Asociația Club Sportiv Poli Timișoara (), commonly known as ACS Poli Timișoara, Poli Timișoara or simply ACS Poli, was a Romanian professional
football club based in the city of
Timișoara
), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor)
, image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg
, map_caption = Location in Timiș County
, pushpin_map = Romania#Europe
, pushpin_ ...
,
Timiș County
Timiș () is a county (''județ'') of western Romania on the border with Hungary and Serbia, in the historical region of Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the westernmost and the largest county in Romania in terms of land area. Th ...
.
The team was founded in 2012, the year the old
FC Politehnica Timișoara went bankrupt.
ACS Recaș was moved to Timișoara and—supported by the City Council of Timișoara and the Timiș County Council—was meant to continue the history of the original entity. It promoted to the
top flight in the
2013–14 season, however attendances were modest as the majority of the former fans chose to support
ASU Politehnica Timișoara instead. The
Polytechnic University of Timișoara ceased the FC Politehnica brand and records for
free use to ACS Poli between 2012 and 2021, but then moved them to ASU Politehnica during the latter year. Also in 2021, ACS Poli was excluded from the
Liga III championship and dissolved.
ACS Poli Timișoara played in white and purple kits, although it also used variations of black and white during its first years of existence.
History
In the summer of 2012,
ACS Recaș, a club just promoted to the
Liga II
The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07. It is currently Sponsor (commercial), sp ...
, was moved to
Timișoara
), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor)
, image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg
, map_caption = Location in Timiș County
, pushpin_map = Romania#Europe
, pushpin_ ...
and renamed ''ACS Poli Timișoara''
[Robu a elucidat misterul: "Nu-i spunem Politehnica, îi spunem Poli!"](_blank)
/ref>
/ref> after the dissolution of FC Politehnica Timișoara.[A treia operaţie estetică! AC Recaş se mută de luni pe "Dan Păltinişanu"](_blank)
/ref> The new club is co-owned by the City Council and the County Council and has the backing of the Politehnica University of Timișoara, all three being active members in the legal entity running the club. However, the ultras supporters rejected the move and decided to support an alternative project in the lower leagues, ASU Politehnica Timişoara.
Valentin Velcea continued as head coach,[Velcea, reconfirmat ca antrenor la Timișoara! Ce a spus primarul după întâlnirea cu jucătorii](_blank)
/ref> while the roster consisted mostly of the core ACS Recaș players and several players from FC Politehnica. At its conception, the club, established as an NGO, was primarily financed by the local authorities,[ACS Recaş, transformată în ACS Poli, trăieşte din bani publici: CLT i-a dat 4 milioane de lei!](_blank)
/ref> as Timișoara mayor Nicolae Robu insisted control should not be forfeited to private investors. After initially playing in black/white/yellow kits, in order to avoid legal complications while the court ruled over the rightful owner following the bankruptcy of FC Politehnica, the club returned to its historic white-purple colors starting with the 2015–2016 season. As of February 2016, ACS Poli Timişoara is the sole and full owner of all the rights pertaining to and deriving from the Politehnica Timișoara brand and records, following a court decision which nullified the original agreement between the founding club and record holders, and Marian Iancu's insolvent club.
From a competitive perspective, the club failed to equal the achievements of the Marian Iancu era. A yo-yo-ing between the first two leagues, reminiscent of the Politehnica's travails in the 1980s, ensued. The situation was amplified by the fact that the financing received from the local authorities was deemed illegal in the summer of 2015, which left the club without its main financial benefactor. The highlight season for the new Poli came about in 2016–2017, when the club started with a 14 points penalty, as it failed to reach a points minimum the previous year and recorded unpaid debts. In spite of this, Poli, under the management of Ionuţ Popa, rallied to reach the relegation play-off in the dying minutes of the season and defeated rivals UTA Arad 5–2 on aggregate. Moreover, the club reached the first national cup final, finishing runner-up in the Cupa Ligii, while also reaching the semi-finals of the Romanian Cup.
The following season was another struggle and Poli suffered a reversal of fortunes as they were relegated by courtesy of a goal scored late in the last matchday. With financial pressures mounting, the club declared insolvency during the 2018–2019 Liga 2 season and struggled to stay competitive, becoming involved in another fight to avoid relegation. In order to mitigate costs, it was also forced to relocate from the Dan Păltinişanu stadium to the Electrica stadium.
