FC Rapid București

FC Rapid București

File:Rapid Bucharest.png
Full name	Fotbal Club Rapid Bucureşti
Nickname(s)	Alb-Vişinii Feroviarii
Founded	25 June 1923
Ground	Giulești - Valentin Stănescu
Capacity	19,100
Owner	George Copos
Chairman	Dinu Gheorghe
Manager	Marius Şumudică
2009–10	Liga I, 7th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Fotbal Club Rapid Bucuresti is a Romanian football club. It was founded in 1923 by a group workers of the Grivița workshops under the name of "Cultural and Sporting Association CFR" (in Romanian: Asociația culturală și sportivă C.F.R.). Rapid won the Romanian championship 4 times (1942, 1967, 1999 and 2003) and the Romanian Cup on thirteen occasions. In 2006, Rapid became an incorporated company, its largest share-holder being George Copos, a wealthy businessman.

In June 1923, Teofil Copaci, Grigore Grigoriu, Aurel Kahane, Geza Ginzer and other Romanian railroad workers agreed the fusion of two amateur clubs, "CFR" (ex-"Rampa Militari") and "Excelsior". After a few years, the team started competing in the first league in 1931.

During the pre-war years, Rapid was one of Romania's top teams, regularly winning the cup but never the championship although they came close. Once Rapid lost the championship because of fair play. One of Rapid's players touched the ball with his hand in the penalty area during a decisive match against Venus Bucharest. Rapid needed a win to finish first in the league. In the first place the referee did not see the incident but when hearing the audience protest the referee asked the player if he touched the ball with his hand, the player admitting. Venus converted the penalty and managed to draw 1-1 and to finish first in the league.

The railway workers were not the selection pool any longer, but a strong supporting audience. Some players were also selected in the national team. During those years, but also during the war, the competitions' formats changed for various reorganizations and some of the performances Rapid achieved were never considered as official successes, a good example being the championship of 1942. The strangest of all might be the qualification in the final of the Mitropa Cup (precursor of the UEFA Champions League, ) at a moment when the competition was taking its last breath.

In 1940 Rapid was the first football team in Romania who managed the European cup final qualification, the Central European Cup, undisputed because of the Second World War, but incomplete edition by withdrawing Austria following the Anschluss, Czechoslovakia and Italy due to war. Rapid manages to win the title of champion in 1967.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Rapid reached the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners Cup and won romanian cup in 1972 and 1975 before getting worse and worse, becoming confined in the second league for 6 years in a row. Even with Stănescu as coach they couldn't do better than returning to the lower ranks of the first league. The club was slowly starved, with less and less money in a championship where the leading teams were competing at a European level (in 1986, one was winning Champions Cup, although claiming non-professional status for their players). They narrowly avoided relegation in 1987 in the last match of the season.

In 1990 the fall of communism brought only partial solutions, until 1992 when Traian Băsescu, then-Minister of Transportation, appointed a new manager (Marcel Pușcaș) and a new coach (Mircea Rădulescu), both experienced, which had previously worked for the national team. In the UEFA Cup, Rapid was defeated by Internazionale (1-3 and 0-2). It was the moment when George Copos started managing the Rapid business, finding strong corporate sponsorships and winning political capital.

In the following years, the most important official honours were won ( two league championships a few FA cups and the most important European achievements ) especially due to a careful appointment of coaches. The most famous coach that managed Rapid is Mircea Lucescu, the man who transformed the club into a force in the Romanian championship again. Also. his son Răzvan Lucescu was the manager with the greatest performance in a European Cup with RAPID, in UEFA Cup. However, the coach that won the most trophies for the club is Mircea Rednic. After a few years during which their experience in European cups was limited, Rapid is starting to perform better, and, for the third time in the post-war history, in 2005-2006, due to UEFA Cup rules relaxation, the team has reached the spring, upper-level, phases of the European competitions, up to the quarter-finals. Rapid was stopped by Steaua Bucharest after a 1-1 draw at home and a 0-0 draw away.

• Asociația culturală și sportivă Căile Ferate Române (Romanian Railways Cultural and Sports Association) București (1923-1937),
• F.C. Rapid București (1937-1945),
• C.F.R. București (1945-1950),
• Locomotiva București (1950-1958),
• F.C. Rapid București (1958-present),

Rapid supporters make an important part of the club's image. They are commonly referred as Legione Granata (The Crimson Legion). Groups presence is signaled by banners bearing their names: Ultras Unione, B'921, Chicos del Infierno (CDI), Official Hooligans, Inferno, Maniacs, Grant Ultras, Cltv , Alcoolica, Radicals and so on. Traveling with the team for away matches being a custom since the first years of the club, local derbies being no exception. Immediately after the fall of the communist regime, on 14 February 1990, the Rapid Supporters League (Liga Suporterilor Rapidiști, LSR) was legally established.

