Asociația Fotbal Club Unirea 04 Slobozia, (), commonly known as Unirea Slobozia or simply as Unirea, 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

Slobozia Slobozia () is the capital city of Ialomița County, Muntenia, Romania, with a population of 41,550 in 2021. Etymology Its name is from the Romanian "slobozie", which meant a recently colonized village which was free of taxation. The word its ...

Ialomița County Ialomița County () is a county () of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Slobozia. Demographics In 2011, the county had a population of 258,669 and the population density was 58.08/km2. Romanians make up 95.6% of the population, t ...

, which 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 top tier of the Romanian football. The team was founded in 1955 and reestablished in 2004, being for the most part of its history a participant in the third division of the Romanian football. Unirea Slobozia has also spent several seasons in the second division, first in the early 1980s and then between 2012 and 2015, when also obtained 3rd place, the best ranking in the competition until then. Unirea promoted for the first time in history in

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 ...

at the end of the 2023–24 season. "The Yellow-Blues" play their home games at the Stadionul 1 Mai, which can host 6,000 spectators.

History

The club was founded in 1955 under the name Combil Slobozia, being under the tutelage of Combil (the Ialomița

Combine Combine may refer to: Machinery * Combine harvester, or combine, a machine to harvest grain crops * Seed drill, or combine seeder, a machine to plant seeds Company structure * Corporate group, an industrial business group in Western democrac ...

for the production and industrialization of pork meat) and played fifteen seasons in the Regional and County Championships, having during this period several names such as Avântul, Voința and Energia.Mihai Ionescu & George Tudoran, Fotbal de la A la Z – Editura Sport-Turism 1984. In the 1969–70 season, Energia promoted to

Divizia C 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 ...

winning the Ialomița County Championship and the promotion play-off against ITA București, the Bucharest Municipal champion (0–0 at home and 2–1 away). Meanwhile, the club was taken over by the Slobozia Chemical Combine - Amonil and, after promotion to third division was renamed as Azotul Slobozia. Azotul continued to play in third division, being overall a mid-table team and finishing twice on 3rd position, in 1974–75 season and 1975–76 season, and 2nd in the 1978–79 season. In the 1979, the club was renamed as Amonil Slobozia spent the following seasons in Divizia C, finishing 2nd in 1979–80, 9th in 1980–81 and 7th in 1981–82. In the summer of 1982, the club was renamed as Unirea Slobozia, and under the guidance of Ion Păciulete, took the 1st place in Seria IV of the 1982–83 season promoting for the first time in

Divizia B The Liga 2, most commonly spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 football season. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariu ...

. The squad was composed of following players: Dumitru Soare, Ion Ionescu, Titel Tache, Săndel Drăguț, Dan Cristea, Vasile Borș, Radu Gogan, Gh. Mateiu, N. Nicolae, Gh. Nicolae, Lazăr, Ion Lupu, Păun, Liviu, Nini Vintilă, Constantinescu and I. Damaschin. In the first season 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 ...

, Unirea strengthened with players such as

Gheorghe Tătaru Gheorghe Tătaru (5 May 1948 – 19 December 2004), also known as Tătaru II, was a Romanian football forward. He played seven years at Steaua București. He was the younger brother of Nicolae Tătaru, who also played professional football at S ...

, as

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

, L. Toader, Cr.Niță, V. Jercălău, Marian Ene, Hadadea, Marchidan, V.Petrescu, G. Simionov, but Unirea have a bad run, finishing on 17th place relegating back to the third division. The following season, Unirea finished 11th out of 16, tied on points with four other teams, securing their third division status at

goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...

