| Full name | Fotbal Club Dacia Chișinău | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames |
| ||
| Founded | 1999; 26 years ago (1999) | ||
| Dissolved | 2018; 7 years ago (2018) | ||
| Ground | Stadionul Dacia | ||
| Capacity | 8,550 (3,300 seats) | ||
| 2017 | Divizia Națională, 4th of 10 (withdrew) | ||
Fotbal Club Dacia Chișinău, commonly known asDacia Chișinău or simplyDacia, was a Moldovanfootball club based inChișinău, which last played in the village ofSpeia, Anenii Noi. They participated in theDivizia Națională, the top division in Moldovan football.
The club's name came fromDacia, an ancient civilization which covered parts of modern Moldova. Established in 1999, it entered theMoldovan "A" Division in 2000 and was promoted to the first division two years later. They won their first league title in the2010–11 season, thereby qualifying for the preliminaries of theUEFA Champions League. The team has also taken part in theEuropa League on five occasions, but never reached the group stage. The club was disbanded after the2017 Moldovan National Division season.[1]
FC Dacia was founded in 1999 by Marin Livadaru, Igor Ursachi, Valeriu Plujnic and Alexandru Șcaruba. The team was composed of goalkeeper Ghenadie Gariuc and outfield players including Alexandru Golban, Cornel Popov, Ruslan Rașcu, Serghei Coșciug, Cornel Gafton, Veaceslav Titov, Alexandru Tracalov. The club's initial aim was to compete in theMoldovan "A" Division (second tier).[citation needed] Dacia debuted in this league during the 2000–01 season, while Gabriel Stati took over as president in autumn 2000. The club came 4th in its first season before being promoted to the top-flightMoldovan National Division the following season.
Dacia won their first National Division match 1–0 againstNistru Otaci, and ended the2002–03 season in 4th with qualification to theIntertoto Cup as a result. Here they defeated the Faeroese clubGÍ Gøta and Albanian sidePartizani Tirana, against whom they five unanswered goals over the two-legged fixture (2–0 and 3–0). Dacia were subsequently eliminated by GermansSchalke 04, losing both legs (1–0 and 2–1).
Before the 2003–04 season, former Dacia player and second-team coachEmil Caras took over as head coach, leading the side to 5th place in the league and a Moldovan Cup semi-final defeat against fellow Chișinău-based sideZimbru Chișinău. Durfing that cup-run, Dacia recorded the largest victory in its history, 9–0 against FC Florești.
The 2004–05 season saw Dacia qualify for theUEFA Cup for the first time after a third-place finish in the league. The Wolves also finished as runners-up in the Moldova Cup after a dramatic loss to Nistru Otaci. Dacia were knocked out of the2005-06 UEFA Cup in the first round against theSwiss Challenge League teamFC Vaduz, losing 2–0 away but winning the home leg 1–0 though Vladimir Jăpălău. The subsequent league campaign ended in sixth position, along with defeat in the Moldova Cup semi-finals against Nistru Otaci. However, Dacia was the winner of a friendly tournament named the Turkmenistan President's Cup in February 2006, winning 4–3 in the final and collecting $20,000US dollars as a prize.
After finishing 4th in the2006–07 season, Dacia qualified for the2007 Intertoto Cup, and advanced past the Azerbaijani clubBaku FC in the first round via a penalty shoot-out, with Dacia's goalkeeperMihai Moraru saving. It took another shoot-out in the second round to defeat Swiss clubSt Gallen. Dacia's third-round opponents were German clubHamburger SV, whose team of internationals revolving around Dutch playmakerRafael van der Vaart drew 1–1[2] in Moldova, but won 4–0[3] in the return leg to knock Dacia out. The Yellow Wolves received a high assessment from local experts and Dacia were named the Top Team of 2007 by the Moldova Football Association.[citation needed]
The subsequent2007–08 league campaign brought Dacia's highest-placed finish as of then, partly due to new vice-president Timur Kuriev who found Russian investors. After the mid-season break, Dacia won five matches in a row to cut their deficit behind holders and league leadersSheriff Tiraspol to a single point before their encounter on 30 March, which was won by Sheriff. By finishing in second, Dacia made the qualifying rounds of the UEFA Cup and were defeated 4–2 on aggregate by Serbian clubBorac Čačak in the first round.