A unique organization in Romania is the Rapid Aristocratic Club. The club's members are well-known artists, their purpose being spreading and defending Rapid's history and tradition.

Rapid's supporters are creating some of the most impressive shows in Romanian sport singing most of the time during matches and sometimes before the matches start. The most impressive moment in the Giulești Stadium is when Rapid's anthem is being played at the beginning of each match and every supporter is standing on their feet, waving a flag in the colors of the club or displaying a white and crimson scarf and singing along

From the historic point of view, Rapid's traditional rival is Petrolul from Ploiesti. Rapid fans and Ploiesti fans have never ended their rivalry, even if the teams didn't meet (as either would often plays in the second tier of Romanian football). On a national basis, Rapid's greatest rivalries are with Steaua and Dinamo from Bucharest. Matches between the three Bucharest rivals often end up with clashes between the rival supporters after or before the match in which the police force is caught in the middle. Universitatea Craiova is also one of Rapid's rivals.

Rapid supporters consider FC Timişoara supporters as their allies, as both teams were suppressed by the communist regime in the past. Fans of both teams had the opportunity to support the other during matches. Most recently, Rapid fans supported Timisoara during their games in Bucharest, and Timisoara fans supported Rapid during Rapid's cup game against Pandurii, played in Timisoara's neutral field.

The history of Giulești Stadium begins in the year 1934. On the 31 of March CFR begins the construction of a field on the Giulești Road. The field would have a width of 65 m and a length of 105 m.

At first the mayor of Bucharest did not want to authorize the construction of the stadium because it did not fit in the systematization of the capital. Eventually the authorization was given and in April 1936 it was estimated that the stadium would be ready in September. The construction did begin in that year but it lasted more than two. The chief architect was Gheorghe Dumitrescu.

The stadium was inaugurated on 10 June 1939. At the time, it was the most modern stadium in Romania, a smaller replica of Arsenal's Highbury Stadium with a capacity of 12160 seats. Among the guests at the opening ceremony was King Carol II and his son, future King Michael of Romania.

The construction of the north stand was ended in the mid 90's, the capacity being increased to 19100 seats. The pitch was changed in 2003, being considered the best in Romania at the time [1]. The floodlight was installed in the summer of 2000. The stadium got the name of "Valentin Stănescu" in 2001, in respect to the manager who won the second championship for Rapid, but it is still commonly known as "Giulești Stadium", by the name of the neighborhood it is located in. Landmarks near the stadium: Grant Bridge, Giulești Theatre, Gara de Nord (North Station) and Grivița Railway Yards.

Bornescu R.Duarte M.Antonio M.Constantin Božović Cesinha Grigore Grigorie Lazăr(c) Spadacio L.Raduta

FC Rapid Bucureşti - Starting Lineup - in year 2010

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 3 DF  POR Ricardo Fernandes 5 DF  ROU Ştefan Mardare 7 MF  BRA Carlos Cesinha 8 MF  ROU Alexandru Coman 9 FW  ROU Lucian Răduţă 10 MF  ROU Ovidiu Herea 13 DF  ROU Cătălin Păun 15 MF  ROU Costin Lazăr (Captain) 19 DF  MNE Vladimir Božović 20 MF  ROU Ştefan Grigorie 23 DF  ROU Marius Constantin

No. Pos. Nation Player 25 DF  ROU Doru Bratu 30 MF  BRA Juliano Spadacio 33 GK  ROU Mircea Bornescu 89 GK  ROU Cătălin Straton 99 GK  ROU Virgil Drăghia - DF  BRA Marcos Antonio - DF  BRA Ezequias Roosevelt - DF  POR Rui Duarte - DF  ROU Ionut Stancu - MF  ROU Nicolae Grigore - MF  BRA Gustavo Veronesi

In

• Marcos Antonio - Belenenses - Free Transfer
• Ionut Stancu - CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu - Loan Return
• Rui Duarte - FC Brasov - Free Transfer
• Ezequias - FC Brasov - Free Transfer
• Nicolae Grigore - FC Brasov - Free Transfer
• Gustavo Veronesi - Kerkyra F.C. - Free Transfer

