Steaua Liberă is a sport website created by and for the supporters of Steaua București sports club.[1] The website is widely known among Romanian press, with TV station Antena 1 and other media describing it as a ”hard and influential core” within the CSA Steaua București fans community.[2]
 | |
Type of site | Sports website |
|---|---|
| Available in | Romanian |
| URL | www.steaualibera.com |
| Current status | Active |
History
editSteaua Liberă started as a movement by Steaua supporters against Gigi Becali, in the mid 2000s, when everybody thought that Becali's team, Fotbal Club FCSB, was Steaua Bucharest. The fans then took the movement online, where they formed a powerful community, with an important voice in Romanian football, followed closely by the Romanian press.
The community expanded quickly on Facebook and, in December 2016, it launched its own website. On the website, the community constantly published Steaua Bucharest-related articles, interviews, and much more. Steaua Liberă does not refrain from attacking those it believes are doing harm to the Steaua Bucharest club, with important Romanian newspapers such as Gazeta Sporturilor or ProSport constantly quoting them[3]
Supporting Colonel Florin Talpan, Steaua Bucharest's legal adviser
editIn addition to supporting club coaches and players, Steaua Liberă has also expressed its support for Colonel Florin-Costel Talpan, Steaua Bucharest's legal adviser.[4] Through his actions, Talpan has managed to beat Becali in court and to obtain a court orders forbidding Fotbal Club FCSB from using the Steaua Bucharest name and brand. He was also instrumental in reactivating the Steaua Bucharest football team, an achievement which brought a lot of Steaua Bucharest fans to his side.
Numerous times, Steaua Liberă has announced its support for Talpan[5] also calling for him to be named president of the Steaua Bucharest club.
Reporting important Steaua Bucharest news
editThe site's reputation increased after it published numerous important breaking news articles related to Steaua Bucharest and Romanian football.[6] One of the first such articles was that presenting and explaining the reasoning behind the decision through which the Bucharest Court of Appeals forbade Fotbal Club FCSB from using the "Steaua" name. Using the information published on Steaua Liberă, the Romanian press investigated the case further[7]
Other important articles published by Steaua Liberă include player transfers,[8] general news about Steaua Bucharest,[9] Florin Talpan's promotion to the rank of colonel,[10][11] news about the numerous scandals within the Steaua club[12] or information about the lawsuits between Steaua Bucharest and Fotbal Club FCSB.[13] All of these have caused the site's reputation and credibility to grow. The number of its fans and followers also increased.
Expanding to other platforms
editIn June 2017, Steaua Liberă launched its own Youtube channel, also called Steaua Liberă. Its popularity also increased rapidly, managing to reach over 100 videos published in less than a year, most of them original content, and to gather over 2,000 subscribers. One of the best days for the Steaua Liberă Youtube channel occurred on May 8, 2018, when an interview with Florin Talpan went viral, with numerous newspapers and television channels sharing it with their audiences.[14]
Following the success it registered on Youtube, Steaua Liberă also expanded to Twitter and Instagram.
On July 20, 2020, Costin Ștucan, a journalist working for Gazeta Sporturilor and the host of the GSP Live internet show, invited Adrian Topîrceanu, also known as Adi 2, a member of Steaua Liberă, on his show. On the show, Adi 2 revealed several important documents, one of them showing that Fotbal Club FCSB is functioning illegally.[15]
Conflict with the FC FCSB supporters
editIn addition to their traditional rivalries with the supporters of CS Rapid Bucuresti and CS Dinamo București, the members of the Steaua Liberă community are also involved in a conflict with the supporters of FC FCSB , whom they constantly refer to as ”sheep”,[16] due to the fact that, in his youth, Gigi Becali, the man running FC FCSB, used to be a shepherd.
