ACS Poli Timișoara

ACS Poli Timișoara

Full name	Asociația Club Sportiv Poli Timișoara
Nickname(s)	Alb-Violeţii (The White and Purples)
Founded	1921
Ground	Dan Păltinișanu
Capacity	32,972
Owner	Timișoara Municipality
Chairman	Liviu Anton
Manager	Ionuț Popa
League	Liga I
2015–16	Liga I, 13th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

ACS Poli Timișoara is the official record holder and successor ^[1] of the original club founded in 1921, FC Politehnica Timișoara, which went bankrupt and was dissolved, following the 2011–12 season. It is co-owned by the City Council and the County Council and has the backing of the Politehnica University of Timișoara, all three being active members in the legal entity running the club.^[2] Poli Timișoara is a Romanian football club established in 1921. The team had won two Romanian Cups and was twice a runner-up in Liga I. It is ranked 8th in the Liga I All-Time Table, with 46 seasons played.

Named after and initially run by the Polytechnic University of Timișoara, the club was founded in 1921 by Traian Lalescu. After two decades spent in the regional leagues, Poli promoted in the first division in 1948. They have since spent 49 seasons at the top level, finishing as runner-up twice and featuring in six Romanian Cup finals. In the 2010–11 season, they finished in the second spot, but were relegated because of unpaid debts and incapacity to obtain a license for the next season.

Over the years, Poli developed rivalries with Dinamo București and UTA Arad. Timișoara and Arad are located close to each other and are the main cities in the region. Both Timișoara and Arad claim to be the first place where football was played in Romania. Poli has a friendly fan-relationship with the supporters of Rapid București and Borussia Mönchengladbach.^[3]

History

Former logo.

In the summer of 2012, ACS Recaș, a club recently promoted to the Liga II, was moved to Timișoara and renamed ACS Poli Timișoara^[4][5] after the dissolution of FC Politehnica Timișoara.^[6] Valentin Velcea continued as head coach,^[7] while the roster consisted mostly of the core ACS Recaș players and several current and ex-players from FC Politehnica.^[8] Since its conception, the club has been primarily financed by the local authorities,^[9][10][11] as Timișoara mayor Nicolae Robu has insisted control should not be forfeited to private investors.^[12]

The club initially required consent from the owner of insolvent FC Politehnica, Marian Iancu, to use the historic badge, history, records and colours, as these had been bequeathed for a 25-year period.^[13] In December 2012, it was announced that ACS Poli has received these free of charge ^[14] and that it could use them starting the following season.^[15] However, due to the complications of the legal formalities and because of the FC Politehnica's debts, the team kept on playing under the ACS Poli name and using black/white/yellow for their official kits instead of the traditional purple colour.^{[16][17][18][19]} This changed in the 2015–2016 season, as the club received temporary right to make use of the historic colours.^[20] As of February 2016, it was announced that the club is now the sole and full owner of all the rights pertaining to and deriving from the Politehnica Timișoara brand and records, following a court decision which nullified the original agreement between the founding club and record holders, and Marian Iancu's insolvent club.^[1]

From a competitive perspective, the club has achieved two promotions to the Liga I, while also being relegated once. Its rivalries with FC Steaua București and FC Dinamo București have endured, as the home matches against both teams keep drawing in above average crowds,^{[21][22][23][24]} but the average attendance has decreased compared to the FC Politehnica's attendance numbers in the mid 2000s.^[25]

Early years (1921–1997)

The club was founded in 1921 by Polytechnic University of Timișoara under the name Societatea Sportiva Politehnica.^[26] Until the second World War, Poli was outclassed by two other teams from the city, Ripensia and Chinezul, both multiple winners of the Romanian championship.^[27]

The club promoted for the first time in the Divizia A in 1948,^[28] and played under the name CSU Timișoara in the first season.^[29]

In the following seasons (from 1950^[30]), the club appear with the name Știința Timișoara. The club relegates for the first time in 1951,^[31] but promotes after only one year^[32] and played in the top league until the season 1958–59.^[33] The team promoted back after only one year.^[34] The following relegation came in 1963–64 season,^[35] again for only a year.^[36]

During the Știința years, Timișoara won its first trophy, the 1957–58 Romanian Cup, with a 1–0 victory against Progresul București.^[37]

From the 1966–67 season, the team started using the name Politehnica Timișoara,^[38] but the team goes to the second division in the same season.^[38] Politehnica doesn't came back to the first division until 1973.^[39]

