 | ||||
| Full name | Asociația Fotbal Club 1919 Dacia Unirea Brăila | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Alb-albaștrii (The White and Blues) | |||
| Short name | Dacia Unirea | |||
| Founded | 15 March 1919; 106 years ago (1919-03-15) | |||
| Ground | Municipal /Viitorul | |||
| Capacity | 20,154 / 500 | |||
| Owners | Brăila County Council | |||
| Chairman | Vasile Popa | |||
| Manager | Alin Pânzaru | |||
| League | Liga III | |||
| 2024–25 | Liga III, Seria II, 9th | |||
| Website | http://daciaunireabraila.ro/ | |||
Asociația Fotbal Club 1919 Dacia Unirea Brăila, commonly known asDacia Unirea Brăila, is a Romanianfootballclub based in the city ofBrăila,Brăila County, which competes in theLiga III.[1]
Founded in 1919, among the team's best performances are a sixth-placetop division finish in the1991–92 season[2] and having reached aCupa României final thefollowing campaign.[3]
The players of Dacia Unirea are nicknamed "the White and Blues" or "the Lions of Cosmoc" (Leii lui Cosmoc), and their home games have been hosted by theStadionul Municipal since 1974. The club's most notable rivalry is the one againstOțelul Galați.
Dacia Brăila was founded in 1919 around the same time with another team,Unirea. Until 1928, when the two merge their collective andDacia Unirea appears, each separately participated in the regional championship.[4]
In November 1929 Dacia Unirea had the following base team: Padimatopol (Căpreanu), Stanciu, Vasiliu, Leo (Săvulescu), Fritz, Grigoriou, Anastasios, Leșu, I. Goldenberg, Teodorescu (Frătescu, Cavada, Geller, Munteanu). In the 1929–30 season the team won the regional tournament and qualified for the national championship tournament. In the quarter-finals they were eliminated byJuventus Bucharest, the team that won the championship that year.
Afterwards,Dacia Unirea played in theDivizia B between the years 1934–1937, 1938–1940 and in theDivizia A between the years1937–38,1940–41, the name of the team and of the club changing a few times: D.U.I.G. (Dacia Unirea Ignatz Goldenberg) in 1937, Dacia Unirea in 1938 and FC Brăila in 1940.
During the war it activated in theCupa Eroilor. After the war, the club changed its name back to the traditional "Dacia Unirea", and participated at only one season of theDivizia C, in the season 1946–47, after which it disappeared from all divisional levels. We can mention a part of the players who played in that period: I. Goldenberg, N. Stanciu, Hagiopol, Saramet, Weiss, Cavadia, Bonațiu, V. Pop, Negrescu, Drăghicescu, Pascalide, D. Stanciu.
After 1949, when both teams (Dacia Unirea Brăila andFranco-Româna Brăila) disappear from all the divisional levels, the football in Brăila sees itself in crises, and not being able to get out of it, despite a few attempts to reorganize. Starting with1953 the situation improves, the club is refounded and changes names successively:Metalul (1953–1956),Energia (1956–57),Dinamo (1957–58),Industria Sârmei (1958–59),C.S.M. (1960–61),Progresul (1962–63),Laminorul (1963–64),Constructorul (1964–65), againProgresul (1965–1975),FC Brăila (1975–1980),FCM Progresul (1980–1991),Dacia Unirea (1991–2006) and finallyCF Brăila starting with the 2006–07 season. Taking into consideration these historical conditions, with a lot of problems in the organisation department, the participation in the divisional system after 1953 is as it follows: 10 times inLiga III (1956–1959, 1963–64, 1967–68, 1999–2001, 2007–2010), 41 times inLiga II (1953, 1954, 1960–1963, 1964–1967, 1968–1990, 1994–1999, 2001–2007, 2010 – present) and 4 times inLiga I (1990–1994).
The team that succeeded to bring Brăila back to theDivizia A, after half a century, in 1990, had the following players:Ionel Dinu, C Brătianu-V. Brătianu II,Vasile Darie, Gh. Negoiță, Cristea Rusu, Minciu Sandu – M. Anton, A. Marin, Muscă, N. Pascu, M. Petrache, N. Rădulescu, A. Stamate, Titirișcă – Cujbă, Drăgoi, E. Popescu, Vio. Radu, M. Săvescu,M. Ivan. Coach:Bujor Hălmageanu.
