FC Rapid București
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Fotbal Club Rapid 1923, commonly known as Rapid București () or simply as Rapid, is a Romanian 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
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
, that competes in the
Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...
. It was founded in 1923 by employees of the
Grivița Grivița () is a district of Bucharest, Romania, centered on the Grivița Railway Yards (''Atelierele CFR Grivița''), which were and still are an important landmark within the manufacturing landscape of the city. Located near Gara de Nord, the ...
workshops as the ''Asociația Culturală și Sportivă CFR'' (). Domestically, Rapid București is one of the most successful clubs in the country, having won three national titles, 13
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 ...
, and four
Supercupa României The Supercupa României () is a Romanian football (soccer), football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994 Supe ...
. Internationally, its highest achievements are reaching the quarter-finals of the 1972–73
Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renamed the UEFA Cup Winne ...
and the
2005–06 UEFA Cup The 2005–06 UEFA Cup, the 35th edition of the UEFA Cup, was won by Sevilla, beating Middlesbrough in the final. It was the first victory for Sevilla in a European competition, and the first appearance by Middlesbrough in a European final. The ...
, and the final of the 1940 Mitropa Cup—the latter not being played because of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Recently, the club was declared bankrupt in 2016, but was refounded and managed to return to the top flight in 2021. From 1939, Rapid played its home matches in burgundy and white
kits KITS (105.3 FM broadcasting, FM, "Live 105") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock radio format known as "Live 105". The studios ...
at the Valentin Stănescu Stadium, which was replaced by the new Rapid-Giulești in 2022. The team has fierce local rivalries with
FCSB Fotbal Club FCSB (), formerly named and still sometimes referred to as FC Steaua București, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the Liga I, the top flight of the Romanian football le ...
, Dinamo București and Steaua București, as well as with Petrolul Ploiești.


History


1923–32: Beginnings

On 25 June 1923, in a classroom of the primary school from the
Grivița Grivița () is a district of Bucharest, Romania, centered on the Grivița Railway Yards (''Atelierele CFR Grivița''), which were and still are an important landmark within the manufacturing landscape of the city. Located near Gara de Nord, the ...
neighborhood,
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
, the employees of the Grivița workshops created ''Asociația Culturală și Sportivă CFR'' ("CFR Cultural and Sports Association"). Teofil Copaci was chosen as the president of the association, while Grigore Grigoriu became the first captain of the team. The squad was formed in September, following the merger of the ''Ateliere'' and ''Excelsior'' teams. The first equipment was made out of burgundy fabric in the house of Grigoriu. On 28 October 1923, the team played its first game against Unirea Timișoara, which it lost 4–8. The second match, played over ten days, was against Gloria Arad, and was lost 1–2. Until 1932 ''CFR'' played in the Bucharest Championship, not qualifying in the final tournament of the national league. During this period, the leaders of the team were: Teofil Copaci, Grigore Grigoriu, and Bozie Codreanu; other players included Stănică, Tudor, Molnar, Ștefănescu, Foran, Leoveanu, Constantinescu, Fetzko, Georgescu, Albert, Block, Filip, Itu I, Itu II, Pîrvulescu, Cichi, Schileriu, Svetcovschi, Oros, Ujlaki, Pop, Dobrescu I, Kelemen, Vlaiculescu, Ispas, Vintilescu, and Petrovici.


1932–45: The golden years

The club entered the
Divizia A Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...
at the start of the 1932–33 season, after several years of competing for the regional championship of Bucharest. During the pre-
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
years, Rapid was one of Romania's top teams, regularly winning the cup, but never the championship, although they came close. Once Rapid lost the title because of a player's candor. One of Rapid's players touched the ball with his hand in the penalty area during a decisive match against Venus București, when Rapid needed a win to finish first in the league. At first, the referee didn't see it, but when he heard the audience protesting asked the player if he had touched the ball with his hand. The player admitted that he had. Venus converted the penalty kick and managed a 1–1 draw to finish first in the league, instead of "the Railwaymen". The team's final season's standings in the
Divizia A Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...
were: 1932–33 – 2nd (Seria I), 1933–34 – 4th (Seria I), 1934–35 – 10th, 1935–36 – 7th, 1936–37 – 2nd, 1937–38 – 1st (Seria I) (with the team losing the national championship final against Ripensia Timișoara 0–2), 1938–39 – 6th, 1939–40 – 2nd, and 1940–41 – 2nd. In this period, the club's most successful time in this competition, Rapid won seven Romanian Cups: 1934–35, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1941–42, six of them won in consecutive years. The players in this winning effort included Roșculeț, Ujlaki,
Vintilă Vintilă is both a masculine Romanian given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Octavian Vintilă (born 1938), Romanian fencer * Simona Vintilă (born 1980), Romanian footballer Given name *Vintilă Brătianu (1867 ...
, Wetzer II, Rășinaru, Cuedan, Barbu II, Rădulescu,
Bogdan Bogdan (Cyrillic: Богдан) is a Slavic masculine name that appears in the South Slavic languages and in Polish, Romanian and Moldovan. It is derived from the Slavic words ''Bog'' (Cyrillic: Бог), meaning 'god', and ''dan'' (Cyrillic: ...
, Auer,
Moldoveanu Moldoveanu Peak (, ; "Moldavian Peak"), at , is the highest mountain peak in Romania.Baratky, Raffinsky, Lengheriu, I.Costea, Sipos, Gavrilescu, Sadowski, Silvăț, Ghiurițan, Wetzer III, and Florian. In the summer of 1937, the club changed its name from ''CFR București'' to Rapid București, modeling their new name on that of the Austrian club
Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid (), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English, is an Austrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the f ...
. The "railway workers" were no longer topping the league standings, but they still had supportive fans, and some players were selected for the national team. During those years, the competition format changed after various reorganizations, and Rapid won the
Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...
Cup in 1942. They qualified for the final of the
Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called Coupe de l'Europe Centrale, Mitteleuropäischer Pokal or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European association football, football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the suc ...
(precursor of the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
). In 1940, Rapid played to two ties in the Mitropa Cup semi-finals and was drawn for the final, which was never played, due to the outbreak of World War II.