. Unirea achieved promotion to

at the end of 1985–86 season, detaching in the last two rounds after a spectacular duel with Sportul 30 Decembrie. The team managed by Constantin Dinu was composed among others from following players: D. Soare, Suciu, Șoltuz, S. Drăguț, R. Gogan, D. Cristea, I. Țanicoiu, M. Ene, I. Iordache, Dumitru, I. Lupu, I. Constantin (34 goals), N. Vintilă, Păun and Dănilă. In the 1986–87 season, managed by Nicolae Dumitru as head coach in the first part of the season and

Emanoil Hașoti Emanoil Hașoti (14 September 1932 – 3 July 1993) was a Romanian football forward and a manager. Club career Emanoil Hașoti was born on 14 September 1932 in Kavarna, Kingdom of Romania in a family of Aromanians which were forced to leave th ...

in the second part, Unirea reinforced with new players such as M.Istrate, M. Dinu, Ad. Cîrîc, H. Mihale, C. Gache, C. Prepeliță, V. Roșu, S. Bătrâneanu and Cr. Mustacă, was ranked 7th in Series I. The stay in second division lasted only two seasons, as in the 1987–88 season Ialomițenii finished 16th in its series being relegated to Divizia C. The promotion was immediate. Unirea, under the leadership of

Constantin Prepeliță Constantin is an Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian and Romanian male given name. It can also be a surname. For a list of notable people called Constantin, see Constantine (name). See also * Constantine (name) * Konstantin The first name Konstant ...

in the first part of the season and Vasile Dobrău in the second part, won Series IV of Divizia C in the following campaign. Also, Slobozenii managed to reach the quarter-finals of

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 ...

passing two first division teams,

Universitatea Cluj Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply U Cluj, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the L ...

1–0 in the first round and

FC Bihor Oradea FC Bihor Oradea may refer to: * FC Bihor Oradea (1958), a dissolved football club in Oradea, Romania * FC Bihor Oradea (2022) Asociația Club Sportiv Fotbalistic Oradea (), commonly known as Bihor Oradea or simply as FC Bihor, is a Romanian pro ...

2–0 in the second round, being eliminated by Steaua București 1–3. The squad was composed among other players from M. Istrate, Matei, S. Drăguț, I. Țanicoiu, Ad. Cîrîc, Nedelciu, I. Iordache, Ioniță, Paraschiv, C. Prepeliță, Proșteanu, Vlase, Mîndru, N. Vintilă, Piștalu, Costin, Gh.Iovănescu, I. Constantin. In

, Unirea competed in Series I, finishing the 1989–90 season in 13th place, just one point above the relegation line, followed by 8th place in the 1990–91 season and 9th place in the 1991–92 season. However, the 1992–93 season ended in last place out of 18 teams, resulting in relegation after four seasons in the second division. In the early 2000s, the club encountered financial issues and was dissolved, being re-founded in 2004 as AFC Unirea 04 Slobozia. The new entity also reached the second tier of the

Romanian football league system 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 ...

, where it spent three years between 2012 and 2015. In the 2013–14 season, the team obtained a third place in its series, behind top flight regulars Politehnica Iași and

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

. Unirea Slobozia played again in the Romanian second league in the 2020–21 season till of the end of 2023–24 season, when Slobozia finished on the 1st place and promoted for the first time in history in

Honours

Liga II The Liga 2, most commonly spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07 football season. It is currently Sponso ...

*Winners (1): 2023–24 Divizia C / Liga III *Winners (5): 1982–83, 1985–86, 1988–89, 2011–12, 2019–20 *Runners-up (3): 1978–79, 1979–80,

2010–11 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 ...

Divizia D / Liga IV – Ialomița County *Winners (3): 1969–70, 1997–98

Players

First team squad

Other players under contract

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 AFC Unirea Slobozia. ;Romania *

Mihai Adăscăliței Mihai () is a Romanian given name for males or a surname. It is equivalent to the English name Michael. A variant of the name is Mihail. Its female form is Mihaela. Notable people with these names include: Given name *Mihai Timofti (1948–2023), ...

Christo Bolohan Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009), known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were artists noted for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, often large landmarks an ...

* Cristian Coconașu * Laurențiu Cristea * Leonida Dobre * Marian Florea *

Dumitru Gheorghe Dumitru Gheorghe (born 26 October 1936) is a Romanian wrestler. He competed at the 1956 Summer Olympics and the 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rom ...

Viorel Gheorghe Viorel is a Romanian male given name, derived from ''viorea'' (meaning the sweet violet flower). Its female forms are Violeta and Viorica. Notable people with the name * Viorel P. Barbu (born 1941), Romanian mathematician * Viorel Cataramă (bo ...