Out

• Cristian Sapunaru - FC Porto - Loan Return
• Ilie Iordache - AEK Athens - Loan Return
• Tiberiu Balan - Sportul Studentesc - Loan Return
• Dacian Varga - Sportul Studentesc - Loan Return
• Edgars Gauracs - FK Ventspils - Loan Return
• Alexandru Ionita - FC Koln - 2 500 000 E
• Helder Ferreira - AS Nancy - Loan Return
• Diego Ciz - End of Contract
• Adrian Iencsi - End of Contract
• Adrian Iordache - For Sale
• Radomir Đalović - For Sale
• Urko Rafael Pardo - For Sale
• Darijan Matič - For Sale

In the Romanian league only five non-EU nationals can be registered and given a squad number for the first team . Those non-EU nationals with European ancestry can claim citizenship from the nation their ancestors came from. If a player does not have European ancestry he can claim Romanian citizenship after playing in Romania for 7 years. Players such as Elinton Andrade do not count as non-EU because they have dual citizenship with a EU country. In addition, players from the ACP countries—countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific that are signatories to the Cotonou Agreement—are not counted against non-EU quotas, due to the Kolpak ruling.

EU Nationals Ricardo Fernandes Vladimir Božović Darijan Matič

Non-EU Nationals Césinha Juliano Spadacio

Costin Lazăr Marius Constantin

Cătălin Straton Cătălin Păun Lucian Răduţă

Vladimir Božović

Darijan Matič

Liga I

• Winners (4): 1941–1942, 1966–1967, 1998–1999, 2002–2003
• Runners-up (14): 1936–37, 1937–38, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1948–49, 1950, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2005–06

Liga II

• Winners (5): 1952, 1955, 1974-1975, 1982–83, 1989-90
• Runners-up (2): 1979–80, 1981–82

Cupa României

• Winners (13): 1934–35, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1941–42, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2006–07
• Runners-up (5): 1960–61, 1961–62, 1967–68, 1994–95, 1997–98

Supercupa României

• Winners (4): 1999, 2002, 2003, 2007
• Runners-up (2): 1998, 2006

• Balkans Cup

Winners (2): 1963-64, 1965-66

• Mitropa Cup/Central Europe Cup

Finalist (1): 1940 - First Romanian team qualified in a European competition final against Ferencvaros Budapest, never disputed because of the World War II

• European Railways Cup

Winners (1): 1968

• European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions League

Second Round (3): 1967-1968, 1999-00, 2003-04,

• Inter-Cities Fairs Cup/UEFA Cup

First Round (6): 1968-69, 1969-70, 1993-94, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2002-03

Second Round (1): 1994-95

Third round (1): 1971-72

First Round (2): 2007-08, 2008-09

Group Stage (1): 2006-07

Quarter-finals (1): 2005-06

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

First Round (2): 1975-76, 1998-99

Quarter-finals (1): 1972-73

• UEFA Intertoto Cup

Group Stage (5): 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997

Year of debut at Rapid in parenthesis

1930s Ștefan Wetzer II (1931) Nicolae Roșculeț (1932) Attila (1932) Francisc Theimler (1932) Vintilă Cossini (1932) Ştefan Barbu II (1933) Alexandru Cuedan (1933) Gheorghe Rășinaru (1935) Petrică Rădulescu (1936) Ion Costea (1936) Ladislau Raffinsky (1936) Iosif Lengheriu (1936) Ștefan Auer (1936) Ionică Bogdan (1936) Iuliu Baratky (1937) Dănuț Gavrilescu (1938) Wilim Sipoș (1939)

1940s Robert Sadowski (1940) Remus Ghiurițan (1941) Ștefan Asbiceanu (1942) Ștefan Filote (1942) Ion Lungu (1944) Ion Mihăilescu (1945) Alexandru Apolzan (1946) Bazil Marian (1946)

1950s Ion Langa (1955) Vasile Copil (1956) Ilie Greavu (1957) Nicolae Georgescu (1957) Augustin Todor (1958)

1960s Titus Ozon (1959) Ion Ionescu (1960) Ion Motroc (1960) Viorel Kraus (1961) Teofil Codreanu (1961) Constantin Dinu (1961) Constantin Năsturescu (1962) Dan Coe (1962) Nicolae Lupescu (1963) Emil Dumitriu II (1963) Constantin Jamaischi (1963) Necula Răducanu (1965) Alexandru Neagu (1965) Ion Dumitru (1967) Ion Pop (1967) Iordan Anghelescu (1968)