1945–1970: The Railwaymen, a solid team

After the war, Rapid returned to the Bucharest Championship in the 1945–46 season, finally finishing 4th. After this season the club returned to its old name, ''CFR'' (''Căile Ferate Române'' – Romanian Railways), and entered the 1946–47 Divizia A season, the first official national season after the end of the war, and ended in 5th place, two points away from 2nd place ( Carmen București) and 13 from 1st place ( ITA Arad). In the following season, 1947–48, the team finished 3rd, behind CFR Timişoara and ITA Arad. In the 1948–49 season, "the White and Burgundies" finished 2nd, only five points behind IC Oradea. Also, on 20 March 1949, ''CFR București'' obtained the most lopsided victory in its entire history, 12–2 against
CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ) or simply CFR, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I. Founded as ''Kolozsvári Vasut ...
. Under the influence of the
communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
regime installed in the country after 1945, the 1950s started with a change from an autumn-spring season to a spring-autumn one. In the 1950 season Rapid became ''Locomotiva'', a name much closer to the Soviet version, ''Lokomotiv'', a change imposed on all the teams that belonged to the Romanian Railways, but the ''Giuleștenii'' finished again in 2nd place. The first relegation to Liga II came in 1951 when the club was ranked 11th, losing a three-way contest by a goal against Locomotiva Târgu Mureș and Știința Timișoara. Promoted one year later, from 1st place in Liga II, with 10 points over the second-ranked (Locomotiva Iași), Rapid would finish the 1953 season in 5th place. In 1954 season ''Locomotiva'', in 12th place, was relegated for the second time. However, "The White and Burgundies" returned after only one year to Divizia A, following a good showing for the team, including a 4th-place ranking at the end of 1956, only 5 points behind 1st place ( CCA București). In the 1957–58 season, Romanian football returned to the autumn-spring system and "the Railwaymen" finished at the middle of the table, 8th out of 12. The end of the Soviet system also meant the end of Soviet team names, and in 1958 the team returned to the Austrian-inspired name of Rapid. In the following years, the team finished 4th and 10th at the end of the 1958–59 and 1959–60 seasons, respectively. In the 1950s, the squad included the following players: Valentin Stănescu, Gheorghe Dungu, Gh. Demeter, Dumitru Macri, Ion Mihăilescu, C. Simionescu, N. Cristescu, I. Ruzici, C. Socec, Ion Lungu, Bazil Marian, Andrei Rădulescu, Anton Fernbach-Ferenczi, Ștefan Filotti, Nicolae Roman, E. Avasilchioaie, D. Călin, L. Coman, A. Todor, N. Dodeanu, I. Langa, I. Olaru, Stere Zeană, and Gh. Milea, among others. The 1960s was one of the best periods for Giulești football. In
1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...
, Rapid reached the final of the Romanian Cup, where they lost to Arieșul Turda, 1–2, with Nicolae Georgescu scoring in the 24th minute for the "White and Burgundy". The result was more surprising, as the winning team was, at that time, only a Divizia C member. The following season, Rapid—with a squad coached by Ion Mihăilescu and composed of valuable players such as Ilie Greavu, Ion Motroc, Dumitru Macri, Titus Ozon, Ion Ionescu or Teofil Codreanu, among others—eliminated CSM Mediaș, Laminorul Roman, Metalul Târgoviște, and Progresul București. However, they suffered a dramatic defeat in the final, 1–5, against a Steaua București squad that would come to be recognized as the golden generation of that club. For most of these seasons, the team could be found in the top half of the league: 1960–61 – 3rd, 1961–62 – 5th, and 1962–63 – 8th. Then followed three great seasons for the squad, under the Grant Bridge, which finished 2nd three years in a row: 1963–64 (7 points behind Dinamo București), 1964–65 (1 point behind Dinamo București), and 1965–66 (6 points behind Petrolul Ploiești). Nevertheless, they finished behind their rivals Dinamo and Petrolul. This motivated "the Railwaymen", who, at the end of the 1966–67 season, had their best performance up until that time, their first
Divizia A Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...
title, with the following players:
Răducanu Necula Răducan Necula (born 10 May 1946), widely known as Rică Răducanu, is a retired Romanian football goalkeeper. Club career Early career Rică Răducanu, nicknamed ''Tamango'' after the character played by Alex Cressan from the 1958 movie, Taman ...
, Marin AndreiDan Coe, Nicolae Lupescu, Ion Motroc, Ilie Greavu, Constantin Jamaischi – Constantin Dinu-Buric, Nicolae Georgescu, Constantin Năsturescu, Teofil Codreanu, Viorel KrausIon Ionescu, Emil Dumitriu, and Alexandru Neagu. Valentin Stănescu and Victor Stănculescu were their coaches. In that season the title was won by two points over Dinamo București and the season's top scorer was Ion Ionescu, with 15 goals. In the 1967–68 European Cup, Rapid eliminated the Bulgarian champion,
Botev Plovdiv Profesionalen Futbolen Klub Botev AD, commonly referred to as Botev Plovdiv (, ), or simply Botev (within its associated city), is a Bulgarian professional Association football, football club based in Plovdiv. It competes in the First Professiona ...
, in the first round, but lost to
Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
, 0–1. In the 1967–68 Division A season the team reached the final game of the Romanian Cup, which it lost to Dinamo, 1–3 in
overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society) ...
; placed 3rd in 1968–69; and 2nd in 1969–70.


1970–1990: Troubled times

Rapid's last strong season was in 1970–71, when it finished in 2nd place, after which it started to slide towards the bottom half of the league table: 1971–72 – 10th and 1972–73 – 14th. Despite these lesser performances, in
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...
Rapid reached the Romanian Cup final under coach Bazil Marian, a team player in the 1950s, and won 2–0 against Jiul Petroșani, with goals scored by Stelian Marin (3rd minute) and Alexandru Neagu (27th minute). In the
1971–72 UEFA Cup The 1971–72 UEFA Cup was the inaugural season of the UEFA Cup, now known as the UEFA Europa League, which became the third club football competition organised by UEFA. The tournament retained the structure and format of the Inter-Cities Fairs C ...
season Rapid had impressive results, eliminating
Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...
and
Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...
before being stopped by
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...
, 0–5. The 1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup was another good European campaign, and, after a 3–1 against Landskrona BoIS of Sweden and a 4–2 against
Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid (), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English, is an Austrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the f ...
, the team that had inspired the Romanian side so much in the past, Rapid was eliminated again by an English side, this time
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...
, 1–8. At the end of the 1973–74 season, the "White and Burgundies" finished 16th, with the same number of points as Jiul Petroșani, but this time the club from 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 ...
would win because of higher scores. Rapid was relegated for the third time in its history, only 7 years since its first national title. The squad had a strong following season and was promoted after only one year spent in the second league, finishing 1st in the 2nd series, 6 points ahead of 2nd place Progresul București. "The Railwaymen" seemed to want to convince everyone that relegation was nothing but a regrettable error; so, they also won the Romanian Cup in the same season, surprisingly, being a second echelon team. In the 1974–75 Cupa României campaign, Rapid advanced by eliminating strong teams such as Dinamo București (2–1), Jiul Petroșani (1–0), Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț (1–0), and Steaua București (1–1, 6–5 on penalties). In the final they encountered Universitatea Craiova, the Divizia A defending champions, a club that was fielding its first golden generation (known as "The Champion of a Great Love"), led from the pitch by its legend, Ion Oblemenco. Rapid won 2–1, in
extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...
, with goals scored by Nicolae Manea, and Ion Oblemenco scoring for Craiova. Back in Divizia A, Rapid had two mediocre seasons: 1975–76 – 14th and 1976–77 – 16th, being relegated again, 10 years since being champions of Romania. After this relegation began one of the darkest periods in the history of the club at their stadium near Grant Bridge, with 6 consecutive Divizia B seasons: 1977–78 – 4th, 1978–79 – 6th, 1979–80 – 2nd, 1980–81 – 3rd, 1981–82 – 2nd and 1982–83 – 1st. This period led to a fierce rivalry with Petrolul Ploiești and Progresul București. A 1980 match, against Progresul, saw a record attendance, for a Divizia B match, of over 50,000 spectators. The subsequent return to the first division was due to coaches Valentin Stănescu (who also brought the first title in 1967) and Viorel Kraus. The players were Ion Gabriel, Manu, Popescu, Paraschiv, Pirvu, Șișcă, Tiță, Iancu, Cojocaru, Ion Ion, Nicolae Manea, Ad. Dumitru, Petruț, Ispas, C. Dumitriu, Avram,
Marian Damaschin Marian Damaschin (born 1 May 1965) is a Romanian former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. Club career Damaschin was born on 1 May 1965 in Urziceni, Romania, starting to play j ...
, Marta, Lazăr, Koti, Săftoiu, A. Mincu, and Petre Petre. Rapid then had a disappointing record in Divizia A: 1984–85 – 11th, 1985–86 – 8th, 1986–87 – 14th, 1987–88 – 13th, and 1988–89 – 17th. In these five seasons "the Railwaymen" recorded the biggest loss in the history of the club, 0–9 against Corvinul Hunedoara (14 August 1985), as well as the biggest loss in Giulești Stadium, 2–8 against Steaua București (3 May 1989). After these poor performances, the 1988–89 Cupa României season saw the "White and Burgundies" gaining the semi-finals of the competition, when they were eliminated by Steaua București, 2–3, with a decisive goal scored in the last minute. The team was relegated to Divizia B for the fifth time. The ''Giuleștenii'' then had a good season in the 2nd series of the second league—finishing 1st with 22 victories, 5 draws, 7 defeats, 61 goals scored and 32 conceded, 49 points, 4 more than the second place (
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. It is one of six Romanian county seats List of cities and towns on the river Danube, lyin ...
) and 11 more than the third place ( Unirea Alba Iulia)—and were again promoted.