Ionuț Gurău Ionuț is a Romanian language, Romanian masculine given name. The English equivalent is Johnny. Notable persons with that name include: * Ionuț Andrei (born 1985), Romanian bobsledder * Ionuț Badea (born 1975), Romanian footballer * Ionuț Băl ...

Augustin Ivașcă Augustin may refer to: * Augustin (name), male name, variant of Augustine * Augustin (typography), English or 14-point type * Augustin, Brașov, a commune in Brașov County, Romania * Dacian fortress of Augustin, ruined Dacian fortified town in ...

Marius Jianu 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, ...

Marius Macare 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, ...

Liviu Mihai Liviu Mihai (born 17 May 1977) is a retired Romanian professional Association football, football player who played as a Forward (association football), striker mainly for Liga I side FCV Farul Constanța, Farul Constanța. References Externa ...

Adrian Mihalcea Adrian Dumitru Mihalcea (born 24 May 1976) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, currently in charge of Liga I club UTA Arad. Career Mihalcea spent many years playing with one of the top Romanian teams, Dinamo Bucureș ...

* Emil Nanu *

Ciprian Perju Ciprian Antonio Perju (born 18 March 1996) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a defender for 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 ...

Adrian Răduca Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the main ...

Costel Roșu Costel is a Romanian male given name, a diminutive of Constantin (other Romanian diminutives of ''Constantin'' are Costin, Costi, Costinel, Costică, Titi). It is also a Spanish given name. Costel may refer to: *Costel Busuioc *Costel Câmpeanu *Co ...

* Ciprian Rus *

Iosif Damaschin Iosif Damaschin (born 1 September 1963) is a Romanian former footballer who played as a forward. During his period spent at Rapid București in a match from Cupa României which ended with a 3–2 loss against Steaua Bucureşti with Damaschin ...

Leontin Toader Leontin Toader (born 20 May 1964) is a Romanian former professional footballer who serves as a goalkeeping coach for Romania national team. Honours Rapid București *Divizia B: 1989–90 *Cupa României runner-up: 1994–95 Jiul Petroșani * ...

Ștefan Petcu Ștefan Petcu (born 17 March 1957) is a Romanian retired Football (soccer), footballer, who most notably played for FC Constanţa, Farul Constanţa and FC Steaua București, Steaua București. On 25 March 2008 he was decorated by the president of ...

;France *

Jordan Gele Jordan Youri Gele (born 16 September 1992) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga I club FCSB. Career Boulogne Jordan Gele made his senior debut with Boulogne’s reserve team during the 2012–13 season, competin ...

Former managers

Titus Ozon Titus Ozon (13 May 1927 – 24 November 1996) was a Romanian international football striker and manager. He was considered one of the greatest talents in postwar Romanian football, famous for his extraordinary ability to dribble. Career Ozon wa ...

(1977–1978) *

(1983–1984) *

(1987) * Vasile Dobrău (1989–1990) * Ion Cojocaru (2007) *

Marian Catană Marian may refer to: People * Marian (given name), a list of people with the given name * Marian (surname), a list of people so named Places * Marian, Iran (disambiguation) * Marian, Queensland, a town in Australia * Marian, a village in toe co ...

(2008–2009) *

Ion Răuță An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...

(2009–2010) *

(2010–2011) * Ion Ionescu (2011–2012) *

Marin Dună Marin Dună (born 2 August 1967) is a former Romanian professional footballer and currently a manager. Honours Player ;Național București *Divizia B: 1991–92 *Cupa României runner-up: 1996–97 ;Steaua București *Supercupa României: ...

(2012–2013) *

(2020–2022) *

Costel Enache Constantin "Costel" Enache (born 11 March 1973) is a Romanian football coach and former player, currently in charge of Liga II club FC Bacău. Coaching career Politehnica Iași Enache was appointed head coach of Liga II club Politehnica Iași ...

(2022–2023) *

(2023–2025) * Vladimir Marica *

Ion Păciulete An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...

League history

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Unirea Slobozia Association football clubs established in 1955 Slobozia Football clubs in Ialomița County Liga I clubs Liga II clubs Liga III clubs Liga IV clubs 1955 establishments in Romania