FC Universitatea Cluj

This article is about the football club. For the sports club, see CS Universitatea Cluj-Napoca
Universitatea Cluj
Full name Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj
Nickname(s) Șepcile roșii (The Red Caps)
Studenții (The Students)
Short name U Cluj
Founded 1919 (1919)
Ground Cluj Arena
Ground Capacity 30,201[1]
Owners Cluj-Napoca Municipality
Babeș-Bolyai University
"U" Cluj Supporters Association
Chairman Radu Constantea
Manager Marius Popescu
League Liga IV
2015–16 Liga II, Seria II, 10th (relegated)
Website Club home page
Active and former/defunct departments of CS Universitatea Cluj-Napoca
Football Men's Handball Women's Handball
Rugby Men's Basketball Women's Basketball
Hockey Men's Volleyball Women's Volleyball
Athletics Tennis Judo
Fencing Figure skating Speed skating
Swimming Water polo Skiing
Weightlifting Mountaineering Chess
Scrabble

Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (Romanian pronunciation: [universiˈtate̯a kluʒ]) is a Romanian professional football club from Cluj-Napoca, founded in 1919 by Iuliu Hațieganu. The team plays in Romania's fourth league, Liga IV. Universitatea Cluj traditionally plays in white and black clothing, although variations of red, maroon and gold have been usedespecially for away kits. U Cluj played for 89 years at the Ion Moina Stadium, and then moved into the new venue Cluj Arena, built on the site of the old stadium.

U Cluj are nicknamed Șepcile roșii ("The Red Caps") after the red berets worn by students from the University of Medicine in Cluj. They are traditionally considered to be the most important football club in Transylvania, although their status has recently been threatened by the success of their city rivals CFR Cluj.

The club has spent most of its history in the first league but have never become national champions. They have played in four Romanian Cup finalseach time under a different nameand won the trophy in the 1964–65 season.

History

The Universitatea sports club of Cluj was founded in September 1919 by the "Sports Society of University Students" (Romanian: Societatea Sportivă a Studenților Universitariabbreviated to "U"). Its first chairman was Professor Iuliu Hațieganu, a physician and politician. In the early years of its existence "U" Cluj played in local competitions; at the time there was no national football championship in Romania. The team played against Chinezul Timișoara in the 1923 final of the Mara Cup, losing 0–2. "U" played in the Romanian national football championship Divizia A from 1932. In their first season "U" finished first in its group and played the championship final against Ripensia Timișoara (0–0 and 3–5).

Ripensia Timișoara winning the 1933–34 Romanian Cup against "U"

In the first season of the Romanian Cup, in 1933–34, "U" reached the final, losing against Ripensia Timișoara (0–5). In 1940, "U" moved from Cluj to Sibiu as a result of the Second Vienna Award, when the northern part of Transylvania was ceded to Hungary. In 1942, "U" played in the final of the Romanian Cup for a second time and lost against Rapid București (1–7). In 1945, after the end of the Second World War and the return of the northern part of Transylvania to Romania, "U" returned to its home in Cluj.

In 1946, the name of the club was changed to Știința Cluj (English: Science Cluj). In 1949, the team reached the final of the Romanian Cup for the third time, but it was beaten by CSCA Bucureștinow called Steaua București (1–2).

At the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, the manager of Știința Cluj was Ștefan Kovácsa famous Romanian coach who later became the manager of Ajax Amsterdam. In 1964–65, Știința Cluj won the Romanian Cup; this remained the greatest performance of the club for many years.

In 1966, the name of the team was changed back to "Universitatea". At the end of the 1971–1972 season, "U" was in the best position in the Romanian Championship Divizia A after the Second World War; it finished third in the league table, with the same number of points as the second placed team UTA Arad. In 1998, "U" reached the final of Cupa Ligii but lost to FCM Bacău. In 1999, "U" was relegated into the second Romanian division, Divizia B and in 2000 it was relegated for the first time in its history into the third division, Divizia C. It played one season in the third division, and in 2001 it was promoted back to Divizia B. The manager of the team at the time was the ex-Romanian international, Ioan Ovidiu Sabăuwho started playing football in the 1980s at "U" Cluj.

