Clubul Sportiv Viitorul Minerul Lupeni, commonly known as Minerul Lupeni, is a Romanian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in Lupeni, Hunedoara County which competes in Liga IV – Hunedoara County, the fourth tier of the Romanian football league system. Established in 1920 as ''Jiul Lupeni'', the club changed its name several times to ''Partizanul (1950), Flacăra (1951), Minerul (1953 and 1957) and Energia (1956)''. Dissolved in 2010, the club from

Jiu Valley The Jiu Valley ( ro, Valea Jiului ) is a region in southwestern Transylvania, Romania, in Hunedoara county, situated in a valley of the Jiu River between the Retezat Mountains and the Parâng Mountains. The region was heavily industrialised and th ...

was re-founded as Viitorul Minerul Lupeni in 2021.

History

The team of miners from the Lupeni coal basin was founded in 1920 as Jiul Lupeni. In 1926, the club merger for a short time with

CAMP Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

playing under the name of Jiul Lupeni. In the 1927–28 season, the

team managed to won the Arad Regional Championship qualified for the national tournament of the

Divizia A The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

and managing to reach the final of the competition, where lost in front of

Colțea Brașov Colțea may refer to several entities in Romania: *Colțea, a village in Roșiori, Brăila, Roșiori Commune, Brăila County *CS Colțea Brașov, a football club *In Bucharest: **Turnul Colței **Colțea Hospital **Colțea Monastery {{disambiguati ...

with 2–3. The lineup from the final with Adalbert Szabo as coach:

Ioan Kiss Ioan Kiss (1902 – 19 November 2006) was a Romanian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. International career Ioan Kiss played four friendly matches for Romania, making his debut on 25 April 1926 under coach Teofil Morariu in a 6–1 victo ...

– Eugen Szabados, Rupp – Alexandru Berkessy, Szüle, Gentl – Kertesz, Aurel Guga, Bognar, Joseph Kilianovitz, Meszner. Renamed as Minerul, the club played for the first time in

Cupa României The Cupa României ( en, Romanian Cup) 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. I ...

in the 1935–36 season, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals by the strong team of Ripensia Timişoara 2–9, the team that won the trophy in that season. Also, The Miners played in the first season of the Third Division finishing as runners-up in the Western League and promoted to Second Division at the end of the 1937–38 season of Divizia C. The Red-Blacks played the next three seasons in the Second Division Championship finished fourth in 1938–39, second in 1939–40 and sixth in 1940–41. After the Second World War, Minerul continued to evolve in Divizia B, finishing the 1946–47 season on 12th place in the second series. The Miners played the next decade in the Second Division often finishing at mid-table or fighting to save from relegation: 6th ( 1947–48), 5th ( 1948–49), 4th (

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

), 11th (

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

) spared from relegation due to the move of

Flacăra București ''Flacăra'' (Romanian for "The Flame") is a weekly literary magazine published in Bucharest, Romania. History and profile ''Flacăra'' was started in 1911. The first issue was published on 22 October 1911. The founder was Constantin Banu and t ...

at Ploiești and disappearance of former Flacăra Ploiești ( Prahova Ploiești), 10th (

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

), 14th (

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

), 6th (

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

), 9th (

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

), 9th (

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

), 6th ( 1957–58). At the end of the 1958–59 season, Minerul finished 1st in the Serie I of the Second Division and promoted in

after fifteen seasons in Divizia B. The squad managed by Vasile Lazăr as head coach and Adalbert Pall as assistant coach was composed of: Ioan Kiss II, Simion Plev, Alexandru Coman, Vasile Keresteș, Ștefan Szöke, Ioan Groza, Carol Mihaly, Constantin Cotroază, I.Pall, Mircea Onea, Tudor Paraschiva, Carol Creiniceanu among others. With some new players such as Teodor Mihalache, Daniel Peretz, Ion Leahovici, Alexandru Dan II, Milea, Alexandru Nisipeanu, Virgil Mihăilă, Mihai Țurcan, D.Cucu, N.Stanciu among others, Minerul played four years in the First Division finishing three seasons in a row on 11th place, before being relegated at the end of the 1962–63 season when finished on the last place. The Red-Blacks reached the quarter-finals of the

1959–60 Cupa României The 1959–60 Cupa României was the 22nd edition of Romania's most prestigious football cup competition. The title was won by Progresul București against Dinamo Obor București. Format The competition is an annual knockout tournament. In the ...

, losing 3–1 to

Dinamo Obor București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterinbu ...