Politehnica played for the first time in Europe in 1978–79 UEFA Cup, after finishing third in the 1977–78 season. The team defeated MTK Budapest (2–0 and 1–2), but lost in the second round against Honved Budapest (2–0 and 0–4).^[40]

The second trophy won by Politehnica Timișoara was the 1979–80 Romanian Cup. The final was disputed against Steaua București and the final score was 2–1, after extra time.^[37] Politehnica played in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, defeating Celtic Glasgow (1–0 and 1–2) and being defeated by West Ham United (1–0 and 0–4) in the quarterfinals.^[41] They played again in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1981–82 season because the team lost the 1980–81 Romanian Cup to that year champions, Universitatea Craiova (0–6). Politehnica skipped the first round, and lost to Leipzig with 2–0 and 0–5.^[41]

Politehnica Timișoara played in the Divizia A for ten years, until 1983.^[42] The next period was spent between the Divizia A and the Divizia B, with promotions in 1984,^[43] 1987,^[44] 1989^[45] and relegations in 1986 ^[46] and 1988.^[47]

After the 1989 Revolution, Politehnica played in the 1990–91 UEFA Cup, beating Atlético Madrid (2–0 and 0–1), but lost in the second round to Sporting Lisbon (2–0 and 0–7).^[48] In 1992–93 UEFA Cup, Politehnica scored a draw against Real Madrid (1–1 in Timișoara), but was defeated in the next match (0–4).^[48]

The team was relegated to the Divizia B in 1994^[49] and promoted back in 1995.^[50] After the 1996–97 relegation,^[51] the team didn't came back in the first division on competitions ground. Instead, it relegated again, this time to the Liga III, at the end of the 2001–02 season.

The comeback and the record dispute (2002–2011)

In 2002, AEK Bucharest were promoted to Liga I, Romanian football's top division, for the first time,^[52] whereupon Anton Doboș, the team's owner, moved it to Timișoara. It was renamed Politehnica AEK Timișoara, and received the full support of local authorities and Politehnica fans. The team was on the verge of relegation after only one year.^[53] Poli was able to maintain the Liga I spot after winning a play-off against Gloria Buzău.^[54]

From 2004–05 season, the team changed the name again in FCU Politehnica Timișoara.^[55] From 2008, following a Court of Arbitration for Sport decision, the team changed the name in FC Timișoara. The colors and the records before 2002 were lost in favor of Politehnica Timișoara former owner, Claudio Zambon.^[56]

At the end of 2007–08 Liga I, FC Timișoara qualified for UEFA Cup.^[57] It was the first time in sixteen years that a team from Timișoara had achieved European qualification. The team was eliminated by Partizan Belgrade in the first round by an aggregate score of 1–3.^[58]

In 2008–09, Timișoara finished the season in 2nd place, qualifying the 3rd preliminary round of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League.^[59] The team defeated the reigning UEFA Cup champions Shakhtar Donetsk, but they were eliminated from the competition during the Playoff Round by an aggregate score of 0–2 by German club VfB Stuttgart. In the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League Group A, FC Timișoara finished in last place, after Anderlecht, Ajax and Dinamo Zagreb.^[58]

After the 2009–10 Liga I, fifth placed team FC Timișoara were drawn in the third qualifying round of the Europa League against MyPa from Finland, which they surpassed 5–4 on aggregate, after a spectacular comeback from three goals down in the second leg. However, in the play-off round they were drawn against Manchester City and were defeated twice in a row, 0–1 and 0–2.^[58]

In November 2010, the Romanian Court of Appeal returned Politehnica's name, colors and records to FC Timișoara.^[60] Due to rules that forbid changes of team names during a season, the team used the name FC Timișoara until the end of 2010–11 season.

Relegated to Liga II by RFF and dissolution (2011–2012)

Despite finishing second in the 2010–11 Liga I, the team was relegated to Liga II after the club failed to meet the requirements for obtaining the necessary licence to play in the first division.^[61] They played in the 2011–12 Liga II under the name of Politehnica Timișoara, and gained promotion back to the Liga I but were again denied the licence and were dissolved in September 2012. ACS Recaș was moved to Timișoara and was renamed ACS Poli Timișoara .

