SSU Politehnica Timișoara

Societatea Sportivă Universitară Politehnica Timișoara (), commonly known as SSU Politehnica Timișoara, Politehnica Timișoara, or simply Poli Timișoara, is a Romanian professional football club based in Timișoara, Timiș County, which competes in the Liga II.

Originally named ''ASU Politehnica'', the team was formed following the dissolution of the original FC Politehnica Timișoara in 2012. During that year, ACS Recaș was moved to the city and renamed ACS Poli Timișoara, eventually reaching the top flight while ''ASU'' struggled in the lower leagues. Between the two, the majority of the fans chose to support the latter, and in 2021 ACS Poli was also dissolved. That summer, the Polytechnic University of Timișoara, founder of the original team in 1921, ceased the FC Politehnica brand and records to SSU.

Hence, SSU Politehnica Timișoara is the only active entity asserting the history of the original club, which has totalled 44 seasons in the top national league and won two Cupa României trophies, in 1957–58 and 1979–80. The team plays its home matches in white and purple shirts at the Dan Păltinișanu Stadium, which has a capacity of 32,972 seats. Their bitter rivals are UTA Arad, with whom they contest the West derby.

History

Beginnings and lower leagues (1921–1945)

The club was founded in 1921 by the Polytechnic University of Timișoara under the name Societatea Sportiva Politehnica.

Its initial aim was to provide an opportunity for university students to work on their fitness within a competitive environment. The logistics of the sport proved problematic, as there were limited financial means available. Thanks to contributions gathered from university professors and employees, the club bought their first football kits, with white-black vertical stripes, and rented the "Patria" football stadium. It was not until 1928 that the club developed its own training grounds, "Politehnica", which were built by volunteers. Players for the team were chosen on merit from the pool of Timișoara students and high-schoolers, who trained after school hours during the week and played football on weekends. The football landscape in the city was already developed at that time, with CAT, RGMT and Chinezul dominating locally.

After spending three years in the District Championships II, Politehnica won promotion to the first tier in 1924, by defeating Kadima Timișoara. The club became established in the years to come, even finishing 2nd in the 1926–27 District Championships I, when Politehnica lost out to Chinezul by a single point, who were one of Romania's most famous football names at the time. However, the competitive level could not be easily sustained by a university club, as it was subject to the inflow and outflow of players conditioned by their student status. After a decline towards the end of the decade, the low-point came at the beginning of the 1930s, between 1931 and 1933, when due to insufficient material resources, Politehnica had to suspend its football activities. It reappeared in 1934 but remained a modest club, with mid-table classifications in the District Championships I, as well as the Divizia C and Divizia B, once they were founded. As war beckoned, the national championships were suspended and all football activities reduced to friendly matches and the "Cupa Eroilor" (1943–44).

Until the second World War, Politehnica was far from the number one Timișoara football club. Chinezul and then Ripensia won multiple Romanian championship, whereas the students' club failed to achieve similar results. It did, however, propel several players to the Romania national football team, with the likes of Sfera, Ignuţa, Deheleanu, Chiroiu, Pop, Protopopescu and Sepi all wearing the national jerseys.

Becoming one of the city's notable clubs (1945–1991)

With Romania under a communist regime, these decades were a challenge for Politehnica, as the club represented an educational institution of the highest tier. The numerous promotions and relegations between the first two national leagues were contrasted by the two Romanian cups won and the club's first forays into international football.

Politehnica was first promoted to Romanian top league, the Divizia A, in 1948, and played under the name CSU Timișoara in the first season. Shortly thereafter (from 1950), the club was renamed Știința Timișoara, in line with the desired nomenclature of the times. In spite of suffering its first relegation in 1951, the decade was an unusually consistent one, with the club returning swiftly to the top division and staying there until the season 1959. The high-point of the Ştiinţa years was winning the 1957–58 Romanian Cup, a 1–0 victory against Progresul București, with the club finishing joint first in the league in the same season, but losing out on goal difference.

The next decade saw the club struggle to remain in the first league, particularly towards the end of the 60s. However, it was then that the club's modern identity started taking shape. Firstly, in 1963, the largest stadium in Timişoara was completed. It was initially named "1 Mai", honoring the socialist workers' day, before being renamed several times in the 90s and finally settling on Stadionul Dan Păltinişanu. Secondly, the club reverted to its previous name of ''Politehnica Timișoara'' in 1966 and went to play during the next five decades on the then-erected stadium.

When Politehnica returned to the first league in 1973, after struggling to win promotion for several years, it went on to celebrate one of its best streaks in the top flight. With the likes of Emeric Dembrovschi and Dan Păltinişanu in the team, who both played for Romania and went on to become some of the most capped players in the club's history, and under the management of prof. Ion V. Ionescu, Politehnica lost that season's cup final. After managing a third place in the league with manager Angelo Niculescu in 1978, Politehnica took part in a continental competition for the first time. It was the 1978–79 UEFA Cup, where ''Poli'' defeated MTK Budapest (2–0 and 1–2), before going down to Honved Budapest (2–0 and 0–4) in the second round.

The club remained steady and managed to win its second cup trophy the following season, by beating Steaua București with 2–1, after extra time. Politehnica thereby qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, where it managed to eliminate Celtic Glasgow (1–0 and 1–2), before