1990–2008: A glorious period

Promoted back to the top league, in the next season Rapid finished 11th, 4 points away from the relegation zone. What followed was two seasons of progress in which "the Railwaymen" finished 7th, then 4th. In 1993, the club was bought by George Copos and began probably one of the most fruitful periods in the history of "the White and Burgundies". After the 4th-place finish at the end of the 1993 season, Rapid returned to the European Cups after 18 years of absence, but was eliminated in the first round by the Italian side
Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...
, 1–5 on aggregate. In 1994, the club finished 4th again in Divizia A, but no one risked a prognosis for a team whose fortunes so oscillated. The 1994–95 UEFA Cup season again brought two tough opponents for the Giulești side:
Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...
of
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
, which they eliminated 3–2 on aggregate, and
Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...
, which eliminated Rapid 2–6 on aggregate, especially due to the 0–5 defeat by Waldstadion. In the Divizia A, they again finished in 4th place, but this time with no qualification for the European Competitions. In the 1995–96 season the team finished 3rd, qualifying again for the
UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
. After a 2–0 victory on aggregate against Lokomotiv Sofia, "the Railwaymen" were eliminated by
Karlsruher SC Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V., better known as Karlsruher SC, is a Football in Germany, German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of Germa ...
, 2–4 on aggregate, the second time a German side eliminated them. The squad finished 8th at the end of the 1996–97 season. With
Mircea Lucescu Mircea Lucescu (; born 29 July 1945) is a Romanian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, currently the head coach of the Romania national football team, Romania national team. He i ...
as the new coach, Rapid had a very good 1997–98 season, the best one in the last 22 seasons. In the championship, the team finished 2nd, only two points behind Steaua București, missing the chance of a title, the first one since 1967. In the last match of the season, with over 20,000 fans travelling from Bucharest, Rapid only managed a 2–2 draw against Universitatea Craiova, a result which was heavily contested after Rapid had a clear goal denied by the referee. Without title, Rapid focused on the Romanian Cup, where they won their 10th title, but the first one since 1975. In the final, they again met
Craiova Craiova (, also , ) is the largest city in southwestern Romania, List of Romanian cities, the seventh largest city in the country and the capital of Dolj County, situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It i ...
, with Lucian Marinescu's 67th-minute goal securing the trophy. This triumph returned the team back to the UEFA Competitions, this time the
1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The 1998–99 season of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup club tournament was the last season of the competition before it was abolished. Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy ...
. The 1998–99 season started off badly. After an 8–2 on aggregate win against
Grevenmacher Grevenmacher (; ) is a commune with town status in eastern Luxembourg, near the border with Germany. It gives its name to the canton of Grevenmacher, and, until its abolition in 2015, the district of Grevenmacher. The town is situated on the l ...
in the qualifying round, Rapid was again eliminated quickly, this time in the first round by
Vålerenga Vålerenga () is a neighbourhood in the city of Oslo, Norway, belonging to the borough of Gamle Oslo. Vålerenga is located between the neighbourhoods of Gamlebyen, Jordal, Ensjø, Etterstad and Lodalen. Vålerenga is in particular known for i ...
, with a 2–2 on aggregate and 2 goals scored in the Giulești Stadium by the Norwegian club. In the championship, Rapid had one of the best seasons in the history of Divizia A, finishing 1st with 89 points and winning the much-desired title of champion of Romania, the 2nd one in the history of the club. This performance was obtained under coaches
Mircea Lucescu Mircea Lucescu (; born 29 July 1945) is a Romanian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, currently the head coach of the Romania national football team, Romania national team. He i ...
(24 rounds), Nicolae Manea (5 rounds), Dumitru Dumitriu (4 rounds), and
Mircea Rednic Mircea Rednic (born 9 April 1962) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who played as a defender, who is currently the head coach of Belgian Pro League club Standard Liège. Playing career Corvinul Hunedoara Rednic, ni ...
(1 round), with the following players: Marius Bratu, Bogdan LobonțDaniel Chiriță, Adrian Iencsi, Dorel Mutică,
Ștefan Nanu Ștefan Dumitru Nanu (born 8 September 1968 in Filiași) is a Romanian former 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 footbal ...
, Vasile Popa, Răzvan Raț,
Mircea Rednic Mircea Rednic (born 9 April 1962) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who played as a defender, who is currently the head coach of Belgian Pro League club Standard Liège. Playing career Corvinul Hunedoara Rednic, ni ...
, Nicolae Stanciu (C), Ion VoicuBogdan Andone, Constantin Barbu, Mugur Bolohan, Zeno Bundea,
Dănuț Lupu Dănuț Lupu (born 27 February 1967) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. Club career Dănuț Lupu was born on 27 February 1967 in Galați, Romania, starting as a child to play football and ice hockey ...
, Ovidiu Maier, Marius Măldărășanu, Ioan Sabău, Cezar ZamfirIonel Ganea, Radu Niculescu, Daniel Pancu, Sergiu Radu, and Marius Șumudică. The team also included Cristian Dulca, Lucian Marinescu, and Stefan Nanu, who left during the winter break. The 1999–2000 season was again a good one for Rapid. However, despite the fact that they were in 2nd place, with 15-point over 3rd place ( Steaua București), they could not equal the nearly perfect season of Dinamo București, who ended in 1st place, by 12 points. Rapid also could not retain the Romanian championship, being eliminated in the semi-finals by FC U Craiova, 2–3 on aggregate. The
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
was a great disappointment, the team being eliminated by the Latvian side Skonto, 4–5 on aggregate. The 2000–01 season started with
Anghel Iordănescu Anghel Iordănescu (; born 4 May 1950), is a Romanian former footballer and former manager, who played as a forward. In 2007, Iordănescu retired from football, and the following February, after his predecessor resigned, he became a member ...
as the new coach and finished with
Mircea Rednic Mircea Rednic (born 9 April 1962) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who played as a defender, who is currently the head coach of Belgian Pro League club Standard Liège. Playing career Corvinul Hunedoara Rednic, ni ...
at the helm. Post-season competition consisted of a 3–1 victory over Mika of
Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
, in the qualifying round, and a 0–1 loss to
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, in the first round, which resulted in a 4th place in the European championship and a quarter-finals elimination in the Romanian Cup, after a 1–2 loss to Dinamo. The next season, with Viorel Hizo as the new coach, Rapid made another good run and finished 3rd in the league, and lasted two-rounds in the 2001–02 UEFA Cup: a lopsided 12–0 on aggregate victory over Atlantas, followed by an unexpected 0–0 tie, at
Parc des Princes The Parc des Princes (, ) is an all-seater stadium, all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin (P ...
, against PSG, losing in the second round 0–1, by a goal by Aloísio in the 93rd minute. Finally, the match was called 0–3 after the floodlight system shut down. On the other hand, "the Railwaymen" won their 11th Romanian Cup, after a final in which they registered a 2–1 victory against Dinamo București, with goals scored by Marius Măldărășanu and Daniel Pancu, and with
Mircea Rednic Mircea Rednic (born 9 April 1962) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who played as a defender, who is currently the head coach of Belgian Pro League club Standard Liège. Playing career Corvinul Hunedoara Rednic, ni ...
as the new coach. The 2002–03 season saw the club win its third league title, finishing 1st with by 7 points over Steaua București The team lasted the usual two rounds in the
UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
: 5–1 against Gorica and 1–2 against Vitesse, being eliminated, by penalties, by FC Argeș, in the second round of the Romanian Cup. The squad was coached by
Mircea Rednic Mircea Rednic (born 9 April 1962) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who played as a defender, who is currently the head coach of Belgian Pro League club Standard Liège. Playing career Corvinul Hunedoara Rednic, ni ...
and was composed of the following players: Ionuț Curcă, Emilian Dolha, Răzvan Lucescu, Boban Savič – Nicolae Constantin, Adrian Iencsi, Vasile Maftei, Dănuț Perjă, Răzvan Raţ, Florin Șoavă, Ion VoicuValentin Bădoi, Roberto Bisconti, Emmanuel Godfroid, Nicolae Grigore, Róbert Ilyés, Ioan SabăuFlorin Bratu, Daniel Niculae and
Robert Niță Robert Ionel Niţă (born 2 April 1977 in Bucharest) is a retired Romanian football player. Career Robert Niţă was born in Bucharest, and his first club was Steaua București in Romania. He later joined Corvinul Hunedoara, Cimentul Fieni an ...
. The 2003–04 season was below expectations. Starting under coach Mircea Rednic, continued with Dan Petrescu, and ending under Viorel Hizo, Rapid finished 3rd, 15 points out of 1st place, which was held by Dinamo București. In the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...
, the ''Rapidiștii'' met
Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...
in a 0–0 tie, in the Valentin Stănescu Stadium, followed by a 2–3 defeat, in Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, after Rapid had led 2–0; and the team was again eliminated in the first rounds of the competition. The 2004–05 season started with a new coach, Răzvan Lucescu, and "the White and Burgundies" finished again in 3rd place, six points out of 1st place. In the
Romanian Cup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
they were eliminated in the first round by the Divizia B side Dacia Unirea Brăila, 0–1. The 3rd place in the league qualified the club for the
2005–06 UEFA Cup The 2005–06 UEFA Cup, the 35th edition of the UEFA Cup, was won by Sevilla, beating Middlesbrough in the final. It was the first victory for Sevilla in a European competition, and the first appearance by Middlesbrough in a European final. The ...
season. Rapid had the best European season in the history of the club, starting from the first round of the competition, qualifying for the first time for the group stage, and only being eliminated in the quarter-finals. The team's run was the following: 10–0 on aggregate against Sant Julià from
Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...
, 4–1 against
Vardar The Vardar (; , , ) or Axios (, ) is the longest river in North Macedonia and a major river in Greece, where it reaches the Aegean Sea at Thessaloniki. It is long, out of which are in Greece, and drains an area of around . The maximum depth of ...
, and an unexpected 2–1 on aggregate against
Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...
, and qualifying for the group stage. They were assigned to Group G, where they gained 3 victories:
Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...
(2–0),
Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...
(1–0),
PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...
(1–0), while losing only one match, against
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
(1–2). If in the past Rapid was eliminated by German clubs such as
Karlsruher SC Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V., better known as Karlsruher SC, is a Football in Germany, German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of Germa ...
or
Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...
, now the team was transformed in a real "killer" against the German sides, after a 3–0 victory against Hertha in the Round of 32 and a 3–3 tie, with an away goal scored against
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
. "The Burgundy Eagles" were stopped only in the quarter-finals by another Romanian side,
FCSB Fotbal Club FCSB (), formerly named and still sometimes referred to as FC Steaua București, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the Liga I, the top flight of the Romanian football le ...
, 1–1 on aggregate, with a goal scored by FCSB in Giulești. This was one of the most memorable seasons in the history of Rapid, FCSB, and Romanian football. Rapid also lost the Romanian title to
FCSB Fotbal Club FCSB (), formerly named and still sometimes referred to as FC Steaua București, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the Liga I, the top flight of the Romanian football le ...
, but won the
Romanian Cup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
, after a 1–0 victory over Dinamo București. The squad in the 2005–06 European campaign was coached by Răzvan Lucescu and included the following players:
Dănuț Coman Dănuț Dumitru Coman (born 28 March 1979) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently the president of Liga II club Argeș Pitești. Coman started out as a senior at FC Argeș in the 1997–98 season and also played ...
, Ionuț Curcă, Apoula Edel, Mihai MincăMarius Constantin, Nicolae Constantin, Vasile Maftei, Dănuț Perjă, Marius Postolache, Ionuț Rada, Adrian Rusu, Ionuț StancuValentin Bădoi, Emil Dică, Gigel Ene, Nicolae Grigore, Artavazd Karamyan, Marius Măldărăşanu, Valentin Negru, Romeo StancuMugurel Buga, Lucian Burdujan,
Viorel Moldovan Viorel Dinu Moldovan (born 8 July 1972) is a Romanian football manager and former player. A former striker, Moldovan most successful years of his career were playing for Neuchâtel Xamax and Grasshoppers between 1996 and 1998 in Switzerland ...
, Daniel Niculae, Daniel Pancu, and
Ciprian Vasilache Ciprian Vasilache (born 14 September 1983) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Vasilache made his début in Liga I with Gloria Bistrița, in 2002. Between January 2004 and January 2007 he played for Rapid B ...
. In the following two seasons, Rapid ended in 4th ( 2006–07) and 3rd ( 2007–08) places, with another Romanian Cup title in 2007, in a final won 2–0 against Politehnica Timișoara in Dan Păltinișanu Stadium. In the
UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
, they were constant participations, with another group-stage presence in the 2006–07 season, but finishing 4th, in a group with PSG,
Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav (; ) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 47,000 inhabitants. It lies on the left bank of the Jizera (river), Jizera River. Mladá Boleslav is the second most populated city in the region. I ...
, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Panathinaikos, missing qualifying for the semi-finals. The next season saw a first-round elimination, to FC Nürnberg.