In the 2005–06 Divizia B season, the new objective became promotion to the first league. Under coach Leo Grozavu, who often played highly defensive football, the team made many nil draws and the team lost second place (promotion play-off) by a point, though in the last match days they won 4–0 with the first place and the third, and 3–2 (after leading 3–0) with the 2nd place.

In the beginning of the 2006–07 Liga II season (Divizia B was renamed to Liga II in this season), a new manager, Adrian Falubwho had never coached before but had played over 220 matches for "U" Cluj in the first leaguewas hired. Under his lead, the team had a poor early season and only reached 8th position. Yet, the moment passed and the team reached 1st position, often separated by over 6 points from the next position. On 19 May 2007, virtual promotion was achieved after a 0–0 draw against second place contender Dacia Mioveni. Three weeks before the final match day, "U" ended its 8-year spell in the lower divisions, returning to the first league for the 52nd season in its history.

Stadium

old Ion Moina Stadium (1911–2008), the former home ground of U Cluj
Cluj Arena, the current home ground of U Cluj

Ion Moina Stadium, the first football and athletics stadium in Cluj-Napoca, was built between 1908 and 1911 and had a capacity of 1,500. The official inauguration in 1911 was a game between a Cluj team and Galatasaray Istanbul. It was the first game in Europe for Galatasaray; the Cluj team won 8–1. In 1961, new U-shaped stands were built and the capacity of the stadium became 28,000. In 2000, most of the stands were declared structurally unsafe for hosting supporters and were closed, leaving the stadium with a capacity of 12–13,000. In late 2008, the old "Ion Moina" Stadium was demolished, and building works begun for the Cluj Arena. The last official game at the old stadium was played on 22 November 2008; Universitatea drew 0–0 in their Liga II game with Mureșul Deva.[2]

During the construction works for the new stadium, Universitatea played its home games in the 2008–09 and 2009–10 Liga II seasons at the Clujana Stadium and its home games in the 2010–11 Liga I season at the Cetate Stadium in Alba Iulia, Gloria Stadium in Bistrița and Gaz Metan Stadium in Mediaș.

On 11 October 2011, the first match at the new Cluj Arena stadiuma friendly between Universitatea and the Russian team Kuban Krasnodarwas played; Kuban won 4–0. On 16 October 2011, the first official match at the new stadium was played; Universitatea won the Liga I game against FC Brașov 1–0.

Supporters

”U” Cluj supporters during a First Division game

“U” has many supporters in Cluj-Napoca, but also in some other parts of Romaniaespecially in Transylvania. One of the reasons for the team’s popularity is that Cluj-Napoca has some of Romania's most important universitiesincluding the Babes-Bolyai University, the largest in the country with more than 45,000 students.[3]

The ultras groups of "U" Cluj are: VG (Vechia Guardia), Fazione Accademica, UCG (Ultra Curva Groapa), Ultras 19, Fanatics, Boys, Battaglione Gheorgheni, F.O.R.T. and others.[4]

Rivalries

”U” Cluj supporters during a Second Division game

Universitatea have a rivalry with local city team CFR Cluj. The animosity between the teams is one of the oldest in Romanian football.[5] The first incidents between fans of the two sides occurred in the 1920s.[5] A particularly violent episode took place during a derby played in 1924, when the stadium had to be evacuated because of a large-scale fight between supporters. Universitatea won the match 2–1. Other episodes of this rivalry are: in 2005, upset by the fact that Universitatea was relegated to Divizia C, "U" fans injured CFR players at the Sport Hotel in Cluj-Napoca; in 2008, following a derby, CFR won and obtained its first league title and Universitatea relegated in Liga II, but this match was preceded by a corruption scandal, because Steaua București's owner, Gigi Becali, offered "U" staff one million euros for defeating CFR.[6]

