Asociația Clubul Sportiv Viitorul Pandurii Târgu Jiu, commonly known as Viitorul Pandurii Târgu Jiu or Viitorul Târgu Jiu, is a Romanian football club from

Târgu Jiu Târgu Jiu () is the capital of Gorj County in the Oltenia region of Romania. It is situated on the Southern Sub-Carpathians, on the banks of the river Jiu. Eight localities are administered by the city: Bârsești, Drăgoieni, Iezureni, Polat ...

Gorj County Gorj County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Oltenia, with its capital city at Târgu Jiu. ''Gorj'' comes from the Slavic ''Gor(no)-'' Jiu (“upper Jiu”), in contrast with Dolj (“lower Jiu”). Demographics In 2011, the county had a ...

, currently playing in 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 ...

. Established in 1998, the team was known as ''Șirineasa'' and ''ACS Energeticianul'', before moving to

in the summer of 2019 and renaming as Viitorul Pandurii Târgu Jiu.

History

''Viitorul Pandurii Târgu Jiu'' was founded in 1998 as ''AS Șirineasa'' and played for almost all its history at county level,

Liga IV Liga IV is the fourth level of the Romanian football league system. Its name was changed from Divizia D into Liga IV before the start of play for the 2006–07 season. Current format Liga IV has 42 divisions. The divisions are regionalised ...

and

Liga V Liga V is the fifth level of the Romanian football league system. Current format Liga V has 42 divisions. The divisions are regionalised and are organised by every county association. Each team plays in their own county. The county associatio ...

. At the end of

2015–16 Liga IV The 2015–16 Liga IV was the 74th season of the Liga IV, the fourth tier of the Romanian football league system. The champions of each county association play against one from a neighboring county in a playoff to gain promotion. Promotion pla ...

season, the team was crowned the champion of

Vâlcea County Vâlcea County (also spelt ''Vîlcea''; ) is a county ( județ) of Romania. Located in the historical regions of Oltenia and Muntenia (which are separated by the Olt River), it is also part of the wider Wallachia region. Its capital city is R ...

and went to the promotion play-off match where they defeated

Dolj County Dolj County (; originally meant ''Dol(no)- Jiu'', "lower Jiu", as opposed to '' Gorj'' (''upper Jiu'')) is a county (județ) of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Oltenia, with the capital city at Craiova. Demographics In 2011, the coun ...

champions, Tractorul Cetate, 5–4 on

aggregate Aggregate or aggregates may refer to: Computing and mathematics * collection of objects that are bound together by a root entity, otherwise known as an aggregate root. The aggregate root guarantees the consistency of changes being made within the ...

and promoted to

Liga III The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. Its name was changed from Divizia C to Liga III before the start of the 2006–07 season. It was the first in this format (six series of 18 ...

for the first time in the history of the club. The first

season was a very difficult one, financial problems and the weak number of players leading the team to the relegation area until the winter break. In the winter transfer period CS Șirineasa transferred an entire team from the newly disbanded

CSM Râmnicu Vâlcea CSM may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cantigas de Santa Maria'', a collection of medieval Galician-Portuguese vernacular songs and poems in praise of the Virgin Mary * Chaos Space Marines, in the ''Warhammer 40,000'' fictional universe * ...

, but the team did not find its rhythm, finishing in the 13th place and relegating to

after only one season. In the summer of 2017 the club has received an invitation from the Romanian Football Federation to continue in

due to lack of teams. The club accepted and was later taken over by the businessman, Nicolae Sarcină. Originally from

, he was planning to move the team to

, following to play on the newly built Tudor Vladimirescu Stadium, within this idea the club changed its name from a legal point of view to ''ACS Energeticianul'', shortly before the start of the season, but too late for a change in 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 ...

records, playing practically in the 2017–18 season with two names ''CS Șirineasa'' and ''ACS Energeticianul'', fact that attracted a lot of complaints from the other competitors in the championship. The completion of the stadium construction was delayed and ''Șirineasa'' was in the situation of not having where to play, so the team moved to

Petroșani Petroșani (; Hungarian: ''Petrozsény''; German: ''Petroschen'') is a city in Hunedoara County, Transylvania, Romania, with a population of 34,331 (2011). The city has been associated with mining since the 19th century. History "Pietros" means ...

