CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu

Pandurii

Full name	Clubul Sportiv Pandurii Lignitul Târgu Jiu
Nickname(s)	Alb-Albaştrii (The White and Blues) Minerii (The Miners) Gorjenii (The People from Gorj County)
Founded	1963 (1963)
Ground	Municipal
Ground Capacity	20,054
Owner	Târgu Jiu Municipality
Chairman	Narcis Răducan
Manager	Edward Iordănescu
League	Liga I
2014–15	Liga I, 9th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Clubul Sportiv Pandurii Lignitul Târgu Jiu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈklubul ˈsportiv ˈlignitul ˌtɨrɡu ˈʒiw], "Târgu Jiu Lignite Pandurs Sports Club") is a Romanian professional football club based in Târgu Jiu, Gorj County, that plays in Liga I. Pandurii Târgu Jiu is the fourth Romanian club that represents the country in the European Club Association.

The team's colors are white and blue.

History

Founding

Pandurii Târgu Jiu was founded in August 1963, after the merger of the two big rivals from the town, Flacăra-Unirea Târgu Jiu and CIL Târgu-Jiu. The club entered the fourth division of Romanian football, with a strong objective, to promote immediately in the third division. And the target was reached, Pandurii gaining the promotion to Divizia C in June 1963. Their first game in this division was played on 1 September 1963, against Siderurgistul Hunedoara. Pandurii won by a big margin, 6–0, goals scored by Chițu (12'), Nelu Băloi (35'), Melinte (53', 80') and Vasilescu (83', 85').

In the first years, Pandurii finished constantly in the first half of the standings, so the club decided to attack a promotion to Divizia B. In the 1976–77 season, with a young team and with Titus Ozon as coach, the dream came true. Pandurii dominated the competition, climbed from the first stages on top of the standings and won the promotion to the second division. But this level was a much bigger hat to wear for Pandurii, who relegated the next season back to Divizia C.

The following years, the team changed frequently the division, promoting to Divizia B and relegating after a few years. They played in Divizia B between 1979–1983 then between 1986 and 1991. After a decade in Divizia C, in 2000 the team promoted again in the second league, and in 2004 finished second, behind Sportul Studențesc.

Promotion to the top division

The performance from the last seasons was an incentive for the management who decided to push for the first presence of Pandurii in Divizia A. With Emil Săndoi as coach, and with a young group of players like Tiberiu Lung and Sorin Vintilescu but also with some experienced players like, Florin Popete, Robert Vancea and Romulus Buia, the team won the promotion.

It was difficult to maintain its position in Divizia A, and Pandurii finished their first season in the 15th place, right below the relegation line. But the Romanian Football Federation decided at the end of the season not to give Sportul Studențesc their licence for the following year, and kept instead the first team under the line, Pandurii. With the bullet dodged, the management decided to enforce the team, so the relegation shouldn't be a problem.

Alexandru Păcurar, Ciprian Vasilache and Liviu Mihai were brought, and the team finished 11th in the 2006–07 season. They kept their position at the middle of the table for the next seasons.

In 2010, they finished below the line but avoided the relegation after the withdrawal of Internațional Curtea de Argeș, team that ended tenth but the owner decided to disband the club. With a lot of players from Internațional Curtea de Argeș like Vlad Chiricheș, Mihai Pintilii, and Dan Nistor, Pandurii were 13th the following season.

First ever European participation

In the 2011–12 season the team reached the highest place in history, finishing seventh. For a while, they were fifth and the fans hoped for Europa League. The following season saw Pandurii finishing as Liga I runners-up for the first time ever, qualifying for the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, the club's first ever European participation. After defeating Levadia Tallinn, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Braga, Pandurii entered the Group stage, being drawn into Group E.^[1]

Recent history

In the 2014–15 Cupa Ligii, the team reached the first ever final of a cup by defeating Dinamo București (2–1,1–3) in the cup semifinal, they lost it to FCSB, on 20 May at the Arena Naţională stadium.

On April 6, Pandurii defeated for the first time Romanian giants Petrolul Ploiești at the Stadionul Ilie Oană, one of the best stadiums in Romania.