Current squad

As of 22 September 2016

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Romania GK Cristian Man
4 Romania DF Octavian Abrudan
6 Romania DF Darius Irimie
7 Romania MF Brian Lemac
8 Romania MF Dan Fodor
9 Romania FW Iuliu Hațiegan
10 Romania MF Alexandru Păcurar
11 Romania FW Adrian Pintea
12 Romania GK Adrian Rus
13 Romania DF Victor Manu
15 Romania MF Rareș Cîndea
No. Position Player
17 Romania DF Florin Fizeșan
18 Romania FW Dorin Goga
23 Romania FW Adrian Pop-Solovăstru
27 Romania DF Andrei Pașca
28 Romania MF Alin Arman
29 Romania MF Gabriel Giurgiu (Captain)
30 Romania MF Răzvan Moșuți
31 Romania FW Cristian Kilin
32 Romania DF Darius Hîmpea
33 Romania GK Rareș Pop
77 Romania MF Mădălin Bercea

Club officials

Board of directors

Role Name
Owner Romania Cluj-Napoca Municipality
Owner Romania Babeș-Bolyai University
Owner Romania "U" Cluj Supporters Association
Honorary President Romania Remus Câmpeanu
Executive President Romania Radu Constantea
Vice-President Romania Cosmin Irimieș
Team Manager Romania Ioan Ovidiu Sabău

Current staff

Role Name
Manager Romania Marius Popescu
Assistant Manager Romania Zsolt Szilágyi
Goalkeeping Coach Romania Emilian Dolha
Club Doctor Romania Dragoș Vălean

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Period Kit manufacturer Period Shirt partner
2009–2014 United States Nike 2009–2014
2014– Germany Erima 2014–2015 Romania Romprest

Honours

Championships

"U" Cluj-Napoca League Position History

Liga I

Liga II

Liga III

Cups

Romanian Cup

League Cup

Junior Teams

The “U” Cluj Under 21 and Junior teams have always ranked among the best in the country and have won several National Championship titles:

European record

Competition S P W D L GF GA GD
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup / European Cup Winners' Cup 1420236– 3
UEFA Europa League / UEFA Cup 1210156– 1
UEFA Intertoto Cup 1401338– 5
Total 3 10 3 1 6 11 20  – 9

Domestic record

Key

  • Pos = Final position
  • P = Played
  • W = Games won
  • D = Games drawn
  • L = Games lost
  • GF = Goals For
  • GA = Goals Against
  • Pts = Points

  • 4R = Round 4
  • 5R = Round 5
  • GS = Group stage
  • R32 = Round of 32
  • QF = Quarter-finals
  • R16 = Round of 16
  • SF = Semi-finals
  • F = Final

Champions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated

The players in bold were the top goalscorers in the division.

