The seasons immediately preceding and succeeding the turn of the century were thus hardly glorious for either Spora, Aris or Union. One after another, these historic and great clubs fell into financial and sporting difficulties. Having lived for years above its means, with expensive transfers and excessive wages, as well as neglect of youth development, Aris was forced to merge with CS Hollerich in 2001 to create CS Alliance 01. Union and Spora were also experiencing difficulties, with low attendance at their respective grounds and quickly accumulating debt. The merger that had created Alliance 01 had been a political botch-job that had left the new club without any fan base nor resources. In 2005 it was thus decided, upon great pressure from the Mayor and the councillors of the City of Luxembourg, to merge Alliance with Spora and Union. Racing FC Union was thus born out of troubled times, the politics behind the scenes having destroyed a lot of the trust and support the clubs had had amongst the general population.