On july 13 they became the first team to won a match in Liga I, with the new play-off, play-out format after the other matches ended with draw. On February 6 they secured the participation in play-off with a win over ASA 2013 Târgu Mureș.

In the summer of 2015 Pandurii became a member of the European Club Association.

Honours

Domestic

League

Liga I

Runners-up (1): 2012–13

Liga II

Winners (1): 2004–05

Runners-up (1): 2003–04

Liga III

Winners (4): 1976–77, 1978–79, 1985–86, 1999–00

Runners-up (2): 1975–76, 1983–84

Cups

• Cupa Ligii

Runners-up (1): 2014–15

Other Performances

Domestic

• Appearances in Liga I: 11
• Appearences in Liga I play-off: 1
• Longest unbeaten run in Liga I: 10 (2015–16)
• Place 30 of 98 teams in Liga I All-time table
• Appearances in Cupa Ligii: 2
• The most successful team from Gorj County.
• Semi-finalist of 2006–07 Cupa României

European

• Group Stages of 2013–14 UEFA Europa League
• Biggest european win: 4–0 FC Levadia Tallinn. (2013–14)
• Appearances in European Competitions: 1

Liga I history

UEFA club coefficient rankings

As of 26 june 2015.^[2]

Pos.	Team	Points
212	Olympiacos Volou FC	7380
213	Tromsø IL	7375
214	Pandurii	7259
215	RNK Split	7200
216	Hapoel Kiryat Shmona	7200

Hall of Fame

European best results

• SC Braga – Pandurii (0–2), 29 August 2013

Liga 1 best results

• Pandurii – Rapid (2–0), September 2012
• Pandurii – CFR Cluj (2–1), 23 September 2012
• Pandurii – Dinamo (2–0), 21 April 2013
• Pandurii – Steaua București (3–1), 15 March 2015
• Pandurii – Petrolul Ploiești (1–0), 6 April 2015

European record

1R: First round, 2Q: Second qualifying round, 3Q: Third qualifying round, PO: Play-off round

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Aggregate
2013–14	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Levadia Tallinn	4–0	0–0	4–0
		3Q	Hapoel Tel Aviv	1–1	2–1	3–2
		PO	Braga	0–1	2–0	2–1
		Group E	Fiorentina	1–2	0–3	4th place
			Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	0–1	1–4
			Paços de Ferreira	0–0	1–1

Current squad

As of 11 February 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 David Lazar 2 DF Vasco Fernandes 4 MF Adrian Ropotan 5 MF Valentin Munteanu 6 DF Nikola Vasiljević 7 MF Lukáš Droppa 8 MF Mihai Răduț 9 FW Ioan Hora 10 MF Dan Nistor (Captain) 11 MF Alexandru Ciucur 17 MF Andrei Pițian 18 DF Bogdan Ungurușan 19 DF Cristian Săpunaru

No. Position Player 20 DF Florin Acsinte 21 DF Erico 23 DF Constantin Grecu 24 MF Filip Mrzljak 25 DF Marian Pleașcă 26 MF Viorel Nicoară 33 GK Răzvan Stanca 52 MF Alexandru Răuță 77 MF Rodemis Trifu 80 GK Pedro Mingote 89 MF Liviu Antal (on loan from Hapoel Tel Aviv) 99 FW Wellington DF Gordan Bunoza

Club Officials

As of August 2015.[3] Board of directors Role Name President Narcis Răducan Secretary Mihai Stelescu Team Manager Adelin Şolea Youth Center Director Florin Bejinaru

Current technical staff Role Name Manager Edward Iordănescu Assistant Manager Ionuț Stelescu Assistant Manager Alexandru Radu Goalkeeping Coach Bogdan Pârvu Club Doctor Ionuţ Pantiş Medical Assistant Iulian Mircea Medical Assistant Aurel Neacşu Masseur Eugen Cățelu Masseur Paul Ungureanu Storeman Constantin Tudor

Managers

References

External links

• Official website
• CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu at Liga I