. Minerul withdrew from the championship during the 2010–11 Liga II season and dissolved after ninety years of existence.Comisia de disciplină a Federaţiei Române de Fotbal
In the fall of 2021, the former captain of Minerul, Adrian Lumperdean, together with his brother, Emil Lumperdean and their nephew, Lucu Lumperdean, decided to bring back to life the football tradition from Lupeni, laying the foundations of Viitorul Minerul Lupeni. In the beginning, the three members of the Lumperdean family, along with the local authorities of Lupeni, revived the groups for children and youths and later enrolled the seniors team in the 2022–23 season of Liga IV – Hunedoara County.

Honours

Liga I *Runners-up (1): 1927–28 Liga II *Winners (1): 1958–59 *Runners-up (1): 1939–40

Liga III The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. Its name was changed from Divizia C to Liga III before the start of the 2006–07 season. It was the first in this format (six series of 18 t ...

*Winners (5): 1937–38, 1975–76, 1979–80, 1982–83, 2004–05 *Runners-up (5): 1936–37, 1968–69, 1973–74, 1978–79, 1991–92

Notable players

The footballers mentioned below have played at least 1 season for Minerul Lupeni and also played in Liga I for another team. *

Ștefan Onisie Ștefan Onisie (23 November 1925 – 7 July 1984) was a Romanian footballer and manager. He was a part of FC Steaua București, Steaua's Golden Team of the 1950s. International career Ștefan Onisie played six games at international level for R ...

Cristian Bălgrădean Cristian Emanuel Bălgrădean (; born 21 March 1988) is a Romanian professional football (soccer), footballer who plays for Liga I club CFR Cluj as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Since making his debut in the first division in ...

Mircea Popa Mircea Popa (born 21 June 1962) is a Romanian former football right-back. His son, Horațiu Popa was also a footballer. International career Mircea Popa played three friendly games at international level for Romania, making his debut in a 2–2 ...

Lucian Burchel Lucian Ovidiu Burchel (born 20 March 1964) is a Romanian former footballer and manager. International career Lucian Burchel played two friendly games at international level for Romania against Iraq. Honours Minerul Lupeni *Divizia C: 1982–83 ...

Cornel Irina Cornel Reluș Irina (born 7 December 1976) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a defender. In his career Irina played in over 200 matches for Jiul Petroșani and was also the captain of "the Miners". Nicknamed "the Bombe ...

* Horațiu Lasconi * Tudor Paraschiva * Carol Creiniceanu * Aurel Guga *

Andrei Stocker Andrei Stocker (born 22 November 1942) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a central defender and a referee. Career Andrei Stocker, nicknamed "Keke" was born on 22 November 1942 in Aninoasa, his parents being Transylvanian Saxon miner ...

Aurel Moise Aurel Moise (born 1 November 1956) is a Romanian former football goalkeeper. Honours Politehnica Timișoara *Divizia B The Liga 2, most often spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed ...

* Sándor Schwartz *

Tiberiu Csik Tiberiu Csik (born 12 December 1971) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as a defender. After retirement Csik was associated for many years with his hometown team, Olimpia Satu Mare, in various positions ( main coach, yout ...

Ovidiu Vezan Ovidiu Vezan (born 20 March 1985) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Liga III The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. Its name was cha ...

Former managers

* Vasile Lazăr *

Petre Libardi Petre Libardi (27 August 1942 – 14 August 2005) was a Romanian footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Club career Petre Libardi was born on 27 August 1942 in Câmpulung-Muscel and started playing football at Minerul Câmpulung. He ...

* Gogu Tonca * Adrian Matei *

Gabriel Stan Gabriel Stan (born 25 June 1952) is a Romanian Head coach, football manager. He is sometimes nicknamed Gabello. Coaching career Braşov Stan is known as the last manager to qualify FC Brașov (1936), FC Brașov in a European competition. In th ...

* Dan Mănăilă *

Marin Tudorache Marin Tudorache (born 1 April 1968) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a midfielder mainly for Jiul Petroșani, but also for teams such as Minerul Lupeni or Rapid București. Born in Petroșani, Tudorache spent almost all his career a ...

* Petre Gigiu * Ionel Augustin

References

External links

Unofficial Website
Football clubs in Romania Football clubs in Hunedoara County Association football clubs established in 1920 Hunedoara County Liga I clubs Liga II clubs Liga III clubs Liga IV clubs Mining association football teams in Romania 1920 establishments in Romania {{romania-footyclub-stub