Seasons

Season League Cup European Cup Other Top Goalscorer(s) Notes Name[7]
Division[8] Pos P W D L GF GA Pts Name Goals
1921–22 District 3rd 7 4 1 2 8 10 9   Universitatea Cluj
1922–23  
1923–24 1st   Finals QF
1924–25 1st 14 10 4 0 27 6 24   Finals QF
1925–26 2nd 18 11 4 3 43 26 26  
1926–27 1st 10 7 2 1 21 8 16   Finals SF
1927–28 2nd  
1928–29 2nd  
1929–30 1st 16   Finals SF
1930–31  
1931–32 1st  
1932–33 Div A 1st 12 8 2 2 24 15 18   Finals F Romania Grațian Sepi 10 Foundation of the Romanian Football
League system
1933–34 3rd 14 8 1 5 33 17 17 F Romania Grațian Sepi 14
1934–35 4th 22 12 1 9 36 34 25 R16 Romania Silviu Ploeșteanu 8
1935–36 12th[9] 22 7 2 13 29 53 16 SF
1936–37 9th 22 8 2 12 38 62 18 QF Romania Silviu Ploeșteanu 8
1937–38 6th 18 7 2 9 33 50 20 R32
1938–39 Div B 3rd 18 9 3 6 30 21 21 p
1939–40 2nd 18 14 1 3 63 22 29 p
1940–41 Div A 11th 24 8 1 15 42 58 17 p Romania Sever Coracu 12 Moved to Sibiu due to
Second Vienna Award
Universitatea Cluj-Sibiu
1941–42 SF[10] 3 2 0 1 13 6 F
1942–43 8th[10] 22 7 6 9 48 51 20 QF
1943–44 4th[10] 13 7 1 5 32 27 15   Romania Sever Coracu 9
1944–45                    Universitatea Cluj
1945–46 District 1st  
1946–47 Div A 9th 26 11 3 12 54 47 25   Romania Sever Coracu 13
1947–48 4th 30 14 6 10 54 48 34 R16 Romania Sever Coracu 8
1948–49 12th 26 7 5 14 31 49 19 F Romania Sever Coracu 10 C.S.U. Cluj
1950 Div B 1st 22 14 6 2 47 16 34 R16 Ştiinţa Cluj
1951 Div A 6th 22 8 5 9 32 36 21 R32 Romania Silviu Avram 10
1952 5th 22 7 7 8 24 23 21 R16
1953 8th 21 7 4 10 24 31 18 SF
1954 5th 26 11 6 9 32 32 28 R32
1955 7th 24 8 7 9 27 35 23 R32
1956 12th 24 6 5 13 22 48 17 R16
1957 Div B 3rd 12 6 2 4 25 23 14  
1957–58 1st 26 17 3 6 58 23 37 p
1958–59 Div A 11th 22 2 11 9 23 36 15 R16
1959–60 5th 22 7 10 5 34 32 24 QF Romania Viorel Mateianu 7
1960–61 4th 26 12 5 9 47 44 29 R32 Romania Viorel Mateianu 11
1961–62 7th 26 10 6 10 46 44 26 R32 Romania Petru Emil 8
1962–63 4th 27 11 7 9 42 44 29 R32 Romania Mihai Adam 15
1963–64 9th 26 11 2 13 39 38 24 R32 Romania Mihai Adam 10
1964–65 7th 26 9 6 11 40 38 24 W Romania Mihai Adam 18
1965–66 7th 26 8 10 8 34 35 26 R16 CWC 2R Romania Mihai Adam 8
1966–67 6th 26 9 8 9 31 30 26 R32 Romania Mihai Adam 8 Universitatea Cluj
1967–68 10th 26 10 5 11 36 37 25 R16 Romania Mihai Adam 15
1968–69 8th 30 13 4 13 47 39 30 QF Romania Vasile Oprea 18
1969–70 11th 30 9 10 11 40 37 28 R16 Romania Mihai Adam 11
1970–71 12th 30 10 9 11 36 35 29 SF Romania Mihai Adam 12
1971–72 3rd 30 16 5 9 39 27 37 R16 Romania Mihai Adam 10
1972–73 16th 30 7 9 14 25 50 23 QF UEFA 1R
1973–74 10th 34 12 9 13 35 37 33 QF
1974–75 12th 34 12 9 13 29 38 33 QF
1975–76 18th 34 8 3 23 30 45 19 R16
1976–77 Div B 12th 34 14 4 16 37 40 32 p
1977–78 3rd 34 21 5 8 71 27 47 p
1978–79 1st 34 21 4 9 73 23 46 R32