In the 1992–93 season the team qualified in theCupa României final (its best performance so far), coachIoan Sdrobiș (who came at half season to replaceGheorghe Mulțescu) had at his service the following players: C. Brătianu I, Hăisan, Nicoloff – G. Baciu,Adrian Baldovin,Vasile Brătianu,Vasile Darie, Gh. Negoiță,Tudorel Pelin, Sandu Minciu – Burleanu, Drăgoi, Jica, M. Lazăr, Matincă, Măstăcan, M. Petrache, Titirișcă – Cujbă, Dochia, C. Luca, Marcadonatu, Mașcu,Arben Minga,Marius Șumudică. Coaches who were in charge of the team worth mentioning: I. Economu,Viorel Mateianu,Ionel Iuga,Dumitru Nicolae "Nicușor", C. Oțet,Dumitru Dumitriu III,V. Dridea II. Special merits go to committed chairmen who obtained great results in charge of the club, especially toOctavian Ulman.
| Period | Name |
| 1919–1928 | Dacia Brăila |
| 1928–1936 | Dacia Unirea Brăila |
| 1936–1938 | Dacia Unirea Ignatz Goldenberg Brăila |
| 1938–1939 | Dacia Unirea Brăila |
| 1939–1944 | FC Brăila |
| 1946–1947 | Dacia Unirea Brăila |
| 1948–1949 | Progresul Brăila |
| 1953–1955 | Metalul Brăila |
| 1955–1956 | Energia Brăila |
| 1957–1958 | Dinamo Brăila |
| 1958–1959 | Industria Sârmei Brăila |
| 1960–1961 | CSM Brăila |
| 1961–1962 | CSO Brăila |
| 1962–1963 | Progresul Brăila |
| 1963–1964 | Laminorul Brăila |
| 1964–1965 | Constructorul Brăila |
| 1965–1975 | Progresul Brăila |
| 1975–1980 | FC Brăila |
| 1980–1991 | FCM Progresul Brăila |
| 1991–2006 | Dacia Unirea Brăila |
| 2006–2015 | CF Brăila |
| 2015–present | Dacia Unirea Brăila |
Four years after the relegations from theDivizia A came that from theDivizia B (in 1999), the tear between the club andInsula Mare a Brăilei (its main sponsor) having disastrous consequences. Actually, prior to that, the main event that triggered the fall happened during the 1994–95 season. Fighting at the time withSelena Bacău for the promotion to theDivizia A, the team fromBrăila was stopped by a corruption case at a game withFC Politehnica Iaşi, in which, in exchange for a sum of money, the team fromDealul Copoului should have conceded the game. The case was highly mediated, ending up with arrests,Ilie Trifina (Dacia Unirea's competition organiser) andLeonard Cănănău (journalist fromIași, ex football player). Dacia Unirea ended up with an 8-point penalty, and being forbidden to participate at the qualification knock-out for the promotion to theDivizia A. The team succeeded to make a comeback to theDivizia B in 2001.
At the end of the2006–07 CF Brăila was relegated to theLiga III. Their best performance during this period was the acceding to theCupa României quarter-finals in the 2004–2005 season, where they lost toDinamo București 1–0 atStadionul Dinamo and 2–0 atStadionul Municipal. In the round of 32, Dacia Unirea won againstRapid București (coached at the time byRăzvan Lucescu) atStadionul Municipal, goal scored byRomeo Buteseacă and in the round of 16, they passed byFC Unirea Alba Iulia with 2–0, goals scored by Romeo Buteseacă and Cristian Dicu. Players who had a great contribution to this performance, among others, are: Marius Mindileac, Iulian Olteanu;–Laurențiu Ivan, Gheorghe Rădulescu, Valentin Stan, Victor Olenic,Tudorel Pelin,Nicolae Ciocea – Daniel Pleșa, Dumitru Horovei, Mihalache Basalîc, Cristian Dicu;–Romeo Buteseacă,Marius Matei, Paul Sorin Bogdan. We also have to mentionBănel Nicoliță, who played at Dacia Unirea until 2004 and where he made his debut.
