FCU Politehnica Timişoara

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Poli Timişoara
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Full name FCU Politehnica Timişoara
Nickname(s) Poli, Alb-Violeţii (White-Violets),Bănăţenii
Founded 2002
Ground Dan Păltinişanu, Timişoara
Capacity 33,000
Chairman Marian Iancu
Manager Alin Artimon
League Liga 1
2005-06 Divizia A, 8th
Team colours Team colours Team colours
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Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
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Away colours

FCU "Poli" Timişoara is a Romanian football club which was established in 1921 and is currently playing in Romania's top league, Liga 1. However, there is an issue regarding the club's rights to its own history, as former Poli owner Claudio Zambon has been claiming he is the rightful holder of the club records. Therefore, the Politehnica currently participating in the Romanian first division is not officially the same club that won the Romanian cup twice and it is currently regarded as being founded in 2002. This "official" Poli was relegated to the third Romanian league last season and is based near Bucharest. Nevertheless, FCU Politehnica Timisoara remains one of the most popular football clubs in the country (despite never winning the Romanian championship), both in terms of their average number of attendances at home matches, and in the popularity of the club's official website.

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[edit] History

Poli finished third in the league on five occasions between 1950 and 1978, and won the Romanian Cup twice: in 1958 against Progresul Bucureşti, and in 1980 against Steaua Bucureşti. Poli lost another four finals.

Poli's best European-level results include eliminating football giants such as Atlético Madrid and Celtic Glasgow. Despite playing against the forementioned teams and Spanish "Galacticos" Real Madrid (in 1992), the "Alb-Violet" team never lost on home soil.

There is an issue, however, regarding this reasonably impressive resumé of Poli. As the team "lost direction" in the second half of the 1990s, it slumped into the second league, achieving some remarkably abysmal results. After several disputes with the media and local authorities, the main sponsor at that time decided to move his team away from Timişoara and he is up to this day the "owner" (as if it were possible to own such achievements) of the "real" Politehnica Timişoara. The year he took this decision (2001), Anton Doboş moved his team, Rocar Bucureşti (which had recently won promotion to the first league), to the western city and named it Politehnica AEK Timişoara (AEK Athens being his former team). Poli AEK was pretty much adopted by the fans as the one and only real Poli, although, officially, this is not the case. The dispute concerning the club's history is still underway, with no resolution visible on the horizon.

[edit] Recent years

Poli - Juventus at half-time
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Poli - Juventus at half-time

The 2004/2005 campaign was dramatic for the team, as they desperately struggled in the first half of the season and looked set for relegation at the winter break. However, the latter half saw an unexpected change in their fortunes with the arrival of a new sponsor, which did not shy away from investing in the team. After acquiring Romanian internationals Cosmin Contra and Viorel Moldovan, as well as a few other players from FC Naţional Bucureşti, including their coach at that time, Cosmin Olăroiu, Poli gently slid upwards in the table. Far from being relegated, the club finished 6th (out of 16 teams) after an excellent second half season.

The club's strong finish that season, the new players that arrived, and the good practice match results in the preseason campaign (including a 2-2 draw against Italian giants Juventus) has ensured that Poli was expected to do very well in the 2005/2006 Divizia A season, perhaps even challenge the big Bucharest teams.

However, the rather poor start of the season led to the sacking of Cosmin Olăroiu after the 12th match day. Romanian football legend Gheorghe Hagi took over, finally returning to Romanian football after 15 years (excluding a short spell as coach of the National team in 2001). His stay too ended abruptly after only six months, when he resigned following a series of bad results. His place was taken by second in command, Iosif Rotariu, for the remaining of that season.

During the 2006 preseason, Poli hired Sorin Cîrţu as their head coach for the 2006/2007 campaign. The club also acquired the services of several new players in the likes of Ştefan Grigorie and Dan Alexa from Dinamo Bucureşti, Andrei Cristea from Steaua Bucureşti, and Alexandru Bădoiu from Jiul Petroşani. Ersin Mehmedović and Mircea Oprea have also returned from their loans at FC Naţional in order to help the team achieve its goal in qualifying for the UEFA Cup this year.

