Minerul Lupeni

Clubul Sportiv Viitorul Minerul Lupeni, commonly referred to as Minerul Lupeni, is a Romanian football club based in Lupeni, Hunedoara County, which competes in Liga III , the third 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 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 playing under the name of Jiul Lupeni.

In the 1927–28 season, the Jiu Valley team won the Arad Regional Championship, qualified for the Divizia A national tournament and reached the final, losing to Colțea Brașov, 2–3. The lineup from the final with Adalbert Szabo as coach: Ioan Kiss – 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 in the 1935–36 season, but were eliminated in the quarter-finals by the strong team of Ripensia Timișoara 2–9, the team that won the title. 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 team was composed of Sepreny – Sebok, Baki – Maior, Peter, Racolțea – Comsloșan, Ilieș, Zelenak, Sorger and Băcilă.Mihai Ionescu & George Tudoran, Fotbal de la A la Z – Editura Sport-Turism 1984.

The Red-Blacks played the next three seasons in the second division championship finished 4th in 1938–39, 2nd in 1939–40 and 6th 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) as Partizanul, 11th (1951) as Flacăra, spared from relegation due to the move of Flacăra București at Ploiești and disappearance of former Flacăra Ploiești (Prahova Ploiești), 10th (1952), 14th (1953) renamed as Minerul, 6th (1954), 9th (1955), 9th (1956), 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 Divizia A 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 consecutive seasons 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, losing 3–1 to Dinamo Obor București.

Minerul Lupeni followed with four more seasons in the second tier, finishing 10th in 1963–64, 4th in 1964–65, 11th in 1965–66, and 13th in 1966–67, surprisingly relegating to Divizia C.

The Miners then spent nine consecutive seasons in the third tier before returning to Divizia B. During this period, Minerul placed 5th in 1967–68, finished as runners-up in 1968–69, and secured 3rd place in the 1969–70, 1970–71, and 1971–72 seasons. In 1972–73, Minerul, coached by Teodor Mihalache, ended the season in 7th place and qualified for the first round proper of the Cupa României, being eliminated by Steaua București with a score of 0–1. The squad included Șarpe, Iosif Rus, Șvedak, Gheorghe Burdangiu, Adrian Serafim, Ioan Polgar, Cristache II, Gheorghe Voicu, Lucuța, Constantin Cotroază, Turbatu (83’ Moldovan).

In 1973–74, Minerul finished as runners-up once again, followed by a 3rd place in 1974–75, and finally won Series VII in the 1975–76 season, securing promotion. Under the leadership of Gheorghe Kotormány, the promotion-winning squad featured Budușan, Adrian Dodu, Constantin Roșu, Tudor, Alexandru Naidin, Nicolae Boloș, Ioan Dosan, Lucuță, Rusu, Nicșa, Stoinică, Lucian, Gheorghe Voicu, and Gheorghe Burdangiu.

In Divizia B, Minerul competed in Series III, finishing 13th in the 1976–77 season and suffering relegation at the end of the following campaign after ending the 1977–78 season in 15th place.

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
*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
Liga IV – Hunedoara County
*Winners (1): 2023–24
*Runners-up (1): 2022–23

Players

First team squad

Out of loan

Club officials

Board of directors

Current technical staff

League history

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
* Cristian Bălgrădean
* Mircea Popa
* Lucian Burchel
* Cornel Irina
* Horațiu Lasconi
* Tudor Paraschiva
* Carol Creiniceanu
* Aurel Guga
* Ioan Kiss
* Andrei Stocker
* Aurel Moise
* Sándor Schwartz
* Tiberiu Csik
* Ovidiu Vezan

Former managers

* Ion Bălănescu (1960–1961)
* Adrian Matei (2004–2006)
* Gabriel Stan (2005–2006)
* Dan Mănăilă (2006)
* Marin Tudorache (2007–2008)
* Ion Dumitra (2008)
* Petre Gigiu (2009–2010)
* Ionel Augustin (2010)
* Vasile Lazăr
* Teodor Mihalache
* Gheorghe Kotormány
* Petre Libardi
* Gogu Tonca

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Minerul Lupeni
Football clubs in Romania
Football clubs in Hunedoara County
Association football clubs established in 1920
Jiu Valley
Liga I clubs
Liga II clubs
Liga III clubs
Liga IV clubs
Mining association football teams in Romania
1920 establishments in Romania