Asociația Fotbal Club Câmpulung Muscel 2022, also known as AFC Câmpulung Muscel, or just Câmpulung Muscel, is a

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

n professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Câmpulung Câmpulung (also spelled ''Cîmpulung'', , , Old Romanian ''Dlăgopole'', ''Длъгополе'' (from Middle Bulgarian), or ''Câmpulung Muscel'') is a municipiu, city in Argeș County, Muntenia, Romania. It is attested on the Fra Mauro map fro ...

Argeș County Argeș County () is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in Muntenia, with the county seat at Pitești. Demographics At the 2021 Romanian census, 2021 census, the county had a population of 569,932 and the population density was . At the 2011 Ro ...

, which competes in

Liga III The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. It was founded in 1936 and was called Divizia C until 2006. An exception was the seasons 1992–93 to 1996–97, in which the league was call ...

, the third tier of the

Romanian football Football is the most popular sport in Romania.. The Romanian Football Federation ( or FRF), a member of UEFA, is the sport's national governing body. History The pre-war period The Bucharest architect Gheorghe Radu Stănculescu discovered i ...

. Founded in 1978 as CS Rucăr, the club moved to Câmpulung in 2022 and changed its name to Muscelul Câmpulung Elite following promotion from the 2021–22 season. Subsequently renamed AFC Câmpulung Muscel, the team earned promotion to Liga II for the first time in its history at the end of the 2023–24 season.

History

AFC Câmpulung Muscel, originally founded in 1978 as CS Rucăr, spent most of its early years playing in the Argeș County Championships. In the 2009–10 Liga IV season, under the guidance of Mihai Poștoacă and with players like Adrian Tănase, Robert Craioveanu, and Alin Lipă among others, CS Rucăr finished 2nd place, just two points behind Atletic Bradu. The following season, with former Farul Constanța

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

Alecsandru Popovici as head coach, the club won Liga IV – Argeș County, earning promotion to

. Promotion was secured after a 2–1 victory in the

promotion play-off Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

against Sevișul Șelimbăr, the Liga IV – Sibiu County winner, at the Complex Sportiv Hidro in

Râmnicu Vâlcea Râmnicu Vâlcea (formerly ''Râmnic'', ) is a city in Romania. Located in the south-central part of the country, in the historical province of Oltenia, it is the seat of Vâlcea County and its main urban settlement. According to the 2021 Romanian ...

. However, faced with financial difficulties, the club was forced to withdraw from Liga III, returning to the fourth league. In the 2011–12 season, the team finished as runners-up, just four points behind SCM Pitești. CS Rucăr continued competing in Liga IV – Argeș County, but struggled to achieve significant results, finishing in the following positions: 5th (

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

), 13th ( 2013–14), 9th ( 2014–15), 11th ( 2015–16), and 13th ( 2016–17). Eventually, financial issues led to a withdrawal from the fourth league. The club spent two seasons in

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 ...

–

, finishing 10th in the first season. However, promotion back to fourth league was achieved after a 1st-place finish in the 2018–19 season. In the 2019–20 season, CS Rucăr was in 6th place in Liga IV when the season was suspended in March 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Romania Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. The club did not participate in the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

short season due to the financial burden of complying with the medical protocol imposed by the

Romanian Football Federation The Romanian Football Federation (; FRF) is the governing body of football in Romania. They are headquartered in the capital city of Bucharest and affiliated with FIFA and UEFA since 1923 and 1955 respectively. The Federation organizes the men's ...

. Rucăr started the 2021–22 season with Bogdan Simion as head coach but replaced him for the second part of the season with Valentin Cocoș, who led the club finish 1st, one point ahead of

Inter Câmpulung Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * Inter Playa del Carmen, a Mexican club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Fi ...

. The club secured promotion to the third league by defeating

Dunărea Calafat Dunărea may refer to: * Dunărea, the Romanian name for the river Danube in Central Europe * Dunărea (river), a tributary of the Danube in Constanța County, Romania * Dunărea, a village in the commune Seimeni, Constanța County, Romania See a ...

