U Cluj

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"U" Cluj

Full name

FC Universitatea Cluj-Napoca

Nickname(s)

şepcile roşii (red caps)

Founded

September, 1919

Ground

Ion Moina Stadium, Cluj-Napoca

Capacity

28,000

Chairman

Lucian Danciu

Manager

Adrian Falub

League

Divizia B

2005-06

Divizia B, 3rd





Home colours





Away colours

"U" Cluj is the name used to identify the most important and representative sports club from the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The name of the club is actually C.S. Universitatea Cluj-Napoca. The most important sections of the club are those of football, rugby, basketball, handball, volleyball and athletics. Traditionally, the players of the "U" Cluj teams are nicknamed şepcile roşii (red caps), from the red caps that the students from the city’s Faculty of Medicine used to wear.

In 1994 the football section of the club, that is now named F.C. Universitatea Cluj-Napoca was separated from the main club and became a professional football club.

1 History
2 Stadium
3 Honours and first squad
4 Starting Lineup
5 Supporters
6 Other football clubs from Cluj-Napoca
7 Contact
8 External links

[edit] History

The Universitatea sports club of Cluj-Napoca was founded in September 1919 by the "Sports Society of University Students" (Romanian: Societatea Sportivă a Studenţilor Universitari). Its first chairman was Prof. Iuliu Haţieganu.

In the early years of its existence "U" Cluj only played in some local competitions, as at the time there was not any football championship at a national level. The team played the final of the “Mara Cup” in 1923 against Chinezul Timişoara (0-2).

"U" played in the Romanian national football championship Divizia A from 1932, when Divizia A was created. In this first season “U” finished first in its group and played the championship final against Ripensia Timişoara (0-0 and 3-5).

In the first season of the Romanian Cup, in 1933-1934, “U” managed to get to the final, where it lost against Ripensia Timişoara (0-5).

In 1940 "U" had to move 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 the final of the Romanian Cup for a second time, and lost against Rapid Bucureşti (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-Napoca.

In 1946 the name of the club was changed to Ştiinţa Cluj (English: Science Cluj). In 1949 the team reached the final of the Romanian Cup for the third time, but it was once again beaten, this time by CSCA Bucureşti, now called Steaua Bucureşti (1-2).

At the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, the manager of the team was Ştefan (Pisti) Covaci, a very famous Romanian coach who later became the manager of Ajax Amsterdam. He was the first Romanian to coach a famous European football club.

In 1964-1965, “U” won the Romanian Cup and this remained the greatest performance of the club until these days.

In 1966 the name of the team was changed back to “U”. At the end of the 1972-1973 season, “U” found itself in the best position in the Romanian Championship Divizia A after the Second World War, as it finished third in the league table, with the same number of points as the second placed team.

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. Luckily, it only played one season into the third division, as in 2001 it was promoted back to Divizia B. The manager of the team at the time was the ex-Romanian international, Ioan Ovidiu Sabău who started playing football in the 1980s at "U" Cluj.

[edit] Stadium

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 done by organizing a game between a Cluj-Napoca team and Galatasaray Istanbul. It was the first game in Europe for Galatasaray, and the Cluj team won 8-1.

In 1961 new stands were built and the capacity of the stadium became 28,000. The new stands have an U-shaped appearance, as the name of the team that uses it.

[edit] Honours and first squad

"U" Cluj-Napoca crest

Romanian Cup holders: 1964-1965
Romanian Cup finalists: 1933-1934, 1941-1942, 1948-1949
Romanian Championship Divizia A runners-up: 1932-1933
Romanian Championship Divizia A third place: 1933-1934, 1971-1972
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup last 16: 1965-1966
UEFA Cup first round: 1972-1973
UEFA Intertoto Cup groups: 1995-1996

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

The Under 21’s were Romanian champions 3 times in: 1962-1963, 1970-1971, 1971-1972
The Under 21’s were Romanian champions 8 times in: 1955, 1956, 1964-1965, 1966-1967, 1968-1969, 1971-1972, 1973-1974, 2000-2001

[edit] Starting Lineup

Goalkeeper

  Szolomajer

Defense

  Ungurusan

  Cordos

  Somcherechi

  Talvan

Midfield

  Giurgiu

  Dolha

  Sabo

   Ghindaru

Forward

  Stoianof

  Szekely

Great players of all time: Lazăr Sfera, Sepi Graţian, Orza, Andrei Sepci, Sever Coracu, Tony Dascălu, Mircea Luca, Medrea brothers, Viorel Mateianu, Zoli Ivansuc, Petru Emil, Remus Câmpeanu, Traian Georgescu, Mircea Neşu, Dan Anca, Mihai Adam, Uifăleanu, Solomon, Mustăţea, Câmpeanu II, Marcel Coras, Ciocan, Tegean, Batacliu, Lăzăreanu, Viorel Mureşan, Dobrău, Dobrotă, Muzsnai, Florin Prunea, Zoltán Iasko, Meszaros, Anton Dobos, Pojar, Andrei Zanc, Ioan Ovidiu Sabău, Horaţiu Cioloboc, Zoltán Ritli, Zoltan Kadar, Vasile Brătianu II, Adrian Falub, Cristi Dulca, Coroian, Minteuan, Francisc Dican, Ovidiu Maier, Marius Predatu, Tiberiu Bălan, Liviu Mihai, Rareş Soporan, Laurenţiu Buş, George Florescu, Răzvan Cociş

[edit] Supporters

”U” Cluj supporters during a Second Division game

“U” has many supporters in Cluj-Napoca, but also in some other parts around Romania, especially in Transylvania. One of the reasons for the team’s popularity is that in Cluj-Napoca there are some of the most important Romanian universities, including the Babes-Bolyai University, the largest in the country with more than 45,000 students. The majority of the ex-students of these universities remain “U” Cluj supporters even after their graduation when they spread all-over the country.