Asociația Fotbal Club Unirea 04 Slobozia, (Romanian pronunciation: [uˈnire̯a sloboˈzi.a]), commonly known as Unirea Slobozia or simply as Unirea, is a Romanian professional football club based in Slobozia, Ialomița County, which competes in the Liga I, the top tier of the Romanian football.
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| Full name | Asociația Fotbal Club Unirea 04 Slobozia | |||
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| Short name | Unirea | |||
| Founded | 1955 as Combil Slobozia 2004 (refounded) as Unirea 04 Slobozia | |||
| Ground | 1 Mai | |||
| Capacity | 6,000 | |||
| Owners | Slobozia Municipality Ialomița County Council | |||
| Chairman | Ilie Lemnaru | |||
| Head coach | Adrian Mihalcea | |||
| League | Liga I | |||
| 2023–24 | Liga II, 1st of 20 (promoted) | |||
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The team was founded in 1955 and reestablished in 2004, being for the most part of its history a participant in the third division of the Romanian football. Unirea Slobozia has also spent several seasons in the second division, first in the early 1980s and then between 2012 and 2015, when also obtained 3rd place, the best ranking in the competition until then. Unirea promoted for the first time in history in first division at the end of the 2023–24 season.
"The Yellow-Blues" play their home games at the Stadionul 1 Mai, which can host 6,000 spectators.
History
editThe club was founded in 1955 under the name Combil Slobozia, being under the tutelage of Combil (the Ialomița Combine for the production and industrialization of pork meat) and played fifteen seasons in the Regional and County Championships, having during this period several names such as Avântul, Voința and Energia.[1]
In the 1969–70 season, Energia promoted to Divizia C winning the Ialomița County Championship and the promotion play-off against ITA București, the Bucharest Municipal champion (0–0 at home and 2–1 away).
Meanwhile, the club was taken over by the Slobozia Chemical Combine - Amonil and, after promotion to third division was renamed as Azotul Slobozia. Azotul continued to play in third division, being overall a mid-table team and finishing twice on 3rd position, in 1974–75 season and 1975–76 season, and 2nd in the 1978–79 season.
In the 1979, the club was renamed as Amonil Slobozia spent the following seasons in Divizia C, finishing 2nd in 1979–80, 9th in 1980–81 and 7th in 1981–82.
In the summer of 1982, the club was renamed as Unirea Slobozia, and under the guidance of Ion Păciulete, took the 1st place in Seria IV of the 1982–83 season promoting for the first time in Divizia B. The squad was composed of following players: Dumitru Soare, Ion Ionescu, Titel Tache, Săndel Drăguț, Dan Cristea, Vasile Borș, Radu Gogan, Gh. Mateiu, N. Nicolae, Gh. Nicolae, Lazăr, Ion Lupu, Păun, Liviu, Nini Vintilă, Constantinescu and I. Damaschin.[1]
In the first season in the second division, Unirea strengthened with players such as Gheorghe Tătaru, as player-coach, L. Toader, Cr.Niță, V. Jercălău, Marian Ene, Hadadea, Marchidan, V.Petrescu, G. Simionov, but Unirea have a bad run, finishing on 17th place relegating back to the third division.[1]
The following season, Unirea finished 11th out of 16, tied on points with four other teams, securing their third division status at goal difference.
Unirea achieved promotion to Divizia B at the end of 1985–86 season, detaching in the last two rounds after a spectacular duel with Sportul 30 Decembrie. The team managed by Constantin Dinu was composed among others from following players: D. Soare, Suciu, Șoltuz, S. Drăguț, R. Gogan, D. Cristea, I. Țanicoiu, M. Ene, I. Iordache, Dumitru, I. Lupu, I. Constantin (34 goals), N. Vintilă, Păun and Dănilă.[2]
In the 1986–87 season, managed by Nicolae Dumitru as head coach in the first part of the season and Emanoil Hașoti in the second part, Unirea reinforced with new players such as M.Istrate, M. Dinu, Ad. Cîrîc, H. Mihale, C. Gache, C. Prepeliță, V. Roșu, S. Bătrâneanu and Cr. Mustacă, was ranked 7th in Series I. The stay in second division lasted only two seasons, as in the 1987–88 season ”Ialomițenii” finished 16th in its series being relegated to Divizia C.