The Romanian Football Federation
Romanian Football Federation (), also known by its acronym FRF, is the governing body of football in Romania. They are headquartered in the capital city of Bucharest and affiliated to FIFA and UEFA since 1923 and 1955 respectively. The Federati ...
announced ahead of the start of the 2021–22 Liga II
The 2021–22 Liga II (also known as 2021–22 Liga II Casa Pariurilor) was the 82nd season of the Liga II, the second tier of the Romanian football league system. A total of 20 teams contested the league.
It was the sixth Liga II season with a s ...
championship that the Polytechnic University of Timișoara, the owner of the logo, history and all of Politehnica Timișoara's football records, approves the use of these by SSU Politehnica Timișoara
Societatea Sportivă Universitară Politehnica Timișoara (), commonly known as SSU Politehnica Timișoara, Politehnica Timișoara, or simply Poli Timișoara, is a Romanian professional football club based in Timișoara, Timiș County, which comp ...
. ACS Poli was also excluded from the third division and went bankrupt in September 2021.
Supporters and Rivalries
Historically, Poli has been the most prominent football club in Timișoara after 1945, playing consistently in either the first or the second tier of Romanian football. Local rivalries with CFR Timișoara
CFR may refer to:
* Caen – Carpiquet Airport in northern France
* Căile Ferate Române, the Romanian state railway
* Canadian Finals Rodeo
* Case fatality rate, term for proportion of people dying of a disease
* Centre for Foreign Relations, ...
and UM Timișoara were relevant until the early 2000s. Afterwards, the former was relegated to a semi-professional status in the lower leagues and the latter was dissolved in 2008.
Nationally, there were strong rivalries with UTA Arad and Dinamo București. The matches against UTA were labeled as the West Derby, due to the proximity of Timișoara and Arad. Matches against CFR Cluj, FCSB
Fotbal Club FCSB (), commonly known as FCSB, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the top flight of the Romanian league system, the Liga I.
The original ''Steaua București'' footb ...
, and Universitatea Craiova also drew large crowds.
After the club reincarnated as ACS Poli in 2012, the core factions of the ultras movement decided to support an alternate club in the lower leagues, ASU Politehnica Timișoara. ACS Poli struggled to fill the void created by their departure, with smaller fan factions forming to support the club. Although top-bill matches with historic rivals still attract fans to the stadium, attendances have dropped compared to the averages attained in the 2000s.
Stadia
The club's home ground was Electrica stadium, although most of its history it played on Dan Păltinișanu Stadium.
Honours
Leagues
*Liga II
The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07. It is currently Sponsor (commercial), sp ...
**Winners (1): 2014–15
**Runners-up (1): 2012–13
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
Cups
* Romanian Cup
**Winners (0):
**Runners-up (0):
**Best finish: Semi-finals: 2016–17 Cupa României
The 2016–17 Cupa României was the seventy-ninth season of the annual Romanian primary football knockout tournament. The winner, Voluntari should qualify for the third qualifying round of the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League
The 2017–18 UEFA E ...
* Cupa Ligii
**Runners-up (1): 2016–17
Shirt sponsors and manufacturers
Notable former players
The footballers enlisted below have had international cap(s) for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level and/or more than 50 caps for ACS Poli Timișoara.
* Andrei Artean
* Cristian Bărbuț
* Claudiu Belu
* Cosmin Bîrnoi
Cosmin Marian Bîrnoi (born 17 September 1997) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga II club Unirea Dej.
Honours
ACS Poli Timișoara
*Cupa Ligii
The Cupa Ligii ( en, League Cup) was Romania's secondary club ...
* Cristian Bocșan
* Cristian Boldea
* Gabriel Cânu
* Valentin Crețu
* Marius Croitoru
Marius Marian Croitoru (born 2 October 1980) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently in charge of Liga I club FC Argeș Pitești. He played as a right winger and possessed a powerful shot and good ball tech ...
* Alexandru Curtean
Alexandru Paul Curtean (born 27 March 1987 in Sibiu) is a Romanian footballer who played as a midfielder.
Personal life
Born in Sibiu, Curtean was born into a sporting family. His father, Dan Curtean, was also a football player in the ea ...
* Cristian Daminuță
Cristian Alexandru Daminuță (born 15 February 1990) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a centre back or defensive midfielder.
Club career Politehnica Timișoara
Daminuță made his debut for Politehnica Timișoara in the 200 ...
