FC Timişoara

Football club infobox
clubname = FC Timişoara


fullname = SC Fotbal Club Timişoara
nickname = "Alb-Violeţii" (White-Violets),"Bănăţenii"
founded = 2002
ground = Dan Păltinişanu, Timişoara
capacity = 32,019
owner = flagicon|Romania Ovidiu Tender
chairman = flagicon|ROM Gheorghe Chivorchian| manager = flagicon|Czech Republic Dušan Uhrin, Jr.
league = Liga I
season = 2007-08
position = Liga I, 6th
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=FFFFFF
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFDD00|body2=FFDD00|rightarm2=FFDD00|shorts2=000000|socks2=FFDD00

Fotbal Club Timişoara is a Romanian football club which was established in 2002 and is currently playing in Romania's top league, Liga I. However, there is an issue regarding the club's rights to its own history, as former Poli owner Claudio Zambon has been claiming he is the rightful holder of the club records. Currently, FC Timişoara have won the appeal at the highest Sports Court in Romania, as well as a trial in a Court of Law and they are awaiting confirmation from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which decided in December 2006 that Zambon's team should be compensated for the use of name and colours of Politehnica. Despite all this controversy, FC Timişoara remains one of the most popular football clubs in the country (although never having won the Romanian championship). Since rejoining the first league in the 2002/2003 season, it has always had the highest average attendance at home matches [ [http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/2000/averom.htm Historical attendances ] ] [ [http://www.european-football-statistics.co.uk/attn/current/averom.htm Attendances Romania average ] ] .

The club also has a 2nd team, FC Timişoara II, which currently plays in the Romanian Liga III. It aims to train and promote talented youth for the first team.

History

From the second World War to the 2000's

In the year 1948 the white-violet team won promotion to the Romanian first league for the first time in its 27 year long history. Although subsequent years saw the team yoyoing between leagues, Poli managed to finish third in the premier division on five occasions between 1950 and 1978, and won the Romanian Cup twice: in 1958 against Progresul Bucureşti, and in 1980 against Steaua Bucureşti. Poli lost another five finals.

Poli's best European-level results include eliminating football giants such as Atlético Madrid and Celtic Glasgow. Despite playing against the forementioned teams and Spanish "Galacticos" Real Madrid (in 1992), the "White-Violet" team never lost on home soil.

There is an issue, however, regarding the club's records. As the team got separated from the Polytehnic University of Timişoara in the first half of the 1990s and moved to private ownership, it slumped into the second league after the 1996/1997 season. The team was taken over a few years later by an Italian businessman, Claudio Zambon, who promised to bring the team back to the first league. However, after several disputes with the media and local authorities, Zambon decided to move his team away from Timişoara and he is up to this day the owner of a club named Politehnica Timişoara, based at the outskirts of Bucharest. The year the Italian took this decision (2001), former AEK Athens player Anton Doboş moved his team, Fulgerul Bragadiru renamed AEK Bucharest (which had recently won promotion to the first league), to the western city and named it Politehnica AEK Timişoara. Poli AEK was pretty much adopted by the fans as the one and only real Poli, although the legal ownership of the club records is heavily disputed.

After struggling to remain in the first league for two seasons, the club's fate suddenly changed when the team was taken over by Balkan Petroleum (in short, BKP) and Mr. Marian Iancu in late December 2004.

Recent years

The 2004/2005 campaign had been dramatic for the team, as they desperately struggled in the first half of the season and looked set for relegation at the winter break. However, the arrival of BKP was decisive, as the new sponsor did not shy away from investing in the team. After acquiring Romanian internationals Cosmin Contra and Viorel Moldovan, as well as a few other players from FC Naţional Bucureşti, including their coach at that time, Cosmin Olăroiu, Poli gently slid upwards in the table. Far from being relegated, the club finished 6th (out of 16 teams) after an excellent second half season.

The club's strong finish that season, the new players that arrived, and the good practice match results in the preseason campaign (including a 2-2 draw against Italian giants Juventus) has ensured that Poli was expected to do very well in the 2005/2006 Divizia A season, perhaps even challenge the big Bucharest teams.

However, the rather poor start of the season led to the sacking of Cosmin Olăroiu after the 12th match day. Romanian football legend Gheorghe Hagi took over, finally returning to Romanian football after 15 years (excluding a short spell as coach of the National team in 2001). His stay too ended abruptly after only six months, when he resigned following a series of bad results. His place was taken by second in command, Iosif Rotariu, for the remaining of that season.

