| Full name | Fotbal Club Politehnica Timişoara | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Banat Boys, The Violets | ||
| Short name | Poli Timişoara | ||
| Founded | 4 December 1921 | ||
| Ground | Dan Păltinişanu (Capacity: 32,972) |
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| Owner | Marian Iancu | ||
| President | Gheorghe Chivorchian | ||
| Manager | Valentin Velcea | ||
| League | Liga II | ||
| 2010–11 | Liga I, 2nd (Relegated) | ||
| Website | Club home page | ||
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Fotbal Club Politehnica Timişoara is a Romanian football club which was established in 1921[1] and is currently playing in Romania's second league, Liga II. The team has won two Romanian Cup and was twice a runner-up in Liga I.
Poli has a rivalry with UTA Arad and Dinamo Bucureşti and also has a friendly fan-relationship with Rapid Bucureşti and Borussia Mönchengladbach.[2]
The club also has a second team, FC Politehnica II Timişoara, which currently plays in the Romanian Liga III.[3] It aims to train and promote talented youth for the first team.
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The club was founded in 1921 by Polytechnic University of Timişoara under the name Societatea Sportiva Politehnica.[1] Until the second World War, Poli was outclassed by two others teams from the city, Ripensia and Chinezul, both multiple winners of the Romanian championship.[4]
The club promoted for the first time in Divizia A in 1948,[5] and played under the name CSU Timişoara in the first season.[6]
In the following seasons (from 1950[7]), the club appear with the name Ştiinţa Timişoara. The club relegates for the first time in 1951,[8] but promotes after only one year[9] and played in the top league until the season 1958–59.[10] The team promoted back after only one year.[11] The following relegation came in 1963–64 season,[12] again for only a year.[13]
During the Ştiinţa years, Timişoara won the first trophy, the 1957–58 Romanian Cup, with a 1–0 victory against Progresul Bucureşti.[14]
From 1966–67 season, the team use the name Politehnica Timişoara,[15] but the team goes to the second division in the same season.[15] Politehnica doesn't came back to the first division until 1973.[16]
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).[17]
The second trophy won by Politehnica Timişoara was the 1979–80 Romanian Cup. The final was disputed against Steaua Bucureşti and the final score was 2–1, after extra time.[14] Politehnica played in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, defeating Celtic Glasgow (1–0 and 1–2) and beeing defeated by West Ham United (1–0 and 0–4) in the quarterfinals.[18] 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.[18]
Politehnica Timişoara stayed in the Divizia A for ten years, until 1983.[19] The next period was spent between Divizia A and Divizia B, with promotions in 1984,[20] 1987,[21] 1989[22] and relegations in 1986 [23] and 1988.[24]
After the 1989 Revolution, Politehnica played in 1990–91 UEFA Cup, beating Atletico Madrid (2–0 and 0–1), but lost in the second round to Sporting Lisbon (2–0 and 0–7).[25] In 1992–93 UEFA Cup, Politehnica scored a draw against Real Madrid (1–1 in Timişoara), but was defeated in the next match (0–4).[25]
The team was relegated to Divizia B in 1993–94[26] and promoted back in 1995.[27] After the 1996–97 relegation,[28] the team didn't came back in the first division on competitions ground. Instead, it relegated once again, this time to the Liga III, at the end of the 2001–02 season.