1970s Marin Stelian (1969) Alexandru Boc (1971) Nicolae Manea (1972) Florin Marin (1972) Marian Ioniță (1973) Ion Manu (1976) Bratu Pârvu (1976) Florin Cojocaru (1977)

1980s Ion Ion (1979) Ștefan Popa (1980) Marian Rada (1983) Leontin Toader (1984) Gheorghe Cârstea (1984) Ioan Bacoș (1984) Ion Goanță (1984) Fănel Țâră (1984)

1990s Adrian Matei (1987), Florin Constantinovici (1989), Nicolae Stanciu (1989), Romulus Bealcu (1991), Stefan Nanu (1996), Marius Şumudică (1996), Daniel Pancu (1996), Bogdan Lobonț (1997), Mircea Rednic (1997), Adrian Iencsi (1997), Dănuţ Lupu (1997), Lucian Marinescu (1997), Constantin Schumacher (1998), Marius Măldărășanu (1998), Ioan Ovidiu Sabău (1998), Ioan Viorel Ganea (1999), Nicolae Constantin (1999), Constantin Barbu (1999)

2000s Daniel Niculae (2000), Vasile Maftei (2001) Răzvan Raț (2002), Manuel Godfroid (2002), Robert Ilyes (2002), Marius Constantin (2003), Artavazd Karamyan (2004), Danut Coman (2005), Viorel Moldovan (2006), Cristian Săpunaru (2006),

Season Winner Goals 1932-1933 Vasile Chiroiu 12 1933-1934 Unknown - 1934-1935 Unknown - 1935-1936 Ştefan Barbu 23 1936-1937 Unknown - 1937-1938 Unknown - 1938-1939 Iuliu Baratky 15 1939-1940 Ștefan Auer 21 1940-1941 Ionică Bogdan 21 1941-1942 Radu Florian 19 1942-1946 War period 1946-1947 Unknown - 1947-1948 Bazil Marian 32 1948-1949 Ştefan Filotti 16 1950 Andrei Rădulescu 18 1951 Unknown - 1952 Unknown - 1953 Unknown - 1954 Iacob Olaru 12 1955 Unknown - 1956 Iacob Olaru 15 1957-1958 Unknown - 1958-1959 Gheorghe Ene II 17 1959-1960 Titus Ozon 12 1960-1961 Unknown -

Year Winner Goals 1961-1962 Unknown - 1962-1963 Ion Ionescu 20 1963-1964 Ion Ionescu 15 1964-1965 Unknown - 1965-1966 Ion Ionescu 24 1966-1967 Ion Ionescu 15 1967-1968 Emil Dumitriu II 10 1968-1969 Alexandru Neagu 17 1969-1970 Alexandru Neagu 16 1970-1971 Alexandru Neagu 12 1971-1972 Alexandru Neagu 16 1972-1973 Unknown - 1973-1974 Unknown - 1974-1975 Unknown - 1975-1976 Unknown - 1976-1977 Unknown - 1977-1978 Unknown - 1978-1979 Unknown - 1979-1980 Unknown - 1980-1981 Unknown - 1981-1982 Unknown - 1982-1983 Unknown - 1983-1984 Unknown - 1984-1985 Unknown - 1985-1986 Unknown -

Year Winner Goals 1986-1987 Unknown - 1987-1988 Unknown - 1988-1989 Unknown - 1989-1990 Unknown - 1990-1991 Unknown - 1991-1992 Unknown - 1992-1993 Unknown - 1993-1994 Iulian Chiriţă 12 1994-1995 Ion Vlădoiu 16 1995-1996 Dumitru Târţău 12 1996-1997 Dumitru Târţău 14 1997-1998 Lucian Marinescu 13 1998-1999 Marius Şumudică 17 1999-2000 Sergiu Radu 11 2000-2001 Daniel Pancu 13 2001-2002 Daniel Pancu 15 2002-2003 Florin Bratu 11 2003-2004 Sabin Ilie 13 2004-2005 Daniel Niculae 14 2005-2006 Daniel Niculae & Viorel Moldovan 8 2006-2007 Ianis Zicu 12 2007-2008 Ionuţ Mazilu 9 2008-2009 Juliano Spadacio 16 2009-2010 Alexandru Ioniţă 10 * Season in progress.

• Official website of the FC Rapid Template:Ro icon

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