References
edit- ^ Pappert, Tom. "WIN: Facebook Reinstates Sports Page, Banned For Celtic Cross, After Big League Politics Intervenes". Big League Politics. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ "BOMB OF THE YEAR in Romanian football! Where could the STEAUA brand end up! What a blow for CSA Steaua". Antena 1. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ "Dinamo a provocat primul scandal cu suporterii la CSA Steaua: "O să spuneți că exagerăm"" [Dinamo provoked the first scandal with the supporters at CSA Steaua: "You will say that we are exaggerating"]. Gazeta Sporturilor. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ Dobrescu, Petre (August 29, 2015). "Suporterii fac zid viu în jurul ofițerului Florin Talpan, juristul Armatei. ^FCSB, echipa lui Gigi Becali, tot mai singură și mai hăituită! Se predă latifundiarul?" [The supporters make a living wall around officer Florin Talpan, the Army's lawyer. ^ FCSB, Gigi Becali's team, more and more lonely and chased! Is the landowner handed over?]. Libertatea. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ "Florin Talpan, atac la comandantul CSA Steaua: "Am fost bătaia lor de joc!" Un nume uriaș e chemat la echipă" [Florin Talpan, attack on the commander of CSA Steaua: "I was their mockery!" A huge name is called to the team]. Digi Sport. July 5, 2019. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ "Suporterii Stelei consideră că echipa lui Nicolae Badea e adevărata rivală: "Dinamo din prima ligă pare a fi tot un fel de FC FCSB"" [Steaua fans consider Nicolae Badea's team to be the real rival: "Dinamo in the first league seems to be a different kind of FC FCSB"]. Gazeta Sporturilor. September 25, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ "Gigi Becali, prins cu minciuna! Avem DOVADA care îl îngroapă pe latifundiar în războiul cu Armata / FOTO-DOCUMENT" [Gigi Becali, caught lying! We have the PROOF that buries the landowner in the war with the Army / PHOTO-DOCUMENT]. Spy News. June 21, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ "Inca doua transferuri pentru CSA Steaua! Un senegalez si un italian, sub comanda lui Ion Ion si Lacatus" [Two more transfers for CSA Steaua! A Senegalese and an Italian, under the command of Ion Ion and Lacatus]. Sport.ro. January 16, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ "SURPRIZĂ | Pe ce stadion se va juca derby-ul Steaua - Academia Rapid. Fanii sunt nemulţumiţi. Reacţia lui Cristian Petrea". Telekom Sport. March 23, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ Romaniuc, Cezar (February 2, 2018). "Seful departamentului juridic al CSA Steaua Bucuresti, inaintat in grad pentru razboaiele purtate la tribunal!" [The head of the legal department of CSA Steaua Bucuresti, advanced in rank for the wars fought in court!]. Sport Total FM. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ "Recompensă pentru omul care i-a luat Steaua lui Becali. Florin Talpan a fost înaintat în grad" [Reward for the man who took Becali's Star. Florin Talpan was promoted]. DigiSport. February 2, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ Terzian, Traian (June 29, 2018). "Florin Talpan, agresat de un angajat al CSA Steaua! "Încearcă să ajute sportivii"" [Florin Talpan, assaulted by an employee of CSA Steaua! "Try to help athletes"]. Fanatik.ro. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ Ziare.com. "Steaua a solicitat oficial palmaresul, dar si excluderea FCSB din cupele europene si dezafilierea de la FRF".
- ^ "Reacție fabuloasă a lui Florin Talpan după golul care poate lăsa FCSB fără title: "Îiii, ce bucurie" (VIDEO)" [Fabulous reaction of Florin Talpan after the goal that can leave FCSB untitled: "Hey, what joy" (VIDEO)]. B1 TV. May 8, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ "EXCLUSIV Document BOMBĂ la GSP Live: de ce trebuia să fie dezafiliată FCSB» De ce a luat Viitorul titlel în 2017: „Ăsta a fost atuul"". Gazeta Sporturilor. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ Savin, Bogdan (May 8, 2018). "AUDIO | Florin Talpan, dezlănțuit la golul lui Andrei Cristea! Ce simte un colonel al Armatei Române când rivalii sunt puși la pământ: "Gooooooool, 1-0 pentru Iași! Iiiii, ce bucurie! Doamne, ce bucurie"" [AUDIO | Florin Talpan, unleashed on Andrei Cristea's goal! How does a colonel of the Romanian Army feel when rivals are grounded: “Gooooooool, 1-0 for Iași! Iiiii, what joy! God, what joy ”]. ProSport. Retrieved July 14, 2020.