 | |||
| Full name | Fotbal Club Callatis Mangalia | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Short name | Callatis | ||
| Founded | 1964 asMetalul Mangalia | ||
| Dissolved | 2015 | ||
| Ground | Central | ||
| Capacity | 5,000 | ||
Fotbal Club Callatis Mangalia, commonly known asCallatis Mangalia, was aRomanian professionalfootballclub based inMangalia,Constanța County, founded in 1964 and dissolved in 2015.
The club was founded in 1964 under the name Metalul Mangalia and was financially sustained by theMangalia Shipyard, achieving promotion to theDobrogea Regional Championship at the end of the 1965–66 season.[1][2]
Metalul performed solidly in the Regional Championship, finishing 4th in the1966–67 season and 7th in the1967–68 season, gradually establishing itself as a competitive side.
In the1968–69 season, Metalul won the first edition of theConstanța County Championship following the territorial reorganization of the country but failed to secure promotion to thethird division, losing to Laromet București, the winner of theBucurești Municipal Championship (0–0 in Mangalia and 0–2 in București).
Metalul promoted toDivizia C at the end of the1979–80 season, winning the County Championship and the promotion play-off against Victoria Râmnicu Sărat, theBuzău County Championship winner, 8–2 on aggregate (5–2 at home and 3–0 away).
In the third division, Metalul first competed in Series IV, finishing 4th in the1980–81 season, 10th in the1981–82 season, and 8th in the1982–83 season.[3]
In the1983–84 season, Metalul won Series III, earning promotion toDivizia B for the first time in its history. The team, led by Vasile Mihu as head coach and Dan Dima as assistant coach, was composed of: Dumitru, Jianu, Vodă, Voicu, Greavu, Stoica, Toader, Negure, Sail, Gîrdea, Ali, George Turcu, Irimet, Drăghiceanu, Belu, Stamate, Dedeanu, Căciularu, Carastoian, Isaic, and Simion.[4]
Metalul Mangalia struggled in thesecond division, finishing 16th in Series I, just two points short of safety, and being relegated afteronly one season.[5] The following two seasons in Series IV of the third division saw the team fighting to avoid relegation, finishing 12th in the1985–86 season and improving in the1986–87 season, ranking 4th.[3]
In the1987–88 season, Metalul won Series III of Divizia C, returning to the second division after three years of absence. The squad, coached by Vasile Enache with Dan Dima as assistant coach, included the following players: N. Dumitru, Sărăcin, Chera, Cășuneanu, Turcu, Crăciuneanu, Mihăilă, Nedelcu, Gh. Dumitru, Voicu, Năstase, Iordan, Biciu, Macovei, Peteanu, Lazăr, Georges Mihai, Drăghiceanu, Carastoian (17 goals),B. Oprea (10 goals), and Isaic.[6]
The club was immediately relegated back to the third division in thefollowing season, finishing last after a disappointing campaign, despite Ion Carastoian emerging as the top scorer of Series II with 18 goals.
Following the relegation, Metalul merged with Callatis Mangalia—a team from thecounty championship named after thehistorical Greek name of the city—and adopted its name.[2] The newly formed team competed in Divizia C during the1989–90 season, finishing 1st in Series IV and earning promotion to Divizia B.[3]
In Divizia B, Callatis competed in Series I, finishing 11th in the1990–91 season and 5th in1991–92 underMihai Stoichiță. In the1992–93 season, following the departures of Stoichiță toAutobuzul București andLavi Hrib toSteaua during the winter break, Callatis appointed Vasile Enache as head coach, who guided the team to an 8th-place finish, followed by a 14th in1993–94.[5]
The1994–95 season proved disastrous. Callatis fell to the bottom of the table early on and never recovered. Emil Cațaroș was dismissed after only three rounds, being succeeded by former player Ion Carastoian, who remained in charge for eleven rounds before also being replaced by Gheorghe Drogeanu, who led the team to close a bleak campaign in 18th place, which resulted in relegation.[5]
Callatis began the2010–11 season withCristian Cămui as head coach but replaced him in November withErik Lincar, who guided the team to win Series II ofLiga III. The team finished one point ahead of its main rival,Unirea Slobozia, securing a return to the second division after five years.[7][8]
In the2011–12 season,Marin Barbu was appointed as head coach,[9][10] but after disappointing results in the first six rounds, where the team earned only 3 points, he was dismissed.Cristian Șchiopu briefly served as interim coach[11] beforeMugurel Cornățeanu took over in October,[12] guiding the team to a 9th-place finish in Series I ofDivizia B. However, Callatis faced significant financial difficulties and withdrew from the competition just four days before the start of thefollowing season.[13]
Reorganized inLiga IV – Constanța County, the team led byMugurel Cornățeanu, finished 1st in the2012–13 season and earned promotion toLiga III by defeating Voința Cocora 9–1, theLiga IV – Ialomița County winner.[14]
In the third division, Callatis competed in Series II, finishing 8th in the first stage and 9th overall in the2013–14 season, and 10th in the2014–15 season. However, due to ongoing financial problems, the team withdrew from Liga III in the summer of 2015.[15]
The footballers mentioned below have played at least 1 season for Callatis and also played inLiga I for another team.
Mihai Stoichiță (1991–1992) Vasile Enache (1993–1994) Emil Cațaroș (1994) Ion Carastoian (1994) Gheorghe Drogeanu (1994–1995) Daniel Rădulescu (2000–2001)Ion Dumitru (2001)Imilian Șerbănică (2003–2005)Bănică Oprea (2006–2007)Mugurel Cornățeanu (2008–2009)Cristian Cămui (2010)Erik Lincar (2010–2011)Marin Barbu (2011)Cristian Șchiopu (2011)Mugurel Cornățeanu (2011–2013)Bănică Oprea (2013)Nicolae TilihoiConstantin GacheConstantin Bârboră
