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| Full name | Asociația Fotbal Club Botoșani | |||
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| Nicknames |
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| Short name |
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| Founded | 1924; 101 years ago (1924) as Venus Botoșani 2001; 24 years ago (2001) as FC Botoșani | |||
| Ground | Municipal | |||
| Capacity | 7,782 | |||
| Owner | Valeriu Iftime | |||
| President | Marian Ignat | |||
| Head coach | Leontin Grozavu | |||
| League | Liga I | |||
| 2024–25 | Liga I, 12th of 16 | |||
| Website | fcbt.ro | |||
 Current season | ||||
Asociația Fotbal Club Botoșani (Romanian pronunciation:[botoˈʃanʲ]), commonly known asFC Botoșani or simplyBotoșani, is a Romanian professionalfootball club based in the city ofBotoșani,Botoșani County, that competes in theLiga I, the top tier ofRomanian football.
After several predecessor clubs and years of instability for the football scene in Botoșani, the club managed to materialise in 2001. In 2013, FC Botoșani became the first team from its county to ever be promoted to the top tier of theRomanian league system.[1] It recorded its firstEuropean appearance in the2015–16 UEFA Europa League season.[2]
Botoșănenii play in predominantly white home kits, while their away equipment is generally blue. Their home ground is the 7,782-seaterBotoșani Municipal Stadium.
The first traces of organised football in Botoșani appear just afterWorld War 1, when a team was established in 1919. 5 years laterVenus Botoșani was founded, associated with the localJewishMaccabi sports association.Venus made its first appearance in theRomanian football pyramid in the1937–38 season, playing amateurishly in theDivizia C East.
FollowingWorld War II, the team underwent several name changes:Flamura Roșie ("Red Flame") in 1949,Textila ("The Textile Factory") in 1957, andUnirea ("The Union") in 1963, after which it became a regular presence inDivizia C. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s these names alternated before the team eventually settled onCS Botoșani in 1973. The team subsequently won the1974–75 Divizia C and achieved its first promotion toDivizia B, although it was immediately relegated. Throughout the rest of the 1970s, the team would oscillate between Divizia C and Divizia B.
In the summer of 1979,CS Botoșani achieved its third promotion to Divizia B, and in the1979–80 season season, they finished third in the league, the best performance the team had ever managed. After this season, results declined, and the team occupied places near the middle and bottom of the table. After eleven consecutive seasons in Divizia B, the team was relegated. In 1993, the club dropped from Divizia C to the county leagues and was eventually dissolved.
One of Romania's greatest ever players,Nicolae Dobrin, ended his career atCS Botoșani. He played for the team in the1985–86 season and was also the team manager.[3]
After the post-revolutionary period of turmoil and corruption that characterised Romania throughout the 1990s, and several attempts to form a new club -Fotbal Club Botoșani was founded in 2001 by two businessmen, Salavastru and Sfaițer, with support from the local council, and the club started to compete in Divizia C. In the summer of 2004, the club promoted to Divizia B.[4]
In 2005 the president of the Administration Council,Valeriu Iftime, took over the main projects of the club after the French model. Therefore, the first team played in Divizia B, the second team, formed with youngsters, played in the third league. Also, the club has a centre for children and youths who are prepared for the future of the first team.[1]
Since the 2005–06 season, the matches of FC Botoșani were transmitted live on the radio, on "Radio AS". Until the beginning of the season, not even a radio station transmitted live. FC Botoșani participated in the second division of the Romanian football for nine consecutive seasons. In the 2005–06 season it finished on the 4th place, which was the highest position obtained until the 2012–13 season, when FC Botoșani won the series and promoted for the first time inLiga 1.[1]
The main objective for the 2013–14 season was to avoid relegation. At the start of the season, FC Botoșani was the only first league team that had only Romanian players. FC Botoșani made their debut in Liga I on 21 July 2013, in a 0–0 draw againstCFR Cluj, with eight newcomers in a top tier level of the starting eleven and played most of the match with nine-man asCiprian Dinu received a red card in the ninth minute.[5] The next matchday, on 26 July, saw FC Botoșani netting their first Liga I victory, in a 2–1 away win overGaz Metan Mediaș.[6] On 25 August, FC Botoșani beat 1–0FC Vaslui to record their first ever home win in the top tier. However, after this record, Botoșani had a poor run and managerCristian Popovici was sacked, letting the team on the 12th place, two points above relegation.Leontin Grozavu was named manager and lead the team to a tough fight to avoid relegation.[7]
FC Botoșani started the next season with two important victories againstAstra Giurgiu andDinamo București, teams that fought for the championship title. At the end of the season they qualified for the first time ever in2015–16 season ofUEFA Europa League, because several clubs failed to obtain UEFA licences.[8] After a 4–4 draw withViitorul Constanța, Botoșani again finished in eighth place.
On 2 July 2015, FC Botoșani made their debut in European competitions, in the first qualifying round ofUEFA Europa League in a 1–1 tie againstSpartaki Tskhinvali in the first leg in Botoșani. In the second leg in Georgia, FC Botoșani netted their first European victory in a 3–1 win over Spartaki Tskhinvali to advance to the next round, where they metLegia Warsaw.[2]
After their first qualification in the championship play-offs, FC Botoșani finished the2019–20 season on the 4th place, thus achieving their best Liga I performance and, once again, qualifying forUEFA Europa League after 5 years since their last participation. They netted a 2–1 away victory against Kazakh sideOrdabasy in the first round, before eventually being eliminated byShkëndija ofNorth Macedonia after a 0–1 home loss in the second round.
FC Botoșani plays its home matches at theBotoșani Municipal Stadium. It is located near the centre of the city, has a capacity of 7,782 seats and is equipped with anall-weather running track.[9]
The ultras of FC Botoșani are organized under the name ofDark Hooligans,Renegații andBT Pride.[10]
The main rivalry of Botoșani is withForesta Suceava, but they recently developed a rivalry withPolitehnica Iași.[11]
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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| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–16 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  Spartaki Tskhinvali | 1–1 | 3–1 | 4–2 |
| 2Q |  Legia Warsaw | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–4 | ||
| 2020–21 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  Ordabasy | — | 2–1 | — |
| 2Q |  Shkëndija | 0–1 | — | — |
| Competition | S | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Europa League | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | −2 |
| Total | 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | −2 |
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The footballers enlisted below have had international cap(s) for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level and/or more than 50 caps for FC Botoșani.
Florin AcsinteȘtefan ApostolPaul BatinRomario BenzarValeriu BordeanuAndrei BurcăLaurențiu BușGeorge CârjanAndrei ChindrișAlberto CobreaMarius CroitoruStelian CucuVasile CurileacVictor DicanCiprian DinuAndrei DraguAndrei DumitrașEduard FlorescuIstván FülöpLóránd FülöpAttila HadnagyDenis HaruțCătălin GolofcaDavid LazarOlimpiu MoruțanNicolae MușatRăzvan OaidăEduard PapPaul PappAndrei PatacheFlorin PlămadăBogdan RacovițanMihai Roman IMihai Roman IIAlin ȘeroniRăzvan TincuGabriel Vașvari
