AFC Unirea Slobozia
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| Full name | Asociația Fotbal Club Unirea 04 Slobozia | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Galben-albaștrii (The Yellow-Blues) | |||
| 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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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 team was founded in 1955 and reestablished in 2004, being for the most part of its history a participant in the third tier of the Romanian league system, the Liga III. Unirea Slobozia has also spent several seasons in the Liga II, first in the early 1980s and then between 2012 and 2015, when it also obtained its best ranking in the competition, namely a third place behind top flight regulars Politehnica Iași and Rapid București.
"The Yellow-Blues" play their home games at the Stadionul 1 Mai, which can host 6,000 spectators.
History
[edit]The 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, Gheorghe Mateiu, N.Nicolae, Gheorghe Nicolae, Lazăr, Ion Lupu, Păun, Liviu, Nini Vintilă, Constantinescu and Iosif Damaschin.[1]
In the first season in the second division, Unirea strengthened with players such as Gheorghe Tătaru, as player-coach, Leontin Toader, Cristian Niță, Vasile Jercălău, Marian Ene, Hadadea, Marchidan, V.Petrescu, Gabriel Simionov, but Unirea have a bad run, finishing on 17th place relegating back to the third division.[1]
Unirea Slobozia has been for most of its history a classic Liga III team, as it only promoted to the Liga II for the first time in 1989. In the early 2000s, the club encountered financial isses and was dissolved, being refounded 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
Since the start of the 2020–21 campaign, Unirea Slobozia has been again competing in the Liga II.
Honours
[edit]- Winners (1): 2023–24
Players
[edit]First team squad
[edit]- As of 18 September 2024[2]
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
[edit]Note: 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 directors[edit]
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Current technical staff[edit]
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League history
[edit]
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Notable former players
[edit]The 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)
- Marin Dună (2012–2013)
- Adrian Mihalcea (2020–2022)
- Costel Enache (2022–2023)
- Adrian Mihalcea (2023–)
- Ion Ionescu
- Marian Catană
- Ion Cojocaru
- Vladimir Marica
- Constantin Prepeliță
- Ion Răuță
- Ion Păciulete
References
[edit]- ^ Jump up to: a b c Mihai Ionescu & George Tudoran, Fotbal de la A la Z – Editura Sport-Turism 1984.
- ^ "AFC UNIREA 04 SLOBOZIA" (in Romanian). Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal. Retrieved 12 July 2024.