2006/2007 started off on the same mediocre note, but the team stayed around the first five places in the league for most of the season. As a consequence of the club board's dissatisfaction, the team had no less than four managers through the year. Sorin Cîrţu had been appointed just before the season began, as he was the last manager to have won the league with a non-Bucharest team. Although Poli acquired the services of Ştefan Grigorie and Dan Alexa from Dinamo Bucureşti and Andrei Cristea from Steaua Bucureşti, Cîrţu only lasted a couple of weeks on the team's bench. He was subsequently replaced by Alin Artimon, who had been in charge of the youth department at the club, but despite some good results, the young manager folded under the pressure and resigned after a home draw against Dinamo. Second team manager Iosif Rotariu was in charge of the team for a short while, before Artimon's and Hagi's assistant manager, Valentin Velcea was appointed manager until the end of the season. He achieved some good results in the league and qualified for the Romanian Cup final, after defeating Steaua in Bucharest, but the team's bad performances at the end of the season (which left them standing 7th in the final league standings) and the 0-2 loss against Rapid in the RC final, at the Dan Păltinişanu Stadium, left the fans dissatisfied by what had generally been another season of mediocrity.

2007/2008

It had been rumored for several months before Dušan Uhrin, Jr.. was officially announced as the next Poli manager, that he would be the one for whom expectations would be made for 2007/2008. The Czech manager impressed everyone with his calm and clear rationales, being labeled as one of the few gentlemen's of Romanian football. He took over a weakened team, Ifeanyi Emeghara and Mihăiţă Pleşan having departed for Steaua at the season debut. On the other hand Ionel Ganea came to Poli as part of a player exchange which saw Ştefan Grigorie leave to Rapid, Marian Aliuţă and Cristian Dancia were signed on free transfers and two Slovenian internationals, Dare Vršič and Dejan Rušič were also bought to strengthen the team.

By the end of 2007 the team was lying third in the standings with 32 points and has an average of over two goals scored per match. However, Poli's defensive record was much worse than it had been in previous years and it seemed that this was the team's most significant weakness that had to be tended to.

A few days into the winter transfer window, the white-violets announced the transfers of Miloš Brezinský from Slovan Liberec and Balázs Borbély from Artmedia Bratislava. Elvio Raul Martinez, Tiberiu Bălan and Carlos Milhazes were also brought on loan. The club also terminated their deal with FCM Reşiţa, so that all of Politehnica's players there returned to Timişoara. In January, Marian Iancu stated he would retire from the club unless the City and County Councils would become co-investors at the football team. After a month of pressures, both Councils decided to offer a sponsorship, but refused to join the club's ownership. The invovlement was satisfactory for Mr. Iancu, who went on to say that BKP will continue offering their financial support.

Poli ended the season in sixth position, which ensured them qualification to the UEFA Cup, because the Romanian Cup final was played between CFR Cluj (league Champions and qualified for the UEFA Champions League) and Unirea Urziceni (who finished fifth in the standings). It is the first time in sixteen years that a team from Timişoara achieves European qualification.Poli managed to score 57 goals, more than any other first league side this season. Moreover, for the first time in over three decades, a team outside of Bucharest managed not to lose in either encounter with Dinamo Bucharest, Rapid Bucharest or Steaua Bucharest. It was also the first time since 1956 that Poli beat rivals UTA both away and at home.

Colours and badge

Politehnica Timisoara's colours are white and violet, even though they have not always been so. When the team was first created, it used white and black, as all other students' teams. This changed in 1950 to white and blue, which lasted only until 1966, when the current colours came in place. [cite news
url=http://www.politm.com/viewtopic.php?t=3200&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=32
title=Fotbal Club Politehnica Timisoara - 75 - 1921-1996
publisher=Prof. univ. dr. Gheorghe Popa
date=2007-02-02
accessdate=2007-02-02]

The team's current second kit is yellow-black, the colours of the main sponsor BKP.

The club's badge has changed several times among the years, with the emblem alternating between a flame, a football and ultimately a lion, the latter one being also present in the county's badge. However, the new symbol of a cavalier, inspired from Timisoara's medieval roots, has been introduced during the Doboş era and it symbolizes the nobility of the duel - a parallel to the football encounter.

Supporters

CVUCS

Commando Viola Ultra Curva Sud (in short CVUCS) is one of the most famous football fan groups in Romania. The fans, located in the southern sector of the stadium, are renowned for their unwavering support for their team, and their "Anti-Bucharest" chants and attitude, which are mainly directed towards arch rivals Dinamo Bucureşti and Steaua Bucureşti. Largely regarded the most important rivalry though is the local rivalry with UTA, a team based 60 kilometers away from Timisoara, in Arad. Often there are violent encounters before and after venues of the two teams.

There is an ongoing friendship between fans of Poli and those of Rapid Bucuresti.

Poli is the team with the highest number of attendances at home matches, despite having achieved only a mid-table position in the last season. The spectacles performed by CVUCS match after match are both a visual delight and a heart-warming experience for fans of the "Alb-Violet" team.

Protest for club record

On the March 17, 2007, ten thousand fans marched from the club stadium to the city center, protesting against the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which deemed that FCU Politehnica Timisoara was not allowed to use the club name, colours, emblem and insignias any longer, as they belonged to the club owned by Claudio Zambon. His team currently plays in a small town next to Bucharest, in the Romanian third league.