2008–2016: Rapid "in derailment"

After the 2007–08 season, the financial situation of Rapid was complicated, partly by the criminal conviction of the owner, George Copos, on charges of tax evasion, illegal transfers, and misuse of the lottery. The team performances also declined. After finishing 3rd in 2007–08, Rapid occupied mid-level places three times over the next five years: 2008–09 – 8th, 2009–10 – 7th and 2012–13 – 9th. Still, the team had a last burst of success in the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons, when, under coaches Marius Șumudică, Marian Rada, and Răzvan Lucescu, they achieved two consecutive 4th-place rankings, with a new presence in the
UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...
. They finished the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League season in the group stage, after they eliminated Polish side
Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław (), is a Polish professional Association football, football club based in Wrocław that plays in , the second level of the Polish football leagu ...
in the play-off round, making only 3 points in a group with Hapoel Tel Aviv,
PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...
, and
Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...
occupying last place. Next season was slightly weaker, with Rapid eliminated in the third qualifying round, after a two-legged match against
Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...
, previously having eliminated the Finnish club MYPA, 5–1 on aggregate. On 10 May 2013, the Disciplinary Commission of 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 ...
decided not to grant the
Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...
license to the club for the 2013–14 season. At the end of the season the club was sold by George Copos to Nicolae Cristescu and Adrian Zamfir. On 6 July the FRF Executive Committee decided that 18 teams would participate in the first league. Mircea Sandu announced that a play-off between Concordia Chiajna (which relegated on the pitch) and Rapid (which was relegated on legal terms) would be held to decide the 18th team. This match took place on 13 July 2013 in Dinamo Stadium and was won by "the Railwaymen" 2–1. Concordia challenged the legality of this play-off match, as Rapid had no license for
Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...
. After two rounds had already been played, on 2 August 2013 the
Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...
(CAS) decided that the organization of the play-off match was irregular and Concordia must remain in the top league, Rapid being relegated. Relegated for the sixth time to the second league, and after a period of 23 years spent in the top league with excellent performances, Rapid gathered all its forces, despite a poor financial situation and an under-funding from the new owners. Under coach
Viorel Moldovan Viorel Dinu Moldovan (born 8 July 1972) is a Romanian football manager and former player. A former striker, Moldovan most successful years of his career were playing for Neuchâtel Xamax and Grasshoppers between 1996 and 1998 in Switzerland ...
, former player on the team, "the Burgundy Eagles" had a good season, finishing 2nd in the regular season, as well as in the play-off round of the 2013–14 season, right behind Politehnica Iași and two points above Unirea Slobozia, ensuring their promotion to the first league. On 17 May 2014, the Licensing Commission of the Romanian Football Federation again decided not to grant the necessary license, this time for the 2014–15 season of
Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...
. Rapid decided to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but could not initially afford the
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...
30,000, trial fee. The money for the fee was eventually donated by club supporters, and CAS admitted the appeal, forcing 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 ...
to grant Rapid a license for the Liga I season. In the meantime, the club was bought by Valerii Moraru, a Moldovan businessman; but under coaches Ionel Ganea, Marian Rada, Cristian Pustai, and
Cristiano Bergodi Cristiano Bergodi (born 14 October 1964) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. Club career Born in Bracciano, Lazio, Bergodi started to play at Pescara Calcio in the country's first division (Serie A) in 1987, for Pesca ...
, the team had a very weak season, finishing only 16th, out of 18, and being relegated back 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 ...
, for the seventh time. Back 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 ...
, with Dan Alexa as a coach, Rapid had a solid season, despite the fact that debts suffocated the club; and the under-funding by the new owner did not help. At the end of the 2015–16 season, Rapid was promoted, being in 1st place, three points ahead of Dunărea Călărași. However, the club did not recover financially; the team kept only a few players and no coaches. After filing for bankruptcy, FC Rapid could not sign any new contracts, so it could not build a team for the 2016–17 season. Finally, on 14 December 2016, Rapid was officially declared bankrupt, after a half-season of inactivity.


