Asociația Fotbal Club Gloria Arad, also known as AFC Gloria Arad, or simply as Gloria Arad was a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

football club In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...

based in Arad,

Arad County Arad County () is an administrative division ( județ) of Romania roughly translated into county in the western part of the country on the border with Hungary, mostly in the region of Crișana and few villages in Banat. The administrative cente ...

, currently playing in the

Liga VI The Romanian football league system, also known as the football pyramid, refers to the system in Romanian club football that consists of several football leagues bound together hierarchically by promotion and relegation. The first three leagues ar ...

. The club was originally founded in 1913 by Dr. E. Veliciuiu and the colors were from the beginning yellow and blue. After the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the club struggled to survive and mainly played at the level of the third and fourth tiers, then in the middle of the 2000s promoted back in the

Liga III The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. It was founded in 1936 and was called Divizia C until 2006. An exception was the seasons 1992–93 to 1996–97, in which the league was call ...

, where it remained until in the early 2010s, under the ownership of Sandu Ion. Finally, the club went bankrupt in 2014, but was re-founded in the spring of 2021 by a group of persons who owned the brand of Gloria Arad. The best achievement in the history of the "yellow and blues" was a top-flight second place at the end of the 1929–30 season.

History

The club was born on August 24, 1913. Their colors were yellow and blue. The man behind the club's formation was Dr. E. Veliciuiu and with the help of Dr. Sever Miclea, Dr. E. Crâsnic, R. Moldovan, Nestor Blaga, ing. Cărpișan, I. Goicea and Coriolan Lupșa, he saw it took shape. In 1922, the club merged with

CFR Arad CFR Arad was a football club based in Arad, Romania, founded in 1921. History The club was born in 1921, and just after one year they merged with CS Gloria Arad, a team founded in 1913. Under the name Gloria CFR Arad they have the best performa ...

, founded in 1921 and took the name Gloria CFR Arad. The players that appeared then were Kiss, Hustig, Magory, Pop I, Pop II, Szabó, Müller, Cioară, Cheța, Barbu II. In 1923, the club won the regional championship and qualified for the

final tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

but was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Chinezul Timişoara. In

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

again won the regional championship, but was eliminated by

Banatul Timișoara Banatul Timișoara was a former football club in Timișoara, Romania. The team is named after the region Banat. The team was founded in 1923 and played in the County Championship in Timiș County. The best season for them is 1928–1929. In 1927, ...

in the quarterfinals. The club's best performance, before the divisional system was inaugurated, was in

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...

, when the team led by

Virgil Economu Virgil Economu (21 November 1896 – 6 July 1978) was a Romanian rugby player, football manager, journalist and a writer. Life and career Virgil Economu was born in Bucharest, being half Jewish from his mother's side. He spent his high school y ...

played in the final against Juventus București. The players that contributed, among others, were Deciu, Albu, Cosma, Igna, Marienuț, Faur, and Tisza. Starting with 1932, until the interruption of the championship because of the

, the club played in the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

, with one exception, in 1939–1940. The team used in that period was: Fr. Theimler – Fr. Hustig, I. Volintir – C. Weichelt, Șt. Dobra, I. Lupaș – P. Igna, V. Tudor, Fr. Frentz, I. Marienuț, Gh. Mercea. We can also mention: Gh. Boșneag, Ion Henegar, I. Chereșledean, I. Mihailovici, Gh. Medrea, Fr. Pintea, I. Slăvei II, I. Șiclovan, Șt. Codreanu, E. Mladin, V. Nicola, I. Lupițiu, Gh. Iovicin. After the

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, the club played for two years in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, but after 1948 it disappeared from all records. In 1969, Gloria re-appeared in the Arad County Championship (

Liga IV Liga IV is the fourth level of the Romanian football league system and is run in all 41 counties and in the Municipality of Bucharest. It was known as the Regional Championship, County Championship, Divizia C – County Phase and Divizia D. Its ...

), and was promoted to the Third Division. It played there until 1977–78 season, when it was relegated back to the Fourth Division. In the summer of 1978, a School Sports Club of high performance was founded, and took Gloria's name further. In recent years, the club was named Gloria CTP Arad and struggled in the Romanian Third Division, not succeeding very much. In the summer of 2012, it relegated to the

and, after two seasons in the fourth league (2nd place in

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

and 3rd in 2013–14), in the autumn of 2014, the team was dissolved. After 9 years, the club has a new ownership, and the club would start from 2022 to 2023 season in

–

Chronology of names

Honours

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

*Runners-up (1): 1929–30 Liga IV – Arad County *Winners (4): 1969–70, 1970–71, 1974–75, 2004–05 *Runners-up (3): 1980–81, 2003–04,

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

–

*Winners (1): 2012–13

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gloria Arad Sport in Arad, Romania Defunct football clubs in Romania Football clubs in Arad County Association football clubs established in 1913 Association football clubs disestablished in 2024 Liga I clubs Liga II clubs Liga III clubs Liga IV clubs 1913 establishments in Austria-Hungary 2024 disestablishments in Romania