Football Club Romania is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Cheshunt Cheshunt (/ˈtʃɛzənt/ CHEZ-ənt) is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England, situated within the London commuter belt approximately north of Central London. The town lies on the River Lea and Lee Navigation, bordering th ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England. The club are members of the and groundshare at Cheshunt's Theobalds Lane.

History

The club was established in August 2006 by Ionuţ Vintilă, an immigrant from Romania, with the team name reflecting the Romanian immigrant background of most of the team.FA Cup debutants FC Romania eye Sutton United upset
BBC Sport, 26 September 2014 They started in

Sunday league football Sunday league football is a term used in Britain, Ireland and Australia to describe the amateur association football competitions which take place on Sunday rather than the more usual Saturday. The term ''pub league'' may also be used, owing to ...

, initially playing in the Sunday London Weekend League. After winning their division at the first attempt, the club switched to Saturday football, joining the Essex Business Houses League in 2008.History of FC Romania
F.C. Romania In 2010 they joined Division One (Central and East) of the Middlesex County League. After finishing as runners-up in their first season in the division, they were promoted to the Premier Division. In 2011–12 the club finished as runners-up in the Premier Division, but were unable to be promoted due to ground grading regulations. In 2012–13 the club entered the

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...

for the first time, beating

Tring Athletic Tring Athletic Football Club are an English football club based in Tring, Hertfordshire. The club are currently members of the and play at The Michael Anthony Stadium. History Tring Athletic Youth FC were established in March 1958, when the fo ...

in the first qualifying round, before losing 7–0 at Hoddesdon Town in the next round. In the same season the club finished second in the Premier Division for a second successive season and were promoted to the Essex Senior League after a groundsharing agreement with

allowed them to meet the ground grading regulations. The season also saw them win the Middlesex County League's Open Cup with a 3–1 win over Bratham in the final. In 2014–15 the club entered the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

for the first time, reaching the second qualifying round, where they lost to

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

. The 2017–18 season saw FC Romania win the Essex Senior League's Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy, beating

Takeley __NOTOC__ Takeley is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. History A number of theories have arisen over the origin of the village's name. One believes the village's name was a corruption from the "Teg-Ley" o ...

1–0 in the final.FC Romania lift Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy
Essex Senior League The club also finished third in the league, and after Shaw Lane folded, they were promoted to the South Central Division of the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

as part of the league readjustments. At the end of the 2020–21 season, which was curtailed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, they were transferred to Division One Central of the Southern League. Following a takeover of the club at the start of the 2022–23 season, John Mackie and Terry Spillane were appointed joint-managers, the first managers of the club since it was founded other than Vintilă. However, Mackie left after a month, and Spillane soon after. The club were near to collapsed but Vintilă re-purchased the club in February 2023 and appointed himself as manager, but was unable to save the club from relegation after the league deducted 3 points for ineligible player in November 2022 against Hadley at past regime, as they finished bottom of Division One Central and were relegated to the Premier Division of the

Spartan South Midlands League The Spartan South Midlands Football League is an English football league covering Hertfordshire, northwest Greater London, central Buckinghamshire and southern Bedfordshire. It is a feeder to the Southern Football League or the Isthmian League, ...

Ground

The club originally played on

Hackney Marshes Hackney Marshes is an area of open space in London's Lower Lea Valley, lying on the western bank of the River Lea. It takes its name from its position on the eastern boundary of Hackney, the principal part of the London Borough of Hackney, an ...

, before moving to the Low Hall Recreation Ground in

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

when they moved up to the Essex Business Houses League. When the club joined the Middlesex County League they began playing at Leyton Sports Centre. In 2012 the club began ground sharing at Theobalds Lane.

Management and support staff

Managerial history

*2006 Ionuţ Vintilă *2022 John Mackie & Terry Spillane *2022 Chico Ramos *2023 Ionuţ Vintilă

Officials

Honours

*Essex Senior League **Gordon Brasted Memorial Trophy winners 2017–18 *Middlesex County Football League **Open Cup winners 2012–13

Records

*Best

performance: Second qualifying round, 2014–15, 2017–18, 2018–19 *Best

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

performance: Second qualifying round, 2020–21 *Best

performance: Fourth round, 2015–16

Affiliated clubs

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Romania Football clubs in England Football clubs in Hertfordshire 2006 establishments in England Association football clubs established in 2006 Romanian diaspora Diaspora sports clubs in the United Kingdom Essex Business Houses Football League Middlesex County Football League Essex Senior Football League Isthmian League clubs Southern Football League clubs Spartan South Midlands Football League Diaspora association football clubs in England