CSM Alexandria

This article is about the football section of CSM Alexandria. For the women's football section, see CSM Alexandria (women's football). For the women's basketball section, see CSM Alexandria (women's basketball).

CSM Alexandria

Full name	Club Sportiv Municipal Alexandria
Nickname(s)	Alexăndrenii (The Alexandria People) Rulmentul (The Bearing)
Short name	Alexandria
Founded	1948;76 years ago (1948) as Unirea Alexandria
Ground	Comunal (Buzescu) (temporary)
Capacity	500
Owner	Alexandria Municipality
Chairman	Bogdan Ciobanu
Manager	Ștefan Odoroabă
League	Liga III
2023–24	Liga II, 19th of 20 (relegated)
Website	https://csmalexandria.ro/
Home colours Away colours

Club Sportiv Municipal Alexandria, commonly known as CSM Alexandria or simply as Alexandria, is a Romanian professional football club based in Alexandria, Teleorman County, currently competes in Liga III, the third tier of the Romanian football.

The team that represents the men's football section of multi-sport club CSM Alexandria, which also include a women's football team and a women's basketball team, was founded in 1948 and during over time has had several names such as: Unirea, Progresul, Comerțul, Automatica, Rulmentul, FC Alexandria and FCM Alexandria, ^[1] being one of the most important football team of Teleorman County.

The best known players are Florea Voicilă (a player who represented the national team while playing in the second division for Alexandria) and Florică Mitroi – both home-grown players. Their best performance was 3rd place in the Romanian second league in 1982, above Rapid București. ^[2]

The club formed players like Dan Balauru, Valentin Badea and Basarab Panduru. These players played at the top level or even for the Romania national football team.

History

The club was founded in 1948 under the name Unirea Alexandria and played in the Bucharest Regional Championship.

The club was renamed as Progresul Alexandria in the summer of 1961 and promoted to Divizia B at the end of the 1961–62 season winning the Regional Championship and the Series II of the promotion play-off held at Piatra Neamț. ^[3]

Progresul resisted only one season in the second division, finishing in 12th place and relegating to newly formed Divizia C.

"We haven't forgotten that in '82/ You took us through Paradise/ After Rapid, you were also/ In 3rd place, and it wasn't a dream"

– quatrain of the late Dr. Jean Sardu.

In the 1981–82 season, Rulmentul ranked 3rd in the Series II of Divizia B, behind promoted Petrolul Ploiești and Rapid București. It was the peak moment of Teleorman football until then, the team being coached by former international Nicolae Lupescu. Florea Voicilă shone in the team, a striker with exceptional qualities, who managed the performance of catching two selections for the national team even though he was part of a second division team. ^[2]

In the 2004–05 season of Divizia B, Rulmentul Alexandria fell to third division from the last place of Series II.

Rulmentul slide into fourth division at the end of the next season, finishing again on the last place in its series.

In the 2008–09 season, the club won the Liga IV – Teleorman County, but lost the promotion play-off for Liga III losing 1–2 against Comprest București. In spite of losing the play-off, the club managed to promote by an administrative decision; the Romanian Football Association announced that FCM Alexandria would play in the Series IV of 2009–10 Liga III season, FCM finished at the middle of the table in 8th place.

The following season, Alexandria finished 14th out of 16 in Series III and was spared from relegation due to the withdrawal of other teams from the competition. The 2011–12 season saw the team from Alexandria finished in 8th place.

Led by three coaches during the season, Alexandru Gheorghe, Marian Botea and Sorin Albeanu, the club was relegated to the fourth division at the end of the 2012–13 season.

Following the relegation, Mircea Cristescu was appointed as the new head coach. Cristescu guided the team to finish 2nd in the Liga IV – Teleorman County, 10 points behind Sporting Roșiori. ^{[4] [5]}

The failure of promotion led to the dismissal of Cristescu to be replaced by Gabriel Lungu for 2014–15 season, but Lungu was sacked after the defeat from 8th round, 0–1 against Sporting Turnu Măgurele, the main contender for promotion, and Romulus Ciobanu was announced as the next head coach. “Alexăndrenii” finishing eventually as runners-up, 8th points behind its rival from Turnu Măgurele. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

With Ciobanu in charge, FCM Alexandria made the comeback to third league, winning the 2015–16 Liga IV –Teleorman County season and the promotion play-off against Andrias Andrășești (3–1 at home and 1–1 away), the winner of Liga IV – Ialomița County. ^{[9] [10]}

In June 2023 it returned to second league after 18 years of absence – beating CSO Plopeni and Viitorul Dăești over two legs in the promotion play-offs.