In 2002, AEK Bucharest promoted for the first time in Liga I.[29] Anton Doboş, AEK owner, moved the team to Timişoara. It was renamed Politehnica AEK Timişoara, an received the full support of local authorities and Politehnica fans. The team was on the verge of relegation after only one year.[30] Poli was able to maintain the Liga I spot after winning a play-off against Gloria Buzău.[31]
From 2004–05 season, the team changed the name again in FCU Politehnica Timişoara.[32] From 2008, following a Court of Arbitration for Sport decision, the team changed the name in FC Timişoara. The colors and the records before 2002 were lost in favor of Politehnica Timişoara former owner, Claudio Zambon.[33]
At the end of 2007–08 Liga I, FC Timişoara qualified for UEFA Cup.[34] It was the first time in sixteen years that a team from Timişoara had achieved European qualification. The team was eliminated by Partizan Belgrade in the first round by an aggregate score of 1–3.[35]
In 2008–09, Timişoara finished the season in 2nd place, qualifying the 3rd preliminary round of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League.[36] 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 Timişoara finished on the last place, after Anderlecht, Ajax and Dinamo Zagreb.[35]
After the 2009–10 Liga I, fifth placed team FC Timişoara 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.[35]
In November 2010, a Romanian Court of Appeal returned the name, the colors and the record to FC Timişoara.[37] Due to rules that forbid changes of team names during a season, the team used the name FC Timişoara until the end of 2010-11 season.
Although FC Timişoara finished on the second place in the 2010–11 Liga I, the team was relegated to Liga II after the license necessary to play in the first division was denied by Romanian Football Federation.[38] It is expected that they will play in the 2011–12 Liga II under the name Politehnica Timişoara, but an official statement from the RFF has not been made yet.
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 west the country.
Other rivalries are shared with Dinamo Bucureşti and Steaua Bucureşti, and a minor one with Universitatea Craiova.
There is a Fraternity relationship between supporters from Rapid Bucureşti and Germans from Borussia Mönchengladbach.
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Chairman | Marian Iancu |
| President | Gheorghe Chivorchian |
| Vice President | Emil Roşianu |
| Team Manager | Daniel Stanciu |
| Director | Petre Muşat |
Last updated: 17 January 2011
Source: FC Politehnica Timişoara
(As of 30 May 2011), Source: Bert Kassies website
| Rank | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 144 | Helsingborg IF | 10.825 |
| 145 | Karpaty Lviv | 10.776 |
| 146 | Politehnica Timişoara | 10.664 |
| 147 | CSKA Sofia | 10.575 |
| 148 | Grasshopper | 10.480 |
| Season | Competition | Round | Country | Club | Home | Away | Agg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978–79 | UEFA Cup | Round I | MTK | 2–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | |
| Round II | Budapest Honvéd | 2–0 | 0–4 | 2–4 | |||
| 1980–81 | European Cup Winners' Cup | Round I | Celtic | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | |
| Round II | West Ham United | 2–0 | 0–4 | 2–4 | |||
| 1981–82 | European Cup Winners' Cup | Round I | Lokomotive Leipzig | 2–0 | 0–5 | 2–5 | |
| 1990–91 | UEFA Cup | First Round | Atlético Madrid | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | |
| Second round | Sporting CP | 2–0 | 0–7 | 2–7 | |||
| 1992–93 | UEFA Cup | First round | Real Madrid | 1–1 | 1–4 | 2–5 | |
| 2008–09 | UEFA Cup | First round | Partizan | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | |
| 2009–10 | UEFA Champions League | Third qualifying round | Shakhtar Donetsk | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | |
| Play-off round | VfB Stuttgart | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | |||
| 2009–10 | Europa League | Group Stage | Ajax | 1–2 | 0–0 | ||
| Group Stage | Dinamo Zagreb | 0–3 | 2–1 | ||||
| Group Stage | Anderlecht | 0–0 | 1–3 | ||||
| 2010–11 | Europa League | Third qualifying round | MYPA | 3–3 | 2–1 | 5–4 | |
| Play-off round | Manchester City | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–3 |
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Valentin Velcea |
| Assistant coach | Iosif Rotariu |
| Goalkeeping coach | Călin Frunză |
| Fitness coach | Ciprian Panait |
| Physio | Teymoor Ahmadi |
| Reserves Head Coach | Adrian Stoicov |
| # | Name | Career | Matches | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Dan Păltinişanu | 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 |
(have played at least 30 matches for the club or scored a minimum of 15 goals)
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