Trisha Shetty (Editor)

AF Gloria Bistrița

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Short name
  
Gloria

Chairman
  
Valentin Petrina

Ground
  
Stadionul Jean Pădureanu

Leagues
  
Liga IV, Liga II, Liga I

Ground Capacity
  
7,800

Manager
  
Gheorghe Hurloi

Founded
  
6 July 1922

AF Gloria Bistrița httpssmediacacheak0pinimgcomoriginalsdd

Full name
  
Academia de Fotbal Gloria Bistrița

Nickname(s)
  
Vampirii Albaștri (Blue Vampires) Alb-albaștrii (The White and Blues) Glorioşii (The Glorious Ones) Echipa lui Dracula (Dracula's squad) Struții (The Ostriches)

AF Gloria Bistrița ([ˈɡlori.a ˈbistrit͡sa]) is a Romanian professional football club from Bistrița, Bistrița-Năsăud County.

Contents

History

The club was founded on 6 July 1922 and among the founding staff members there were: Simion Sbârcea as the club's president; Teofil Moldovan as the club's secretary; Ion Bota; Dumitru Hara; Simion Pop; Ioan Archiudean; and others as the club's administration committee members.

Throughout its earlier history, the club had several other names: Ceramica Bistrița (before World War II), CS Bistrița (after World War II) and Progresul Bistrița until 1956, when the old name, Gloria, was readopted.

In 1954, the team participated at Liga II promotion playoffs but missed the promotion, although at Gloria were playing in that period future Romania national team players, the Munteanu brothers.

Divizia C

The club played in Divizia C (now Liga III) three times. It promoted for the first time in 1957, then for the second time in the 1960s. Gloria played in Diviza C for a third and final time during the 1974–75 season, after which they were relegated from Divizia B.

Divizia B

Gloria earned its first Divizia B (now Liga II) promotion in 1958, just one year after they had promoted to Divizia C. They secondly promoted to B in 1970, under coach Titi Popescu and after the one year relegation during 1974–75 season, they finally promoted the 3rd time under Gheorghe Nuțescu's reign. The team played in Divizia B for 15 years, between 1975 and 1990, possessing many valuable players as Daniel Iftodi, Gheorghe Hurloi, Victor Ciocan and others.

Promotion in top division and European cups

The team earned its promotion to the Romanian first league, Divizia A (now Liga I), in 1990 under coach Remus Vlad, league in which Gloria played uninterrupted until 2011. Also the club gave Romanian football remarkable players such as Viorel Moldovan, Gavril Balint, Lucian Sânmărtean, Ciprian Tătărușanu, Emilian Dolha, Cristian Coroian and others. After shy beginnings of the team in the top division, in 1993, Gloria finished fifth place and qualified in premiere into a European competition, UEFA Cup. They draw 0–0 with Maribor at home, but were eliminated after 2–0 defeat in the second leg played away. In 1994, Gloria Bistrița won the Romanian Cup after defeating Universitatea Craiova with 1–0. After finishing in seventh place, Gloria qualified in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. They defeated the future UEFA Cup Winners' Cup winners Real Zaragoza with 2–1 in Bistrița, but were eliminated after losing 4–0 at the Estadio La Romareda. After a season of pause, even if finished 12th place, Gloria returned in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup after losing with 3–1 in the final of Romanian Cup against league champions Steaua București. They qualified in first round after defeating Valletta FC with 2–1 in both legs. In first round, Gloria drawn 1–1 in Bistrița against Italian giants Fiorentina, but were eliminated by losing 1–0 in Florence.

In 1997, Gloria made its debut in UEFA Intertoto Cup. Playing in the group stage, they finished in fourth place in group 10 of the competition, losing against Montpellier (1–2), Čukarički Stankom (2–3) and Groningen (4–1) and winning against Spartak Varna (2–1). In 2000, Gloria won Cupa Ligii 3–1 at penalties, after drawn 2–2 against FCM Bacau. They lost the qualification in the second round of the Intertoto Cup after losing to Jazz Pori 1–0 in Finland, and winning with 2–1 in Bistrița. In 2002, Gloria qualified in third rounds for the first time after eliminating Union Luxembourg (2–1 in Bistrița and 0–0 in Luxembourg) and Teuta Durrës (3–0 in Bistrița and 0–1 in Albania), but were eliminated by Lille (2–0 in both legs). In 2003, Gloria Bistrița finished the season in third place, its best ever performance, and qualified for the second round of Intertoto Cup after eliminating Bangor City (0–1 in Wales and 5–2 in Bistrița), but were eliminated by Brescia (1–2 in Italy and 1–1 in Bistrița).

