 | |||
| Full name | Club Sportiv Municipal Alexandria | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames |
| ||
| Short name | Alexandria | ||
| Founded | 1948; 77 years ago (1948) asUnirea Alexandria | ||
| Ground | Comunal (Buzescu)(temporary) | ||
| Capacity | 500 | ||
| Owner | Alexandria Municipality | ||
| Chairman | Bogdan Ciobanu | ||
| Manager | Ștefan Odoroabă | ||
| League | Liga III | ||
| 2024–25 | Liga III, Seria IV, 4th | ||
| Website | https://csmalexandria.ro/ | ||
Club Sportiv Municipal Alexandria, commonly known asCSM Alexandria or simply asAlexandria, is a Romanian professionalfootballclub based inAlexandria,Teleorman County, currently competes inLiga III, the third tier ofRomanian football.
The men’s football team of CSM Alexandria, part of themulti-sport club that also includes awomen's football team and awomen's basketball team, was founded in 1948 and has gone through several names over time, includingUnirea, Progresul, Comerțul, Automatica, Rulmentul, FC Alexandria, and FCM Alexandria, and it is considered one of the most important football clubs in Teleorman County, having spent seventeen seasons in the Romanian second division between 1962 and 2024. Its best performance came in the1981–82 season, when it ranked 3rd in Series II ofDivizia B.[1]
The team’s most notable players includeFlorea Voicilă, who represented the Romaniannational team while playing in thesecond division for Alexandria, and Florică Mitroi. It also developed players such asDan Balauru,Valentin Badea, andBasarab Panduru, who went on to play at the highest level, with Panduru even representing Romania internationally.[2]
The team was founded in 1948 under the name Unirea Alexandria and played in theBucharest Regional Championship. The team was renamed Progresul Alexandria in the summer of 1961 and promoted toDivizia B at the end of the1961–62 season winning the Regional Championship and the Series II of thepromotion play-off held atPiatra Neamț.[3]
Progresul lastedonly one season in the second division, finishing in 12th place and being relegated to the newly formedDivizia C. The team played the following two seasons in the South Series of the third division, finishing 11th in the1963–64 season and 14th in the1964–65 season, which led to their relegation to the regional championship.[4]
Renamed Comerțul Alexandria, the team returned to Divizia C after three seasons in the regional championship, finishing 1st in the West Series of the1967–68 season.[5]
In the following seasons, Comerțul played in Series IV of thethird division, finishing 3rd in the1968–69 season, 2nd in the1969–70 season, just four points behind Autobuzul București, 6th in the1970–71 season, and 8th in Series VI in the1971–72 season. The team was then renamed Automatica, being taken over by theÎntreprinderea de Panouri și Tablouri Electrice (lit. 'Electrical Panels and Switchboards Enterprise'), and continued to compete in Series VI of Divizia C, finishing 4th in the1972–73 season and 1st in the1973–74 season, which earned them promotion to the second division after eleven years of absence.[4]
In the1974–75 season, Automatica, coached by formerRomanian national football team playerCornel Popa, finished 14th in Series II, tied on points withFlacăra Moreni. The team remained in the second division after winning the relegation tie-breaker match 1–0 held inOradea, with a goal scored byFlorea Voicilă.[6]
The team started the1975–76 campaign with formerRapid București playerViorel Kraus as head coach, but he left during the winter break for a board official position atSportul Studențesc. Renamed Unirea Alexandria mid-season, the team finished in 12th place in Series II, withConstantin Marinescu as head coach in the second part of the season.
