 | ||||
| Full name | Clubul Sportiv Aerostar Bacău | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames |
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| Short name | Aerostar | |||
| Founded | 1956; 69 years ago (1956) asVictoria Bacău 1995; 30 years ago (1995) asAerostar Bacău | |||
| Ground | Aerostar | |||
| Capacity | 1,500 | |||
| Owner | Aerostar SA | |||
| General manager | Remus Pozînărea | |||
| Manager | Andrei Vatră | |||
| League | Liga III | |||
| 2024–25 | Liga III, Seria II, 4th | |||
| Website | http://cs.aerostar.ro/ | |||
Clubul Sportiv Aerostar Bacău, commonly known asAerostar Bacău or simply asAerostar, is a Romanian professionalfootball club from the city ofBacău,Bacău County, currently playing in theLiga III.
Founded in 1956 asVictoria Bacău, "the yellow and blues" are known as the team of the city'saeronautical manufacturing company. After thefall of communism, the country has undergone a series administrative changes, and in the early 1990s the company changed its name toAerostar, a name which was also adopted by the football club. During the 1993–94 season, the club encountered serious financial problems that led to the exclusion from theDivizia C championship andbankruptcy. In the summer of 1995, the side was refounded with the same name ofAerostar Bacău and enrolled in thefourth division.
The club was founded in 1956 asVictoria Bacău operating around theaircraft company from Bacău and played in theBacău Regional and County championships.[1]
Renamed asAripile Bacău in 1973, the club promoted for the first time inDivizia C at the end of the1976–77 season, winning the Bacău County championship and the promotion play-off againstRapid Panciu 3–2 on aggregate, being assigned to the second series. The team obtained only a 14th place out of 16 in thefirst season and a 15th place at the end ofthe second, being relegated to the fourth tier of theRomanian football league system.[2] Afterone season of absence Aripile promoted back to Divizia C and changed its name inVictoria IRA Bacău.[3]
As Victoria IRA, the results started to appear:1980–81 – 6th and1981–82 – 5th. In the summer of 1982 the club ownership decided to change the team's name back to the old one,Aripile Bacău.[3] Afantastic season followed, in which Aripile fought for promotion until the last rounds, finishing 2nd, at 5 points behind the local rival, Partizanul Bacău and two points over another team from Bacău County,Petrolul Moinești. In thenext season the Airmen were even closer to the goal of promotion, being separated from the leader, FEPA 74 Bârlad, by only one point.[2]
Finally, the Yellow and Blues achieved their first promotion toDivizia B at the end of the1984–85 season, finishing in 1st place ahead ofMecanica Vaslui. Coached by Mircea Nedelcu, the squad comprised Iliuță, Frunză,Poenaru, Ciudin, Cătineanu, Chiriac, Gh. Munteanu, David, Nițoi, Florian, Moldoveanu, Chitic,Grigoraș (25 goals),Scînteie, Cotan, and Dragomir.[3][4]
Thefirst season in the Divizia B was ended with a well-deserved salvation from relegation after a tough battle with teams such as:Metalul Plopeni,Dunărea Călărași orChimia Fălticeni. At the end of the season the club changed again its name, this time inAripile Victoria Bacău, a mix between the two previous names:Aripile Bacău andVictoria IRA Bacău. The club relegatedat the end of the season as the first one placed below the red line, at only one point from the first safe place, occupied by CS Botoșani.[5]
Back in the third tier, the Airmen turned out to be a very good team, finishing with nine points over the sameMecanica Vaslui, a team that also lost the promotion battle in front of Aripile, back in 1985. The team coached by Mircea Nedelcu was composed of Iliuță, Ionică,Poenaru, Cărpuci, Pitica, Ciudin, Alistar, Gh. Munteanu, Ghioane, D. Manea, Ursică, Bărbieru, Urdaru, Manase, Florian, Popa, Trofin, Bondor, Bîșcă,Grigoraș (22 goals), and Firici.[6]
In the summer of 1988, with the occasion of promotion,Aripile Victoria became again justAripile and finished on the 13th place, at only one point from the relegation zone where were the old rivals fromMetalul Plopeni and FEPA 74. The next season,1989–90 was the best in the history of the club which achieved an unexpected 8th place, being situated over teams such as:Foresta Fălticeni,Poiana Câmpina orCeahlăul Piatra Neamț, among others. After theRomanian Revolution of 1990 the aeronautical company and implicitly the team have been affected by disorganization from the leadership of public institutions and followed two disappointing rankings:1990–91 – 13th and1991–92 – 16th, the last result meaning also the relegation to the third division.[7]
A notable event occurred in the summer of 1992, when the club changed its name inAerostar Bacău, change that was in fact a normal move, after the parent company also changed its name inAerostar SA.[3] At the end of the 1992–93 season the yellow and blues finished only 4th, after Constructorul Iași, Mureșul Toplița and Harghita Odorheiu Secuiesc and nothing announced at the time the disaster that will destroy the club during the 1993–94 season, when due to financial problems the club was excluded from Divizia C, being subsequently dissolved. After one year of inactivity the club was refounded with the same name ofAerostar Bacău, in the summer of 1995. "The Airmen" were enrolled in theDivizia D, having in the lead also a new president, in the person of Doru Damaschin.[8] But the return of Aerostar in the national football was difficult compared to other clubs, after five tough years spent at the county level, the team from Bacău promoted back to Divizia C at the end of the 1998–99 season.[3]
Returned to the third tier, Aerostar never relegated again, but also has failed to promote in the second league for the next 18 years. In this period the club obtained better or less good results: 2nd (2007–08), 3rd (1999–2000, 2003–04, 2004–05), 4th (2005–06,2014–15,2016–17), 5th (2006–07), 6th (2011–12), 7th (2001–02,2008–09,2015–16), 9th (2000–01, 2002–03,2012–13), 10th (2010–11), 11th (2013–14) and 12th (2009–10).[2]
In the summer of 2017 due to the lack of strong football clubs in the city fact owed to the dissolution of the most important club,FCM Bacău, in the summer of 2014, the relegation ofSC Bacău at the end of the2016–17 season and also to the disappearance of other clubs such as Letea, Pambac or Willy, Aerostar has also received financial support from the Municipality of Bacău in order to reach the promotion to the second tier.Cristian Popovici was chosen to be the new manager of the team and important players such as:Ionuț Mihălăchioaie andCătălin Vraciu signed contracts with "the Airmen". The promotion battle was a very tough one and went to the last rounds when Aerostar won 1–0 againstOțelul Galați and assured its promotion in front of "the Steelworkers" and in front ofFK Miercurea Ciuc.[9] Therefore, Aerostar promoted back toLiga II after 26 years of absence and 18 years after its return in theLiga III, in 1999. This promotion came as a mouth of oxygen for the football fromBacău andBacău County at a time when Aerostar has come to be the only team that represent the city and the county in the first three leagues and at a time when theMunicipal Stadium has become a ruin.[10]
| Period | Name |
| 1956–1973 | Victoria Bacău |
| 1973–1980 | Aripile Bacău |
| 1980–1982 | Victoria IRA Bacău |
| 1982–1986 | Aripile Bacău |
| 1986–1988 | Aripile Victoria Bacău |
| 1988–1992 | Aripile Bacău |
| 1992–present | Aerostar Bacău |
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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Gheorghe Poenaru (1990–1992)Cristian Popovici (2002–2004)Costel Câmpeanu (2005–2006)Constantin Ilie (2015)Cristian Popovici (2017–2018)Florin Bratu (2018–2019)Cristian Lupuț (2020)
