Maricá Futebol Clube, better known as Maricá, is a sports association in the city of Maricá, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Founded on August 2, 2001 as a Rio de Janeiro Football Club, between 2017 and 2018 the football club competed under the name of Rio de Janeiro/Maricá. On July 16, 2018, the merger was made official and the name changed to Maricá Futebol Clube. The headquarters were also changed, moving from Magé to Maricá.
The Rio de Janeiro Football Club, initially conceived as the Grande Rio Sports Association, had been competing in the grassroots competitions for twelve years, but the name and registration were only formalized in 2002. The club is one of the greatest opportunities for young football talent in Piabetá. It has an eight-field training center. It was founded by professor Ênio Farias.
In 2009, they won the Third Division of Rio de Janeiro junior category.
Founded in 2017, the club was conceived by Douglas Almeida, a football manager with a stint in Araruama. The club came about to bring back professional football to the city of Maricá after 2005 when Taquaral competed in the Rio Cup.
The club partnered with the Rio de Janeiro Football Club to compete in the Campeonato Carioca Serie B2 in its founding year. The goal is to follow the path of other partnerships that worked in Rio football, such as the partnership between Campos Atlético Associação and Carapebus, a partnership between Arraial do Cabo and Araruama and the partnership between Santa Cruz and Belford Roxo.
After announcing the manager Polaco Valoura for the State's B2 series, Maricá confirmed the names of 24 players. The definition of the squad came shortly after the evaluations the newly created club carried out in the city of Maricá. Their first official game took place on May 28, 2017, against Angra dos Reis, ending tied at 2-2.