Current squad

As of 6 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 GK Mădălin Smaranda 3 DF George Neagu 4 MF Fernando Llorente 5 MF Adrian Poparadu 6 DF Harald Fridrich 7 MF Cristian Bărbuț 8 MF Marius Croitoru (Captain) 9 FW Alexandru Popovici 10 MF Cătălin Doman 11 FW Cătălin Vraciu 12 MF Sebastian Mailat 13 DF Cristian Scutaru 14 MF Alin Cârstocea 15 DF Cristian Bocșan 16 DF Deian Sorescu

No. Position Player 17 FW Sebastian Velcotă 18 MF Andrei Artean 22 DF Leopold Novak 23 DF Gabriel Cânu 24 MF Iulian Roșu 25 GK Cătălin Straton 26 MF Cosmin Bîrnoi 30 DF Alin Șeroni 32 DF Bogdan Străuț 33 GK Vasile Curileac 38 MF Lucian Oprea 85 FW Octavian Drăghici 91 FW Pedro Henrique 94 MF Daniel Vădrariu — FW Fabian Lokaj

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player — GK David Filip (at CSM Lugoj) — DF Ciprian Sturz (at Becicherecu Mic)

No. Position Player — MF Mădălin Livan (at CSM Lugoj) — MF Denis Ciobanu (at Becicherecu Mic)

Second team squad (ACS Poli II)

As of 6 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 GK Daniel Rusu 2 DF Denis Hăruț 3 DF Cristian Podină 6 MF Narcis Popan 8 MF Eduard Codrean 9 MF Renato Kokora 10 FW Andrei Sîntean 13 DF Raul Cochințu 14 MF Slagian Andreici

No. Position Player 15 MF Emanuel Vasi 18 DF Daniel Filip 25 DF Alexandru Cherecheș 29 FW Denis Golda 33 FW Damir Totić 36 MF David Pop 38 MF Lucian Oprea 40 GK Mario Contra 49 FW Cristian Pădurariu

Club Officials

Board of directors Role Name Owner Timișoara Municipality President Liviu Anton Board member Dănuț Șoșdean Board member Viorel Boiț Board member Grigore Grigoroiu Board member Iosim Radovan Board member Cristian Rusu Sporting manager Adrian Neaga Financial director Mircea Mihuţ Responsible for licensing Petre Mușat Marketing manager Radu Birlică Organizer of competitions Viorel Vișan HR inspector Liliana Filip Economist Monica Jipescu IT adviser Ionel Poclid Relationship with fans manager Marius Babuciu Management adviser Giorgiana Prodanciuc Press officer Levente Balint TMS manager Răzvan Mușat Secretary Alexandra Manole Football fields administrator Gheorghe Bogdan Judicial adviser Alina Atanasescu Team manager Sorin Boiangiu

Current technical staff Role Name Manager Ionuț Popa Assistant manager Sorin Bǎlu Assistant manager Octavian Benga Goalkeeping coach Petru Țurcaș Physiotherapist Mihai Alexandru Club doctor Teymoor Ahmadi Club doctor Samer Hosin Physiokinetotherapist Stanislav Savici Masseur Adrian Rus Masseur Marius Cristescu Second team manager Adrian Stoicov Storeman Ovidiu Moraru

Honours

Liga I

• Runners-up (2): 2008–09, 2010–11

Liga II

• Winners (10): 1947–48, 1952, 1959–60, 1964–65, 1972–73, 1983–84, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1994–95, 2011–12
• Runners-up (2): 1943–44, 1970–71

Romanian Cup

• Winners (2): 1957–58, 1979–80
• Runners-up (6): 1973–74, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1991–92, 2006–07, 2008–09

European record

UEFA Champions League / European Cup

Season	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2009-10	Third qualifying round	Ukraine	Shakhtar Donetsk	0 – 0	2 – 2	(a) 2 – 2
	Play-off round	Germany	Stuttgart	0 – 2	0 – 0	0 – 2

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup / European Cup Winners' Cup

Season	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1980-81	First round	Scotland	Celtic	1 – 0	1 – 2	(a) 2 – 2
	Second round	England	West Ham United	1 – 0	0 – 4	1 – 4
1981-82	Preliminary round	East Germany	1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig	2 – 0	0 – 5	2 – 5

