Fotbal Club Ripensia Timișoara (), commonly known as Ripensia Timișoara, or simply as Ripensia, 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

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

Timiș County Timiș () is a county (''județ'') of western Romania on the border with Hungary and Serbia, in the historical regions of Romania, historical region of Banat, with the county seat at Timișoara. It is the westernmost and the largest county in Ro ...

, which currently plays in

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

The team was founded in 1928 by Lázár Kornél and folded twenty years later due to lack of funds. However, ''Ripi'' was brought back to life and enrolled in the

Liga VI The Romanian football league system, also known as the football pyramid, refers to the system in Romanian club football that consists of several football leagues bound together hierarchically by promotion and relegation. The first three leagues ar ...

, the sixth tier of the

Romanian football league system The Romanian football league system, also known as the football pyramid, refers to the system in Romanian club football that consists of several football leagues bound together hierarchically by promotion and relegation. The first three leagues ar ...

, in 2012. Ripensia Timișoara was the first Romanian club to turn professional, and because of this status they were unable to compete in the

national league National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

until the 1932–33 season. After being granted permission to participate in the national system, the club soon became one of the best in the country, winning four national titles and two national cups in their short history. The colors of the team are red and yellow.

History

It was founded in 1928 by dr.Cornel Lazăr, a famous promoter of football in the

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

region, and the former president of

Chinezul Timișoara Chinezul Timișoara was a football club that played both in the Romanian and the Hungarian championship during its existence. It was based in Timișoara, Romania (at the time of foundation Temesvár, Austria-Hungary). History The club was establ ...

. The players came from Chinezul Timișoara, C.A.T. and Poli Timișoara. Vilmos Kertész coached the team from 1931 to 1932.Jonathan Wilson (2019)
''The Names Heard Long Ago; How the Golden Age of Hungarian Soccer Shaped the Modern Game''
/ref> Due to its professional status, until 1932–1933 (the first season of the National League – Divizia A), the team and its players could not participate in official national competitions. They were champions of the Romanian Football League in 1933, 1935, 1936, and 1938, with two

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 ...

appearances, winning 3–2 over Universitatea Cluj in 1934 and 5–1 over

Unirea Tricolor București Unirea Tricolor București was a Romanian football (soccer), football football team, club from Bucharest, south-east Romania, founded in 1914 as Tricolor București. It was one of the most famous inter-war clubs in Romania. History Tricolor Bucu ...

in 1936. They were national vice-champions for 1933–34 and 1938–39. After

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 ...

, due to financial problems, the communist sports organisation and controversial actions, Ripensia played in Divizia B and Divizia C. After 1948, without any support, it disappeared, merging with Electrica Timișoara. Their colours were red-yellow. Their home stadium was called Electrica (today UMT; the original wooden stand was demolished in 2004–2005). The greatest players in team history were: *Goalkeepers: Vilmos Zombori, Dumitru Pavlovici *Defenders:

Rudolf Bürger Rudolf Bürger (31 October 1908 – 20 January 1980) was a Romanian international footballer and coach of German ethnicity. He is one of a few men who participated in each of the three pre-World War II FIFA World Cups. At club level, he play ...

, Balázs Hoksary *Midfielders: Vasile Chiroiu II,

Vasile Deheleanu Vasile Deheleanu (12 August 1910 – 30 April 2003) was a Romanian footballer who played in midfield and coach. Club career Vasile Deheleanu was born on 12 August 1910 in Temesvár, Austria-Hungary, growing up in the Mehala neighborhood. He ...

, Rudolf Kotormány, Eugen Lakatos, Nicolae Simatoc *Forwards: Gheorghe Oprean, Zoltán Beke,

Silviu Bindea Silviu Bindea (24 October 1912 – 6 March 1992) was a Romanian football player and coach. He represented Romania at the 1934 and 1938 World Cups as a forward, scoring twice in a first-round game in 1938. Honours Player ;Ripensia Timișoara * ...

, Gheorghe Ciolac, Ştefan Dobay, Ladislau Raffinski, Sándor Schwartz, Graţian Sepi II,

Mihai Tänzer Mihai Tänzer () (7 February 1905 – 22 September 1993) was a Romanian footballer of Danube Swabian (German) ethnicity, he also had Hungarian citizenship when he played in Hungary. Club career In the early 1920s, Timișoara " Chinezul" domi ...

, Adalbert Marksteiner In the 2012 the team was reestablished and competed in the municipal championship, they won it and promoted to

. In Liga V they reached the first place in the 2013–2014 season and promoted to the next league

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 ...

. Also they made a good impression in the 2013–14

, where they defeated again Universitatea Cluj to reach the Last 16 of the cup making them the surprise of the cup. In the Last 16 they lost to

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

. In the 2014–15 Liga IV season, ''Ripi'' had a tough opponent, in the position of ASU Politehnica Timișoara, the fan-owned phoenix club formed after the dissolution of

FC Politehnica Timișoara Fotbal Club Politehnica Timișoara (), commonly known as Politehnica Timișoara or simply Poli Timișoara, was a Romanian Association football, football club from Timișoara, Timiș County, established in 1921 and dissolved in 2012. During its ex ...

by its fans and finished only on the 2nd place. Next season Ripensia had a perfect journey, won Liga IV – Timiș County and qualified for the promotion play-offs to

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 ...

