Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj ( pronunciación rumana: [universiˈtate̯a kluʒ] ), comúnmente conocido como Universitatea Cluj o simplemente como U Cluj , es un club de fútbol profesional rumano con sede en la ciudad de Cluj-Napoca , condado de Cluj . Fundado en 1919 por Iuliu Hațieganu , el equipo juega actualmente en la Liga II , el segundo nivel del sistema de la liga de fútbol rumana .
Nombre completo | Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj | ||
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Apodo (s) |
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Nombre corto | U Cluj | ||
Fundado | Septiembre de 1919 | como Societatea Sportivă a Studenților Universitari 11 de agosto de 2016 como Alb-Negru al Studenților Clujeni||
Suelo | Arena de Cluj | ||
Capacidad | 30,201 [1] | ||
Propietarios | Municipalidad de Cluj-Napoca Universidad Babeș-Bolyai Asociación de partidarios de U Cluj | ||
Presidente | vacante | ||
Gerente | Erik Lincar | ||
Liga | Liga II | ||
2019-20 | Liga II, 14 de 20 | ||
Sitio web | Sitio web del club | ||
Universitatea Cluj pasó la mayor parte de su historia en la primera división , pero nunca se convirtió en campeona nacional. Jugaron cinco finales de la Copa de Rumania bajo cuatro nombres diferentes y ganaron el trofeo en la temporada 1964–65 . Fueron considerados los más importantes en la región de Transilvania , sin embargo, este estatus se ha visto amenazado en el siglo XXI por el éxito de sus rivales de la ciudad CFR Cluj . Los jugadores y aficionados de Universitatea reciben el sobrenombre de Șepcile roșii ("Las gorras rojas"), en honor a las boinas rojas que llevan los estudiantes de la Universidad de Medicina de Cluj .
El club juega tradicionalmente en blanco y negro de los kits , aunque las variaciones de rojo, marrón y oro se han utilizado en el pasado. Su tierra natal es Cluj Arena , que se inauguró en 2011.
Historia
El club deportivo Universitatea de Cluj fue fundado en septiembre de 1919 por la "Sociedad Deportiva de Estudiantes Universitarios" (en rumano : Societatea Sportivă a Studenților Universitari, abreviado como "U"). Su primer presidente fue el profesor Iuliu Hațieganu, médico y político. En los primeros años de su existencia "U" Cluj jugó en competencias locales; en ese momento no había ningún campeonato nacional de fútbol en Rumania. El equipo jugó contra Chinezul Timișoara en la final de la Copa Mara de 1923, perdiendo 0-2. "U" jugó en el campeonato nacional de fútbol rumano Divizia A desde 1932. En su primera temporada, "U" terminó primero en su grupo y jugó la final del campeonato contra Ripensia Timișoara (0-0 y 3-5).
En la primera temporada de la Copa de Rumania , en 1933-1934, "U" llegó a la final, perdiendo contra Ripensia Timișoara (0-5). En 1940, "U" se mudó de Cluj a Sibiu como resultado del Segundo Premio de Viena , cuando la parte norte de Transilvania fue cedida a Hungría. En 1942, "U" jugó en la final de la Copa de Rumania por segunda vez y perdió contra Rapid București (1-7). En 1945, después del final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y el regreso de la parte norte de Transilvania a Rumania, "U" regresó a su hogar en Cluj.
En 1946, el nombre del club se cambió a Știința Cluj (inglés: Science Cluj ). En 1949, el equipo alcanzó la final de la Copa de Rumania por tercera vez, pero fue derrotado por el CSCA București, ahora llamado Steaua București (1-2).
A finales de la década de 1950 y principios de la de 1960, el entrenador del Știința Cluj era Ștefan Kovács, un famoso entrenador rumano que más tarde se convirtió en el entrenador del Ajax Amsterdam . En 1964–65 , Știința Cluj ganó la Copa de Rumania; esta siguió siendo la mejor actuación del club durante muchos años.
En 1966, el nombre del equipo se cambió de nuevo a "Universitatea". Al final de la temporada 1971-1972 , "U" estaba en la mejor posición en el Campeonato Rumano Divizia A después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial; terminó tercero en la tabla de la liga, con la misma cantidad de puntos que el segundo clasificado, el equipo UTA Arad . En 1998, "U" alcanzó la final de Cupa Ligii pero perdió ante FCM Bacău . En 1999 , "U" fue relegado a la segunda división rumana, Divizia B y en 2000 fue relegado por primera vez en su historia en la tercera división, Divizia C . Jugó una temporada en la tercera división, y en 2001 fue ascendido a Divizia B. El entrenador del equipo en ese momento era el ex internacional rumano, Ioan Ovidiu Sabău, que comenzó a jugar al fútbol en la década de 1980 en la "U". Cluj.
En la temporada 2005-06 Divizia B , el nuevo objetivo se convirtió en el ascenso a la primera liga. Con el entrenador Leo Grozavu , que a menudo jugaba un fútbol muy defensivo, [ cita requerida ] el equipo hizo muchos empates nulos y el equipo perdió el segundo lugar (play-off de ascenso) por un punto, aunque en los últimos días de partido ganó 4-0 con el primer lugar y el tercero, y 3-2 (después de liderar 3-0) con el segundo lugar.