In 2005, Gloria earned its best European results ever against Olympiakos Nicosia: 0–5 in Cyprus (its best away European victory) and 11–0 in Bistrița (its best home European victory). In 2007, Gloria finished its accounts with European competitions in the Intertoto Cup, eliminating OFK Grbalj (2–1 in Bistrița and 1–1 in Montenegro) and Maccabi Haifa (2–0 in Bistrița, 0–2 in Israel and 3–2 at penalties) and lost the Cup against Atlético Madrid. Even if they beat Atlético in Bistrița with 2–1, they lost with 1–0 in Madrid, and with 2–2 aggregate, the Spanish prevailed on the away goals rule. After 2007, Gloria changed its objective from European competitions to avoid relegation. In 2011, Gloria was relegated in Liga II after failing to achieve a license for the next season.

Insolvency

Gloria's funding problems worsened. However, Gloria Bistrița resisted on the pitch, and finished runner-up in the second division, thereby earning promotion to Liga I once again, under the leadership of coach Nicolae Manea. In the following season, however, Gloria had the worst record in first division, finishing 18th, and were relegated yet again. After the second relegation, Manea left the club to coach Corona Brașov, taking with him former Gloria strikers, Cristian Coroian and Sandu Negrean, as technical director and head coach respectively, with the stated objective of gaining promotion.

On 25 July 2014, Gloria was relegated to Liga III, due to many financial problems, and changed its name from ACF Gloria 1922 Bistrița to Gloria Progresul Bistrița.

On 3 August 2015, the club was relegated to Liga V, due to many financial problems, and changed its name from Gloria Progresul Bistrița to AF Gloria Bistrița.

Stadium (Municipal Jean Pădureanu)

The stadium was inaugurated in 1930 and modernized in 2008. The stadium was called Stadion Municipal Gloria, before being named after the most important person in the club's history, Jean Pădureanu. The stadium has a total capacity of 7,800 seats.

Current squad

As of 19 February 2016

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Managers

Managerial history dating from the past 20 years

  • Remus Vlad (1990–92)
  • Constantin Cârstea (1992–93)
  • Remus Vlad (1994)
  • Constantin Cârstea (1994–96)
  • Remus Vlad (1996–97)
  • Constantin Cârstea (1997–02)
  • Remus Vlad (2002–04)
  • Constantin Cârstea (2004–05)
  • Ioan Sabău (July 2005 – June 2009)
  • Sandu Tăbârcă (July 2009 – Oct 09)
  • Florin Halagian (Oct 2009)
  • Marian Pană (Oct 2009 – Dec 09)
  • Marius Șumudică (Jan 2010 – May 10)
  • Laurențiu Reghecampf (June 2010 – Oct 10)
  • Nicolae Manea (Oct 2010 – June 2013)
  • Sandu Negrean & Cristian Coroian (June 2013 – June 2014)
  • Valer Săsărman & Dorel Zegrean (June 2014 – August 2015)
  • Gheorghe Hurloi (August 2015 – Present)
  • Championships

    Liga I

  • Best finish 3rd 2002–03
  • Liga II

  • Winners (1): 1989–90
  • Runners-up (8): 1976–77, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1987–88, 2011–12
  • Liga III

  • Winners (3): 1957–58, 1969–70, 1974–75
  • Runners-up (1): 1964–65
  • Liga V-Bistrița Năsăud

  • Winners (1): 2015–16
  • Cups

    Cupa României

  • Winners (1): 1993–94
  • Runners-up (1): 1995–96
  • Cupa Ligii

  • Winners (1): 2000
  • Supercupa României

  • Runners-up (1): 1994
  • European

    UEFA Intertoto Cup

  • Runners-up (1): 2007
  • Club records in Liga 1

    Club records in Liga 1 dating from the past 20 years

    Longest winning run

  • 5 matches, June 10, 1995 – August 19, 1995
  • Longest unbeaten run

  • 7 matches, March 22, 1997 – May 3, 1997
  • Biggest wins

  • 5–0 against Rapid București, 1990–91 season
  • 5–0 against Jiul Petroșani, 1990–91 season
  • 5–0 against Sportul Studențesc, 1993–94 season
  • 6–1 against FC Maramureș, 1994–95 season
  • 5–0 against Oțelul Galați, 1996–97 season
  • 0–5 against Jiul Petroșani, 1997–98 season
  • 5–0 against Foresta Suceava, 1998–99 season
  • 6–1 against Unirea Alba Iulia, 2004–05 season
  • 5–0 against Politehnica Iași, 2009–10 season
  • Biggest losses

  • 0–6 against Progresul București, 1994–95 season
  • 0–6 against UTA Arad, 2002–03 season
  • 0–6 against Brașov, 2009–10 season
  • Most played games

  • Victor Ciocan – over 600
  • Most goals

  • Victor Ciocan – 426
  • References

    AF Gloria Bistrița Wikipedia