In the following two seasons, the team finished 4th in1976–77 under coach I. Ceavdaridis in the first part of the season andGheorghe Dungu in the second. Dungu was replaced by Virgil Blujdea in January 1978, who led the team to a 9th-place finish in the1977–78 season.[7]
In 1978, Întreprinderea Rulmentul (lit. 'Bearing Enterprise') took over the team, renaming it Rulmentul Alexandria. Under the leadership ofPetre Gavrilă, the team finished 4th in1978–79, 5th in1979–80, and barely avoided relegation in1980–81, finishing 13th, just one point above the relegation line.[7][8]
"We haven't forgotten that in '82/ You took us through Paradise/ After Rapid, you were also/ In 3rd place, and it wasn't a dream"
In the1981–82 season, Rulmentul ranked 3rd in the Series II ofDivizia B, behind promotedPetrolul Ploiești andRapid București. It was the peak moment of Teleorman football until then, the team being coached by former internationalNicolae Lupescu.Florea Voicilă shone in the team, a striker with exceptional qualities, who managed the performance of catching two selections for thenational team even though he was part of a second division team.[2]
Alexăndrenii finished 6th in the1982–83 season, 11th in1983–84, and 16th in1984–85, resulting in relegation to thethird division after eleven consecutive years in Divizia B.[8] After relegation, the team was renamed Automatica, with the Electrical Panels and Switchboards Enterprise providing financial support once again, and went on to finish as runners-up in Series VI in the1985–86 and1987–88 seasons, and 3rd in1986–87.[4]
Returned to the second tier, Rulmentul ranked 15th in Series I of the2002–03 season but was spared from relegation due to Bucovina Suceava's exclusion. Thefollowing year, the team finished 11th in Series II under player-coachViorel Ion. In the2004–05 season, Rulmentul was relegated to the third division after finishing last in Series II, and dropped further to thefourth division at the end of thenext season, once again finishing bottom of its series.[9][10][11][12]
| Name[1] | Period |
|---|---|
| Unirea Alexandria | 1948–1961 |
| Progresul Alexandria | 1961–1967 |
| Comerțul Alexandria | 1967–1972 |
| Automatica Alexandria | 1972–1976 |
| Unirea Alexandria | 1976–1978 |
| Rulmentul Alexandria | 1978–1981 |
| Unirea Alexandria | 1981–1985 |
| Automatica Alexandria | 1985–1988 |
| Unirea Alexandria | 1988–1990 |
| Rulmentul Alexandria | 1990–1991 |
| Unirea Alexandria | 1991–1996 |
| FC Alexandria | 1996–1997 |
| Rulmentul Alexandria | 1997–2008 |
| FCM Alexandria | 2008–2018 |
| CSM Alexandria | 2018–present |
In the2008–09 season, Alexandria wonLiga IV – Teleorman County but lost thepromotion play-off forLiga III, 1–2 against Comprest București. In spite of the defeat, the club managed to promote by administrative decision; theRomanian Football Federation announced that FCM Alexandria would play in Series IV of the2009–10 Liga III season, where it finished mid-table in 8th place, withRomulus Ciobanu taking charge in the second half of the campaign.[13][14]
In the following three seasons, Alexandria competed in Series III. Ciobanu left the team after five rounds in2010–11 and was replaced by Alexandru Gheorghe,[15] who led the team to a 14th-place finish out of 16, avoiding relegation due to the withdrawal of other teams, and a 9th-place finish in2011–12. The2012–13 season ended in 11th place under the guidance of three coaches during the campaign, Alexandru Gheorghe,[16] Marian Botea, and Sorin Albeanu,[17] which resulted in relegation to the fourth division.