Honours

Liga III

• Winners (4): 1973–74, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2022–23
• Runners-up (6): 1969–70, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1990–91, 2017–18

Liga IV – Teleorman County

• Winners (3): 1996–97, 2008–09, 2015–16
• Runners-up (2): 2013–14, 2014–15

Bucharest Regional Championship:

• Winners (2): 1961–62, 1967–68

Other performances

• Appearances in Liga II: 16
• Best finish in Liga II: 3rd place in 1981–82

Players

First team squad

As of 10 September 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   ROU Mario Alexe 2 DF   ROU Marius Radu 3 DF   ROU Robert Barfă 5 DF   ROU Vladimir Georgescu(Vice-Captain) 6 MF   ROU David Stăiculescu 7 MF   ROU Nicușor Brîncoveanu(on loan from Buzău ) 8 MF   ROU Alexandru Ciocan 9 FW   ROU Cătălin Cocoș 10 MF   ROU Mario Răducan 11 FW   ROU Denis Golda 12 GK   ROU Iosif Cristică(Captain)

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 MF   ROU Andi Neaga(on loan from Rapid ) 15 DF   ROU Andrei Bobaru 17 MF   ROU Vlad Danale 18 MF   ROU Sabin Iakabfi 22 MF   ROU Claudiu Bumbănac(on loan from FCSB ) 23 MF   ROU Vasile Constantin 25 DF   ROU Petruș Pintilie 26 MF   ROU Alexandru Crivac 32 GK   ROU Iannis Pletea(on loan from CSA Steaua ) 33 DF   ROU Marius Ciobanu

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player

No. Pos. Nation Player

Club officials

Board of directors Role Name Owner Alexandria Municipality President Șerban Slăbescu Executive President Bogdan Ciobanu Sporting director Constantin Miruță Technical director Marin Mitran Team manager Sorin Paraschiv

Current technical staff Role Name Manager Ștefan Odoroabă Assistant coaches Sorin Albeanu Cristian Pârjolea Goalkeeping coach Marian Ioana Kinetotherapist Marius Predoi

Chronology of names

Name [1]	Period
Unirea Alexandria	1948–1961
Progresul Alexandria	1961–1967
Comerțul Alexandria	1967–1972
Automatica Alexandria	1972–1976
Unirea Alexandria	1976–1978
Rulmentul Alexandria	1978–1981
Unirea Alexandria	1981–1985
Automatica Alexandria	1985–1988
Unirea Alexandria	1988–1990
Rulmentul Alexandria	1990–1991
Unirea Alexandria	1991–1996
FC Alexandria	1996–1997
Rulmentul Alexandria	1997–2008
FCM Alexandria	2008–2018
CSM Alexandria	2018–present

League history

See also: Romanian football league system

Season Tier Division Place Notes Cupa României 2024–25 3 Liga III (Seria IV) TBD Play-off round 2023–24 2 Liga II 19th Relegated Group Stage 2022–23 3 Liga III (Seria VI) 1st (C) Promoted Group Stage 2021–22 3 Liga III (Seria VI) 3rd Second round 2020–21 3 Liga III (Seria VI) 5th 2019–20 3 Liga III (Seria III) 4th 2018–19 3 Liga III (Seria II) 4th 2017–18 3 Liga III (Seria III) 2nd 2016–17 3 Liga III (Seria III) 3rd 2015–16 4 Liga IV (TR) 1st (C) Promoted 2014–15 4 Liga IV (TR) 2nd 2013–14 4 Liga IV (TR) 2nd 2012–13 3 Liga III (Seria III) 11th Relegated 2011–12 3 Liga III (Seria III) 9th 2010–11 3 Liga III (Seria III) 14th 2009–10 3 Liga III (Seria IV) 8th 2008–09 4 Liga IV (TR) 1st (C) Promoted

Season Tier Division Place Notes Cupa României 2005–06 3 Divizia C (Seria IV) 14th Relegated 2004–05 2 Divizia B (Seria II) 16th Relegated 2003–04 2 Divizia B (Seria II) 11th 2002–03 2 Divizia B (Seria I) 15th 2001–02 3 Divizia C (Seria IV) 1st (C) Promoted 2000–01 3 Divizia C (Seria IV) 5th 1999–00 3 Divizia C (Seria III) 14th 1998–99 2 Divizia B (Seria I) 16th Relegated 1997–98 3 Divizia C (Seria III) 1st (C) Promoted 1996–97 3 Divizia C (Seria III) 17th 1995–96 3 Divizia C (Seria III) 20th 1994–95 3 Divizia C (Seria III) 7th 1993–94 3 Divizia C (Seria III) 14th 1992–93 3 Divizia C (Seria III) 16th 1991–92 3 Divizia C (Seria VII) 4th 1990–91 3 Divizia C (Seria VII) 2nd 1989–90 3 Divizia C (Seria VI) 4th

Notable former players

For a list of all former and current CSM Alexandria players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:CSM Alexandria footballers.

