization of French football since it was invited to participate in the first edition of the French championship, in 1932.

However, the Rouen leaders temporarily refused the invitation before joining the second division a little later.
Rouen joined the professional world and the D2 during the 1933-1934 season and broke records in its first championship match which took place at Bruyères against the Club Français, just relegated from the elite. In front of 6,000 spectators, the FCR won with an incredible score of 12-3 with an octuple from Jean Nicolas!

For 3 seasons, the FCR battled at the top of the rankings before finally joining the elite of French football in the summer of 1936!

For its first season in the elite, the FCR caused a sensation thanks in particular to its machine-gun attack which wreaked havoc on the pitches of the hexagon. Jean Nicolas scored no less than 27 goals during the 1936-1937 season and took the Reds to 4th place.

The FCR began to make a place for itself among the best French clubs, but its momentum was cut short by the Second World War, which broke out in the summer of 1939.

The club continued its activities despite the challenges of organizing a championship in a territory in the grip of war and even managed to be crowned French Champion in 1945!

The end of the Second World War proved difficult for the club, which in 1947 experienced its first sporting relegation and was dropped to D2. Despite its ambitions to return to D1, the FCR was stuck in the antechamber of the elite for 13 consecutive seasons!

In the 60s, the FCR made its return to the elite and managed to establish itself there permanently! This prosperous period coincided with the first European epics of the FCR.

Thanks to its 8th place in the 1962-1963 season, the FCR took part in the Rappan Cup (ancestor of the Intertoto Cup) and had an incredible run since, in addition to having managed to get past the group stage, the FCR managed to reach the semi-finals thanks in particular to a historic qualification against Bayern Munich!

If the Red Devils fail in the semi-final against Slovan Bratislava, the club will have another opportunity to shine on the European stage, a few years later thanks to the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (forerunner of the Europa League). Once again, FCR has a remarkable run and fails in the 8th finals after having held their own against Arsenal in a double confrontation that will remain in the annals with a success that the English obtain in the last minutes of the return match, at Highbury.

The European epic ended and the Red Devils went from dream to nightmare in the space of a few months since in June 1970, the FCR experienced its first financial problems which led to its relegation to D2.

The club remained in D2 for 7 seasons before making a brief return to the elite, since at the end of a cataclysmic 1977-1978 season, the FCR fell back to D2 and came close to financial disaster.

René Monin, former close friend of Robert Diochon and already president of the FCR three times, put the club back on track. He brought on the bench a certain Robert Vicot who had already spent a stint on the Rouen bench a few years earlier. Under his leadership, the FCR played a leading role and managed to return to the elite in the summer of 1982!

For its return to D1, the Rouen management first of all wants to perpetuate the club in D1. The keys to success can be summed up in two points: Jean-François Beltramini who, at the age of 35, is living again in Normandy and a Diochon stadium that has become a real fortress where the league leaders each fall in turn (Nantes, Bordeaux, Monaco, etc.).

FCR had two great seasons before experiencing a very difficult 1984-1985 season which ended with a cruel defeat in the play-offs at Diochon where Stade Rennais beat FCR on penalties and sent the club to D2.

The fall of the FCR to Division 2 hurt the club a lot, which a year later suffered a historic relegation to Division 3. The president of the Normandy League, André Sauvage, came to the FCR’s bedside and quickly got it back on its feet, as the Red Devils quickly found themselves back in the antechamber of French football.

FCR stabilized for several seasons in D2 and dreamed of a return to the elite. Under the impetus of the Lechevallier, Horlaville, Orts generation, the Red Devils failed for the first time in the play-offs during the 1989-1990 season before coming very close during the 92-93 season when FCR collapsed after being eliminated in the Coupe de France against Marseille which cost the club its two goalkeepers and much more.

The following season was cataclysmic as the club fell to National 1 before filing for bankruptcy for the first time in the summer of 1995.

The Rouen Football Club is back at the regional level with Fabrice Tardy at its head. The club is struggling to recover from the cataclysm of the summer of 2013 and has to face great adversity. In May 2017, after 4 seasons of purgatory, the FCR is promoted to National 3 and signs its return to the national championships!

A difficult return to the fifth tier since the club came very close to the catastrophe of a new relegation and saved its skin during the final match, against Bayeux.

This rescue creates a new momentum around the club during the 2018-2019 season with the arrival on the bench of David Giguel who composes a new staff and renews the team in depth. The results are there and the fervor is reborn in the stands of the Diochon stadium. For its 120th anniversary, the FCR validates its accession to National 2!

The following season, the club made headlines throughout France thanks to its exceptional run in the Coupe de France, marked by a resounding victory in the round of 32 at the Stade Diochon, against FC Metz (L1), with a score of 3-0!

In 2021, the club begins a new cycle with the arrival of Maximilien De Wailly as president of the FCR.

De Wailly died tragically in March 2022. Charles Maarek took over as club president. 
A year later, after a fine season in National 2, the club now coached by Maxime D’Ornano returned to the National, 10 years after leaving it.

An exceptional run in the Coupe de France followed, with two Ligue 1 clubs eliminated despite being two divisions apart. Toulouse, holders of the title, fell at Diochon in a frenzied atmosphere and after an interminable penalty shoot-out. The FCR then knocked out Monaco, after another interminable shoot-out, before being eliminated by Valenciennes, again on penalties.

The end of the season in the French National was complicated by economic problems which spoiled the spring. 
The club was finally rescued in the summer and bought by Tarkan Ser. Iwan Postel became chairman and led an ambitious project for the FCR.