FC Unirea Dej

Fotbal Club Unirea Dej, commonly known as Unirea Dej, is a Romanian professional football club based in Dej, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga III, the third tier of the Romanian football.

It is one of Romania's oldest football teams, founded in 1921, although it never reached the Liga I. Unirea's home field, Stadionul Unirea, has 5,000 seats. In 2004 Unirea Dej became the reserve team of CFR Cluj, until the summer of 2007. It has an average attendance of about 300 fans.

History

Unirea Dej was founded in 1921 and, for over four decades, played in regional and district championships. In the 1961–62 season, under the guidance of Victor Hușa, Unirea won the Cluj Regional Championship and finished 2nd in Series III of the six-team promotion play-off held in Mediaș, just behind AS Cugir, thus earning promotion to Divizia B for the first time in its history.

Renamed Steaua Dej before the start of the second half of the season, the team coached by Gheorghe Tomescu ended the 1962–63 season in 13th place in Series III, relegating to the re-established Divizia C.

In the third division, the team reverted to the Unirea name and competed in the North Series, finishing 4th in the 1963–64 season, 9th in the 1964–65 season, coached by Victor Hușa, and 1st in the 1965–66 season, earning promotion back to Divizia B under the guidance of Eutin Stepan. The squad included Mihai Măglaș, Mihai Silveșan, Francisc Boldiș, Emeric Farcaș, Gavril Butuza, Vasile Negrea, Mircea Gherman, Emil Drăgoi, Mihai Cristof, Alexandru Mardan, Francisc Maghiari, Geza Bandi, Victor Servațius, Ioan Curtu, Iosif Safar, Constantin Neagu, and Iuliu Duca.

The team coached by Victor Hușa competed in the second division for only one season, finishing last in Series II and being relegated back to Divizia C.
The following season, after being relegated to the third division, brought a 9th-place finish in the North Series, followed by 3rd place in Series VII of the 1968–69 season, and 7th in the 1969–70 campaign.

In 1970–71, the team finished as runners-up, tied on points with Arieșul Turda, but missed promotion due to a single-goal difference. That same season, Unirea also reached the Round of 32 in the Cupa României, losing 0–2 to Universitatea Cluj. The lineup sent on the field by Vasile Vereș for that match was composed of Pugna — Covaciu, Racolța, Gall, Mikloș, Al. Mardan, Albert, Zavalschi (min. 46 Nicoară), Iosif Pop, Dorin Pop, Constantin Catană.

Moved to Series XI, Unirea ended the 1971–72 season in 7th place, followed by a 3rd-place finish in Series IX in 1972–73. Another runners-up finish came in 1973–74, just one point behind Metalul Aiud.

The White and Blues continued to challenge for promotion with back-to-back 2nd-place finishes in Series XI ( 1974–75) and Series X ( 1975–76), then ranked 4th in 1976–77, 7th in 1977–78, and 10th in Series IX during the 1978–79 season.

The 1979–80 season brought a 7th-place finish in Series IX, and the White and Blues also reached the Round of 32 in the Cupa României before losing 1–4 to top-flight side SC Bacău. Another runners-up result followed in 1980–81. However, the 1981–82 campaign ended in disappointment, with the team unexpectedly finishing last in Series XI and suffering relegation to the fourth division.

Unirea Dej quickly returned to the third division by winning the 1982–83 Cluj County Championship and defeating Heniu Prundu Bârgăului, the Bistrița-Năsăud County champions, 5–1 on aggregate (5–0 at home and 0–1 away) in the promotion play-off. However, their stay in Divizia C was short, as the team from the Someș River finished last in Series X of the 1983–84 season and was relegated once more to the fourth division.

In the 1988–89 season, after five years at county level, Unirea again claimed the Cluj County title and secured promotion by beating Silvania Cehu Silvaniei, the Sălaj County champions, 4–2 on aggregate (2–2 away and 2–0 at home).

Since September 2008 the club has collaborated with AC Milan. The Italian club wishes to build a sports base for young players. "We will be an associated club with AC Milan, and Unirea shorts will have Milan's crest," said a staff member. Eusebiu Șuvagău has been the head coach until summer 2010. He was replaced by Constantin Olariu who left the team in October 2010 being replaced by Ioan Tătăran. When Tătăran became technical director of FC Maramureș Universitar Baia Mare in July 2011, Șuvagău returned as head coach.

In the 2020–21 season, Unirea Dej finished 2nd in Series IX of the third league and reached the promotion play-off. Unirea defeated Minaur Baia Mare (0–0 in Baia Mare and 3–1 in Dej) and SCM Zalău (0–0 at home, 1–1 in Zalău). After 14 years of absence, and exactly when the club celebrated 100 years since its founding, Unirea earned promotion back to Liga II.

The team coached by Dragoș Militaru finished 9th in the 2021–22 regular season of Liga II. In the play-out, the blue-and-whites achieved five victories and suffered only one defeat, ranking in second place.

Honours

Liga III
*Winners (3): 1965–66, 1993–94, 2003–04
*Runners-up (7): 1970–71, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1980–81, 1991–92, 2020–21
Liga IV – Cluj County
*Winners (2): 1982–83, 1988–89

Cluj Regional Championship
*Winners (1): 1961–62

Players

First team squad

Out on loan

Club Officials

Board of directors

Current technical staff

Notable former players

The footballers enlisted below have had international cap(s) for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level and/or significant caps for FC Unirea Dej.

;Romania

* Gheorghe Albu
* Laur Aștilean
* Teodor Balmoș
* Costel Bădan
* Andrei Boroștean
* Sandu Borș
* Alin Burdeț
* Ionuț Cazan
* Ovidiu Ceclan
* Octavian Chihaia
* Cătălin Ciucur
* Angelo Cocian
* Sorin Corpodean
* Sergiu Costin
* Constantin Cremenițchi
* Vasile Curileac
* Ciprian Deac
* Ioan Deac
* Adrian Dulcea
* Andrei Estinca
* Adrian Falub
* Alexandru Gego
* Sabin Goia
* Marius Grad
* Emil Haitonic
* Dumitru Halostă
* Cristian Ivan
* Cristian Lupuț
* Dumitru Mitu
* Aurel Nalați
* Onișor Nicorec
* Constantin Olariu
* Paul Papp
* Daniel Sabou
* Viorel Sântejudean
* Marius Suller
* Emil Ștef
* Eusebiu Șuvagău
* Vladimir Tamaș
* Dorin Toma
* Cosmin Văsîie
* Eugen Voica
* Călin Zanc
* Tiberiu Zelencz
;Moldova
* Dorian Railean

Notable former managers

* Nicolae Manea (1992–1996)
* George Ciorceri (2006)
* Mircea Bolba (2008–2009)
* Cristian Fedor (2007–2010)
* Constantin Olariu (2010)
* Ioan Tătăran (2010–2011)
* Mircea Bolba (2011–2012)
* Alin Minteuan (2012–2013)
* Valentin Sinescu (2015)
* Alpár Mészáros (2015–2016)
* Gheorghe Barbu (2016)
* Alpár Mészáros (2017)
* Gheorghe Barbu (2017)
* Mircea Bolba (2018)
* Gheorghe Barbu (2018–2019)

League history

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Unirea Dej

Dej
Football clubs in Cluj County
Association football clubs established in 1921
Liga II clubs
Liga III clubs
1921 establishments in Romania