UEFA Europa League / UEFA Cup

Season	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1978-79	First round	Hungary	MTK Hungária FC	2 – 0	1 – 2	3 – 2
	Second round	Hungary	Budapest Honved FC	2 – 0	0 – 4	2 – 4
1990-91	First round	Spain	Atlético Madrid	2 – 0	0 – 1	2 – 1
	Second round	Portugal	Sporting CP	2 – 0	0 – 7	2 – 7
1992-93	First round	Spain	Real Madrid	1 – 1	0 – 4	1 – 5
2008-09	First round	Serbia	Partizan	1 – 2	0 – 1	1 – 3
2009-10	Group stage (A)	Netherlands	Ajax	1 – 2	0 – 0	4th place
		Croatia	Dinamo Zagreb	0 – 3	2 – 1
		Belgium	Anderlecht	0 – 0	1 – 3
2010-11	Third qualifying round	Finland	MYPA	3 – 3	2 – 1	5 – 4
	Play-off round	England	Manchester City	0 – 1	0 – 2	0 – 3

Total statistics

Competition	S	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
UEFA Champions League / European Cup	1	4	0	3	1	2	4	−2
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup / European Cup Winners' Cup	2	6	3	0	3	5	11	−6
UEFA Europa League / UEFA Cup	6	22	6	4	12	20	38	−18
Total	9	32	9	7	16	27	53	−26

Managers

• Valentin Velcea (Aug 15, 2012 – Oct 10, 2013)
• Aurel Șunda (Oct 10, 2013 – Mar 16, 2014)
• Dan Alexa (Mar 16, 2014 – Aug 21, 2015)

Supporters and rivalries

The roots of the Poli ultras movement can be found in 1995 when groups like Urban Guerilla or Gruppo Autonomo Viola appear in the South End. Poli's most important rivalry is with UTA Arad. The match between them, Derby-ul Vestului (The West Derby), has been the leading Romanian football encounter in the last 65 years, as Poli and UTA are the two most successful football teams from the west of the country.

Other rivalries are shared with Dinamo București, CFR Cluj and Steaua București, and a minor one with Universitatea Craiova.

Over the years, Politehnica Timișoara fans have established close friendships with the supporters from Rapid București and the Nordkurve from Borussia Mönchengladbach.

Players

Most capped players

#	Name	Career	Matches	Goals
1	Dan Păltinișanu	1970–1985	271	24
2	Sorin Vlaicu	1987–2001	244	25
3	Emerich Dembrovschi	1966–1981	208	51
4	Valentin Velcea	1990–2006	180	12
5	Iosif Rotariu	1980–2000	173	33
6	Dan Alexa	2001–2011	138	5
7	Mircea Oprea	2000–2007	132	28
8	Gheorghe Bucur	2005–2010	124	52

Players

Appearances

Competitive, professional matches only. Only pertains to 2012 onwards.

As of 28 November 2016

	Name	Years	League	Cup	Total
1	Cristian Bărbuț	2012–present	101	9	110
2	Cristian Scutaru	2012–present	87	5	92
3	Claudiu Belu	2013–2016	76	6	82
4	Răzvan Trandu	2012–2015	70	4	74
5	Cristian Boldea	2012–2016	72	2	74

Goalscorers

Competitive, professional matches only. Appearances, including substitutes, appear in brackets. Only pertains to 2012 onwards.

As of 28 November 2016

#	Name	Years	League	Cup	Total	Ratio
1	Szabolcs Szekely	2012–2015	18 (57)	2 (2)	20 (59)	0.34
2	Cristian Bărbuț	2012–present	12 (101)	1 (9	13 (110)	0.12
3	Pedro Henrique	2014–present	13 (24)	0 (1)	13 (25)	0.52
4	Cristian Boldea	2012–2016	12 (72)	0 (2)	12 (74)	0.16
5	Robert Elek	2015–2016	9 (50)	2 (5)	11 (50)	0.2

