The Former Ploiești derby () was the name given in

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 ...

to any match between Romanian clubs Petrolul Ploiești and

Astra Giurgiu Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club last based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spe ...

. The two sides won a combined eleven domestic titles, and as of 2024 Petrolul 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 ...

, while Astra last played in the

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 ...

and is dissolved.

Background and history

Neither team played continuously in the city of

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Ble ...

since inception; Astra was founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', while Petrolul appeared three years later in the Romanian capital 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 ...

as ''Juventus'', following a merger. The latter won its first league championship in the 1929–30 season, and in 1952 moved to Ploiești and changed its name to ''Flacăra Ploiești'' accordingly. It achieved three more national titles in 1957–58, 1958–59 and 1965–66. The rivalry only started in 1998, when Astra promoted for the first time to the Liga I under the ownership of businessman Ioan Niculae. Their first meeting was a league fixture on 8 August 1998, which Petrolul won 2–1 at home. In July 2003, Astra Ploiești changed its name to FC Petrolul Ploiești, with Florin Bercea and Ioan Niculae becoming owners of the newly-formed entity and also with the home ground moving to

Astra Stadium The Astra Stadium is a football-only stadium in Ploiești, Romania. It was the home ground of Astra Giurgiu, former Astra Ploiești, club that moved in 2012 from Ploiești to Giurgiu. Association football See also *List of football stadiums ...

. According to 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 ...

, the new entity took over Petrolul's brand and record; Astra was refounded by Niculae in 2005 as ''CSM Ploiești'' after he renounced his stake in Petrolul. In September 2012, Astra relocated to Giurgiu after 91 years in

Prahova County Prahova County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploiești. Demographics In 2011, it had a population of 762,886 and the population density was 161/k ...

, but even after the move the rivalry continued between the governances of the two clubs, with Ioan Niculae claiming at one point that Petrolul does not have any honours after the events of 2003–2005. While Astra did not attract large crowds in neither Ploiești nor Giurgiu, Petrolul fans continued to consider their

derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

with

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

the most important one. Astra became a prominent figure in Romanian football in the 2010s, as it won its first four major honours (one national title, one

national cup The English National Cup is an annual basketball knock-out competition held between professional, semi-professional and amateur teams from the various divisions of the National Basketball League (England), National Basketball League. For most of th ...

, and two supercups) and qualified twice for 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 ...

group stages in Giurgiu. During the same time period, Petrolul only won one Cupa României in the 2012–13 season, and went bankrupt in 2016. Astra additionally lost three cup finals in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, and

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

on the Ilie Oană Stadium in Ploiești, the home ground of its former local opponent. The two rivals met again in the same league during the 2021–22 Liga II season, but their ultimate fates were antithetical—Petrolul returned to the Liga I after ascending through the Romanian league system, while Astra relegated to the third division. On 19 October 2022, Astra withdrew from the championship and was subsequently dissolved.

Statistics

Head to head results

Honours

All matches

Games involving second teams

Players with both sides

The footballer with the most appearances combined (560) for both sides combined is Takayuki Seto. One of the most notable footballers to play for both clubs is 2017

Romanian Footballer of the Year The Romanian Footballer of the Year (), also known as the Nicolae Dobrin Trophy (), is an annual association football award given by the ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' newspaper to the Romanian player adjudged to have been the best during a calendar yea ...

winner Constantin Budescu—he appeared in more than 410 matches in all competitions for Petrolul and Astra combined, as of 2023. * Geraldo Alves * Mirel Bolboașă *

Damien Boudjemaa Damien Boudjemaa (born 7 June 1985) is a French footballer of Algerian descent who plays as a midfielder and for Montreuil FC. Club career In the summer of 2012, there were rumors that Rapid București would be interested to sign the player fo ...

* Constantin Budescu *

Nicolae Constantin Nicolae "Nae" Constantin (born 9 December 1973) is a Romanian Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who serves as an assistant for Super League Greece club PAOK FC, PAOK. Mainly deployed as a ...

* Daniel Costescu * Marian Cristescu * Dragoș Gheorghe * Romario Moise * Mirko Ivanovski * Adrian Pătulea * Paul Papp * Romário Pires * Bogdan Rusu * Takayuki Seto *

Pompiliu Stoica Pompiliu Sorin Stoica (; born 10 September 1976) is a Romanian former footballer and currently a manager. Playing career Club Stoica started his senior career at hometown club Gloria Buzău, and went on to represent Astra Ploiești, Steaua ...

Gabriel Tamaș Gabriel Sebastian Tamaș (; born 9 November 1983) is a Romanian former association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back, currently sporting director of Liga II club CS Concordia Chiajna, Co ...

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 ...

* Dinu Todoran * Claudiu Tudor *

Alexandru Țigănașu Alexandru Țigănașu (born 12 June 1990) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a left-back or a midfielder for Liga I club Botoșani. Honours CSMS Iași *Liga II The Liga 2, most commonly spelled as Liga II, is the second level ...

Cristian Vlad Cristian Nicolae Vlad (born 18 February 1977 in Boldești-Scăeni, Prahova County) is a retired Romanian football player. He played as a midfielder. Club career He made his debut in the Divizia A at 20 years old for Petrolul Ploiești where h ...

References

External links

Petrolul Ploiești official website

Astra Giurgiu official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Former Ploiesti derby Football rivalries in Romania Sport in Ploiești FC Petrolul Ploiești FC Astra Giurgiu 1998 establishments in Romania Recurring sporting events established in 1998 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 2022 2022 disestablishments in Romania