FC Steaua București in European football

European competitions

The first continental competition organised by UEFA was the European Cup in 1955. It is the most prestigious European competition and was conceived by the editor of L'Équipe Gabriel Hanot, as a competition for winners of the European national football leagues. The format of the competition was changed for the 1992–93 season to include a group stage instead of the straight knockout format previously in use. The competition was also renamed as the UEFA Champions League. Further changes were made for the 1997–98 season, with the runners-up from countries placed highly in the UEFA coefficients allowed to enter. This was later expanded to four team for the top countries in the coefficients.

A number of other European competitions have also taken place. The secondary cup competition is the UEFA Cup, which was established in 1972. The competition was initially open to teams who finished as runners-up in their respective national leagues. This was later expanded based on the countries rank in the coefficients and performance in domestic cup competitions. The competition was renamed as the UEFA Europa League for the 2009–10 season. The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a competition for the winners of all European domestic cup competitions. Established in 1960 it was considered the secondary cup competitions until the re-branding of the European Cup, which weakened the competition and it was considered the weakest of the three competitions. The competition was discontinued in 1999 and amalgamated into the UEFA Cup.

The UEFA Super Cup is a competition between the winners of the Champions League and Europa League. It was contested between the winners of the Champions League and Cup Winners' Cup up until the discontinuation of the latter in 1999. The competition was originally held over two-legs but was changed to a single match in 1998. The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup was established in 1955 and run independently of UEFA. It was initially for team from cities that hosted trade fairs, it was later expanded to include runners-up from the domestic leagues. In 1971 it came under the control of UEFA and was re-branded as the UEFA Cup. Established in 1960 the Intercontinental Cup was a competition for the winners of the European Cup and the South American equivalent the Copa Libertadores. Jointly organised by UEFA and the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL) it was contested until 2004, when it was replaced by the FIFA Club World Cup which included the winners of all six confederations regional championships.

Under communism (1947–1990)

On 7 June 1947, at the initiative of several officers of the Romanian Royal House, the first Romanian sports club of the Army was born through a decree signed by General Mihail Lascăr, High Commander of the Romanian Royal Army. The club was to be called ASA București (Asociația Sportivă a Armatei București – English: Army Sports Association), with seven different sections (football, fencing, volleyball, boxing, shooting, athletics, tennis), and its leadership was entrusted to General-Major Oreste Alexandrescu. With a squad gathered in record time, ASA was preparing itself for the Romanian second league promotion play-offs. However, the new Communist government that had come to power in 1945 and assumed total control of the country at the end of 1947 stated that every sports association in the country was now to be linked to a certain trade union, be it a State Department, a Ministry or a company. However, this was not the case for first league club, Carmen București, owned by wealthy industrialist Dumitru Mociorniță, who saw his team excluded from the championship and later on dissolved, its place in the 1st league being now taken by newly formed ASA.

The team's first official competition was the 1947-48 Romanian Football Championship season, in which they finished 14th. Their first official match was played in Bucharest against Dermata Cluj and ended 0-0. The team managed to avoid relegation after a play-out with seven other teams. On 5 June 1948, by Order 289 of the Ministry of National Defence, ASA became CSCA (Clubul Sportiv Central al Armatei – English: Central Sports Club of the Army), after which performances began to roll. In March 1950, CSCA changed its name to CCA (Casa Centrală a Armatei, English: "Central House of the Army").

The 1950s were years of great domestic performances, ones in which the famous "CCA Golden Team" was formed. 1956 was one of CCA's most prestigious years, when, apart from winning the title, the team entered a tournament in England where they beat Luton Town 4–3, drew against Arsenal 1–1 and Sheffield Wednesday 3–3 and lost 5–0 in front of Wolverhampton. Also, on 22 April 1956, the Romanian national team beat Yugoslavia 1–0 in Belgrade with a team comprised only by CCA players. In 1957, the team also made their first Champions League appearance, outpassed by Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League after a play-off in Bologna.

In 1961, CCA changed names once again (for the final time) to CSA Steaua București (Clubul Sportiv al Armatei Steaua – English: Army Sports Club Steaua). The name Steaua is Romanian for The Star and was adopted because of the presence, just like in any other Eastern-European Army team, of a red star on their badge.