, hometown of the new club president, Alin Zgripcea, taking advantage of the disastrous situation of local club

Jiul Petroșani Jiul may refer to these places in Romania: * the River Jiu ( + ) ** Jiul de Vest ** Jiul de Est The Jiul de Est ("Eastern Jiu", previously also known as ) is a headwater of the river Jiu in Romania. Its source is in the Șureanu Mountains. At ...

and the football void in the city. ''Șirineasa'' started to play in black and white, Jiul colors, with the promise that at the end of the season the club will merge with Jiul Petroșani, taking its brand and record, the club basically being in the incredible situation of having three identities, two legally and a third one, from an ideological point of view. With important investments, former

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...

n international

Cristian Dulca Cristian Alexandru Dulca (born 25 October 1972) is a Romanian professional Association football, football coach and former player, who is currently in charge of the Romania women's national football team, Romania women's national team. Playing c ...

as a coach and well-known players such as: Mihai Mincă,

Daniel Lung Daniel Cristian Lung (born 3 Oct 1987) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and preven ...

Florin Costea Florin Constantin Costea (born 16 May 1985 in Drăgășani) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Viitorul Dăești. Club career Universitatea Craiova Costea started in the Romanian Liga II for the local team Ra ...

Cătălin Țîră Ștefan Cătălin Țîră (born 18 June 1994) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a striker. His father, Fănel Țîră was also a footballer who spent most of his career at Rapid București. Career Club On 1 August 2016, Țîră ...

, the team dominated Seria IV of the

and promoted with and advance of 9 points over CSMȘ Reșița, the main pursuer, promoting for the first time in its history in the

. At the end of the season, Petroșani Municipality refused to pass the Jiul Stadium into the property of ''Șirineasa'' and even asking for a rent to use the sports base. Dissatisfied with the fact that they are not helped by the municipality and complaining that in the summer of 2017 they renovated the sports base from their own sources (the stadium being in the dereliction for over 10 years), the club officials of ''Șirineasa'' decided to move the team from Petroșani to Târgu Jiu. On 29 June 2018 it was announced officially that the club will be named as ''ACS Energeticianul'' also in the

records starting with the 2018–19 season. After one week, the club officials met with representatives of the municipality of Petroșani finally reaching an agreement to use Jiul Stadium in the 2018–19, the club canceling its move.

2019–present

On 30 June 2019, Luceafărul Oradea withdrew from

in favor of Energeticianul, which was saved from relegation, as it was the first team relegated at the end of the last season. Most important players and the entire technical staff was moved from Luceafărul to Energeticianul. It was also announced that the club was moved again, this time from

and renamed as ''Viitorul Pandurii Târgu Jiu'', also changing its colors from white and black to white and blue.

Grounds

Stadionul Municipal

From the summer until the early November 2019, Viitorul Pandurii Târgu Jiu played its home matches on

Municipal Stadium Municipal Stadium may refer to: Europe and Asia *Beirut Municipal Stadium, Lebanon *Herzliya Municipal Stadium, Israel *Hiroshima Municipal Stadium (1957), Japan *Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala or Municipal Stadium, Pakistan *Kfarjoz Municipal Stadium, ...

Drobeta-Turnu Severin Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. "Drobeta" is the name of the ancient Dacian and Roman towns at the site, and the modern t ...

, with a capacity of 20,054 seats. Municipal Stadium was used as temporary home ground, until Tudor Vladimirescu Stadium, in

, was opened.

Stadionul Tudor Vladimirescu

Since 9 November 2019, Viitorul Pandurii Târgu Jiu plays its home matches on Tudor Vladimirescu Stadium in

, with a capacity of 12,518 seats. The arena was opened in November 2019 in order to replace the former stadium and is also the home ground of

Pandurii Târgu Jiu The uprising of 1821 was a social and political rebellion in Wallachia, which was at the time a tributary state of the Ottoman Empire. It originated as a movement against the Phanariote administration, with backing from the more conservative bo ...

and

FC U Craiova 1948 U Craiova 1948, commonly known as FC U Craiova 1948 or FC U Craiova, is a Romanian professional football club based in Craiova, Dolj County, which competes in the Liga I. It is along with CS Universitatea Craiova one of the two entities assert ...

Honours

**Winners (1): 2017–18 *

–

**Winners (1): 2015–16

Players

First team squad

Out on loan

Club officials

Board of directors

Current technical staff

League history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Viitorul Târgu Jiu Football clubs in Gorj County Târgu Jiu Association football clubs established in 1998 Liga II clubs Liga III clubs Liga IV clubs 1998 establishments in Romania