The 2008–09 season meant some serious reorganisation,SC CONCIVIA SA became the owner of the team,[5] and the objective was the promotion to theLiga II. But in the end, the club finished 8th theChampionship, and it seemed thatLiga II was further than was thought.
The 2009–10 season has started with a lot of promise. During the summer,Gheorghe Mulțescu was appointed advisor with the transfers, and a lot of promising players were bought. At the end of the first half of the championship, the club sees itself on the top of the table, 1st, in the run withPolitehnica II Iași,Petrotub Roman andCS Panciu for the promotion.
At half season, coachVasile Darie was replaced withDaniel Timofte and the season ended with the victory and the promotion to theLiga II, and to top it all, Nelu Bucă finished 1st in the goalscorers ranking, with 25 goals.[6][7]
Brăila started poorly the2010–11 season, by being eliminated from theRomanian Cup in the4th Round byUnirea Slobozia and by being last in the championship after five rounds, with only one point. After round five of the championship,Gheorghe Bunea Stancu replacedDaniel Timofte withLiviu Ciobotariu.,[8] but brought Timofte back after round 10 of the championship, after the disaster at Piatra Neamţ, 0–4 with Ceahlăul,[9] thus concluding Ciobotariu's charge in front of our club, and like Timofte, with only one point obtained in five matches. Timofte's return had no success, the club ranking last at the end of the first half of the championship, with only four points in 15 rounds.[10]
The second half of the championship was more productive, CF Brăila managing to raise 17 more points, totaling 21 in the end, but not enough to avoid relegation, finishing next to last in theseries.[11] But all was not lost, becauseUnirea Urziceni withdrew from the2011–12 Liga II season, this meaning that our club could play in its place.[12]
CF Brăila had an excellent run in the first half of the2011–12 Liga II, ranking 5th during the winter brake, just three points behind the second-placed team,Săgeata Năvodari. It finished 6th at the end of the championship.
In 2015, the club decided to return to its first name, Dacia Unirea.[13]
Dacia Unirea Brăila plays its home matches at theMunicipal Stadium,[14]Brăila, which has a capacity of 20,000.[15]
The stadium was opened on 21 August 1974 and was built on the ground of the oldVasile Roaită Stadium, a small stadium that had only one stand.[16]
The original capacity was 30,000 on benches. A general renovation occurred in 2008. This included installing seats, which dropped the capacity to 20,154, making the 10th stadium in the country, by capacity. (List of football stadiums in Romania)
| Competition | S | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balkans Cup | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – 1 |
| Total | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – 1 |
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Board of directors[edit]
| Current technical staff[edit]
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Up to and including the end of the 2012–13 season
| Pts | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| InLiga I (6 seasons) | 138 | 178 | 54 | 30 | 94 | 193 | 328 |
| InLiga II (49 seasons) | 1476 | 1464 | 631 | 262 | 581 | 2081 | 1912 |
| InLiga III (11 seasons) | 378 | 296 | 165 | 48 | 83 | 602 | 316 |
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Franz Platko (1937)Octavian Popescu (1973–1974)Titus Ozon (1975–1976)Nicolae Tătaru (1976–1977)Robert Cosmoc (1977–1978)Robert Cosmoc (1980–1981)Robert Cosmoc (1982–1983)Francisc Zavoda (1983)Viorel Mateianu (1983–1984)Robert Cosmoc (1987–1988)Mircea Dridea (1988)Ioan Sdrobiș (1988–1989)Dumitru Nicolae (1991)Vasile Simionaș (1991)Gheorghe Mulțescu (1992–1993)Ioan Sdrobiș (1993–1994)Bujor Hălmăgeanu (1994)Virgil Dridea (1994–1995)Ionel Augustin (2002–2003)Ion Gigi (2003–2004)Imilian Șerbănică (2005–2006)Daniel Timofte (2010)Liviu Ciobotariu (2010)Daniel Timofte (2010–2011)Viorel Ion (2011–2012)Alin Pânzaru (2012–2018)Florentin Petre (2018–2021)Laurențiu Ivan (2021–2022)Vasile CotețPetre IancuMarian OpreaIonel IugaVasile GrosuEugen TudosePavel BuburuzConstantin Oțet