2016–present: Rebirth

In summer 2016, after it became clear that the team could no longer be enrolled in the championship, the idea of setting up somewhere in the lower leagues appeared, more exactly, in the Bucharest Championship,
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 ...
. A split between the supporters and the people directly involved in the club appeared, resulting in two new clubs, ''AFC Rapid București'' and ''Mişcarea Feroviară CFR'', after initially not less than four teams had been announced; but most of the projects did not survive. If ''AFC Rapid'', owned by ex-Rapid marketing director, Horia Manoliu, who was in fact an old executive of the parent club, between 2001 and 2006. ''Mişcarea Feroviară'' was founded by the members of the Rapid Aristocratic Club. Both teams had an excellent run and were promoted to
Liga IV Liga IV is the fourth level of the Romanian football league system and is run in all 41 counties and in the Municipality of Bucharest. It was known as the Regional Championship, County Championship, Divizia C – County Phase and Divizia D. Its ...
. The two clubs did not seem to have the force to succeed in the with the new promotion. So, in summer 2017, at the initiative of Sector 1 Municipality, the sports association, Academia Rapid București, was set up and enrolled in the
Liga IV Liga IV is the fourth level of the Romanian football league system and is run in all 41 counties and in the Municipality of Bucharest. It was known as the Regional Championship, County Championship, Divizia C – County Phase and Divizia D. Its ...
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
series. This club is run by former Rapid players such as Daniel Niculae (president), Daniel Pancu (technical director), Nicolae Stanciu (manager), and Constantin Schumacher (coach). By the time the auction for the bankrupt company's brand was finalized, Academia Rapid concluded a lease agreement for a period of one year. This team has proven to be popular among supporters, who consider it the moral successor of the parent club. In the same summer, ''Mișcarea Feroviară'' disappeared. Academia Rapid had a great season and won 2017–18 Liga IV Bucharest after a tough duel with Steaua București. Also, the
Romanian Cup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
trophy for Bucharest preliminary rounds entered the club's treasury and the phoenix club of Rapid qualified for the next season's
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 ...
after a two-legged promotion play-off match against FC Singureni, the
Giurgiu County Giurgiu () is a county ('' județ'') of Romania on the border with Bulgaria, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Giurgiu. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 265,494 and the population density was . * Romanians – 96% * Romani ...
champions, which they won 17–1 on aggregate. On 12 June 2018, after 18 auctions which saw the price of the Rapid brand fall by about
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...
3 million, Academia Rapid bought the FC Rapid București brand, officially becoming the successor to the original club. The transaction was made for the amount of
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...
406,800, thus giving legitimacy to the new entity, even though it had already been accepted by most supporters and legends of the club as the successor of the original club, a fact confirmed in the championship match against Steaua București on 14 April, when 37,000 fans attended the match in the
Arena Națională The National Arena () is a retractable roof football stadium in Bucharest, Romania. It opened in 2011 on the site of the original National Stadium, which was demolished between 2007 and 2008. The stadium hosts major football matches including h ...
. The start of the 2018–19 season came with a number of difficulties for Rapid. Despite being 1st in the league, the football produced by the team suffered, and, as a result, coach Constantin Schumacher was replaced with former-player Daniel Pancu, which also led to the departures of Daniel Niculae and Vasile Maftei. On 24 November, Rapid played its last game in Giulesti, which was going to be demolished later that year to make space for a new Category 4 Stadium. They would play future matches at Regie until the completion of their new stadium. On 12 May, Rapid mathematically obtained the 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 ...
with a 3–0 win against the main contender, Unirea Slobozia. They finished the season in first with 75 points, 11 ahead of second place. The new 2019–20 season saw Rapid in the Romanian second Division, with Daniel Pancu as the head coach of the team. Victories against 1st and 2nd-ranked teams, UTA Arad (2–0) and CS Mioveni (5–1), gave the team hope for promotion, and Rapid found themselves in 3rd place after the first half of the season. The winter break came, and after a poor start to the second half of the season, Daniel Pancu was sacked from the club. Dan Alexa was appointed as the new head coach of the team. Exactly as with Daniel Pancu, Dan Alexa didn't succeed in giving the club a boost; so, he was sacked from the club in a few months' time. After Dan Alexa, Adrian Iencsi was hired as head coach; he also didn't perform. As the club had no more ideas of whom to bring on the team, they let Mihai Iosif, the assistant coach of the club, become the new head coach. Iosif did what none of his predecessors could do, and brought Rapid to the first Romanian League (Liga I). Rapid began the 2021–22 season in the Liga I very well, with five consecutive wins and no goals conceded in seven matches, which is a record in Romania.


Crest and colours


Colors

The official colors of the club are white and burgundy, from those of the capital of Romania. These can be found on the coat of arms and equipment used throughout its long history. These were chosen by Teofil Copaci, Grigore Grigoriu, Dumitru Constantinescu, Géza Ginzer, Tudor Petre, and Franz Hladt, who founded the club. The first equipment was made from burgundy cloth in Grigore Grigoriu's house, and the boots with crampons were reconditioned from used boots from Ateliere.


Crest

The crest of the Rapid Bucharest was usually composed of the CFR-ist symbol. In a short period after the beginning of the communist system in Romania, Rapidul was forced by the communist authorities to return to the name ''CFR Bucharest''. In 1950, it would become ''Locomotiva Bucharest'', with a red
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...
as its symbol. From 1958, the club renamed itself ''Rapid Bucharest'', adopting the logo that changed relatively little until the purchase of the club by George Copos, who changed the coat of arms upon his arrival. In 2001, Rapid's current crest was chosen. It turned out that the source of inspiration is, it seems, an emblematic club of Europe, namely Benfica Lisbon, the most successful club in
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...
, on whose emblem appears a legendary
eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
.


Anthem

The Rapid anthem, also known as "We are everywhere at home", was composed by Victor Socaciu, with lyrics by Adrian Păunescu. This anthem was born in June 1980, at the Flacăra editorial office, Adrian Păunescu meeting with Victor Socaciu, Ovidiu Ioanițoaia, a sports journalist at ''Flacăra'' magazine, and with Victor Niță, also from ''Flacăra''. The motifs for the hymn came quickly to Păunescu, and he started composing on the spot. At the same time, Ovidiu Ioanițoaia was writing the dictated verses on a napkin. At the centenary of the club, the football club and the sports club created a music album, on which the president of the club Daniel Niculae also sang.


Grounds


Stadium

The history of Giulești-Valentin Stănescu Stadium begins in 1934; on 31 March, CFR began the construction of a field on the Giulești Road. The field would have a width of 65 m and a length of 105 m. At first, the mayor of Bucharest did not want to authorize the construction of the first stadium, because it did not fit in the systematization of the capital. Eventually, authorization was given; and in April 1936 it was estimated that the stadium would be ready in September. The construction did begin in that year but it lasted more than two. The chief architect was Gheorghe Dumitrescu. The stadium was inaugurated on 10 June 1939. At the time, it was the most modern stadium in Romania, a smaller replica of
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
's Highbury Stadium, with a capacity of 12,160 seats. Among the guests at the opening ceremony was King Carol II and his son, future King Michael of Romania. The construction of the north stands was finished in the mid-1990s, with the capacity increased to 19,100 seats. In 2003, the pitch was changed and was considered to be the best in Romania at the time. Floodlights were installed in the summer of 2000. The stadium got the name of "Valentin Stănescu" in 2001, in respect of the manager who won the first championship for Rapid, but it is still commonly known as " Giulești Stadium", from the name of the neighborhood it is located in. Landmarks near the stadium are the Grant Bridge, Giulești Theatre, Gara de Nord (North Station), and the
Grivița Grivița () is a district of Bucharest, Romania, centered on the Grivița Railway Yards (''Atelierele CFR Grivița''), which were and still are an important landmark within the manufacturing landscape of the city. Located near Gara de Nord, the ...
Railway Yards. The stadium was closed on 24 November 2018, and the demolition process took place from 10 January to 7 May 2019, making room for the modern 14,000-seat Rapid Arena. The new stadium's construction will be funded by the Romanian government and
UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
, after Bucharest was announced as one of the host cities for
UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...
. After the closing of Giulești Stadium, Rapid moved temporarily on the Regie Stadium in
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
, the former home ground of Sportul Studențesc. Regie Stadium was closed in 2014 after a conflict between Sportul and the stadium's owner, a fact that led to its degradation. Before moving, the white and burgundies needed to invest in the reconstruction of their new stadium, which began in January 2019. After its promotion in
Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...
in the summer of 2021, the team played its home fixtures at the
Arena Națională The National Arena () is a retractable roof football stadium in Bucharest, Romania. It opened in 2011 on the site of the original National Stadium, which was demolished between 2007 and 2008. The stadium hosts major football matches including h ...
. The new Stadium Rapid-Giulești, known as Superbet Arena for sponsorship reasons, was inaugurated on 26 March 2022. It cost €67 million and can hold up to 14,050 spectators.


