CSM Politehnica Iași

CSM Politehnica Iași

Full name	Clubul Sportiv Municipal Politehnica Iași
Nickname(s)	Alb-Albaştrii (The White and Blues) Trupa din Copou (Copou Squad)
Short name	CSM Poli Iași
Founded	16 August 2010 (2010-08-16) as ACSMU Politehnica Iași
Ground	Emil Alexandrescu
Ground Capacity	11,390
Owner	Leonida Antohi
Chairman	Florin Prunea
Manager	Eugen Neagoe
League	Liga I
2015–16	Liga I, 7th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Clubul Sportiv Municipal Politehnica Iași is a professional football club from Iași, Romania. The club was founded in 2010^[1] and currently plays in the Liga I.

History

2010–2012 (Liga II)

On August 2010, Tricolorul Breaza merged with Navoby Iași and formed ACSMU Politehnica Iași.^[2] While in the Liga II, the club's objective was to return to the first tier of Romanian football. Ionuț Popa was appointed manager and Grigore Sichitiu as executive president.^[3] In the summer of 2011, the club was renamed Clubul Sportiv Municipal Studenţesc Iași.

For the second half of the 2011–12 season ex-Romanian international Florin Prunea was brought in as manager.^[4] There were major changes in the roster, the coach considering almost half of the players unfit for attacking promotion. On June 2, 2012, after two years in the second tier of Romanian football, CSMS Iași gained promotion to Liga I^[5] after the 4–2 victory against Farul Constanța.^[6]

After the exodus of players such as Cristian Hăisan, Yamoudou Camara and Rodoljub Marjanović,^[7] the team went into reconstruction, with players such as Petar Jovanović,^[8] Cezar Lungu^[9] and Claudiu Ionescu joining CSMS Iași.^[10] On 29 August, Liviu Ciobotariu was appointed head coach.^[11] The Moldavian team finished the 2012–13 season in 17th place and were relegated to the second division.

Even though there were hopes that they would be accepted for the 2013–14 Liga I season, eventually CS Concordia Chiajna secured the last place in the first league, due to the relegation of FC Rapid București for financial issues.^[12]

For the 2013–14 Liga II season, promising young coach Costel Enache was brought in to head a team that retained the services of its young talent, the likes of: Alexandru Crețu, Adrian Avrămia and Andrei Herghelegiu.^[13] To supplement the departure of players to Liga I teams, manager Florin Prunea brought in Bogdan Miron, Ionuț Bădescu and Tomi Petrescu among others.

2014– (Liga I)

With Marius Lăcătuș as the head coach they finished 1st on 2013–14 Liga II and were promoted back to Liga I. For the 2014–15 season, the team debuted for the first time in Cupa Ligii with a win over ASA Tîrgu Mureș in the competition play-off and the team advanced to the last 16 where they defeated a former Romanian Cup and Liga I winner CFR Cluj.

2015–16 Liga I season was the best in the history of CSMS Iași and in the football history of Iași. After a great campaign, the team finished 7th and qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League under the command of Italian coach Nicolò Napoli and with a team that relied on experienced players like: Andrei Cristea, Bojan Golubović, Ionuț Voicu and Branko Grahovac.^[14] In the second round of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, CSMS Iași encountered Croatian team Hajduk Split and after a 2–2 draw at Iași, CSMS were defeated at Split 1–2, prematurely leaving the competition.^[15]

On 22 July 2016, the club announced that it had changed its name, from CSM Studențesc Iași to CSM Politehnica Iași, a name more closely linked to the Iași football tradition and dissolved FC Politehnica Iași.^[16]

Stadium

CSM Politehnica Iași plays its home matches at the Emil Alexandrescu stadium. It is located in the borough of Copou near the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University. It has a capacity of 11,390.^[17]

Emil Alexandrescu Stadium.

Supporters

The biggest ultras groups of CSM Politehnica Iași are Băieții Veseli and Ultras. Both supported Politehnica Iași until its dissolution in 2009 and have gone to CSMP as they regard it as a successor of Poli. There are friendly relationships with Moldova team, Zimbru Chișinău, as Băieții Veseli and Oastea Fiară, Zimbru's main ultras group, are "brothers".