. At the promotion play-off Ripensia met the champion of

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

, Hercules Lupeni, and they won without major difficulties, 7–0 on aggregate, thus ensuring promotion to the

2016–17 Liga III The 2016–17 Liga III is the 61st season of the Liga III, the third tier of the Romanian football league system. The season began on 2 September. Team changes To Liga III Promoted from Liga IV * Arsenal Malu * Avântul Valea Mărului * Ax ...

season was the first one for ''Ripi'' in the last over 60 years. The team had a close fight for supremacy in the Seria IV against

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

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

, Cetate Deva and Național Sebiș but in the end they won and promoted 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 ...

after an absence of 69 years.

Honours

Domestic

Leagues

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 ...

**Winners (4): 1932–33, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1937–38 **Runners-up (2): 1933–34, 1938–39 *

**Winners (2): 1946–47, 2016–17 * Liga IV – Timiș County **Winners (1): 2015–16 **Runners-up (1): 2014–15 *

–

**Winners (1): 2013–14 *

–

**Winners (2): 2012–13, 2023-24

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 (2): 1933–34, 1935–36 **Runners-up (2): 1934–35, 1936–37

Former players

The footballers enlisted below have had international cap(s) for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level. ;Romania * Zoltan Beke *

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 ...

* Gheorghe Ciolac * Sever Coracu *

Ștefan Dobay Ștefan Dobay (, 26 September 1909 – 7 April 1994), was a Romanian footballer who played as a striker and manager. He mostly played for Ripensia Timișoara and the Romania national football team for whom he got 41 caps, scored 19 goals an ...

* Andrei Glanzmann * Balázs Hoksary * Rudolf Kotormány *

Ștefan Kovács Ștefan Kovács (; ; 2 October 1920 – 12 May 1995) was a Romanian football player and coach. Having won two European Cup titles, he is one of the most successful association football coaches in the history of the game. Various football magazi ...

* Eugen Lakatos * József Moravetz * Dumitru Pavlovici * László Raffinsky * Alexandru Schwartz *

Augustin Semler Augustin Semler, also known as Gustav Semler or Szemes Gusztáv (1904 – 1947), was a Romanian international footballer. He had two spells at defunct club Chinezul Timișoara, and also played for French side Montpellier HSC. He was also par ...

Grațian Sepi Grațian Sepi (30 December 1910 – 6 March 1977) was a Romanian footballer who played as a striker. Club career Grațian Sepi, nicknamed "The Tank from the Balkans" or "The Brunette Sindelar" was born on 30 December 1910 in Valkány, Austri ...

* Nicolae Simatoc * Iosif Slivăț *

Rudolf Wetzer Rudolf 'Rudy' Wetzer (17 March 1901 – 13 April 1993) was a Romanian football player and manager. He was the captain and team-coach alongside Octav Luchide, under the management of Costel Rădulescu of the first Romanian side to participate ...

* Vilmos Zombori ;Hungary * Ferenc Plattkó ;Romania-Hungary *

Nicolae Kovács Nicolae Kovács (, 29 December 1911 – 7 July 1977) was a Romanian-Hungarian football player and coach. He was a dual international football player and played both for Romania and Hungary. He played in 116 matches and scored 43 goals for Clu ...

* Adalbert Marksteiner *

Former managers

;Romania *

* Paul Codrea *

;Hungary * Vilmos Kertész *

Jenő Konrád Jenő Konrád (13 August 1894 – 15 July 1978) also referred to as Eugen Conrad or Eugène Conrad or Eugenio Konrad was a Hungarian footballer and manager. In the 1910s he played on the Hungary national team with his brother, Kálmán Konrád ...

;Austria *

Josef Uridil Josef Uridil (nicknamed ''Pepi, der Tank''; 24 December 1895 – 20 May 1962) was an Austrian footballer and coach. Biography Pepi Uridil, third son of the taylor Kajetan Uridil, was born on Christmas Eve 1895 in the Vienna suburb of Ottakring ...

Domestic records and statistics

Key

* Pos = Final position * P = Played * W = Games won * D = Games drawn * L = Games lost * GF = Goals For * GA = Goals Against * Pts = Points * Div A / L1 =

* Div B / L2 =

* Div C / L3 =

* L4 =

* L5 = Liga V * L6 = Liga VI * p = Preliminary Round * 1R = Round 1 * 2R = Round 2 * 3R = Round 3 * 4R = Round 4 * 5R = Round 5 * GS = Group stage * R32 = Round of 32 * QF = Quarter-finals * R16 = Round of 16 * SF = Semi-finals * F = Final The players in bold were the top goalscorers in the division.

Seasons

European record

Mitropa Cup

Ripensia played in 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 ...

, an important inter-war football competition. In the 1938 season Ripensia knocked

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

giants

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

out of this competition. The Romanians won the first leg 3–0 at

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 ...

, and lost the second leg 1–3. In the next round Ripensia was eliminated by Hungarian side of

Ferencváros Ferencváros (, ) is the 9th district of Budapest (), Hungary. Name The southern suburb of Pest was named after King Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I on 4 December 1792 when he was crowned king of Hungary. History The developmen ...

(1–4, 4–5).

References

External links

*
Club profile
at UEFA.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Ripensia Timisoara Association football clubs established in 1928 Football clubs in Timiș County Sport in Timișoara Liga I clubs Liga II clubs Liga III clubs Liga IV clubs 1928 establishments in Romania