Asociația Fotbal Club UTA Arad (), commonly known as UTA Arad or simply UTA (''Uzina Textilă Arad''; ), is a Romanian professional

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 the city of 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 ...

that competes in the

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 ...

. The team was founded in 1945 as ''IT Arad'', and has won six national titles and two

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 ...

. Domestically, UTA is one of the most successful Romanian sides of the 20th century, sharing with Chinezul Timișoara the record for the most title wins by a club not from

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, earning it the nickname ''Campioana Provinciei'' ("Provincial Champion"), a record which ended after the conclusion of the 2020–21 season when

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ) or simply CFR, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I. Founded as ''Kolozsvári Vasut ...

claimed its seventh Liga I trophy. UTA Arad's decline began with a transfer to the second division in 1979, after which it rarely appeared in the top flight before being dissolved in 2014. UTA Arad was eventually promoted from the

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 managed to return to the Liga I in 2020. The team plays in red and white

uniforms A uniform is a variety of costume worn by members of an organization while usually participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency ser ...

at the new Francisc von Neuman Stadium, which was opened in 2020. UTA holds a long-standing rivalry with neighbouring SSU Politehnica Timișoara, with whom it contests the

West derby West Derby ( ) is an area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, in the east of the city. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382. History West Derby Mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', West Derby achieved significance far earlier tha ...

History

1945–1965

The team was founded under the name ITA Arad by Francisc von Neuman, the owner of the Arad Textile Company, on 18 April 1945. The club’s colors (white and red) were inspired by

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, as Neuman was a fan of the English team. The newly established team played its first match on 27 May 1945, against Banatul Sânnicolau Mic, ending in a 2–3 loss. UTA Arad 1946-47

On 1 September 1946, on the occasion of the match between ITA and Ciocanul București, which ended 1–0, the Francisc von Neuman Stadium in Arad was inaugurated. The club entered the National Football Championship in the 1946–47, winning the national title at its first participation in the top flight, finishing eleven points ahead of the team in 2nd place, Carmen București. The team was led by three coaches over the course of the season: Zoltan Opata (rounds 1–13), Zoltan Blum (14–19), and Gusztáv Juhász (20–26). The squad included Alexandru Marky, Gyula Lóránt, Gheorghe Băcuț, Adalbert Pall, Francisc Mészáros, József Pecsovszky, Adalbert Kovács, Ioan Reinhardt, Andrei Mercea,

Ladislau Bonyhádi Ladislau Ludovic Bonyhádi (; born 25 March 1923 - deceased 13 June 1997 in Miami, Florida, United States) was a Romanian football player of Hungarian ethnicity. During his spell with FC UTA Arad, ITA Arad he was the top-goalscorer of Liga I, Di ...

, Mátyás Tóth. Bonyhádi became the league's top scorer, netting 26 goals. In the 1947–48 season, ITA won its second championship title, with an impressive goal difference of 129–31, a record that remains unbeaten to this day. Ladislau Bonyhádi contributed 49 goals, also an all-time record. That same season, under the guidance of Gusztáv Juhász, ITA won the

, defeating CFR Timișoara 3–2 in the final. The winning team included Alexandru Marky, Moise Vass, Zoltan Farmati, Gheorghe Băcuț, Adalbert Pall, József Pecsovszky, Adalbert Kovács, Ioan Reinhardt, Ladislau Bonyhádi, Iosif Stibinger, and Nicolae "Coco" Dumitrescu. However, in the following 1948–49 season, the team’s performance declined, and ITA finished only 9th.

1965–1975

In the 1970–71, the team took fourth place and participated again in the European Champion Clubs' Cup, eliminating the trophy holder at that time,

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

, after a 1–1 at

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

and 0–0 in Arad. UTA Arad 1969-70

In the 1971–72 season the team became vice-champion of Romania and participated in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, reaching the quarterfinals after overtaking Austria Salzburg (4–1, 1–3), Zagłębie Wałbrzych (1–1, 2–1) and Vitória Setúbal (3–0, 0–1). They were eliminated in the quarter-finals by

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

; the first game was at home where they lost 2–0. The second leg at away at

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

in London was a 1–1 draw, however this was not enough and Arad were knocked out 3–1 on aggregate.

1975–2013

The team's decline started in the 1975–76 season, and after it placed 17th in the 1978–79 season, it was reassigned to Divizia B. Mircea Petescu 1962

After finishing 3rd in Series III of Divizia B in the 1979–80 season, UTA returned to

Divizia A 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 ...

