Fotbal Club Zimbru Chișinău, commonly known asZimbru Chișinău or simplyZimbru, is a Moldovan professionalfootball club based inChișinău, which competes in theLiga, the highest tier ofMoldovan football.
Founded in theMoldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1947, Zimbru entered theSoviet Top League in 1956 and totaled eleven participations before their last relegation in 1983. The club remained the leader of Moldovan football during most of the Soviet period and was the only one that reached and played at the Soviet top tier. After theindependence of Moldova in 1991, the team established itself as an early force in the country, winning all the first five national titles and eight of the first nine, but have not won since.
Zimbru play their home matches at the 10,104-seaterZimbru Stadium.
Zimbru Chișinău was formed in 1947 in theMoldovan Soviet Republic (present dayRepublic of Moldova). 'Zimbru' is a Romanian word for a form of European bison, but the club also previously functioned under names such as Dinamo, Burevestnik, Moldova, Avântul, and Nistru. The Soviet Era was spent mostly in Class B of the regional league until eventual promotion to Class A. The club then flitted between Class A and Class B as well as spending time in the Soviet Top League and First League. In total, Zimbru spent 11 seasons in the Top League between 1956 and 1983. Zimbru had their biggest success in1956 when they finished in 6th place out of 12 in theSoviet Top League and in1963 when they reached the quarter-finals of theSoviet Cup.[1] Zimbru's fortunes changed after the fall of the USSR and the establishment of the Republic of Moldova. The club won all five of the initial seasons of theMoldovan National League (1992–96), and apart from finishing as runners-up to Chișinău rivalsConstructorul Chișinău in1996–97, won eight of the first nine championships. Zimbru have also won theMoldovan Cup six times, including a double in 1997–98 and theMoldovan Super Cup once.
Since its foundation, Zimbru's colours always was yellow and green. Throughout history, Zimbru Chișinău had many logos. Traditional colours were always present on club crests.
In the 1990s (the first decade of Moldova's independence), Zimbru's rival was the other team fromChișinău,Constructorul Chișinău. Then Contructorul was dissolved. Another rivalry was established in the mid-2000s whenDacia Chișinău, another team fromChișinău, became one of Moldova's top teams. The match between them is known as "The Derby of the capital" (Romanian:Derbiul capitalei).[4] In 1997, a new team was founded inTiraspol,Sheriff Tiraspol. In a few years, Sheriff was promoted to the first league and became a force in Moldovan football. Considering the strength of team and the tensions betweenMoldovans andseparatist Transnistrians, the match between Zimbru and Sheriff became a derby, the most important match in country. Thus, it has been named "Derby of Moldova", being labelled even as "MoldovanEl Clasico" (Romanian:El Clasico de Moldova).[5][6]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.