Sportul Studențesc

Full name	Fotbal Club Sportul Studențesc București
Nicknames	Gașca nebună (The Crazy Gang) Studenții (The Students) Trupa din Regie (The Regie Squad)
Short name	Sportul
Founded	11 February 1916; 109 years ago (1916-02-11) asSporting Club Universitar Studențesc
Dissolved	2017
Ground	Regie Stadium
Capacity	10,020
Home colours Away colours Third colours

FC Sportul Studențesc, commonly referred to asSportul, was a Romanian professionalfootball club based inBucharest, that last played at senior level in theLiga IV. Founded in 1916, Sportul Studențesc was one of the oldest Romanian clubs still active.

The club's best European performance came in the1979–80 Balkans Cup, when it won the trophy, defeating Yugoslav sideNK Rijeka in the final. The club made it to theBalkans Cup final on one other occasion, in1976, when it lost to another Yugoslav side,Dinamo Zagreb. In theUEFA Cup, Sportul Studențesc's most notable performance came in the1987–88 season, when the club reached the Third Round.

Domestically, Sportul Studențesc's best league performance was a second-place finish in the1985–86 season, just behind (back then) European Champions,Steaua București. In theRomanian Cup, Sportul Studenţesc made it to the final on three occasions, in 1938–1939, 1942–1943, and 1978–1979 losing all three matches toRapid București,CFR Turnu Severin, andSteaua București, respectively.

Currently, the team is active only at youth level.^[1]

On 11 February 1916 "Sporting Club Universitar Studențesc" was born, as an initiative of a group of professors and students. At the beginning, football, athletics and tennis were the club's only three departments. The president was professorTraian Lalescu, the world famous mathematician.

"Sporting" had no stadium of its own, and the team used to play here and there. Even after acceding in the first national league, the stadium was still in its project phase. It was only when "Stiința" was established in 1954 that the club was allowed to use "Belvedere" stadium in theRegie borough of Bucharest.

The history of the club can be divided into several distinct periods. The first period lasted until World War II and culminated with the accession in the first national league. Afterwards the club disappeared in the dawn of communism and was reborn and grown again to accede to the first division. The mid to late 1970s, and the 1980s "Hagi period" saw the club's best performances. Led by then-president Barbu Emil "Mac" Popescu, the club reached theBalkans Cup final on two occasion, winning it once; it qualified to theUEFA Cup on six occasions, it reached theRomanian Cup final once, and it had the highest league finish in club history in the1985–86 season. Stars likeMarcel Coraș,Mircea Sandu,Gino Iorgulescu, andGheorghe Hagi played for Sportul Studențesc during that time period.

After the fall of communism in late 1989, the club struggled to keep afloat. Financial struggles and a constant loss of talented players lead to an unavoidable outcome. At the end of the1997–98 season the club relegated to the second division, after more than 25 years at the top flight. One year later, the club came very close to a demotion to the third division, however, with the help of a young investor, Vasile Șiman corroborated with massive rejuvenation of the squad, Sportul Studențesc turned things around and the team remained in the second league.

Two years later, at the end of the2000–01 season Sportul Studențesc saw its third accession to the first league. After a fierce battle withFarul Constanța for the top spot in the standings, "the students" finished first, with 81 points and a 71–17 goal differential. The promotion to the top flight was short-lived. At the end of the2001–02 season, the club relegated back to the second league.

At the end of the 2003–2004 season, the club, once again, promoted to the first league, despite having sold half of their squad from the previous season. They had a praiseworthy evolution in the 2004–2005 seasons, ending the championship in sixth place withGigel Bucur the league's top scorer (21 goals). Throughout the2005–06 season the team, coached by former international playerDan Petrescu in the first half of the season, and byGheorghe Mulțescu in the second half, had a very good run, finishing the season in fourth place, the highest since 1987. During the off-season, the club was relegated due to financial reasons.

After spending four seasons inLiga II, at the end of the2009–10 season, the club promoted back toLiga I. Sportul finished the2010–11 season in last place, and therefore, should have been relegated. However, due tolicensing controversies by other Liga I clubs, Sportul Studențesc was allowed to continue playing in the first league for the 2011–2012 season. At the end of the2011–12 season, the club finished 17th and relegated from the top tier.

The team's colours are black and white, the traditional students' team colours.

The logo consists of a stylized "S" on a black and white background, alongside the club's official name and year of establishment.

Notable wins

Season	Match	Score
UEFA Cup / Europa League
1976–77	Sportul –Olympiacos	3 – 0
1984–85	Sportul –Inter Milan	1 – 0
1987–88	Sportul –Brøndby	3 – 0
Balkans Cup
1976	Sportul –Dinamo Zagreb	3 – 2
1979–80	Sportul –HNK Rijeka	2 – 0

Period	Kit manufacturer	Period	Shirt partner
1993–1994		1993–1994	Saniplast
1995–1996		1995–1996	Fofo
2002–2003		2002–2003	Omniasig
2004–2010	Lotto
2010–2017	Puma	2010–2011	Omniasig
		2011–2014	City Insurance

• Divizia A / Liga I
  • Runners-up (1):1985–86
• Liga II
  • Winners (4):1936–37,1971–72,2000–01,2003–04
  • Runners-up (3):1965–66,1970–71,2009–10
• Liga III
  • Winners (1):1958–59
• Liga IV – Bucharest
  • Runners-up (1):2014–15

• Cupa României
  • Runners-up (3):1938–39,1942–43,1978–79

• Balkans Cup:
  • Winners (1):1979–80
  • Runners-up (1):1976

• Sportul Studențesc official website (archived 28 March 2007)
• Sportul Studențesc supporter's website

• FC Sportul Studențesc București
• Defunct football clubs in Romania
• Football clubs in Bucharest
• Association football clubs established in 1916
• Association football clubs disestablished in 2017
• Liga I clubs
• Liga II clubs
• Liga III clubs
• Liga IV clubs
• University and college association football clubs in Romania
• 1916 establishments in Romania
• 2017 disestablishments in Romania

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