following two years in the second division. Guided by coach Ștefan Czako, the team secured 1st place in Series III in the 1980–81 season. The lineup included Duckadam — Bîtea, Kukla, Hirmler, Giurgiu — Șchiopu, Vaczi, Mușat — Cura, Csordaș, Tisza ( Coraș). Other players in the squad were Lovaș, Vuia, Marcu, Iova, Takats, Vușcan, Bodi, and Țirban. The stay in the top tier lasted only one year, ending with a 17th-place finish in Divizia A at the end of the 1981–82 season. Between 1984 and 1991, UTA occupied the following positions in the third Series of Divizia B: 13th in 1984–85, 4th in 1985–86, 10th in 1986–87, 3rd in 1987–88, 2nd in 1988–89, 2nd in 1989–90, 5th in 1990–91. It also placed in the second Series of Divizia B: 2nd in 1991–92 and 1st in 1992–93. Between 1995 and 2002, UTA occupied the following positions in the 2nd Series of Divizia B: 5th in 1995–96, 13th in 1996–97, 11th in 1997–98, 2nd in 1998–99, 6th in 1999–2000, 7th in 2000–01 and 1st in 2001–02. In the summer of 1999, UTA Arad disputed a play-off match at

Alba Iulia Alba Iulia (; or ''Carlsburg'', formerly ''Weißenburg''; ; ) is a city that serves as the seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania. Located on the river Mureș (river), Mureș in the historical region of Transylvania, it has a ...

against Rocar București for promotion in Divizia A, a match in which it lost 0–2. Coach Francisc Tisza organised the following team: Pap – Diaconescu, Botiş, G. Radu (50' Ciubăncan), Găman (76' Baciu), Panin – Todea, Almaşan, Zaha – Mariş, Cl.Drăgan (69' Turcan). UTA Arad did not play in this league because after an assignment agreement with Liberty Salonta, UTA took the place of Liberty in Liga I and vice versa 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 ...

. Thus, the team qualified in

for the 2006–07 season. After club president Nicolae Bara signed with coach

Marius Lăcătuş Marius may refer to: People * Marius (name), a male given name, a Roman clan name and family name, and a modern name or surname *Gaius Marius (–86 BC), Roman statesman, seven times consul. * Marcus Aurelius Marius, emperor of the Gallic Empire, ...

and under his leadership, UTA occupied the 12th place at the end of the season. In August 2013, businessman Adrian Marțian took over Giovanni Catanzariti's majority stake, promising the financial recovery of the club and bringing back the good results, but by November he lost the support of the supporters and Flavius Domide asked him to leave the club to competent people from Arad. Another team, supported by a part of UTA fans, called ''UTA Bătrâna Doamnă'', was founded in 2013 by former player Marius Ţucudean. It was enrolled in

instead of UTA II and received the logo, the record and the colors of UTA from UTA Supporter Club in March 2014, becoming officially UTA Arad. The Liga II team had to change their name to FC UTA SA. At the end of the 2013–14 season of Liga II, UTA SA was excluded from the championship by FRF for not attending two matches and relegated to the 6th League, where it did not sign up and was dissolved.

2013–present

''UTA Bătrâna Doamnă'', promoted in the Liga III at the end of the season after a promotion play-off match against

Hunedoara County Hunedoara County () is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Deva, Romania, Deva. The county is part of the Danube–Criș–Mureș–Tisa Euroregion. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian, it is known as , ...

champion Retezatul Hațeg, won 2–0. After only one season in the Liga III, the club was promoted back to the Liga II after finishing first in the fourth Series of the league, four points ahead of Nuova Mama Mia Becicherecu Mic. In their first season after returning to the Liga II, UTA, now known as ''UTA Bătrâna Doamnă'' finished second in the second Series of the championship and qualified for a Liga I promotion play-off against Dunărea Călărași and Voluntari. It eliminated Dunărea Călărași 5–4 on aggregate, but lost 1–3 against Voluntari and remained for another season in the Liga II. In the 2016–17 season, UTA finished third and qualified again for a promotion play-off against Poli Timișoara, one of Politehnica Timișoara successors, and ASU Politehnica Timișoara. UTA lost to both teams (1–2, 1–3). In the summer of 2017, FRF has officialized that ''UTA Bătrâna Doamnă'' changed its name back to FC UTA Arad being the official and legal successor of the old club.

Grounds

UTA Arad plays its home matches at the Stadionul Francisc von Neuman. Ranked as a UEFA Category 4 stadium, it can host

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

semi-finals and

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

group stage matches. The first match at the stadium was a Liga I game played between UTA Arad and Voluntari, which ended in a goalless draw. 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 ...

, the game was played without spectators. The first match with spectators was the 2021 women's Romanian Cup final between U Olimpia Cluj and Heniu Prundu Bârgăului, which ended with a 1–0 win in extra-time for the Cluj team. The first international game played on the arena was the friendly goalless draw between UTA Arad and Kolubara Lazarevac.

Honours

Domestic

Leagues

* Divizia A / Liga I **Winners (6): 1946–47, 1947–48,

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 ...

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

, 1968–69, 1969–70 **Runners-up (1): 1971–72 * Divizia B / Liga II **Winners (4): 1980–81, 1992–93, 2001–02, 2019–20 **Runners-up (6): 1982–83, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1998–99, 2015–16 *

**Winners (1): 2014–15 *

–

**Winners (1): 2013–14

Cups

**Winners (2): 1947–48,

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 ...

