FC Brașov

Early modern football in Brașov

"Prehistoric" football in Brașov started between 1912 and 1914. In 1927, the unrelated Colțea Brașov won a major title. In the second edition of Division C (1937–1938), the team Brașovia had given way to the new team "Astra" Brașov, founded a year earlier in 1936, which developed through the years to the current team from the foot of the mountain Tâmpa, FC Brașov. Players from this precursor of FC's in '37 may be considered the first generation in the team history. Ten of them are mentioned by the press: Năftănăilă (no relation to Lulu Năftănăilă from the later history of the club), Aurel Stroe, Pitu, Chicomban (a known family of multiathletes), Danciu, Pedra, Chirică, Dumitrescu, A. Iftimie, Dănăilă, Dragan.

The generation of Silviu Ploeșteanu

The Second World War paralyzed the world of football, although there were a few competitions like "The Cup of Bessarabia" or "The Heroes Cup". Immediately after the armistice, various teams began to emerge throughout Romania, for the most part related to industrial establishments, universities or the military.

Yet one more time we find the Brașov team in Division C – series XII, as "UAB". This constellation is the starting point of the team that manager Silviu Ploeșteanu, with firm hands and professionalism, will bring to the second place in the first division and to winning the first Balkan Interclub Cup. We consider this to be the second generation, the generation that finally succeeded to break into Division B, in 1950.

This is the generation that Silviu Ploeșteanu managed to become a great team, winners of "The Balkan Cup" and players on the front stage among Romanian clubs. In 1960 the team places itself as number two on the front stage. This is the generation of Nicolae Proca, Gheorghe Fusulan, Gheorghe Ciripoi, Tică Constantinescu, Gheorghe Percea, Octavian Zaharia and Gheorghe Raicu; later supplemented by Stephen Hidișan (who continued as coach, a discoverer of talent), Nicolae Campo, Ioan Szigeti, Alexandru Meszaroși, Vasile Szeredai, Dorin Gane, Valer Târnăveanu and Necula Dorin.

The generation of the Mexican trio

The following generation is the one of the trio Nicolae Pescaru – Stere Adamache – Mihai Ivăncescu, the generation that provided three players to the Romanian national team at the World Cup in Mexico 1970. For a province team this was an extraordinary achievement, especially as they then played in Division B, even if the demotion (starting in 1968) was due to factors unrelated to the playing proficiency of the team.

The death of Iuliu Năftănăilă on 28 August 1967 gave the club a terrible shock from which it did not recover. Not only had Brașov lost one of its greatest talents, there was also the obtuseness of the federation, which did not agree to postpone the match with U Cluj just 48 hours after the funeral. Still under psychological pressure, the team gave up and could not recover fast enough. This demotion resulted in the replacement of Silviu Ploeșteanu as the coach of the team. After only eight stages on the bench in the next edition of "B", Valentin Stănescu was assigned his position. The shock of being dismissed from the team that he had managed for 21 years led to his death in the following spring, on 13 April 1969.

This generation links to the names of Csaba Gyorffy, Iuliu Jenei, Călin Gane, Marcel Goran, Pete Cadar, Caesar Ardeleanu, Adrian Hârlab and Virgil Grecea – a generation consisting of some of the most long term team members.

The generation of the '80s

The generation of the 1980s brought the team back on the first stage, after five years of penance in the second division. This was the generation of Vasile Papuc, Vasile Gherghe, Marian Paraschivescu, Valer Șulea, Costel Spirea, Vasile Bențea, Gherasim Chioreanu, Adrian Furnică, Constantin Manciu, Nicolae Bucur, Nicolae Adami, Mihai Panache and Petre Marinescu.

Others incorporated along the way were Marius Lăcătuș, Ion Batacliu, Nistor Văidean, Ion Mandoca and Dumitru Stângaciu, a generation that demoted the team into "B" for a season, but that also brought it back. They did not reach the foremost positions, as had the earlier generations, but still for a long time they maintained the flag of Brașov on mast-head. The generation of the 1980s continued and merged with the generation of the end of the decade, when new stars appeared on the Brașov sky: Marin Barbu, Alexandru Csaba Andrași, Marian Mărgărit, Eugen Moldovan, Petre Lucian, Andrei Șanta and Ștefan Bălan.

A leap in the line of time and the World Cup of '94

After the events of December '89, we reach the generation that sent Marian Ivan to the '94 World Cup in the USA. This is the generation of Tibor Selymes, Ionel Pârvu, Laszlo Polgar, Emil Spirea, Sandu Andrași, Iulian Chiriță, Dorel Purdea, and Marius Todericiu, a generation that still had some of the most worthy players of previous generations. This is the generation which, as previously said, sent Marian Ivan to the World Cup, 24 years after the Mexican trio.

The new generation, an indigenous one

Some of the players of previous generations came to the foot of Tâmpa from elsewhere, adapted and remained faithful to these lands, along with those that were born and formed here. In recent years, the junior teams of "the flagmen" have begun to produce young talents one after the other. The best of the best have been incorporated into the "big" group, others have been lent to teams in the lower categories, to grind. Traian Alexandru Marc, Marius Constantin, Romeo Surdu, Ioan Coman, Silviu Pintea, Ionuț Vasiliu and Dragoș Luca – the generation formed by "Municipal" or "ICIM", the generation that brought the titles of champions or vice-champions back to Brașov after a very long time. This generation was thrown into battle together with others that committed themselves to the fields of Brașov: Aurel Ghindaru, Vasile Ghindaru, Mugurel Buga, Laszlo Balint, Emerich Vascko, Cosmin Bodea, Daniel Isăilă, Octavian Cocan,Marcel Șandor, Mihai Stere, Robert Dani, Florin Stângă and the list could go on and on. A list that is sure to be filled with other names coming from the juniors, carefully prepared within the framework of the "center".

2009–10 season

The club started the 2009–10 season very well, ranking first in the championship at the end of the first seven matches. In the Romanian Cup, they managed to reach the semi-finals, after eliminating one by one, CS Otopeni, Unirea Urziceni and Gloria Bistrița. By doing this, they managed to equalize their all-time best performance in this competition, after the ones achieved in the 1951, 1957–58, 1961–62, 1969–70, 1978–79 and the 1986–87 seasons. They were drawn against FC Vaslui. Neither team had ever reached the final before. FC Brașov lost the encounter.

Chronology of names

The city of Brașov was also known as Oraşul Stalin (English: The City of Stalin) between 1950 and 1960.

First team squad

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

Out on loan

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

Domestic

Liga I

Liga II

European

Balkans Cup

European record

¹The competition was played in a group of 5 teams. FC Brașov finished first and won the cup.
²The game was replayed in a third leg match in Brașov, that Espanyol won 1–0.