Dacia finished as runners-up to Sheriff again in2008–09, and also reached their second Moldovan Cup final, which they lost 2–0 to Sheriff on 23 May.[4] During the season, managerEmil Caras moved toFC Tiraspol and was replaced by the UkrainianRoman Pilipchuk, while at the end of the seasonVictor Bulat received the People's Choice Award. Dacia started the2009–10 UEFA Europa League in the second qualifying round where they were defeated 3–0 on aggregate by Slovak teamMŠK Žilina.
In the 2009–10 season, Dacia were in the third place over the mid-season break, two points off first, but ended the season in 5th. Pilipchuk was replaced as manager by Veaceslav Semionov, and Rustam Polonkoev took over as president. The team made the Moldovan Cup final for the second consecutive season, and were again defeated 2–0 by Sheriff Tiraspol.[5]
Dacia began the 2010–11 season in a Europa League qualifier against Montenegrin clubFK Zeta, winning on the away-goals rule after a 1–1 aggregate draw, and were then knocked out 2–0 on aggregate by Swedish teamKalmar FF. The Russian coachIgor Dobrovolskiy was appointed as head coach of Dacia before the league season began. Dacia were the sole unbeaten side in the league by their 17th match, which they lost 3–0 toSheriff Tiraspol. Following that result, they remained unbeaten for the remaining 22 league games of the season. Dacia won their first, and so far only, Moldovan National Division title in 2010–11, finishing 9 points ahead of runners-up Sheriff and denying the Tiraspol club an eleventh consecutive title.
Also that season, Dacia signed an agreement with the Buiucani sports school to create a reserve team,Dacia Buiucani.
Before the 2011–12 season, Dacia won the revivedMoldovan Super Cup againstIskra-Stal Rîbnița, with the only goal of the game coming from new signingVasili Pavlov. In July 2011, Dacia made theirUEFA Champions League debut in the second qualifying round, against Georgian championsZestaponi. Despite winning the home leg 2–0, Dacia lost 3–0 in the return leg and were eliminated.[6] Dobrovolski was replaced with Igor Negrescu during the league season, and Dacia finished as runners-up as Sheriff regained their title.
Dacia entered the2012–13 UEFA Europa League in the first qualifying round, where they beat SloveniansCelje 1–0 in each leg.[7] In the second qualifying round, againstIF Elfsborg of Sweden, Dacia won the first leg 1–0 before losing the second 2–0 away and were subsequently eliminated.[8]
On 13 March 2018, Dacia announced that they would not be participating in the2018 Moldovan National Division.[why?][9]
Dacia's local rival has always beenFC Zimbru Chișinău.
| Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | –1 |
| UEFA Cup/Europa League | 26 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 35 | -15 |
| UEFA Intertoto Cup | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 12 | +3 |
| Total | 40 | 14 | 8 | 18 | 37 | 50 | -13 |
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | 1R | 1–0 | 4–1 | 5–1 | ||
| 2R | 2–0 | 3–0 | 5–0 | ||||
| 3R | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | ||||
| 2005–06 | UEFA Cup | 1QR | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | ||
| 2007 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | 1R | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2(3–1p) | ||
| 2R | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1(3–0p) | ||||
| 3R | 1–1 | 0–4 | 1–5 | ||||
| 2008–09 | UEFA Cup | 1QR | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–4 | ||
| 2009–10 | UEFA Europa League | 2QR | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–4 | ||
| 2010–11 | UEFA Europa League | 1QR | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1(a) | ||
| 2QR | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | ||||
| 2011–12 | UEFA Champions League | 2QR | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–3 | ||
| 2012–13 | UEFA Europa League | 1QR | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 2QR | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | ||||
| 2013–14 | UEFA Europa League | 1QR | 2–0 | 1–3 | 3–3(a) | ||
| 2QR | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–3 | ||||
| 2015–16 | UEFA Europa League | 1QR | 4–1 | 1–0 | 5–1 | ||
| 2QR | 1–2 | 2–4 | 3–6 | ||||
| 2016–17 | UEFA Europa League | 1QR | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | ||
| 2017–18 | UEFA Europa League | 1QR | 0–4 | 0–3 | 0–7 |
| Name | Year's Activity |
|---|---|
| Gabriel Stati | 1999–2010 |
| Adlan Shishhanov | 2010–11 |
| Zinaida Jioară | 2011–13 |
| Adlan Shishhanov | 2013–17 |