Training Facilities

Located in the north-western side of
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
, in the Bucharest Noi district, the ProRapid sports center was purchased by the then owner George Copos at the request of
Mircea Lucescu Mircea Lucescu (; born 29 July 1945) is a Romanian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, currently the head coach of the Romania national football team, Romania national team. He i ...
, the coach who won the second championship, and was inaugurated in 1998. Initially, the complex had four football fields and a modern training facility. But, over the years, the structure has deteriorated due to the carelessness of the owners. Still, at the end of the 90s, "Pro Rapid" was considered the most modern training base in the country. The facility spans five hectares and includes several playgrounds, three tennis courts, and an indoor swimming pool. There is a building where the players used to train. The facility is surrounded by Lake Străulesti, around which several buildings are distributed: the second building in order of size houses the living accommodations for the players on the first floor, medical rooms on the ground floor (including physiotherapy and rehabilitation), changing rooms (for players and coach), and a gym. The accommodation for the players of the youth teams is located in a building that includes a bar and a restaurant. In June 2016, the company SC FC Rapid SA was declared bankrupt by the Bucharest Court and the ProRapid base entered a period of continuous deterioration. At the moment, the football team is training at the Coresi training base.


Support

Rapid București is, according to a 2013 survey, the third-most supported club in Romania and the second in the Bucharest metropolitan area, around 20% of football lovers in the city being supporters of Rapid. A unique organization in the country is the "Aristocratic Club of Rapid", which was founded in 2000. Its members include well-known artists, who aim to defend the history of Rapid and maintain its traditions. However, at the beginning, being the railway club, drew its supporters mostly from people linked with the workers. The first waves of new fans came at the beginning of the 1930s, when Rapid's legendary golden team won the hearts of many people delighted by their spectacular play and the consecutive wins of the
Romanian Cup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
between 1935 and 1942 . In 1967, actor Mihai Ioan organised and taught the supporters how to sing chants, thus becoming the first leader of the gallery in the club's history. Currently, Rapid ultras are represented by ''Peluza Nord'' and also formerly by ''Tribuna II (t2 Rapid)''. Until 2002, Rapid Bucharest had a head of the gallery who stood at the head of the fans for 32 years, Constantin Mincea, Geamgiul. He is known for chanting against the communist party during Romania's communist regime, Rapid's fans had some chants that targeted the Ceaușescu family, the
Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...
(PCR), and clubs they considered as being protected by the regime, such as Steaua București, Dinamo București, Victoria București, Olt Scornicești, and Flacăra Moreni. Rapid fans were the first in Romania to support the ultras movement in the 1980s, but the first ultras groups were founded in 1998, named as ''Official Hooligans'', ''Bombardierii'', and ''Ultras Unione''. Later, others appeared such as: ''Maniacs'', ''Brigada 921'', ''Grant Ultras 06'', '' Radicals'', ''Torcida Visinie'', ''Chicos del Infierno (CDI) 2005'', ''Ultra' Stil'', ''Legiunea Chitila'', ''Devil's Gate'', ''Granata Girls'', ''SVRB'', ''Colletivo'', ''RHV'', ''Original'', ''Capitali'', ''Legione Titan'', and there were also groups in the provinces, in cities such as:
Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...
,
Pașcani Pașcani () is a city in Iași County in the Western Moldavia region of Romania, on the Siret river. , it has a population of 30,766. Five villages are administered by the city: Blăgești, Boșteni, Gâstești, Lunca, and Sodomeni. The city der ...
,
Piatra Neamț Piatra Neamț (; ; ) is the capital city of Neamț County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in northeastern Romania. Because of its very privileged location in the Divisions of the Carpathians, Eastern Carpathian mountains, it is con ...
,
Zalău Zalău (, unofficial and former official name: (; or , , ) is the seat of Sălaj County, Romania. In 2021, its estimated population was 52,359. History Ancient times Zalău is situated in the area inhabited by "Free Dacians", away from the h ...
, and
Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; ; German language, German: ''Neumarkt am Mieresch'') is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the list of cities and towns in Romania, 16th-largest city in Romania, with 116,033 ...
. In 2007, the ultras group, ''Pirații'', moved to the second stands of the stadium, following divergences with the leader of the ''Peluza Nord''. They were followed by other brigades from the ''Peluza Nord''. ''t2 Rapid (Piratii, CDI, Ultra' Stil)'' does not have a leader, distinguishing it from the other group. Over time there have been many conflicts between the two factions, and as a result, the members of ''Tribuna II'' groups left definitely, founding a new team, ''ACS Rapid-Frumosii Nebuni ai Giulestiului''. One of the most publicized incidents in Romanian football was the "Bricheta" case, when the Bucharest derby was stopped and Rapid lost 0–3. The supporters from Politehnica Timișoara and Rapid are bound by a friendship of 30 years. The beginnings of this friendship was at the final of the
Romanian Cup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
in the 1980-81 season, when the Rapid- Pandurii and Politehnica Timișoara- U Craiova matches were played together. The Olten people present at the match showed solidarity, which is why the Timişoara and Giulești supporters had to support each other. After the Revolution, the supporters from the rapid gallery came to Timisoara with wreaths that they laid at the heroes' cemetery, to commemorate those who died in December 1989.


Club rivalries


Bucharest Derby

The club's most important rivalries are against neighbouring
FC Steaua București Fotbal Club FCSB (), formerly named and still sometimes referred to as FC Steaua București, is a Romanian professional Association football, football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the Liga I, the top flight of th ...
. The two clubs have played each other over 130 times, beginning with Rapid's 1–0 victory on November 4, 1947. Several matches throughout the years between Steaua and Rapid have ended in serious clashes between fans. The two teams are notable for their dominance of Romanian football, alongside Dinamo. The conflict has become even fiercer after Steaua passed Rapid in an all-Romanian quarter-final of the
2005–06 UEFA Cup The 2005–06 UEFA Cup, the 35th edition of the UEFA Cup, was won by Sevilla, beating Middlesbrough in the final. It was the first victory for Sevilla in a European competition, and the first appearance by Middlesbrough in a European final. The ...
. The rivalry also extends to other sports. The local sports newspapers said that the two teams were linked in this quarter-final by the Number 41 tram which links the Ghencea Stadium with the Valentin Stănescu Stadium. The rivalry also extends to other sports.


Primvs Derby

Another bitter rival of Rapid is Petrolul Ploiești, which was previously based in the capital and with which it contests the Primus Derby, the oldest football derby in Romania. This is a fierce one where the galleries fight in increasingly beautiful choreographies and push their favorites. The first episode of the Petrolul-Rapid rivalry was in the 1965-66 season, Petrolul and Rapid fought for the title of Romanian champion, and Prahoven won. The team trained at that time by Constantin Cernăianu prevailed over the rival and won the last championship title in the history of the club. A year later, Rapid got revenge and won the first title, after a draw in Ploiesti. In the battle with Dinamo for the first place, the Giuleșteni needed a point in the match with Petrolul in the last stage. Rică Răducanu and his colleagues got the equaliser, score 0-0, and the Rapid supporters returned on foot from Ploiesti, as they had promised before the match. Among the thousands of fans was Ioana Radu, the well-known popular music singer and a big fan of the rapidists. At the end of the 1973-1974 season, both teams were relegated together to Division B. In the period 1978–1982, both teams were in Division B. The culminating match between the two took place in the spring of 1982, at Stadionul Steaua, in front of 35,000 spectators, in the 30th stage of Division B. The Rapidists prevailed with a clear 5–1 win. Another landmark match between the two teams was the final of the
Romanian Cup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
in 1995, at the end of which Petrolul won the second cup in their history, after defeating Rapid on penalty kicks. During the 1983-2004 period, both teams were in Division A, with Petrolul subsequently relegating at the end of the 2003–04 season. The rivalry also extends to other sports. Rapid had other Bucharest rivals, such as Dinamo Bucuresti, Progresul București, and Venus București, as well as derbies against teams of the Romanian Railways such as
CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ) or simply CFR, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I. Founded as ''Kolozsvári Vasut ...
and CFR Timișoara. Other, less important rivalries are with Universitatea Cluj, Farul Constanța, Universitatea Craiova, and UTA Arad.


