| Full name | Clubul Sportiv Șoimii Lipova | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Lipovanii (The People from Lipova) | |||
| Short name | Șoimii | |||
| Founded | 1974; 52 years ago (1974) asȘoimii Lipova 1980; 46 years ago (1980) asȘoimii-Strungul Lipova 2012; 14 years ago (2012) asȘoimii Lipova | |||
| Ground | Șoimii | |||
| Capacity | 1,520 | |||
| Owner | Lipova Town | |||
| Chairman | Virgiliu Stamate | |||
| Manager | Laur Jicărean | |||
| League | Liga VI | |||
| 2023–24 | Liga III, Seria VIII, 6th(withdrew) | |||
| Website | https://soimiilipova.ro/ | |||
Clubul Sportiv Șoimii Lipova, commonly known asCS Șoimii Lipova, or simplyȘoimii Lipova, is a Romanian professionalfootball club based inLipova,Arad County.
The team was founded in 1974 and played in theDivizia C for 14 years, between 1980 and 1994. The most important result was a 1st place in the 11th series, achieved at the end of the 1991–92 season. After 1994 Șoimii played only in the fourth tier of theRomanian football league system and even withdrew from any competition in the spring of 2010. After two years of inactivity Șoimii enrolled in the sixth tier and started its ascension, promoting back toLiga III at the end of the 2016–17 season.
Șoimii Lipova was founded in 1974 after a merger betweenMureșul Lipova andLuptătorul Lipova.[1] In the first season, 1974–75Arad County Championship, the squad based in Lipova finished on the 4th place, then in the following season,1975–76, won thecounty championship and qualifying for theDivizia C promotion play-off, but lost in front ofTimiș County champion, Laminorul Nădrag (1–0 at Nădrag and 0–2 at Lipova). Followed three seasons in which Șoimii finished on the following positions: 4th (1976–77 and1977–78) and 9th (1978–79) in the second series of the County Championship.
In the1979–80 season, Șoimii Lipova won the county championship again, finished 1st in Series B and won the championship final against the winner of the Series A, Chimia Arad (1–0 at Lipova and 3–3 at Vladimirescu). Followed apromotion play-off match to Divizia C against the champion ofLiga IV – Timiș County, Textila Timișoara. Șoimii promoted after two victories (3–1 at Timișoara and 2–1 at Lipova).
After the promotion, in the summer of 1980, the team starts collaborating with the lathe factory from Lipova changing its name to Șoimii-Strungul, and at the end of thefirst season in Divizia C, Șoimii-Strungul, with a new coach, Toma Jurcă, finished on the 4th place.
Then in the summer of 1981 changed its name again inȘoimii Lipova.[2] Followed another 12 consecutive seasons in the Divizia C for Șoimii, which also won the 11th series of the league at the end of the 1991–92 season, but never played in theDivizia B due to some competitive reorganizations dictated by theRomanian Football Federation.[3][4]
At the end of the 1993–94 season "lipovanii" relegated toDivizia D, where they remained for the next 16 years. In the spring of 2010 Șoimii withdrew fromLiga IV after the biggest defeat suffered in the history of the club, 1–28 against Frontiera Curtici. In 2012, after two years of inactivity Șoimii Lipova was reestablished and enrolled in the Liga VI, last tier of theArad County association.[4] Șoimii obtained two consecutive promotions and in the summer of 2015 was back in theLiga IV, competition which they won at the end of the2016–17 season. As the champion of Arad County, "lipovanii" played the promotion play-off against CS Diosig, the champions ofBihor County, which they have defeated 7–1 on aggregate and promoted back toLiga III after 23 years of absence.[5] In the first season Șoimii finished on the 6th place in the fourth series.
The club plays its home matches on Stadionul Orășenesc fromLipova, with a capacity of 1,000 seats.
From 2017, the club played its home matches onStadionul Șoimii fromPâncota due to the modernization works carried out at the stadium in Lipova.
| Name | Period |
| Șoimii Lipova | 1974–1980 |
| Șoimii-Strungul Lipova | 1980–1981 |
| Șoimii Lipova | 1981–present |
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