In the week preceding the event, after FIFA announced it would maintain the initial CAS decision, the supporters wrote a manifest which they sent to several major newspapers around the world. The manifest was quickly translated in five languages: English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. Moreover, the fans spread out fliers through Timişoara, posting the manifest all over the city in just a few hours. Subsequently, over 20,000 people came to watch the match against Politehnica Iaşi which took place that Saturday. Despite the defeat (0-1), over half the number marched peacefully to the town center, where they stayed for several hours, chanting for their team and listening to speeches made by the local authorities, former players and the leaders of the supporter groups.

After the club was docked six points in early September 2008 for not fully complying with the CAS decision, the fans took to the streets in a spontaneous protest on the 4th of September. After blocking one of the main roads into Timisoara, from where they were dispersed by local police through the use of tear gas, the over one thousand supporters marched towards the city center. On the way their numbers increased to five thousand and after reaching their destination, they chanted in support for Poli and against the Romanian Football Federation, who they blamed not only for the lost points, but for the part they played in disowning FC Timișoara of their club records.

This underlying issue brought the fans together in another protest on the 7th of September, when about ten thousand supporters gathered once more in the city center, in an organized protest this time. Similarly to the meeting in 2007, speeches were held by significant local figures and chants were sung. Another protest is planned for the 9th of September, as the fans aim to push national authorities into investigating the alleged frauds commited by the RFF, in the hope that once these are uncovered, FC Timișoara will be allowed to return to its former name and colours.

Achievements

"Romanian Cup Runner-Up"
*2007 • 0 - 2 with Rapid Bucureşti

Current squad

The players in bold have senior international caps.

Reserves and youth team

Out on loan

*flagicon|Romania Cristian Zimmermann on loan to CS Buftea
*flagicon|Romania Alin Raţiu on loan to CS Buftea
*flagicon|Romania Cristian Scutaru on loan to CS Buftea
*flagicon|Romania Cristian Siminic on loan to CS Buftea
*flagicon|Romania Fabian Teuşan on loan to CS Buftea
*flagicon|Romania Adrian Poparadu on loan to CS Buftea
*flagicon|Romania Alexandru Popovici on loan to CS Buftea
*flagicon|Romania Florin Sandu on loan to CS Buftea
*flagicon|Moldova Artur Pătraş on loan to CS Buftea
*flagicon|Brazil Ademar on loan to CS Buftea
*flagicon|Romania Mircea Axente on loan to CS Buftea
*flagicon|Romania Sebastian Cojocnean on loan to CS Buftea
*flagicon|Senegal Gueye Mansour on loan to CS Buftea
*flagicon|Romania Cristian Danci on loan to Liberty Oradea
*flagicon|Romania Bogdan Străuţ on loan to CFR Timişoara

Notable former players

{|
*flagicon|Romania Mircea Oprea
*flagicon|Romania Romulus Buia
*flagicon|Romania Cristian Silvăşan
*flagicon|Romania Cosmin Contra
*flagicon|Romania Viorel Moldovan
*flagicon|Romania Gabriel Caramarin
*flagicon|Romania Alin Stoica
*flagicon|Romania Silviu Bălace
*flagicon|Romania Mihăiţă Pleşan
*flagicon|Romania Ionel Ganea
*flagicon|Romania Ovidiu Petre
*flagicon|Romania Marian Aliuţă
*flagicon|Romania Gabriel Torje
*flagicon|Australia Jonathan McKain
*flagicon|Australia John Wayne Shroj
*flagicon|Ghana Emmanuel Osei
*flagicon|Nigeria Ifeanyi Emeghara

Notable managers

*flagicon|Romania Basarab Panduru
*flagicon|Romania Cosmin Olăroiu
*flagicon|Romania Gheorghe Hagi
*flagicon|Romania Sorin Cârţu

References

External links

* [http://www.politimisoara.com/ Official Poli Timişoara website]
* [http://www.cvucs.ro/ Official Poli Timişoara fans website]
* [http://www.violamania.ro/ Portal devoted to Poli Timişoara]
* [http://www.fcpoli.homestead.com/ Unofficial Poli Timişoara fans website] en icon
* [http://www.viola-online.net/forum Unofficial Poli Timişoara fans website]
* [http://www.fcupoli.com/ Poli Timişoara fans website]
* [http://www.fcupoli.blogspot.com/ Poli Fan Blog]
* [http://www.fcupoli-en.blogspot.com/ Poli Fan Blog] en icon
* [http://www.liga1.ro/teaminfo.php/7/ Poli Timişoara - Liga 1]
* [http://www.labtof.ro/diviziaa/echipa/Politehnica_Timisoara/73/ Poli Timisoara all time results in Liga 1]
* [http://www.poli1921.com Poli 1921 Timisoara News]