Ownership and finances

Rapid is a joint-stock company since 1992. The property is divided as follows: 50% is attributed to Victor Angelescu and Dan Sucu, and the remaining 3% belongs to Academia Rapid Bucharest 1923. After a first bankruptcy, FC Rapid could no longer register new contracts, so they could not build a team to enter the 2016–17 season. Finally, on 14 December 2016, Rapid was officially declared bankrupt after half a season of inactivity. Since 1992, the giulestea club was led by the businessman George Copos, who then led the club to two championships in 2013. After his conviction in the Transfer File, he sold the club to Nicolae Cristescu, who led the club only 3 years, it then being bought by Valerii Moraru. On 12 June 2018, after 18 auctions during which the price of the Rapid brand dropped by approximately 3 million euros, Academia Rapid bought the Rapid Bucharest brand, officially becoming the successor of the original club. The transaction was for the sum of €406,800, thus giving legitimacy to the new entity, although it had already been accepted by most of the club's supporters and legends as the club's successor. On 26 July 2018 Victor Angelescu bought approximately 40% of the club's shares and later in 2022, he acquired the majority of the shares, becoming the majority shareholder of the Giulestean club. On 24 May 2022 businessman Dan Sucu purchased 50% of the club's shares.


Statistics and records

In its history, the club has participated 69 seasons in
Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...
and 15 seasons 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 ...
: these statistics place it in third place for number of participations in Liga I, after Dinamo Bucuresti and
FCSB Fotbal Club FCSB (), formerly named and still sometimes referred to as FC Steaua București, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest. It has spent its entire history in the Liga I, the top flight of the Romanian football le ...
. Rapid has played in 88 editions of the
Romanian Cup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
, the first time in 1933–34, winning 13 editions, while in the Romanian Supercup they have had twelve appearances, the first in 1998, the last in 2007. European competitions involve participation in 95 European cup matches, in 4 competitions over 22 seasons. The club has won the
Romanian Cup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
13 times and have played in 6 finals of this event; they also triumphed in four of the six Romanian Supercup matches in which they participated. In terms of European cups, Giulestenii triumphed in the Balkan Cup in 1964 and in the European Railway Championship in 1968 and played in the final of the European Railway Championship in 1961 and 1971. Since the establishment of the championship, the team finished first three times, second 14 times, obtaining the worst ranking in the 1973-74 championship with a final 16th place, from which it obtained relegation to the second division of Romania. The Cherry Eagles finished Division A with the best offense in the tournament on many occasions and with the best defense six times. Between 1990 and 2012 Rapid achieved the most important results in the club's recent history, winning two league titles and advancing in European cups. The most capped player for the team is Nae Stanciu who played for 12 years. Furthermore, Ion Ionescu is the team's top scorer with 107 goals. The most seasons as team captain was Dumitru Macri, who was captain for 14 years, when he played 221 matches. Ilie Greavu is the second-most selected player, with 294 games for Rapid, followed by Constantin Năsturescu, who played 288 games for Giulesti. Daniel Pancu is the club's second top scorer with 94 goals in 265 games, followed by Sandu Neagu who scored 92 goals. n total, 88 coaches have led Rapid. The first coach was Marin Himer, who coached the team from 1923 to 1925, while the longest serving Rapid coach was Valentin Stanescu, who remained in charge of the team for five seasons. With Valentin Stănescu he won the first championship in 1967, and was followed by
Mircea Lucescu Mircea Lucescu (; born 29 July 1945) is a Romanian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, currently the head coach of the Romania national football team, Romania national team. He i ...
who won the championship in 1999 and with
Mircea Rednic Mircea Rednic (born 9 April 1962) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who played as a defender, who is currently the head coach of Belgian Pro League club Standard Liège. Playing career Corvinul Hunedoara Rednic, ni ...
the championship in 2003. Rapid's most successful coach is Valentin Stănescu with whom Giulesteni managed historical performances, led the team when they won the
Balkan Cup The Balkan Cup (officially ''Coupe Balkanique de Football'') was an international association football competition contested on and off from 1929 to 1980 by countries from the Balkans region. The most successful team was Romania with four titles. ...
twice and the national championship in 1966. One of Giulesti's most famous coaches was Ion Motroc who spent 9 years as a player; as a coach he caused one of the biggest surprises of Romanian football, by winning the
Romanian Cup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
from the of Second Division. Razvan Lucescu led from 2004 to 2007, when he managed the club's greatest European performance, finishing fourth in Romania's
UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
. Ștefan Auer won back-to-back Romanian Cups in the interwar period; Iuliu Baratky also won back-to-back Romanian Cups. Bazil Marian was the manager who returned the cup to Giulesti after a 30-year spell. In the history of Rapid there have been many presidents, the first was Teofil Copaci, who founded the club and led Rapid in the interwar period. The club was led by the
Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...
in the period before the leadership of George Copos, under whom Dinu Gheorghe was club president. Afterwards, this position varied from person to person; among the most important leaders of Rapid were Grigore Sichitiu, Nicolae Manea. In 2003, the president Ioan Becali and Dan Petrescu were prompted by their status as 'Dinamo' and 'Steaua' fan to kiss the Rapid flag, this was a remarkable moment of the 2000s.


Popular culture

As Rapid is currently one of the most popular football team in Romania, a good number of musicians, TV, and film directors have been inspired from ideas linked to the Giulesti-based club. Popular references, however, appeared only after the Romanian Revolution, as, before, mass-media programmes were mostly being controlled by the communist regime. The
Prima TV Prima TV () is a Romanian commercial TV channel, famous mainly for the ''Cronica Cârcotaşilor'' show and various reality shows aired on this channel. Overview Prima TV was launched as one of the first commercial television stations in Romania ...
comedy show ''Trăsniții'' in one episode, showed the Pupaza character in the role of a Rapid supporter. Also, in 2022 the series on
Pro TV PRO TV (, often stylized as PRO•TV since 2017) is a Romanian free-to-air television network, launched on 1 December 1995 as the fourth private TV channel in the country (after TV SOTI, Antena 1, and the now-defunct, but online Tele7ABC). It is ...
'' Las Fierbinti'' had some characters as Rapid fans. Several other examples from music can be attributed as Rapid-related. Apart from club anthems played throughout time by Adrian Păunescu. Rapid has a lot of supporters, many of whom are celebrities in Romania: for example Fărâmită Lambru, Maria Tanase, Dan Grigore,
Horia Brenciu Horia Brenciu (; born Horea Augustus Brenciu on 27 August 1972 in Brașov) is a Romanian singer, television host for the Romanian version of ''Dancing with the Stars'', entertainer, and philanthropist. He studied at National College Andrei Şagun ...
,
Mircea Geoană Dan Mircea Geoană (; born 14 July 1958) is a Romanian politician and diplomat who served as the Secretary General of NATO, deputy secretary general of NATO between 2019 and 2024. He previously served as president of the Senate of Romania from D ...
,
Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as the second president of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, ...
, and Nicolae Vacaroiu. ''The book Glasul roților de tren'' by Ioan Chirilă is one of the most famous books about sports in Romania . This book has become a ''
bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
'' for Rapid supporters.


Honours


Domestic


Leagues

* Divizia A / Liga I ** Winners (3): 1966–67, 1998–99, 2002–03 ** Runners-up (14): 1936–37, 1937–38, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1948–49,
1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...
, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2005–06 * Divizia B / Liga II ** Winners (6):
1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...
, 1955, 1974–75, 1982–83, 1989–90, 2015–16 ** Runners-up (4): 1979–80, 1981–82, 2013–14, 2020–21 *
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 ...
** Winners (1): 2018–19 * Liga IV Bucharest (Regional) ** Winners (1): 2017–18 * Liga V Bucharest (Regional) ** Winners (1): 2016–17


Cups

*
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 ...
**Winners (13): 1934–35, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1941–42, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2006–07 **Runners-up (6): 1960–61, 1961–62, 1967–68, 1994–95, 1998–99, 2011–12 *
Supercupa României The Supercupa României () is a Romanian football (soccer), football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994 Supe ...
**Winners (4):
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
,
2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
,
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
,
2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...
**Runners-up (2):
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
,
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
*
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 ...
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
(Regional) **Winners (1): 2017–18 * Cupa Ligii **Winners (1): 1994 *Cupa Basarabiei (Regional) **Winners (1): 1942 *Cupa Primăverii (Regional) **Winners (1): 1957


Continental

*
Mitropa Cup The Mitropa Cup, officially called Coupe de l'Europe Centrale, Mitteleuropäischer Pokal or Central European Cup, was one of the first international major European association football, football cups for club sides. It was conducted among the suc ...
**Finalists (1):
1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...
*
Balkans Cup The Balkans Cup was an international football competition for clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1961 and was very popular in the 1960s (the 1967 final attracted 42,000 spectators), being ...
**Winners (2): 1963–64, 1964–66 * European Railways Cup **Winners (1): 1968 **Runners-up (2): 1961, 1971


European performance


Notable wins


Players


First-team squad


Out on loan


Club officials


Board of directors

* Last updated: 16 June 2025 * Source:Club officials
/ref>


Current technical staff

* Last updated: 3 June 2025 * Source:Technical staff
/ref>


League history

* As ''CS Mișcarea CFR București''.