Al comienzo de la temporada 2006-07 de la Liga II (Divizia B pasó a llamarse Liga II en esta temporada), un nuevo entrenador, Adrian Falub, que nunca había entrenado antes pero que había jugado más de 220 partidos para "U" Cluj en la primera liga — fue contratado. Bajo su liderazgo, el equipo tuvo un comienzo de temporada pobre y solo alcanzó la octava posición. Sin embargo, el momento pasó y el equipo alcanzó la 1ª posición, a menudo separados por más de 6 puntos de la siguiente posición. El 19 de mayo de 2007, se logró la promoción virtual después de un empate 0-0 contra el segundo clasificado Dacia Mioveni . Tres semanas antes del último día del partido, "U" terminó su etapa de 8 años en las divisiones inferiores, regresando a la primera liga por la 52ª temporada de su historia.
La temporada 2007-08 de la Liga I , la primera temporada de la Liga I en los últimos 8 años para la "U" Cluj fue difícil, el club no manejó muy bien la promoción y al final de una temporada tumultuosa, el club terminó en el puesto 18 , el último, con solo 17 puntos, regresa a la Liga II . [2]
2008–09 Liga II season was a transition one and "U" saved from relegation to Liga III in the last round, after a 3–0 victory against Arieșul Turda while the main contra-candidate ACU Arad ended only 1–1 at home against Bihor Oradea, a match which was followed by a major scandal. Bihor Oradea accused ACU Arad of trying to fix the match, a victory being enough for the team from Arad to save from relegation.[3]
In the summer of 2009 "U" Cluj was taken over by Florian Walter, owner of Romprest Service which is one of the leaders of the facility management sector in Romania.[4] After only one season under the ownership of Walter, "U" Cluj promoted to Liga I finishing 2nd in the 2009–10 Liga II season.
In the new season, "U" Cluj demonstrated that was much better prepared from an administrative and sports point of view and managed to finish 2010–11 Liga I season on the 8th place, far away from the relegation area.
2011–12 Liga I season brought "U" to another area of its existence, well known and valuable players like Mircea Bornescu, George Galamaz, Gabriel Boștină, Marian Cristescu, Ovidiu Hoban, Gheorghe Grozav, Laurențiu Marinescu or Tony were bought by the club and the objective was qualification in the UEFA Europa League. Șepcile Roșii finished only on 7th place and failed to achieve the objective, but they got the best ranking of the club in the last 26 years.
In the summer of 2012, Florian Walter left "U" Cluj and becoming the owner of Petrolul Ploiești. Together with his departure, most valuable players left also the club and signed with the team from Ploiești.[5] Left without the main financier Alb-Negrii attempted to form a squad of competitive players with little money. In February 2013 club debts grew worrying and "U" went into insolvency.[6] Despite all the financial problems the team saved from relegation, finishing 12th at the end of 2012–13 season.
In the spring of 2013 Florian Walter announced that he will return at "U" Cluj.[7] At the end of the 2012–13 season a new problem shaken the already disturbed environment of "U" Cluj. License committee refused to license the club for the 2013–14 Liga I season and decided to relegate it to Liga II.[8] Șepcile Roșii contest the decision at CAS and won, assuring his presence in the next season of Liga I.[9] 2013–14 season it would once again be one without claims for "U" due to financial problems that the club had, also Florian Walter no longer seemed interested in investing too much in the team. With all the problems Studenții managed again to save from relegation, finishing 11th.
2014–15 Liga I season was a reorganization one, 6 teams relegated instead of 4, in attempt to reduce Liga I teams from 18 to 14. "U" Cluj struggled with its few resources until the very end, but at the end of the season the club was placed on 15th position and relegated to Liga II after its 5-year spell in Liga I.
