U Cluj

Football club infobox
clubname = "U" Cluj


fullname = CFM Universitatea Cluj-Napoca
nickname = "şepcile roşii (red caps)"
founded = September, 1919
ground = Ion Moina, Cluj-Napoca
capacity = 28,000 | chairman = flagicon|Romania Remus Câmpeanu
manager = flagicon|Romania Dorinel Munteanu
league = Liga II
season = 2007-08
position = Liga I, 18th
shirtsupplier = Lotto
shirtsponsors = Oncos
pattern_la1=_whiteshoulders|pattern_b1=_Lottoblack|pattern_ra1=_whiteshoulders
leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=000000|socks1=FFFFFF
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=_Lottowhite|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=000000|body2=000000|rightarm2=000000|shorts2=000000|socks2=000000

"U" Cluj is the common name of a sports club from the city of Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The name of the club is actually C.S. Universitatea Cluj-Napoca. The most important sections of the club are those of football, rugby, basketball, handball, volleyball and athletics. Traditionally, the players of the "U" Cluj teams are nicknamed şepcile roşii (red caps), from the red caps that the students from the city’s Faculty of Medicine used to wear.

In 1994 the football section of the club, that is now named C.F.M. Universitatea Cluj-Napoca was separated from the main club and became a professional football club.

History

The Universitatea sports club of Cluj-Napoca was founded in September 1919 by the "Sports Society of University Students" ( _ro. Societatea Sportivă a Studenţilor Universitari). Its first chairman was Prof. Iuliu Haţieganu, famous doctor and politician (PNTCD).

In the early years of its existence "U" Cluj only played in some local competitions, as at the time there was not any football championship at a national level. The team played the final of the “Mara Cup” in 1923 against Chinezul Timişoara (0-2).

"U" played in the Romanian national football championship Divizia A from 1932, when Divizia A was created. In this first season “U” finished first in its group and played the championship final against Ripensia Timişoara (0-0 and 3-5).

In the first season of the Romanian Cup, in 1933-1934, “U” managed to get to the final, where it lost against Ripensia Timişoara (0-5).

In 1940 "U" had to move from Cluj to Sibiu as a result of the Second Vienna Award, when the northern part of Transylvania was ceded to Hungary. In 1942, “U” played the final of the Romanian Cup for a second time, and lost against Rapid Bucureşti (1-7).

In 1945, after the end of the Second World War and the return of the northern part of Transylvania to Romania, “U” returned to its home in Cluj-Napoca.

In 1946 the name of the club was changed to Ştiinţa Cluj ( _en. Science Cluj). In 1949 the team reached the final of the Romanian Cup for the third time, but it was once again beaten, this time by CSCA Bucureşti, now called Steaua Bucureşti (1-2).

At the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, the manager of the team was Ştefan (Pisti) Covaci, a very famous Romanian coach who later became the manager of Ajax Amsterdam. He was the first Romanian to coach a famous European football club.

In 1964-1965, “U” won the Romanian Cup and this remained the greatest performance of the club until these days.

In 1966 the name of the team was changed back to “U”. At the end of the 1972–1973 season, “U” found itself in the best position in the Romanian Championship Divizia A after the Second World War, as it finished third in the league table, with the same number of points as the second placed team.

In 1998, “U” reached the final of Cupa Ligii but lost to FCM Bacău.

In 1999, “U” was relegated into the second Romanian division, Divizia B and in 2000 it was relegated for the first time in its history into the third division, Divizia C. Luckily, it only played one season into the third division, as in 2001 it was promoted back to Divizia B. The manager of the team at the time was the ex-Romanian international, Ioan Ovidiu Sabău who started playing football in the 1980s at "U" Cluj.

In 2005, the new objective became promotion to the first league. Unfortunately, under coach Leo Grozavu, who oftenly played highly defensive football, the team made many nil draws and the team lost second place (promotion play-off) by a point, though in the last match days they won 4-0 with the first place and the third, and 3-2 (after leading 3-0) with the 2nd place.

In the beginning of the 2006–2007 season, a new manager was brought, Adrian Falub, who had never coached before yet had played over 220 matches for "U" Cluj in the first league. Under his lead, the team had a poor season early and even reached 8th position. Yet, the moment passed and the team installed itself on 1st position often separated by over 6 points to the next position. In 19th May 2007, virtual promotion was achieved after a 0-0 draw against second place contender Dacia Mioveni, and thus, 3 weeks before the final match day, "U" ended the 8-year spell in the lower divisions returning to the first league, for the 52nd season in history.

tadium

The first football and athletics stadium in Cluj-Napoca was built between 1908 and 1911 and had a capacity of 1,500. The official inauguration in 1911 was done by organizing a game between a Cluj-Napoca team and Galatasaray Istanbul. It was the first game in Europe for Galatasaray, and the Cluj team won 8-1.

In 1961 new stands were built and the capacity of the stadium became 28,000. The new stands have an U-shaped appearance, as the name of the team that uses it.