**Runners-up (2):

, 1965–66 *

– Arad County Phase **Winners (1): 2013–14 * Cupa Ligii **Runners-up (1):

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

European

* UEFA Champions League / European Cup **''Best result:'' Second round 1970–71 * UEFA Europa League / UEFA Cup **''Best result:'' Quarter-finals 1971–72 * Balkans Cup **''Best result:'' Group stage 1966–67

Players

First-team squad

Out on loan

Club officials

Board of directors

* Last updated: 31 July 2024

Current technical staff

* Last updated: 10 June 2025

European record

League history

Notable former players

The footballers enlisted below have had international caps for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries at junior and/or senior level on through the time's passing. Additionally, these players have also had a significant number of caps and goals accumulated throughout a certain number of seasons for the club itself as well. ;Romania-Hungary *

* Iosif Petschovsky * Mátyás Tóth ;Romania * Alexandru Albu * Liviu Antal * Alexandru Albu * Paul Anton * Ion Atodiresei * Mircea Axente * Gheorghe Băcuț * Ionuț Bălan * Cristian Bălgrădean * Gavrilă Birău * Vichentie Birău * Ioan Bogdan * Sorin Botiș * Dan Stupar * Ladislau Brosovszky * Marcel Coraș * Marius Curtuiuș * Flavius Domide * Claudiu Drăgan * Lucian Dronca *

Helmut Duckadam Helmut Duckadam (, sometimes spelled Helmuth; 1 April 1959 – 2 December 2024) was a Romanian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Duckadam was dubbed "the Hero of Seville" due to his performance in the 1986 European Cup final, ...

* Florian Dumitrescu * Nicolae "Coco" Dumitrescu * Adrian Găman * Gheorghe Gornea * Ioan Hora * Florin Hidișan * Cristian Ianu * Alexandru Ioniță * Silviu Iorgulescu * Florin Iacob * Damian Isac * Emerich Jenei * Adalbert Kovács * Claudiu Keșerü * Iosif Lereter * Adrian Lucaci * Dennis Man * Cristian Melinte * Bogdan Mara * Alexandru Marky * Andrei Mercea * David Miculescu * Ilie Moț * Adalbert Pall * Cristian Panin * Nicolae Pantea * Ion Pârcălab * Mircea Petescu * Adrian Petre * Eugen Pojoni * Ovidiu Popescu * Paul Popovici * Ioan Reinhardt * Ciprian Rus * Mircea Sasu * Petru Șchiopu * Viorel Sima * Iosif Slivăț * Iosif Stibinger * Sorin Strătilă * Dumitru Târțău * Cristian Todea * Mihai Țârlea I * Mihai Țârlea II * George Țucudean * Adrian Ungur * Gheorghe Váczi * Constantin Varga * Norbert Varga * Moise Vass ;Albania * Idriz Batha ;Argentina * Maximiliano Laso ;Brazil * Erico *

Roger Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...

;Bosnia and Herzegovina *

Branko Grahovac Branko Grahovac ( sr-Cyrl, Бранко Граховац; born 8 July 1983) is a Bosnian-Herzegovinian retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career He started playing in the youth squads of FK Zeta and started playing as a senior ...

;Cameroon * Jérémie N'Jock ;Central African Republic * Ali Calvin Tolmbaye ;Croatia * Filip Dangubić ;Greece * Christos Metskas ;Hungary * Gyula Lóránt ;Italy *

Nicolao Dumitru Nicolao Manuel Dumitru Cardoso (born 12 October 1991) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays for Liga 1 (Indonesia), Liga 1 club PSS Sleman, on loan from Malaysia Super League club Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C., Johor Da ...

* Remo Amadio ;Lithuania * Rolandas Baravykas * Karolis Laukžemis * Tomas Švedkauskas * Modestas Vorobjovas ;Mauritania * Aly Abeid ;Moldova * Virgiliu Postolachi ;Montenegro * Marko Vukčević ;Netherlands * Desley Ubbink ;Nigeria * Prince Ikpe Ekong * John Ibeh * Philip Otele ;Portugal * Amoreirinha * Bruno Simão * Edson Silva ;Russia * Yevgeni Shlyakov ;Serbia * Nenad Kovačević * Predrag Pocuca * Nikola Vasiljević ;Slovakia * Andrej Fábry

Notable former managers

* László Balint * Zoltan Blum * Gheorghe Borugă * Coloman Braun-Bogdan * Nicolae "Coco" Dumitrescu * Francisc Dvorzsák * Ion "Jackie" Ionescu * Gusztáv Juhász *

Marius Lăcătuș Marius Mihai Lăcătuș (; born 5 April 1964) is a Romanian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. He is the most successful footballer of CSA Steaua București (football), Steaua ...

* Ion Moldovan * Roland Nagy * Zoltan Opata * Ionuț Popa * Mircea Rednic * Ioan Reinhardt * Petre Steinbach

References

Notes Citations

External links

*
Club profile
on UEFA's official website {{DEFAULTSORT:UTA Arad Sport in Arad, Romania Association football clubs established in 1945 Football clubs in Arad County Liga I clubs Liga II clubs Liga III clubs Liga IV clubs Fan-owned football clubs 1945 establishments in Romania