The promotion was immediate, Unirea, under the leadership of coach Vasile Dobrău, won the Series IV of Divizia C in the following campaign. Also, ”Slobozenii” managed to reach the quarter-finals of Cupa României passing two first division teams, Universitatea Cluj 1–0 in the first round and FC Bihor Oradea 2–0 in the second round, being eliminated by Steaua București 1–3. The squad was composed among other players from M. Istrate, Matei, S. Drăguț, I. Țanicoiu, Ad. Cîrîc, Nedelciu, I. Iordache, Ioniță, Paraschiv, C. Prepeliță, Proșteanu, Vlase, Mîndru, N. Vintilă, Piștalu, Costin, Gh.Iovănescu, I. Constantin.[3]
In the early 2000s, the club encountered financial issues and was dissolved, being re-founded in 2004 as AFC Unirea 04 Slobozia.
The new entity also reached the second tier of the Romanian football league system, where it spent three years between 2012 and 2015. In the 2013–14 season, the team obtained a third place in its series, behind top flight regulars Politehnica Iași and Rapid București.
Unirea Slobozia played again in the Romanian second league in the 2020–21 season till of the end of 2023–24 season, when Slobozia finished on the 1st place and promoted for the first time in history in Liga I.
Honours
edit- Winners (1): 2023–24
Players
editFirst team squad
edit- As of 18 September 2024[4]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
editNote: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Club officials
edit
Board of directorsedit
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Current technical staffedit
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League history
edit
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Notable former players
editThe footballers enlisted below have had international cap(s) for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level and/or significant caps for AFC Unirea Slobozia.
- Romania
Mihai Adăscăliței- Christo Bolohan
- Cristian Coconașu
- Laurențiu Cristea
- Leonida Dobre
- Marian Florea
- Dumitru Gheorghe
- Viorel Gheorghe
- Ionuț Gurău
- Augustin Ivașcă
- Marius Jianu
- Marius Macare
- Liviu Mihai
- Adrian Mihalcea
- Emil Nanu
- Ciprian Perju
- Adrian Răduca
- Costel Roșu
- Ciprian Rus
- Iosif Damaschin
- Gheorghe Tătaru
- Leontin Toader
- Ștefan Petcu
Former managers
edit- Titus Ozon (1977–1978)
- Gheorghe Tătaru (1983–1984)
- Emanoil Hașoti (1987)
- Vasile Dobrău (1989–1990)
- Ion Cojocaru (2007)
- Marian Catană (2008–2009)
- Ion Răuță (2009–2010)
- Constantin Prepeliță (2010–2011)
- Ion Ionescu (2011–2012)
- Marin Dună (2012–2013)
- Adrian Mihalcea (2020–2022)
- Costel Enache (2022–2023)
- Adrian Mihalcea (2023–)
- Vladimir Marica
- Ion Păciulete
References
edit- ^ a b c Mihai Ionescu & George Tudoran, Fotbal de la A la Z – Editura Sport-Turism 1984.
- ^ "Noile promovate pe scena secundă" [The new promoted on the second stage] (PDF) (in Romanian). Sportul. 8 August 1986. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 September 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024 – via bibliotecadeva.eu.
- ^ "Vă prezentăm noile promovate în Divizia B" [We present the new promoted in Divizia B] (PDF) (in Romanian). Sportul. 17 August 1989. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024 – via bibliotecadeva.eu.
- ^ "AFC UNIREA 04 SLOBOZIA" (in Romanian). Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal. Retrieved 12 July 2024.