* Cătălin Doman
Cătălin Petre Doman (born 30 January 1988) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga II club CSM Slatina, which he captains.Octavian Drăghici
Octavian Valentin Drăghici (born 26 November 1985) is a Romanian football player who plays for Austrian club SV Rottenmann.Róbert Elek
Róbert Elek (born 13 June 1988) is a Romanian professional footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American footba ...
* Dorin Goga
* Pedro Henrique
* Javi Hernández
* Mario Kirev
Mario Iliyanov Kirev ( bg, Марио Илиянов Кирев; born 15 August 1989) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Pirin Blagoevgrad.
Club career Youth career
Kirev began his career at FC Germanea. His ...
* Srdjan Luchin
* Sebastian Mailat
Sebastian Árpád Mailat (born 12 December 1997) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Liga I club Botoșani.
Mailat started out as a senior at his hometown side ACS Poli Timișoara in 2016, and moved to CFR Cluj the ...
* Marko Marović
Marko Marović ( Serbian Cyrillic: Марко Маровић; born 30 January 1983) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a defender.
Club career
Early career
Marović started his career at Partizan, signing his first ...
* Cristian Melinte
* Florin Nanu
* George Neagu
* Alex Nimely
Alex Tchuimeni-Nimely (born 11 May 1991) is a Liberian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is the elder brother of Liberia international Sylvanus Nimely.
A former England under-20 international, he accepted a call-up to ...
* Ovidiu Petre
* Adrian Poparadu
* Ovidiu Popescu
* Alexandru Popovici
* Răzvan Raț
* Georgi Sarmov
Georgi Sarmov ( bg, Георги Сърмов; born 7 September 1985) is a Bulgarian former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder.
Career Naftex
Between 2004 and 2006 Sarmov played for Naftex Burgas, making 43 league appeara ...
* Cristian Scutaru
* Alin Șeroni
Alin Ioan Șeroni (born 26 March 1987) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Liga I side FC Botoșani.
Club career
Șeroni made his Liga I debut playing for ACS Poli Timișoara
Asociația Club Sportiv Poli ...
* Eugen Sidorenco
Eugen Sidorenco (born 19 March 1989) is a Moldovan professional footballer who plays as a left winger for Zimbru Chișinău.
Club career
FC Zimbru
In 2007, Sidorenco signed for Moldovan club FC Zimbru Chişinău.
In the summer of 2013, Sidoren ...
* Cătălin Straton
* Bogdan Străuț
* Szabolcs Székely
Szabolcs Gergely Székely (born June 29, 1985) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a striker . In his career Székely played in the Liga I for Gloria Bistriţa and Poli Timișoara and in the Liga II or Liga III for various teams such a ...
* Igor Țîgîrlaș
Igor Țîgîrlaș (born 24 February 1984) is a Moldovan football midfielder. He has also played for the Moldova national football team.
Career
Igor Țîgîrlaș started his football career at the Youth Football School in Chișinău. His first c ...
* Răzvan Trandu
Răzvan Trandu (born 17 March 1991) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a centre midfielder for Liga III side CSC Ghiroda.
Club career
Trandu made his Liga I debut playing for ACS Poli Timișoara on 19 July 2013 in a match again ...
* Ianis Zicu
Ianis Alin Zicu (born 23 October 1983) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for teams such as Dinamo București, Farul Constanța, Rapid București, Politehnica Timișoara, CSKA Sofia or ASA Târgu Mureș, a ...
Notable former managers
* Dan Alexa
* Silviu Bălace
* Florin Marin
* Ionuț Popa
* Aurel Șunda
* Valentin Velcea
Valentin Adrian Velcea (born 5 September 1973 in Sadova) is a retired Romanian football midfielder and manager.
Club career
Politehnica Timișoara
Velcea started football in Timișoara and made a name for himself while at Politehnica. He wa ...
Players
Appearances
:''Competitive, professional matches only. Only pertains to 2012 onwards.''
''As of 1 March 2019''
Goalscorers
:''Competitive, professional matches only. Appearances, including substitutes, appear in brackets. Only pertains to 2012 onwards.''
''As of 1 March 2019''
League history
References
External links
Official website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poli Timisoara
*
Defunct football clubs in Romania
Football clubs in Timiș County
Sport in Timișoara
University and college association football clubs in Romania
Association football clubs established in 2012
Association football clubs disestablished in 2021
Liga I clubs
Liga II clubs
Liga III clubs
2012 establishments in Romania
2021 disestablishments in Romania