Following the relegation, Mircea Cristescu was appointed head coach and guided the team to a 2nd-place finish in the2013–14 sesaon of Liga IV – Teleorman County, ten points behindSporting Roșiori.[18][19]
The failure to achieve promotion led to Cristescu’s dismissal, with Gabriel Lungu taking over for the2014–15 season. However, Lungu was sacked after a 0–1 defeat in the 8th round againstSporting Turnu Măgurele, the main contender for promotion, andRomulus Ciobanu was appointed head coach. Under Ciobanu, theAlexăndrenii finished as runners-up, eight points behind their rivals from Turnu Măgurele.[20][21][22]
With Ciobanu in charge, FCM Alexandria returned to the third tier by winning the2015–16 Liga IV –Teleorman County season and the promotion play-off against Andrias Andrășești (3–1 at home and 1–1 away), champions ofLiga IV – Ialomița County. The squad included, among others,Fl. Olteanu, Penescu, Al. Olteanu, Bârsănel, Pârjolea, Fl. Radu, Preda, Dragu, Brânceanu, Ov. Gheorghe, Sitaru, Căpățână, Desculțu, Mândru, and Barbălată.[23][24]
InLiga III, Alexandria competed in Series III in the2016–17 season, finishing in 3rd place. Ciobanu left in November 2017 for the main promotion rivalPetrolul Ploiești[25] and was replaced by Marius Stoica.[26] In April 2018, after a 1–4 defeat against their rival, Stoica was dismissed and replaced by Marian Botea, who led the team to finish as runners-up, four points behind them. The squad included among othersOlteanu, Sîrbu,Floricel,Ciocoteală, Barbălată, Vîlcică, Boșoteanu, Desculțu, Fl. Radu, Căpățînă, Calofir, Vîrtej, Călin, Terci and Mitran.[27][28][29]
In 2018, Fotbal Club Municipal Alexandria was integrated into the multi-sport structure and changed its name to Club Sportiv Municipal Alexandria.[30] The team began the2018–19 campaign withAlin Chița as head coach,[31] but he was dismissed in October 2018.[32] Sorin Albeanu took over on an interim basis until March 2019, whenAlin Pânzaru was appointed, and the team ended the season in 4th place in Series II. Under Pânzaru, Alexandria finished 4th in Series III in2019–20, a season interrupted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Laurențiu Diniță was named head coach for the2020–21 season,[33] but in November he was replaced by Sorin Albeanu, who guided the team to a 5th-place finish in Series VI.
The2021–22 campaign began underMugurel Cornățeanu,[34] but he was replaced after five rounds due to poor results by Sorin Albeanu,[35] who remained in charge until the winter break.Cristian Dănălache then took over in January 2022[36] and led the team to finish 3rd in both the regular season and the play-off round of Series VI.
Ștefan Odoarabă was appointed head coach for the2022–23 season[37] and guided Alexandria to finish 1st in both the regular season and the play-off round of Series VI, qualifying for thepromotion play-offs where it defeatedCSO Plopeni 2–0 on aggregate andViitorul Dăești 6–1 on aggregate over two legs, thus securing a return to thesecond league after an eighteen-year absence. Alexandria also reached the group stage ofCupa României, where it finished last in Group C after a 0–4 defeat againstUniversitatea Cluj, a 2–2 draw withFarul Constanța, and a 0–4 loss toDumbrăvița.[38] The squad included Cristică, Dohotariu, Nicola, Defta, Ed. Sîrbu, Vl. Georgescu, Vlad, Teodorescu,Ciocoteală, Lupoaică, I. Voicu, M. Stancu, Chiriceanu, Iakabfi, L. Ana, Dobrică,Jerdea, C. Neagu,Cioablă, Lătărețu, and Sultana.[39][40][41]
In the2023–24 Liga II season, Ștefan Odoarabă was dismissed after seven rounds,[42] under his tenure Alexandria qualified for theCupa României group stage. He was replaced byAlin Pânzaru,[42] who remained in charge until the 15th round.[43] In the Cupa României, Alexandria competed in Group B, recording a 1–3 defeat againstCFR Cluj, a 2–1 win overBotoșani, and a 1–3 loss toSteaua București, finishing 5th and being eliminated. In December,Eugen Trică took over the team,[44] leading it to a 19th-place finish in the regular season but leaving after the first play-out match, with Sorin Albeanu managing the team until the end of the campaign, as Alexandria finished last in Group B of the play-out round and was relegated.[45][46]
Bucharest Regional Championship:
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Board of directors[edit]
| Current technical staff[edit]
|
Gheorghe Dungu (1963–1964)Cornel Popa (1974–1975)Viorel Kraus (1975)Constantin Marinescu (1976) I. Ceavdaridis (1976)Gheorghe Dungu (1976–1977) Virgil Blujdea (1978)Petre Gavrilă (1978–1981)Viorel Ion (2003–2004)Romulus Ciobanu (2008–2009)Emil Ursu (2011)Romulus Ciobanu (2014–2017)Alin Chița (2018)Alin Pânzaru (2019)Laurențiu Diniță (2020)Eugen Trică (2023–2024)Nicolae LupescuGabriel RaksiFlorea Voicilă
|
|