1979–80 Div A 12th 34 14 4 16 44 43 32 R16 Romania Septimiu Câmpeanu 24
1980–81 14th 34 14 4 16 47 57 32 R16 Romania Septimiu Câmpeanu 19
1981–82 16th 34 11 8 15 34 49 30 R16 Romania Septimiu Câmpeanu 11
1982–83 Div B 3rd 34 19 3 12 61 26 41 R32
1983–84 2nd 34 25 1 8 78 25 51 p
1984–85 1st 34 20 10 4 68 23 50 p
1985–86 Div A 7th 34 14 5 15 51 52 33 R16 Romania Septimiu Câmpeanu 12
1986–87 10th 34 14 4 16 54 47 32 R32 Romania Septimiu Câmpeanu 12
1987–88 10th 34 11 7 16 39 54 29 R32 Romania Septimiu Câmpeanu 11
1988–89 14th 34 11 8 15 43 55 30 R32
1989–90 13th 34 10 9 15 40 60 29 R32 Romania Imre Biro 9
1990–91 18th 34 5 6 23 26 67 16 R16
1991–92 Div B 1st 34 26 7 1 82 10 57[11] p
1992–93 Div A 11th 34 14 2 18 43 51 30 QF Romania Marius Predatu 14
1993–94 12th 34 11 9 14 39 42 31 SF Romania Marius Popescu 6
1994–95 12th 34 13 4 17 39 42 43 SF Romania Marius Predatu 9
1995–96 9th 34 14 6 14 41 40 48 R32 IT GS Romania Radu Sabo 12
1996–97 15th 34 11 6 17 52 67 39 QF Romania Ovidiu Maier 8
1997–98 13th 34 11 7 16 42 40 40 R32 League Cup F Romania Marius Popescu 9
1998–99 17th 34 4 4 26 19 92 16 R16
1999–00 Div B 17th 34 6 6 22 30 76 24 4R Romania Daniel Dăscălescu
Romania Adrian Truşcă
5
2000–01 Div C 1st 28 20 5 3 65 19 65 p Romania Ioan Ovidiu Sabău 9
2001–02 Div B 10th 30 11 7 12 51 40 40 p Romania Ciprian Prodan 12
2002–03 9th 28 8 10 10 48 44 34 p Romania Dan Codreanu 14
2003–04 6th 30 15 7 8 49 28 52 p Romania Răzvan Cociş 12
2004–05 7th 28 12 4 12 41 33 40 R16 Romania Emil Jula 11
2005–06 3rd 28 15 9 4 44 16 54 4R Romania Dorin Goga 9
2006–07 L2 1st 34 21 9 4 49 21 72 R32 Romania Radu Sabo 10
2007–08 L1 18th 34 4 11 19 32 58 23 R16 Romania Dorin Goga 8
2008–09 L2 14th 34 11 12 11 37 33 43[11] R32 Romania Flavius Băd 9
2009–10 2nd 32 20 7 5 60 24 67 4R Romania Valentin Lemnaru 13
2010–11 L1 8th 34 13 8 13 48 54 47 R16 Romania Claudiu Niculescu 13
2011–12 7th 34 11 14 9 46 37 47 R32 Romania Adrian Cristea 8
2012–13 12th 34 10 8 16 39 55 38 R32 Romania Viorel Dinu 9
2013–14 11th 34 11 7 16 29 46 40 R32 Romania Valentin Lemnaru 13
2014–15 15th 34 8 11 15 29 41 35 F League Cup QF Cameroon Justin Mengolo 5
2015–16 L2 10th 26 13 5 8 30 15 44 R32 Romania Octavian Ursu 8
10 3 3 4 11 13 28[12]
2016–17 L4 1st 14 13 1 0 82 5 40 2R Cluj County Phase SF Romania Brian Lemac 25

Notable former players

The footballers enlisted below have had international cap(s) for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries at junior and/or senior level on through the time's passing. Additionally, these players have also had a significant number of caps and goals accumulated throughout a certain number of seasons for the club itself as well.

Former managers

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to CFM Universitatea Cluj.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.