FC Unirea Urziceni

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Unirea Urziceni

Tineretului
Capacity	7,000
Owner	Urziceni Municipality
Home colours Away colours

Fotbal Club Unirea Urziceni, commonly known as Unirea Urziceni (Romanian pronunciation:

The club was founded in 1954, and spent the majority of its history in the lower tiers of the Romanian league system. In 2006 they reached Liga I for the first time, and received national praise for their results at this level. At the end of their second season in the top division they earned qualification to Europe, and one year later they claimed the domestic title. In 2010, the team's owner withdrew financial support and Urziceni was forced to sell most of its players to pay debts, leading to relegation at the end of the 2010–11 season.

In the summer of 2011, owner Dumitru Bucșaru did not file for a licence for the club to play in the Liga I and decided not to enroll the team in any championship. Unirea Urziceni was subsequently dissolved.^[1]

Currently, there is the football team AS FC Urziceni, established and supported by the local mayorship in 2016, which plays on the Tineretului stadium in the Ialomița county leagues.

History

The first sporting club in Urziceni was a basketball club called "Ialomița". On an improvised pitch at Obor, the football team "Ialomița" played against teams from Ploiești, Buzău, and Slobozia. They also played many games against Germans settled around the local lake, from which they took the name "La Nemți" ("At the Germans'").

In 1976, a new stadium,

In 1988, the club reached the round-of-sixteen phase of the

Prior to their promotion to

In 2003, the club was taken over by a new sponsor, Valahorum. At the end of the

The club finished 3rd in the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League Group stage, obtaining 8 points. They beat Rangers 4–1 in Glasgow and Sevilla in Bucharest 1–0 and drew 1–1, with VfB Stuttgart and Rangers at Bucharest. In the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League Knockout stage, Urziceni were drawn against English giants Liverpool. In the first round, at Anfield, Liverpool won 1–0, and at Bucharest, Unirea lost again, 1–3.

Unirea finished second in the

Decline, dissolution and refounding

In 2010, Unirea Urziceni started to decline. Dumitru Bucșaru sold almost the entire team during the first half of the championship, on account of a debt owed to Steaua owner

Chronology of names

Nickname

Both of the club's nicknames originated during Dan Petrescu's period with the club.

Urziceni have been associated with Chelsea by the Romanian media after they quickly evolved from a newly promoted team to a title contender under the management of former Chelsea defender Dan Petrescu. His role was seen similar to that of Roman Abramovich, who started to invest massively in Chelsea in 2003, turning them in one of the best teams in Europe. They are therefore also called the Chelsea of Urziceni or the Chelsea of Ialomița.

Dan Petrescu is also responsible for coining the Wolves of Bărăgan nickname. During training sessions and official fixtures, he would call his players "wolves" in order to increase their ferocity. Bărăgan refers to the plain in which the town of Urziceni is located.

Both of these nicknames were rarely used by the Romanian media, which usually referred to the team as Ialomițenii, after the Ialomița County from where the club was based.

Colors and crest

• Liga I
  • Winners (1): 2008–09
  • Runners-up (1): 2009–10
• Liga II
  • Runners-up (1): 2005–06
• Liga III
  • Winners (1): 2002–03
  • Runners-up (1): 1987–88
• Cupa României
  • Runners-up (1): 2007–08
• Supercupa României
  • Runners-up (2): 2009, 2010

European record

League history

References