Asociația Sportivă Paroșeni Vulcan, better known as Minerul Paroșeni, was 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 ...

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 Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

based in Vulcan,

Hunedoara County Hunedoara County () is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Deva, Romania, Deva. The county is part of the Danube–Criș–Mureș–Tisa Euroregion. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian, it is known as , ...

, founded in 1970 and dissolved in 1997.

History

After three years of construction and exploration, the Paroșeni Mine began coal production on October 1966. By 1970, it was producing significant amounts of coal. During this period, the miners from Jiu-Paroșeni, a locality within Vulcan Municipality, passionate about sports, sought to establish their own sports identity, similar to other mining communities in the

Jiu Valley The Jiu Valley ( , ) is a region in southwestern Transylvania, Romania, in Hunedoara county, situated in a valley of the Jiu River between the Retezat Mountains and the Parâng Mountains. The region was heavily industrialised and the main activity ...

. At the time, two teams from Vulcan were active in county football: Minerul Vulcan and Energia Paroșeni, both associated with the Vulcan Mine and Paroșeni Thermal Power Plant. The club was established in 1970 as Minerul Paroșeni and initially competed in the Petroșani Municipal Championship, part of

's fifth tier of

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 ...

. During its early years, the club played at a semi-amateur level, with key figures such as Grigore Popescu (president), Viorel Moțoc (president of the football section from 1970 to 1986), and coach Ioan Csucsi leading the team. The players mostly came from the local mining sectors, and matches were played at the Thermal Power Plant field. After several seasons, the team finished 3rd in the 1972–73 Petroșani Municipal Championship and achieved 1st place in 1976–77 season, with Ștefan Frunză as the top scorer, earning promotion to the Hunedoara County Championship, the fourth tier of Romanian football. Among the players of that time, notable names include I. Bălan (goalkeeper), Iovu, Ivan, Ursa, and Gheța. Minerul Paroșeni competed for three consecutive seasons in the fourth tier, finishing 10th in 1977–78, improving to 2nd in 1978–79—just two points behind Explorări Deva—and ultimately securing 1st place in 1979–80 under coach Tiberiu Benea. The team earned promotion to Divizia C after a 2–0 aggregate victory in the promotion play-off against Constructorul Târgu Jiu, the Gorj County winner. The squad that achieved promotion included, among others, Crecan, Stanci, Gânga, Urițescu, M. Florea, I. Popescu, Lascu, G. Iordache, B. Popescu, Leleșan, and Gâtan. In the 1980–81 season, in a series featuring strong teams such as Carpați Mârșa, Sticla Arieșul Turda, and Victoria Călan, Minerul Paroșeni performed honorably in their debut season in the third division, finishing in 9th place. This was followed by four seasons in which they achieved the following rankings: 6th ( 1981–82), 9th ( 1982–83), 4th ( 1983-84), and 2nd ( 1984–85). The Black and Blue team earned promotion to

Divizia B 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 football season. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariu ...

in the 1985–86 season after a fierce battle with

CSM Lugoj Club Sportiv Municipal Lugoj, commonly known as CSM Lugoj, or simply as Lugoj, is a Romanian football club from Lugoj, Timiș County, Romania. The club was named in the past, ''Vulturii Textila'', after a textile company in the city of Lugoj. CS ...

and Rapid Arad. The team coached by Tiberiu Benea included players such as Crecan, V. Bârsan, Dodenciu, Leleșan, Lixandru, Hădărean, C. Ispir, Adrian Rusu, Lăzăroiu, Gelu Bîrsan, Mircea Cristea, Neculai Băltaru, Gâtan, Romulus Matula, Sorin Henzel, and Dan Neiconi. Throughout these years, there was an intense rivalry with another local team, Minerul Știința Vulcan. The

1986–87 Divizia B The 1986–87 Divizia B was the 47th season of the second tier of the Romanian football league system. The format has been maintained to three series, each of them having 18 teams. At the end of the season the winners of the series promoted to Di ...

season was the best for "The Miners" finishing in a meritorious 6th place and qualifying for the Round of 32 in the

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

, being eliminated by Universitatea Craiova after a 1–1 draw following extra time and a 4–5 loss in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. The squad in that match, coached by Traian Benea, was composed of S. Homan — Dodenciu, Buzduga, Vișan, Hădărean — M. Cristea, Crăciun, Dicuț (min. 72 Bîrsan) — Lăzăroiu, Sălăjan, Băltaru (min. 75 Leleșan). In the following season, the club was renamed AS Paroșeni Vulcan and finished in 7th place. The team relegated to

Divizia C 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 ...

at the end of the 1988–89 season, finishing in 16th place, its lowest rank in the second tier. Following their relegation, AS Paroșeni Vulcan spent the next eight seasons playing in Divizia C, with the best rank being 4th in the 1991–92 season. After finishing 19th in the 1996–97 season, AS Paroșeni Vulcan was relegated to Divizia D and, due to financial problems, merged with their main rival, Minerul Știința Vulcan.

Honours

*Winners (1): 1985–86 *Runners-up (1): 1984–85 Hunedoara County Championship *Winners (1): 1979–80 *Runners-up (1): 1978–79

Other performances

*Appearances in

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 ...

: 3 *Appearances 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 ...

: 14 *Best finish in

: 6th ( 1986–87) *Best finish in

: Round of 32 ( 1986–87)

League history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paroșeni Vulcan Defunct football clubs in Romania Football clubs in Hunedoara County Association football clubs established in 1970 Association football clubs disestablished in 1997 Liga II clubs Liga III clubs Liga IV clubs 1970 establishments in Romania 1997 disestablishments in Romania