Cîrţu, as his predecessors, didn't stay for long at Poli, resigning after the 12th match day, due to a string of poor results and his own deteriorating health. He was replaced by Alin Artimon, a former Poli player, and just recently head of the youth department at the club.

[edit] CVUCS

CVUCS at Poli - Steaua (2005/2006)
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CVUCS at Poli - Steaua (2005/2006)

Commando Viola Ultra Curva Sud is one of the most famous football fan groups in Romania. The fans, located in the southern sector of the stadium, are renowned for their unwavering support for their team, and their "Anti-Bucharest" chants and attitude, which are mainly directed towards arch rivals Dinamo Bucureşti, and Steaua Bucureşti.

Poli is the team with the highest number of attendances at home matches, despite having achieved only a mid-table position so far. The spectacles performed by CVUCS match after match are both a visual delight and a heart-warming experience for fans of the "Alb-Violet" team.


[edit] Honours

Romanian 1st League

  • 3rd position: 1950, 1956, 1958, 1963, 1978

Romanian Cup Winner

  • 1958 • 1 - 0 with Progresul Bucureşti
  • 1980 • 2 - 1 with Steaua Bucureşti [aet]

Romanian Cup Runner-Up

  • 1974 • 2 - 4 with Jiul Petroşani
  • 1981 • 0 - 6 with Universitatea Craiova
  • 1983 • 1 - 2 with Universitatea Craiova
  • 1992 • 1 - 1 with Steaua Bucureşti [2-3p]

[edit] Players

[edit] Current first team squad

No. Position Player
1 Romania GK Eduard Cristian Zimmermann
2 Romania MF Laurenţiu Buş
3 Romania DF Alexandru Bădoiu
4 Australia DF Jonathan McKain
5 Romania MF Dan Alexa
6 Romania MF Silviu Izvoranu
7 Romania MF Ştefan Grigorie
8 Romania MF Gabriel Caramarin
9 Serbia FW Vladimir Gluscević
10 Romania MF Mihăiţă Pleşan
11 Romania MF Leonard Naidin
12 Romania GK Marius Popa
13 Nigeria DF Ifeanyi Emeghara
14 Romania DF Sorin Rădoi
15 Romania FW Andrei Cristea
No. Position Player
16 Romania MF Rareş Soporan
17 Romania MF Silviu Bălace
18 Romania FW Gigel Bucur
19 Romania DF Cristian Scutaru
20 Romania FW Cristian Silvăşan
21 Romania DF Adrian Olah
22 Serbia DF Ersin Mehmedović
23 Romania DF Gabriel Cânu
24 Senegal FW Gueye Mansour
25 Romania FW Gabriel Torje
27 Romania DF Iasmin Latovlevici
28 Romania MF Mircea Oprea
29 Romania GK Costel Pantilimon
32 Hungary MF Peter Simek

[edit] Squad changes during the 2006/07 season

In:

Out:

[edit] Famous players

[edit] External links

[edit] Blogs


Politehnica Timişoara - Current Squad

1 Zimmermann | 2 Buş | 3 Bădoiu | 4 McKain | 5 Alexa | 6 Izvoranu | 7 Grigorie | 8 Caramarin | 9 Gluscević | 10 Pleşan | 11 Naidin | 12 Popa | 13 Emeghara | 14 Rădoi | 15 Cristea | 16 Soporan | 17 Bălace | 18 Bucur | 19 Scutaru | 21 Olah | 22 Mehmedović | 23 Cânu | 24 Mansour | 25 Torje | 27 Latovlevici | 28 Oprea | 29 Pantilimon | 32 Simek | Manager: Cîrţu


Romania Romanian Liga I
2006/07 Season

FC Argeş Piteşti | Ceahlăul Piatra Neamţ | CFR 1907 Cluj-Napoca | Dinamo Bucureşti | Farul Constanţa | Gloria Bistriţa | Jiul Petroşani | FC Naţional Bucureşti | Oţelul Galaţi | Pandurii Târgu-Jiu | FC Politehnica Iaşi | FCU Politehnica Timişoara | Rapid Bucureşti | Steaua Bucureşti | Unirea Urziceni | Universitatea Craiova | UT Arad | FC Vaslui |
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