References

1. "ACS Poli Timișoara are, oficial, palmares. Instanta a decis: culorile si numele ii raman definitiv". Tion.ro.
2. "Hotărâre a senatului Universităţii Politehnica din Timișoara, Nr. 36/20.09.2012" (PDF). upt.ro.
3. "Fan friendship". Tempo Poli.
4. Robu a elucidat misterul: "Nu-i spunem Politehnica, îi spunem Poli!"
5. ACS Recaş a primit acordul lui Marian Iancu pentru a purta denumirea ACS Poli Timișoara
6. A treia operaţie estetică! AC Recaş se mută de luni pe "Dan Păltinişanu"
7. Velcea, reconfirmat ca antrenor la Timișoara! Ce a spus primarul după întâlnirea cu jucătorii
8. "ACS Poli Timișoara Soccer Statistics and Results in Liga II 2012–2013". soccerpunter.com.
9. "Cati bani primesc anul acesta din partea Consiliului Local, ACS Poli, RCM Timișoara si BC Timișoara?". Opinia Timişoarei.
10. "Din nou despre buget. Şi despre ACS". Vestul.ro.
11. ACS Recaş, transformată în ACS Poli, trăieşte din bani publici: CLT i-a dat 4 milioane de lei!
12. "Planuri mari la ACS Poli Timișoara » Ce a promis primarul Nicolae Robu". GSP.
13. "SS Politehnica, la mana lui Marian Iancu". debanat.ro.
14. Marian Iancu a cedat gratuit palmaresul Politehnicii Timișoara!
15. ACS Poli s-a transformat în Politehnica Timișoara! Iancu le-a cedat culorile, denumirea şi palmaresul
16. "ACS Poli Timișoara porneste la drum fara violet, cu alb, negru si galben". tion.ro.
17. "Marian Iancu explică de ce ACS Poli nu joacă în alb-violet la şase luni de la anunţul triumfalist al primarului Robu". pressalert.ro. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
18. "ACS Poli şi-a prezentat noile echipamente fără urmă de violet". pressalert.ro. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
19. "Planuri mari la ACS Poli Timișoara » Ce a promis primarul Nicolae Robu". Gazeta sporturilor. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
20. "Echipa ACS Poli Timișoara, promovată în Liga I, poate folosi numele Politehica şi culorile alb-violet". Gazeta sporturilor. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
21. "ACS Poli – Dinamo 2013/2014". soccerway.com.
22. "ACS Poli – Steaua 2013/2014". soccerway.com.
23. "ACS Poli – Steaua 2015/2016". soccerway.com.
24. "ACS Poli – Dinamo 2015/2016". soccerway.com.
25. "European Football Statistics Attendances". European Football Statistics.
26. "History". fcupoli.com.
27. "Romania – List of Champions". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
28. "Season 1947–48". RomanianSoccer.ro.
29. "Season 1948–49". RomanianSoccer.ro.
30. "Season 1950". RomanianSoccer.ro.
31. "Season 1951". RomanianSoccer.ro.
32. "Season 1952". RomanianSoccer.ro.
33. "Season 1958–59". RomanianSoccer.ro.
34. "Season 1959–60". RomanianSoccer.ro.
35. "Season 1963–64". RomanianSoccer.ro.
36. "Season 1964–65". RomanianSoccer.ro.
37. "History of Poli". Tempo Poli.
38. "Season 1966–67". RomanianSoccer.ro.
39. "Season 1972–73". RomanianSoccer.ro.
40. "1970–1980". StatisticiFotbal.ro.
41. "1980–1990". StatisticiFotbal.ro.
42. "Season 1982–83". RomanianSoccer.ro.
43. "Season 1983–84". RomanianSoccer.ro.
44. "Season 1986–87". RomanianSoccer.ro.
45. "Season 1988–89". RomanianSoccer.ro.
46. "Season 1985–86". RomanianSoccer.ro.
47. "Season 1987–88". RomanianSoccer.ro.
48. "1990–2000". StatisticiFotbal.ro.
49. "Season 1993–94". RomanianSoccer.ro.
50. "Season 1995-95". RomanianSoccer.ro.
51. "Season 1996–97". RomanianSoccer.ro.
52. "Season 2001–02". RomanianSoccer.ro.
53. "Season 2002–03". RomanianSoccer.ro.
54. "Poli remianing in Divizia A". Agenda.
55. "Season 2004–05". RomanianSoccer.ro.
56. "Arbitration CAS 2006/A/1109" (PDF). Court of Arbitration for Sport.
57. "Poli qualified to UEFA Cup after 16 years". Realitatea TV.
58. "2000–2010". StatisticiFotbal.ro.
59. "Poli qualified in UEFA Champions League". Timpul.
60. "comunicare" (PDF). Opinia Timişoarei.
61. "13 cluburi din Liga I au primit licenţa pentru sezonul 2011–2012". FRF. 31 May 2011.

External links

• ACS Poli official website
• Poli's page at frf.ro