The relegation in the Liga II was a real disaster for "U"'s already shaky financial situation. The club made a squad full of young players from the academy hoping that through the ambition of the young players and a miracle the team will promote back in Liga I after only one season of Liga II.[10] That was the only solution for saving the club, which was at that moment in insolvency for 2 years and a half and with an owner, Florian Walter, present only as a name in the papers, without investing in the club anyway and also being in international tracking for tax evasion and money laundering.[11]2015–16 Liga II season was a season of extremes for "U" Cluj. In the first part of the championship the team had run over expectations and had great chances of promotion. But after the winter break the financial situation become worse and the team started to have bad results which ended with a qualification in the play-out tournament, without any chances of promotion. This moment was a crucial one, without any motivation the team ended the championship on 10th place and relegated to Liga III.[12]
Summer of 2016 it meant a new beginning for "U". With a sporting society in insolvency, with big chances of bankruptcy and an owner arrested for tax evasion and money laundering, there was no other solution than the formation of a new club. Cluj-Napoca Municipality which is the owner of "U" Cluj logo and record terminated the lease agreement with the company of Florian Walter. Than Cluj-Napoca Municipality together with Babeș-Bolyai University and "U" Cluj Supporters Association started a new project entitled ACSF Alb-Negru al Studenților Clujeni (ACSF White-Black of the Students from Cluj) a name that was given to the new team, because the society administered by Florian Walter was not yet bankrupt and the name of FC Universitatea Cluj could not belong to two companies. After the foundation of the new team Cluj-Napoca Municipality rented "U" logo and record to the new society.[13] The team was enrolled in Liga IV-Cluj County, Ioan Ovidiu Sabău has been named team manager and Marius Popescu the new coach. Șepcile Roșii also signed with a lot of valuable players like Octavian Abrudan, Alexandru Păcurar, Dorin Goga or Gabriel Giurgiu. Together with them in the team have been added the most talented players of "U" Cluj Football Academy and the objective was the promotion.[14] The project was a real success and Studenții won Liga IV without any problems, winning 26 matches and making only a draw in a match against Sticla Arieșul Turda. Also the team achieved the number of 1,000 contributing members and a lot of development projects are planned.[15][16][17]
On 29 September 2016 Walter's society, FC Universitatea Cluj, has gone bankrupt leaving the name free.[18] But the bankruptcy occurred after the starting of the 2016–17 Liga IV season, so the name remained ACSF Alb-Negru al Studenților Clujeni for that season. On 11 May 2017 was announced officially that from the 2017–18 season the team will return to the old name, FC Universitatea Cluj and also the basketball team will evolve under the same brand.[19][20]
Estadio
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.[21]
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 stadium—a friendly between Universitatea and the Russian team Kuban Krasnodar—was 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.
Apoyo
"U" has many supporters in Cluj-Napoca, but also in some other parts of Romania—especially in Transylvania. One of the reasons for the team's popularity is that Cluj-Napoca has some of Romania's most important universities—including the Babes-Bolyai University, the largest in the country with more than 45,000 students.[22]
The history of U's fanatic supporters began in the 1970s, when fan-groups started to appear on the stadium. First, in 1972 appeared Amicii U, one of the first supporters groups in Romania. The group started to compose songs along with Music Academy's students and wear accessories like the well-known red hats or pins with the club's crest. Those years, Slavă ție studenție was composed, being nowadays club's anthem.[23] After the fall of communist regime, the Ultras idea arrived in Romania. First ultras group founded was Vecchia Guardia in 1996, followed by Ultra Curva Groapa in 1997 and Ultras 19 in 2004.
Some of the present-day ultras groups of "U" Cluj are: VG (Vecchia Guardia), BOYS, MADS, UCG (Ultra Curva Groapa), FPU (The Few The Proud The Ultras), Fanatics, PPS (Prezenti pentru simbol), Black Devils, Zebras Mănăștur, SAN, F.O.R.T., Mănăștur Clan or Battalogne Gheorgheni. .[24][permanent dead link]
The fanaticism sometimes led to violence, some violent episode being in 1979 when Sportul Studențesc won the match with "U" due to poor referee decisions. After the match, supporters began to shout thieves in front of the stadium and the police started to fight the angry fans.[23] Other episode happened in 2008, when CFR fans went to one of the main squares of the city to celebrate a Dinamo victory over Steaua, that advantage their team to win the league that year. Some Universitatea fans went to the square and had a fight with the rivals before police intervention.
Rivalries & Friendships
Universitatea have a rivalry with local city team CFR Cluj. The animosity between the teams is one of the oldest in Romanian football.[25] The first incidents between fans of the two sides occurred in the 1920s.[25] 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 lost a match against UTA Arad, "U" fans injured CFR players at the Sport Hotel in Cluj-Napoca;[26] 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.[27]
The second-most important rivalry is against FC Rapid Bucuresti due serious clashes between fans in 2006, 2011, 2019. Another rivalries are Steaua București, Farul Constanta and UTA Arad.
Universitatea's fans have a good friendship with Dinamo's fans, the main rivals of FCSB and Rapid. Dinamo friendship started in the mid-1990s, both ultras groups being linked with "the mentality, fanaticism and nationalist side",[28] although in the 1970s and 1980s, "U" supporters had friendships with other important clubs fans, like Poli Timișoara or Rapid București, these teams being the few that already had fan-groups.[23]
Honores
Domestic
Leagues
- Liga I
- Runners-up (1): 1932–33
- Liga II
- Winners (6): 1950, 1957–58, 1978–79, 1984–85, 1991–92, 2006–07
- Runners-up (3): 1939–40, 1983–84, 2009–10
- Liga III
- Winners (2): 2000–01, 2017–18
- Liga IV – Cluj County
- Winners (1): 2016–17
Cups
- Cupa României
- Winners (1): 1964–65
- Runners-up (4): 1933–34, 1941–42, 1948–49, 2014–15
- Cupa Ligii
- Runners-up (1): 1998
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:
- The Under-21s were Romanian champions 3 times in: 1962–63, 1970–71, 1971–72
- The Under-21s were Romanian champions 8 times in: 1955, 1956, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1971–72, 1973–74, 2000–01
Jugadores
First team squad
- As of 12 March 2021[29]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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