Romania

• Eugen Anghel
• Valentin Badea
• Dan Balauru
• Valentin Bădoi
• Cosmin Ciocoteală
• Gigel Ene
• Viorel Ion
• Gheorghe Mihăiță
• Cosmin Neagu
• Florin Olteanu
• Constantin Pană
• Ilie Radu
• Constantin Stănici
• Bogdan Vișan
• Dănuț Voicilă
• Florea Voicilă
• Ionuț Voicu

Former managers

• Gheorghe Dungu (1963–1964)
• Costică Marinescu (1975–1976)
• Gheorghe Dungu (1977–1980)
• Viorel Ion (2003–2004)
• Romulus Ciobanu (2008–2009)
• Emil Ursu (2011)
• Romulus Ciobanu (2014–2017)
• Alin Chița (2018)
• Alin Pânzaru (2019)
• Laurențiu Diniță (2020)
• Eugen Trică (2023–2024)
• Nicolae Lupescu
• Cornel Popa
• Gabriel Raksi
• Florea Voicilă

References

1. "Evoluția denumirilor echipelor de-a lungul anilor" [Evolution of team names over the years]. romaniansoccer.ro. Retrieved 1 January 2024.(in Romanian)
2. "Regele Alexandriei!** A prins naționala din Divizia B, dar Steaua și Dinamo erau vise interzise pentru el: el e Florea Voicilă" [The King of Alexandria!** He got the national team from Divizia B, but Steaua and Dinamo were forbidden dreams for him: he is Florea Voicilă]. prosport.ro. 26 March 2012. Archived from the original on 10 September 2024. Retrieved 10 September 2024.(in Romanian)
3. "A luat sfârșit turneul de baraj pentru calificare în categoria B" [The play-off tournament for qualification in category B has ended](PDF). Sportul Popular. 23 July 1962. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2024– via bibliotecadeva.eu.(in Romanian)
4. "S-au reunit și au jucat deja – FCM Alexandria pregătește noul sezon" [They reunited and played already – FCM Alexandria is preparing for the new season]. ziarulteleormanul.ro. 5 August 2013. Archived from the original on 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.(in Romanian)
5. "Liga a IV-a, etapa 30 – Sporting este din nou campioană, Suhaia a retrogradat, Buzescu așteaptă barajul!" [Liga IV, round 30 - Sporting is again champion, Suhaia has relegated, Buzescu is waiting for the playoff!]. ziarulteleormanul.ro. 9 June 2014. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2024.(in Romanian)
6. "O decizie neașteptată – Mircea Cristescu a fost demis de la FCM Alexandria!" [An unexpected decision - Mircea Cristescu was dismissed from FCM Alexandria!]. ziarulteleormanul.ro. 29 June 2014. Archived from the original on 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.(in Romanian)
7. "Starea de incertitudine s-a încheiat – Gabriel Lungu este noul antrenor al FCM Alexandria!" [The state of uncertainty is over – Gabriel Lungu is the new coach of FCM Alexandria!]. ziarulteleormanul.ro. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.(in Romanian)
8. "Romică Ciobanu a fost instalat antrenor la FCM Alexandria! – Albeanu rămâne secund" [Romică Ciobanu was installed as a coach at FCM Alexandria! – Albeanu remains second]. ziarulteleormanul.ro. 29 October 2014. Archived from the original on 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.(in Romanian)
9. "După trei sezoane, FCM Alexandria reușește să câștige titlul județean!" [After three seasons, FCM Alexandria manages to win the county title!]. ziarulteleormanul.ro. 15 June 2016. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2024.(in Romanian)
10. "FCM Alexandria – Andrias Andrășești 3-1 / Victorie mai categorică decât arată scorul în prima manșă a barajului pentru alexăndreni!" [FCM Alexandria – Andrias Andrășești 3-1 / A more decisive victory than the score shows in the first leg of the play-off for alexăndreni!]. ziarulteleormanul.ro. 20 June 2016. Archived from the original on 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.(in Romanian)

External links

• CSM Alexandria on Facebook