Under the leadership of coaches Emerich Jenei and Anghel Iordănescu, Steaua had an impressive Championship run in the 1984–85 season, which they eventually won after a six-year drought. What followed was an astonishing European Cup season. After knocking-out Vejle Boldklub, Budapest Honvéd, Lahti and Anderlecht, they were the first ever Romanian team to make it into a Champions League final. On 7 May 1986, at the Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán in Seville, Spanish champions Barcelona were clear favourites, but after a goalless draw, goalkeeper Helmuth Duckadam saved all four penalties taken by the Spaniards, being the first ever Romanian to reach the Guinness Book for that achievement, while Gavril Balint and Marius Lăcătuș converted their penalties to make Steaua the first Eastern-European team to win the supreme continental trophy.

Gheorghe Hagi, Romanian all-time best footballer, joined the club a few months later, scoring the only goal of the match against Dynamo Kyiv which brought Steaua an additional European Super Cup on 24 February 1987 in Monaco, just two months after having lost the Intercontinental Cup 1–0 to Argentinians River Plate in Tokyo.

Steaua remained at the top of European football for the rest of the decade, managing one more Champions League semifinal against Benfica (1987–88) and one more Champions League final in 1989, which was lost 4–0 in to the Milan of Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard.

During these last years of the Communist regime in Romania, dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu's son Valentin was involved in the life of the team. Even though a controversial character, Valentin Ceaușescu admitted in a recent interview that he had done nothing else than to protect his favourite team from Dinamo's sphere of influence, ensured by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Though contested by some, their five-year winning streak in the championship between 1984–85 and 1988–89 corroborates the notion that the team was really the best during this period.

Post-Revolution (1990-date)

The Romanian Revolution led the country towards a free open market and, subsequently, several players of the great 1980s team left for other clubs in the West. Gheorghe Hagi went to Real Madrid for a club record $4,300,000 fee at that time, Marius Lăcătuș to Fiorentina, Dan Petrescu to Foggia, Silviu Lung to Logroñés, Ștefan Iovan to Brighton & Hove Albion, Tudorel Stoica to Lens and so on.

Therefore, three years followed in which the club won only a national cup in the 1991–92 season. However, a swift recovery followed and Steaua managed a six consecutive championship streak between 1992–93 and 1997–98. The club managed to reach the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals in 1993, when they lost on away goals to Royal Antwerp, and also to make it to the Champions League group stage three years in a row between 1994–95 and 1996–97.

In 1998, following lobbying from the football department president, Marcel Pușcaș, and new LPF regulations, the football club separated from CSA Steaua București and changed their name for the last time to FC Steaua București (Fotbal Club Steaua București).

In the summer of 2004, following a third consecutive year with no trophy won, former Italian glory Walter Zenga was appointed as head coach, becoming the first ever foreign Steaua manager. Following the appointment, results came immediately, as the team qualified for the UEFA Cup group stage and further on became the first Romanian team to make it to the European football spring since 1993, where they defeated holders Valencia after a penalty shoot-out at Ghencea. Zenga was sacked with three matchdays to go in the Divizia A, but Steaua eventually won the title, performance repeated the following year with manager Cosmin Olăroiu.

Under head coach Cosmin Olăroiu, they reached the UEFA Cup semi-finals in 2005–06, where they were eliminated by Middlesbrough thanks to a last minute goal.

In the next season, after having successfully passed two qualifying rounds against Gorica and Standard Liège, Steaua reached the group stage of the 2006–07 Champions League, where they ended third in Group E, behind Olympique Lyonnais (0–3 home, 1–1 away) and Real Madrid (1–4 home, 0–1 away) and in front of Dynamo Kyiv (1–1 home, 4–1 away). Their continuation in the UEFA Cup was short however, having been outpassed by holders Sevilla in the round of 32.

In the 2007–08 Champions League, they passed Zagłębie Lubin (1–0 away and 2–1 home) and BATE Borisov (2–2 away and 2–0 home), and reached the group stage, where they played against Arsenal, Sevilla and Sparta Prague. Their performance was sub-par however, finishing last with 1 point.

The 2008-09 UEFA Champions League season saw them advance to the group stage after defeating Galatasaray (2–2 away and 1–0 home), only to finish again last with 1 point, after Bayern Munich, Olympique Lyonnais, and Fiorentina.

Following seasons, Steaua qualified for Europa League only, where it managed to pass through the group stage in 2012 to lose against Twente Enschede in round of last 32. Next year, in 2013, Steaua manages to pass through Ajax in round of last 32 after penalty shoot-outs, and is eliminated in round of 16 by UEFA Champions League holders Chelsea despite a 1–0 home win.

Total statistics

Including away match with Manchester City

Statistics by country

Including away match with Manchester City

Goals by player

Including away match with Manchester City