When the team relegated to Divizia C in 2000, over half the stadium was declared structurally unsafe for hosting matches and was closed, so the stadium was left with only around 12-13,000 places. Yet, once in a match against well supported Bucharest side Steaua in the Romanian Cup on 13th October 2004, there were over 16,000 spectators attending, because many people had jumped over the bars for sector separation.

In early 2006, when the team was a promotion candidate, the problem of building a new stadium was raised, yet even now, after lots of arguments, a solid plan has not been made up, mainly due to disagreements between the local city and county councils. The conflict was mainly caused by the value of the land which the stadium was on.

Honours

* Romanian Cup holders: 1964-1965
* Romanian Cup finalists: 1933-1934, 1941-1942, 1948-1949
* Romanian Championship Divizia A runners-up: 1932-1933
* Romanian Championship Divizia A third place: 1933-1934, 1971-1972
* Cupa Ligii finalists: 1998
* UEFA Cup Winners' Cup last 16: 1965-1966
* UEFA Cup first round: 1972-1973
* UEFA Intertoto Cup groups: 1995-1996

The “U” Cluj Under 21 and Junior teams have been always among the best in the country and they won several National Championship titles:
* The Under 21’s were Romanian champions 3 times in: 1962-1963, 1970-1971, 1971-1972
* The Under 21’s were Romanian champions 8 times in: 1955, 1956, 1964-1965, 1966-1967, 1968-1969, 1971-1972, 1973-1974, 2000-2001

Current first team squad

"As of 26 September 2008."

quad Changes during the 2008/09 Season

In
* Bogdan Fărcaş - back from loan;
* Zsolt Szilágyi - back after injury;
* Cosmin Cruşoveanu - back from loan;
* Valeriu Matiş - from juniors;
* Răzvan Feneşan - from juniors;
* Ionuţ Fărcaş - from juniors;
* Robert Villand - back from loan;
* Paul Ţene - from juniors;
* Dan Văscan - back from loan;
* Ciprian Suciu - back from loan;
* Călin Vădana - back from loan;
* Adrian Borza - back from loan;
* Ionuţ Şuteu - from "Lotus Felix Sânmartin";
* Răzvan Fărcuţa - free contract;
* Raul Marincău - free contract;
* Ovidiu Sărmăşan - from "Avântul Reghin";

Out
* Andre Astorga;
* Sorin Rădoi to "Unirea Urziceni";
* Nemanja Jovanović to "FC Vaslui";
* Dorin Goga to "Poli Timişoara";
* Claudiu Răducanu to "FK Khazar Lenkoran";
* Cristian Dancia to "CS Otopeni";
* Gigel Coman to "CS Otopeni";
* Cristian Silvăşan;
* Fabien Boudarène to "Vannes OC";
* Baiano;
* Fábio Bilica to "Sivasspor;
* Radu Sabo to "Sănătatea Cluj;

Great players of all times

Lazăr Sfera, Sepi Graţian, Orza, Andrei Sepci, Sever Coracu, Tony Dascălu, Mircea Luca, Medrea brothers, Viorel Mateianu, Zoli Ivansuc, Petru Emil, Remus Câmpeanu, Traian Georgescu, Mircea Neşu, Dan Anca, Mihai Adam, Alexa Uifăleanu, Solomon, Mustăţea, Câmpeanu II, Marcel Coras, Ciocan, Tegean, Batacliu, Marcel Lăzăreanu, Viorel Mureşan, Dobrău, Dobrotă, Muzsnai, Florin Prunea, Zoltán Iasko, Meszaros, Anton Doboş, Cristinel Pojar, Andrei Zanc, Ioan Ovidiu Sabău, Horaţiu Cioloboc, Zoltán Ritli, Zoltan Kadar, Vasile Brătianu II, Adrian Falub, Cristian Dulca, Cristian Coroian, Alin Minteuan, Francisc Dican, Ovidiu Maier, Marius Predatu, Tiberiu Bălan, Liviu Mihai, George Florescu, Răzvan Cociş, Gabriel Giurgiu, János Székely, Gabriel Jula, Zsolt Szilágyi

upporters

“U” has many supporters in Cluj-Napoca, but also in some other parts of Romania, especially in Transylvania. One of the reasons for the team’s popularity is that in Cluj-Napoca there are some of the most important Romanian universities, including the Babes-Bolyai University, the largest in the country with more than 45,000 students. The majority of the ex-students of these universities remain “U” Cluj supporters even after their graduation when they spread all-over the country.

The ultras groups of "U" Cluj are: UCG (Ultra Curva Groapa), Ultras 19, Fanatics, Boys, F.O.R.T. , Kamikaze Girls and others.

Contact

Address: P-ţa Lucian Blaga, nr.1, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Old crests

External links

* [http://www.universitateacluj.ro CFM Universitatea Cluj official web page]
* [http://www.ucluj.ro Universitatea Cluj supporters web page]
* [http://www.sepcile-rosii.com Şepcile roşii (Red caps)]
* [http://www.cronicabestiala.sepcile-rosii.com/ Cronica Bestiala]
* [http://www.r3lu.sepcile-rosii.com/ r3Lu's photos]