Notable former players

The footballers enlisted below have had international for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level and/or more than 100 appearances for FC Rapid București. ;Romania * Alexandru Albu * Iordan Angelescu * Valentin Bădoi *
Ștefan Barbu Ștefan Barbu (2 March 1908 in Arad, Romania, Arad, Austria-Hungary (now Romania) – 30 June 1970 in Arad, Romania, Arad) was a Romanian association football, football striker, who played at the 1930 FIFA World Cup in Uruguay. Club career Barb ...
* Alexandru Boc * Ion Bogdan * Mugur Bolohan * Florin Bratu * Mugurel Buga * Zeno Bundea * Iulian Chiriță *
Vasile Chiroiu Vasile Chiroiu (August 13, 1910 – May 9, 1976) was a Romanian football defender who played for Romania in the 1938 FIFA World Cup. Honours ;Ripensia Timişoara *Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and official ...
* Teofil Codreanu * Dan Coe *
Dănuț Coman Dănuț Dumitru Coman (born 28 March 1979) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper, currently the president of Liga II club Argeș Pitești. Coman started out as a senior at FC Argeș in the 1997–98 season and also played ...
* Marius Constantin * Florin Constantinovici *
Vintilă Cossini Vintilă Cossini (21 November 1913 – 24 June 2000) was a Romanian football midfielder who played for Romania in the 1938 FIFA World Cup. He spent most of his career playing for Rapid București. Honours ;Rapid București *Cupa României Th ...
* Ion Costea * Iosif Damaschin *
Marian Damaschin Marian Damaschin (born 1 May 1965) is a Romanian former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. Club career Damaschin was born on 1 May 1965 in Urziceni, Romania, starting to play j ...
* Emil Dică * Emilian Dolha * Virgil Drăghia * Cristian Dulca * Gheorghe Dumitrașcu * Ion Dumitru * Emil Dumitriu * Gheorghe Ene II * Ștefan Filotti * Ionel Ganea * Gheorghe Georgescu * Nicolae Georgescu * Tiberiu Ghioane * Ion Goanță ;Romania * Ilie Greavu * Nicolae Grigore * Ștefan Grigorie * Ovidiu Herea * Adrian Iencsi * Róbert Ilyés * Ion Ionescu * Alexandru Ioniță II * Viorel Kraus * Costin Lazăr * Iosif Lengheriu * Bogdan Lobonț * Ion Lungu * Nicolae Lupescu *
Dănuț Lupu Dănuț Lupu (born 27 February 1967) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. Club career Dănuț Lupu was born on 27 February 1967 in Galați, Romania, starting as a child to play football and ice hockey ...
* Dumitru Macri * Vasile Maftei * Marius Măldărășanu * Nicolae Manea * Bazil Marian * Stelian Marin * Florin Marin * Ionuț Mazilu * Ion Mihăilescu * Horațiu Moldovan *
Viorel Moldovan Viorel Dinu Moldovan (born 8 July 1972) is a Romanian football manager and former player. A former striker, Moldovan most successful years of his career were playing for Neuchâtel Xamax and Grasshoppers between 1996 and 1998 in Switzerland ...
* Ioachim Moldoveanu * Ion Motroc * Dorel Mutică *
Ștefan Nanu Ștefan Dumitru Nanu (born 8 September 1968 in Filiași) is a Romanian former 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 footbal ...
* Constantin Năsturescu * Alexandru Neagu * Daniel Niculae * Titus Ozon * Daniel Pancu ;Romania * Ștefan Pănoiu * Dănuț Perjă * Marian Petreanu * Ion Pop * Ionuț Rada * Marian Rada * Sergiu Radu * Andrei Rădulescu * Petre Rădulescu *
Răducanu Necula Răducan Necula (born 10 May 1946), widely known as Rică Răducanu, is a retired Romanian football goalkeeper. Club career Early career Rică Răducanu, nicknamed ''Tamango'' after the character played by Alex Cressan from the 1958 movie, Taman ...
* László Raffinsky * Gheorghe Rășinaru * Răzvan Raț *
Mircea Rednic Mircea Rednic (born 9 April 1962) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who played as a defender, who is currently the head coach of Belgian Pro League club Standard Liège. Playing career Corvinul Hunedoara Rednic, ni ...
* Iosif Ritter * Mihai Roman * Ioan Sabău * Robert Sadowski *
Cristian Săpunaru Cristian Ionuț Săpunaru (born 5 April 1984) is a former Romanian professional Association football, footballer who played mainly as a centre-back. He played also as a right-back or a defensive midfielder. Săpunaru began his senior career wit ...
* Constantin Schumacher * Antonio Sefer * Vasile Seredai * Florin Șoavă * Nicolae Stanciu * Valentin Stănescu * Vasile Ștefan * Marius Șumudică * Dumitru Târțău * Florin Tene * Fănel Țîră * Leontin Toader * Georgică Vameșu * Ion Voicu * Ion Vlădoiu * Ianis Zicu ;Armenia * Apoula Edel * Artavazd Karamyan ;Australia * Ryan Griffiths ;Belgium * Roberto Bisconti * Xian Emmers * Emmanuel Godfroid * Philippe Léonard ;Brazil * Elinton Andrade * Césinha * Gláuber * Júnior Morais * Marcos Antônio * Peterson Peçanha * Cláudio Pitbull * Juliano Spadacio ;Cameroon *
Pierre Boya Pierre Boya (born 16 January 1984) is a Cameroonian professional footballer who plays as a striker. Club career On 10 November 2003, Boya signed a four-year contract with Partizan. He scored a goal on his debut for the club two weeks later in ...
;Croatia * Ljuban Crepulja * Marko Dugandžić ;Cyprus * Urko Pardo ;Czech Republic * Ondřej Kušnír ;France * Jayson Papeau ;Kosovo * Ermal Krasniqi * Albion Rrahmani ;Montenegro * Vladimir Božović * Radomir Đalović ;Nigeria * Olubayo Adefemi * Funsho Bamgboye ;Portugal * Ricardo Fernandes * Rui Duarte *
Filipe Teixeira Filipe Andrade Teixeira (; born 2 October 1980) is a Portuguese retired footballer. Born in France, he was regarded as technical and creative, being capable of playing in several midfield positions. Teixeira started out as a senior at Felguei ...
* João Paulo Andrade ;Slovenia * Darijan Matić ;Serbia * Ranko Despotović ;Spain * Joan Oriol ;Romania-Hungary * Stefan Auer * Iuliu Baratky ;Hungary-Yugoslavia *
Vilmos Sipos Vilmos Sipos (24 January 1914 – 25 July 1978), also known as Vilim Šipoš and Willy Sipos, was a Hungarian association football, football player and manager. He played for several clubs in a number of countries, having represented Yugoslavia ...


Notable former managers

* Stefan Auer * Iuliu Baratky *
Cristiano Bergodi Cristiano Bergodi (born 14 October 1964) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. Club career Born in Bracciano, Lazio, Bergodi started to play at Pescara Calcio in the country's first division (Serie A) in 1987, for Pesca ...
* Viorel Hizo * Viorel Kraus *
Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He currently manages Scottish Championship club Dunfermline Athletic. During his playing career he represe ...
*
Mircea Lucescu Mircea Lucescu (; born 29 July 1945) is a Romanian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, currently the head coach of the Romania national football team, Romania national team. He i ...
* Răzvan Lucescu * Nicolae Lupescu * Bazil Marian * Nicolae Manea * Ion Motroc * Daniel Pancu * Mircea Rădulescu *
Mircea Rednic Mircea Rednic (born 9 April 1962) is a Romanian professional football coach and former player who played as a defender, who is currently the head coach of Belgian Pro League club Standard Liège. Playing career Corvinul Hunedoara Rednic, ni ...
* Ferenc Rónay * Alfréd Schaffer * Valentin Stănescu * Petre Steinbach * Marius Șumudică


References

Notes Citations


Further reading

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External links

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Club profile
on UEFA's official website
Club profile
on LPF's official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Rapid Bucuresti FC Rapid București, Football clubs in Bucharest Railway association football clubs in Romania Association football clubs established in 1923 Liga I clubs Liga II clubs Liga III clubs Liga IV clubs 1923 establishments in Romania CS Rapid București