FC Politehnica Iași (2010)

Asociația Club Sportiv Municipal Politehnica Iași (), commonly known as Politehnica Iași or simply Poli Iași, is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Iași, Iași County, which plays in the Liga II.

The team was formed in 2010 as ''ACSMU Politehnica Iași'', and regard themselves as the continuation of the original FC Politehnica Iași which was dissolved the same year; however, the club does not currently hold the record of the old entity. Between 2011 and 2016, it was rebranded as ''CSM Studențesc Iași'', but returned to the name of Politehnica afterwards.

Politehnica Iași began competing in the second tier and made its first Liga I appearance in the 2012–13 season. In the 2017–18 campaign, it equalled the best result of its predecessor after finishing sixth in the Romanian league championship. The club plays in white and blue uniforms at the inherited Emil Alexandrescu Stadium, which has a capacity of 11,390 persons.

History

Foundation and first years (2010–2014)

The original Politehnica Iași was established in April 1945 and folded in 2010 because of unpaid debts. In August that year, Tricolorul Breaza merged with ''Navobi Iași'' and formed ''ACSMU Politehnica Iași''. Playing in the Liga II, the club's objective was to return to the first tier of Romanian football.

Ionuț Popa was appointed manager of the newly founded club and Grigore Sichitiu was elected as executive president.

In the summer of 2011, the club was renamed ''Clubul Sportiv Municipal Studențesc Iași'', or simply ''CSMS Iași''. For the second half of the 2011–12 season ex-Romanian international Florin Prunea was brought in as president. On 2 June 2012, after the 4–2 victory against Farul Constanța. the team gained promotion to Liga I, after two years in the second tier of Romanian football.

On 29 August, Liviu Ciobotariu was appointed head coach. The Moldavian team finished the 2012–13 season in 17th place and were relegated to the second division. Even though there were hopes that they would be accepted for the 2013–14 Liga I secured the last place in the first league, due to the relegation of FC Rapid București for financial reasons.

For the 2013–14 Liga II season, promising young coach Costel Enache was brought in to head a team that retained the services of its young talent, the likes of Alexandru Crețu, Adrian Avrămia and Andrei Hergheligiu.

Return to the top division (2014–present)

After Marius Lăcătuș replaced Enache as manager, Politehnica finished 1st in the 2013–14 Liga II and were promoted back to Liga I. For the 2014–15 season, the club played for their first time in the Cupa Ligii, defeating ASA Târgu Mureș and advancing to the last-16, where they eliminated former Romanian Cup and Liga I winner CFR Cluj.

The 2015–16 Liga I season was one of the best in the short history of Politehnica Iași and in the football history of Iași. After a great campaign, the team finished 7th and qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League under the command of Italian coach Nicolò Napoli, with a team that relied on experienced players like: Andrei Cristea, Bojan Golubović, Ionuț Voicu and Branko Grahovac. In the second round of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, Politehnica encountered Croatian team Hajduk Split and after a 2–2 draw at Iași, they were defeated at Split 1–2, prematurely leaving the competition.

On 22 July 2016, the club announced that it had changed its name, from ''CSM Studențesc Iași'' to CSM Politehnica Iași, a name more closely linked to the Iași football tradition and dissolved FC Politehnica Iași (1945).

In June 2017, president Florin Prunea was let go after five years at the helm of Politehnica Iași. Adrian Ambrosie was subsequently appointed to the position. After a number of major departures, with the likes of Lukács Bőle and Daisuke Sato finishing their contracts, the team went into major reconstruction and signed a number of foreign internationals, like Denis Rusu, Kamer Qaka, Luwagga Kizito and Platini. On 24 February 2018, despite a 0–1 loss to defending champions Viitorul Constanța, Poli Iași became the first team from Moldavia to qualify for the Liga I play-off round since its introduction in 2015. To the delight of manager Flavius Stoican, they went on to finish the league in 6th place, thus equalling the best result of predecessor FC Politehnica Iași.

On 11 July that year, the club announced that it earned the right to use the FC Politehnica Iași logo and name, which was considered to be the first step in the plan of regaining the club's full identity, the next one being the recovery of their record.

Stadium

Politehnica Iași plays its home matches at the Emil Alexandrescu stadium. It is located in the borough of Copou, near the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, and has a capacity of 11,390 seats.

Support

The biggest ultras groups of Politehnica Iași are ''Băieții Veseli'' and ''Ultras''. Both supported FC Politehnica Iași (1945) until dissolution and regard the new team as its successor. They have friendly relationships with Zimbru Chișinău.

Rivalries

Politehnica Iași's main rival is Sporting Vaslui, and matches between these clubs are known as the " Moldovan Derby". The rivalry developed in the 2001–02 Liga III season, when the club from Vaslui was fighting for promotion to the second division together with Poli Iaşi, with the latter winning the championship and earning promotion. The rivalry between the two clubs was, again, fueled by another clash for promotion, this time in the 2003–04 Liga II season, with the whites and blues prevailing yet again.

There are other smaller rivalries with Oțelul Galați and FC Botoșani.

Honours

Domestic

Leagues

*Liga II
**Winners (2): 2011–12, 2013–14

Players

First team squad

Out on loan

Club officials

Administrative staff

* Last updated: 18 September 2022
* Source: Board of directors

Technical staff

* Last updated: 18 September 2022
* Source: Technical staff

Notable former players

;Romania
* Narcis Bădic
* Gabriel Bosoi
* Alexandru Ciucur
* Alexandru Crețu
* Andrei Cristea
* Cosmin Frăsinescu
* Andrei Hergheligiu
* Ovidiu Mihalache
* Marius Onofraș
* Ionuț Panțîru
* Clement Pălimaru
* Alexandru Țigănașu
* Ionuț Voicu
;Argentina
* Juan Pablo Passaglia

;Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Bojan Golubović
* Branko Grahovac
;Cape Verde
* Luís Carlos Almada Soares
;Costa Rica
* Dylan Flores
;Netherlands
* Kevin Luckassen
;Serbia
* Milan Mitić
;Hungary
* Lukács Bőle

Statistics and records

League history

European Cups history

;Notes
* 1Q: First qualifying round
* 2Q: Second qualifying round
* 3Q: Third qualifying round
* PO: Play-off round

European cups all-time statistics

References

Notes

Citations

External links

Official website
*
Club profile on LPF's official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Politehnica Iasi

Association football clubs established in 2010
Football clubs in Iași County
Sport in Iași
Liga I clubs
Liga II clubs
University and college association football clubs in Romania
2010 establishments in Romania