Clubul Sportiv Unirea Sânnicolau Mare, commonly known as Unirea Sânnicolau Mare, or simply as Sânnicolau Mare, is a
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 amateur
football 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 enterprise ...
based in
Sânnicolau Mare
Sânnicolau Mare (; hu, Nagyszentmiklós; german: Großsanktnikolaus; sr, Велики Семиклуш, Veliki Semikluš; Banat Bulgarian: ''Smikluš'') is a town in Timiș County, Romania, and the westernmost of the country. Located in the Ba ...
,
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 ...
and currently playing in the
Liga IV – Timiș County, the third tier of the
Romanian football league system.
History
In the westernmost city of
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 ...
,
Sânnicolau Mare
Sânnicolau Mare (; hu, Nagyszentmiklós; german: Großsanktnikolaus; sr, Велики Семиклуш, Veliki Semikluš; Banat Bulgarian: ''Smikluš'') is a town in Timiș County, Romania, and the westernmost of the country. Located in the Ba ...
, football first dressed white-blue clothing in 1957. It was the moment when the leaders of two local teams – ''Recolta Sânnicolau Mare'', which was considered the peasant's team, and the simple ones, respectively ''Progresul Sânnicolau Mare'', which included the people in the "intellectual space" of the city on
Aranca- were on the same wavelength and decided that only one football club was needed, and the name chosen was more than suggestively: Unirea.
Unirea played for sixteen years at the regional and county level. In the 1972–73 season, "The Band on the Aranca River" managed to win the
Timiș County Championship and was promoted for the first time in
Divizia C.
Followed nineteen consecutive seasons in the
Third Division
In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below.
Association football
*Belgian Thir ...
, in which Unirea was ranked as follows: 6th (
1973–74), 7th (
1974–75), 8th (
1975–76), 8th (
1976–77), 6th (
1977–78), as runners-up in
1978–79, losing the promotion at
goal difference
Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches a ...
in front of
Unirea Alba Iulia
Clubul Sportiv Municipal Unirea Alba Iulia, commonly known as Unirea Alba Iulia (), is a Romanian professional football club based in Alba Iulia, Alba County, founded in 1924 and currently playing in the Liga III.
Among the greatest achievemen ...
, 11th (
1979–80), 9th (
1980–81), 9th (
1981–82), 8th (
1982–83), 7th (1983–84), 5th (1984–85), 14th (1985–86), 7th (1986–87), 7th (1987–88), 12th (1988–89), 4th (1989–90), 10th (1990–91) and 14th in 1991–92, relegating to the
County Championship
The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It b ...
due to the reorganization of the competitive system in the summer of 1992.
At the end of the 2002–03 season, Unirea finished 12th in the
Fourth Division
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
. However, the local authorities decided to bought the place of
Mureșul Deva in Divizia C. After one season spent in Third Division, with Daniel Mănăilă as head coach, Unirea Sânnicolau Mare finished first in the Series VII and promoted to
Second Division for the first time in history. The squad included following players: Adrian Boldor, Toma Stoianov, Marius Stanache, Adrian Grijincu, Doru Siminiceanu, Răzvan Mitric, Cristian Uftineanț, Mihăiță Hromei, Petre Bălăban, Valentin Grigore,
Marius Postolache, Andrei Rați, Safar, Tărnăuceanu, Nicolae Bota, Ion Feneș, Bran, Constantinescu.
After promotion to
Divizia B
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. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariurilor, a betting ...
, were brought experienced players such as Dan Stupar, Florin Macavei,
Vasile Ciocoi, Nelu Mitrică,
Marcel Băban or Ferid Colakovic, ending the
2004–05 season in tenth place in Series III.
Unirea started the
2005–06 season with Ciprian Urican as head coach, but in April 2006, due to the poor results, was replaced with
Ioan Almășan
Ioan Almășan (born 22 June 1962) is a Romanian former football goalkeeper and manager. He played for Politehnica Timișoara in the 1992 Cupa României final which was won by Steaua București.
Honours
;Politehnica Timișoara
* Divizia B: ...
, who was unable to save the club from relegation finishing fifteenth.
Following relegation to the
Third Division
In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below.
Association football
*Belgian Thir ...
,
Ioan Petcu was appointed as the new head coach, leading the club to fifth place at the end of the
2006–07 season and promoted to Second Division after winning Series V of Liga III in the
2007–08 season. But in the summer of 2008, Unirea Sânnicolau Mare sold its place in
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 ...
to
FCM Târgu Mureș and continued to play in
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 ...
the following season.
Dan Stupar took over as head coach for the
2008–09 season, leading the club, without many players among those who succeeded in promotion, to a disappointing fifteenth place.
The
2009–10 season started with Nicolae Căprărescu as head coach, but who left the club after thirteen rounds, Unirea being in the relegation zone on 14th place with 10 points, and was replaced with Petre Vlătănescu, the former coach of Alto Gradimento Albina in the last season. In the end, "The White and Blues" were relegated, finishing in fourteenth place.
Despite the relegation, Unirea continued to play in Liga III, due to the withdrawal of some teams, finishing ninth in the
2010–11 season.
In the summer of 2011, Unirea withdrew from
Third League and enrolled in
Liga V –
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 fifth tier of the
Romanian football. "The Band on the Aranca River" promoted quickly to
Liga IV – Timiș County winning Series I at the end of the 2011–12 season.
The club managed to stay in the fourth division in the following years finishing 5th in three consecutive seasons
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 ...
,
2013–14 and
2014–15, 6th in the
2015–16 season, 9th in the
2016–17 season, 4th in the
2017–18 season, 7th in the
2018–19 season, 11th in the
2019–20 season, 6th in the
2020–21 season and 6th in the
2021–22 season.
Honours
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 ...
:
*Winners (2):
2003–04,
2007–08
*Runners-up (1):
1978–79
Liga IV – Timiș County
*Winners (1):
1972–73
*Runners-up (1):
1970–71
Liga V –
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 ...
*Winners (1): 2011–12
Club officials
Board of directors
Current technical staff
Former players
The footballers mentioned below have played at least 1 season for Unirea and also played in
Liga I
The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...
for another team.
*
Dan Păltinișanu
Dan Păltinișanu (23 March 1951 – 4 March 1995) was a Romanian footballer who played as a defender.
Club career
Dan Păltinișanu was born in Bucharest, he started playing football in the youth systems of TM București and Dinamo București. ...
*
Ibrahim Dossey
*
Ioan Almășan
Ioan Almășan (born 22 June 1962) is a Romanian former football goalkeeper and manager. He played for Politehnica Timișoara in the 1992 Cupa României final which was won by Steaua București.
Honours
;Politehnica Timișoara
* Divizia B: ...
*
Vasile Ciocoi
*
Marcel Băban
*
Ovidiu Vezan
Ovidiu Vezan (born 20 March 1985) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up ...
*
Marius Postolache
*
Valentin Miculescu
Valentin Miculescu (born 4 September 1975) is a Romanian former footballer who last played for Liga II club FCM Reșița The word FCM may refer to:
Science and technology
* FCM (chemotherapy), a chemotherapy regimen
* Flow cytometry
* Food ...
*
Vasile Olariu
*
Constantin Varga
Constantin Varga (born 18 September 1964) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a defender.
International career
Constantin Varga played one game in which he scored a goal for Romania in a 1992 friendly against Mexico which ended with ...
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unirea Sannicolau Mare
Association football clubs established in 1957
Football clubs in Timiș County
Liga II clubs
Liga III clubs
Liga IV clubs
1957 establishments in Romania