, Dolj County winner, 2–1 on aggregate (1–1 at

Calafat Calafat () is a city in Dolj County, southern Romania, in the region of Oltenia. It lies on the river Danube, opposite the Bulgarian city of Vidin, to which it is linked by the Calafat-Vidin Bridge, opened in 2013. After the destruction of the b ...

and 1–0 at

Rucăr Rucăr is a commune located in the north-eastern part of Argeș County, Romania, situated in the Carpathian Mountains. The commune is composed of two villages, Rucăr and Sătic, and its population as of 2021 was 5,259. Historically important for ...

). The squad included, among others, Adrian Tănase, Valentin Vălimăreanu, Flavius Cataramă, Cristian Tănase, Marian Ciorciovel, Gabriel Jenaru, Gabriel Neacșu, Georgian Jenaru, Fernando Dobre, Andrei Pătrănoiu and Ioan Marinescu. After earning promotion to

, the club was relocated to

and renamed Muscelul Câmpulung Elite. Also, Alecsandru Popovici was appointed as the new head coach for the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season. However, after a disappointing start, earning only four points in four matches, he was dismissed and replaced by Vasile Slăninoiu as

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

. Slăninoiu led the team to a 9th-place finish in the first stage and 8th after the play-out round, barely avoiding relegation after being deducted three points following their withdrawal from the field in a match against

Unirea Bascov Asociația Club Sportiv Unirea Bascov, commonly known as Unirea Bascov, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bascov, Argeș County and currently playing in the Liga III. History The club was founded in 2007 as AS Valea Ursului and ...

. In the 2023–24 season, the club was renamed AFC Câmpulung Muscel and appointed

Costin Lazăr Costin Lazăr (born 24 April 1981) is a Romanian former association football, footballer who played as a defensive midfielder for teams such as Sportul Studențesc, FC Rapid București, Rapid București, PAOK FC, PAOK or FC Voluntari, among othe ...

as the new head coach. Although the team was in 1st place after ten rounds, Lazăr was dismissed. Vasile Slăninoiu served as interim coach until January 2024, when Mircea Diaconescu took over, leading the team to finish 1st in the first stage of Series V. However, Lazăr returned in April, guiding the team to stay at the top of the table and, after the series play-off round, securing qualification for the promotion play-offs. Câmpulung Muscel earned promotion to

Liga II The Liga 2, most commonly 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 football season. It is currently Sponso ...

at the end of the season, defeating

Vedița Colonești The Vedița is a left tributary of the river Vedea in Romania. It discharges into the Vedea near Sârbii-Măgura. The following towns and villages are situated along the river Vedița, from source to mouth: Uda, Argeș, Gorani, Uda, Argeș, Brani� ...

2–1 on aggregate (0–0 away and 2–1 at home) and

SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea Sport Club Municipal Râmnicu Vâlcea (), commonly known as SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea or Râmnicu Vâlcea, is a Romanian association football, football team from Râmnicu Vâlcea, Vâlcea County. The club is currently playing in Liga III, after spendi ...

2–1 on aggregate (2–1 away and 0–0 at home) in the promotion play-offs.

Ground

AFC Câmpulung Muscel plays its home matches at Muscelul Stadium, a multi-use

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

. The stadium is also used by ARO Muscelul Câmpulung. It holds 6,000 people, of which 3,000 are on seats. It was opened in the 1940s and was renovated, most recently in 2008.

Honours

*Winners (1): 2023–24 Liga IV – Argeș County *Winners (2):

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2021–22 *Runners-up (2): 2009–10, 2011–12

–

*Winners (1): 2018–19

Players

First-team squad

Club officials

Board of directors

Current technical staff

League history

References

External links

*
AFC Câmpulung Muscel
at frf-ajf.ro
AFC Câmpulung Muscel
at liga2.prosport.ro {{DEFAULTSORT:Câmpulung Muscel Association football clubs established in 1978 Football clubs in Romania Football clubs in Argeș County Liga II clubs Liga III clubs Liga IV clubs 1978 establishments in Romania Câmpulung