Rivalries

CSM Politehnica Iași's eternal rival is the other team from the Moldavia region, FC Vaslui, and the matches between these teams are known as the "Derby of Moldavia", and often end with violent clashes between the supporters of both teams. The rivalry between FC Vaslui and Poli Iași started in 2004, when Vaslui were promoted to the top division of Romanian football, being a result of the demographic and political rivalry between Iași and Vaslui cities.

However, CSM Politehnica Iași has also developed a recent rivalry with FC Botoșani, another team from Moldavia.

European competitions

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Aggregate
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Hajduk Split	2–2	1–2	3–4

Chronology of names

Current squad

As of 6 September 2016

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Alessandro Caparco 4 DF Marius Mihalache 5 MF Narcis Bădic 6 DF Alexandru Crețu 7 MF Vasile Gheorghe 8 DF Gabriel Bosoi 9 FW Alexandru Boiciuc 10 FW Andrei Cristea 11 FW Gianmarco Piccioni 12 GK Branko Grahovac 13 MF Marius Chelaru 16 DF Daisuke Sato

No. Position Player 19 DF Mădălin Ciucă 20 DF Ionuț Voicu (Captain) 21 MF Lukács Bőle 22 DF Milan Mitić 23 DF Cosmin Frăsinescu 27 MF Mădălin Martin 29 MF Marian Târșă 30 DF Alexandru Țigănașu 44 DF Ante Sarić 88 MF Cătălin Ștefănescu (on loan from Steaua) 90 MF Alexandru Ciucur 92 GK Dumitru Hotoboc

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player — GK Cosmin Anton (at Știința Miroslava) — DF Silviu Cerneuțanu (at Știința Miroslava) — DF Andu Moisii (at Știința Miroslava)

No. Position Player — DF Lucian Odăgieru (at Știința Miroslava) — MF Alin Huțanu (at Știința Miroslava) — FW Mădălin Crengăniș (at Știința Miroslava)

Club officials

Board of directors Role Name Owner Leonida Antohi President Florin Prunea Vice-President Cristian Stărică Vice-President Mircea Ursu Vice-President Ion Apostol Secretary Ovidiu Postolache Economic Director Ecaterina Dumitriu Responsible for Order and Safety Alexandru Grierosu Sporting Director Marius Onofraș Sports Complex Administrator Virgil Grierosu Organizer of Competitions Tiberiu Ştefănescu Marketing Manager Sergiu Melinte Economist Florenţa Strujan Press Officer Mircea Ungureanu Cashier Carmen Dabija Cameraman Emil Isac

Current technical staff Role Name Manager Eugen Neagoe Assistant Manager Adrian Kereszy Goalkeeping Coach Benone Dohoţ Fitness Coach Cezar Honceriu Physiotherapist Gheorghe Timofte Club Doctor Constantin Barbăroşie Club Doctor Alexandru Pătraşcu Masseur Marius Mereu Masseur Eduard Apintiliesei Storeman Gheorghe Ungheanu

Coach history

• Ionuț Popa (Sept 1, 2010 – Oct 15, 2010)
• Adrian Falub (Oct 20, 2010 – June 30, 2011)
• Marius Baciu (June 16, 2011 – Aug 28, 2011)
• Ionuț Popa (Aug 28, 2011 – Aug 28, 2012)
• Liviu Ciobotariu (Aug 29, 2012 – April 22, 2013)
• Sorin Cârțu (April 22, 2013 – June 4, 2013)
• Costel Enache (June 20, 2013 – Oct 12, 2013)
• Marius Lăcătuş (Oct 15, 2013 – Aug 28, 2014)
• Ionuț Chirilă (Aug 28, 2014 – Oct 9, 2014)
• Nicolò Napoli (Oct 13, 2014– )

Honours

Domestic

League

Liga II

• Winners (2): 2011–12, 2013–14

Other performances

• Appearances in Liga I: 4
• Best finish in Liga I: 7/14 in 2015–16
• Appearances in Cupa României: 6
• Quarter-finalists of 2015–16 Cupa României
• Appearances in Cupa Ligii: 3
• Quarter-finalists of 2014–15 Cupa Ligii
• Second qualifying round of 2016–17 UEFA Europa League

Statistics

References

External links

• CSM Politehnica Iaşi official website
• CSM Politehnica Iaşi at Soccerway.com