FC Sportul Studenţesc, commonly referred to as Sportul is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest, that last played at senior level in the Liga IV. Founded in 1916, Sportul Studenţesc was one of the oldest Romanian clubs still active. The club's best European performance came in the 1979–80 Balkans Cup, when it won the trophy, defeating Yugoslavian side NK Rijeka in the final. The club made it to the Balkans Cup final on one other occasion, in 1976, when it lost to another Yugoslavian side, Dinamo Zagreb. In the UEFA Cup, Sportul Studenţesc's most notable performance came in the 1987–88 season, when the club reached the Third Round.
Domestically, Sportul Studenţesc's best league performance was a second-place finish in the 1985–86 season, just behind (back then) European Champions, Steaua București. In the Romanian Cup, Sportul Studenţesc made it to the final on three occasions, in 1938–1939, 1942–1943, and 1978–1979 losing all three matches to Rapid București, CFR Turnu Severin, and Steaua București, respectively.
Currently, the team is active only at youth level.[1]
Chart of yearly table positions of Sportul Studențesc in the national leagues.
On February 11, 1916 "Sporting Club Universitar Studenţesc" was born, as an initiative of a group of professors and students. At the beginning, football, athletics and tennis were the club's only three departments. The president was professor Traian Lalescu, the world famous mathematician.
"Sporting" had no stadium of its own, and the team used to play here and there. Even after acceding in the first national league, the stadium was still in its project phase. It was only when "Stiinţa" was established in 1954 that the club was allowed to use "Belvedere" stadium in the Regie borough of Bucharest.
The history of the club can be divided into several distinct periods. The first period lasted until World War II and culminated with the accession in the first national league. Afterwards the club disappeared in the dawn of communism and was reborn and grown again to accede to the first division. The mid to late 1970s, and the 1980s "Hagi period" saw the club's best performances. Led by then-president Barbu Emil "Mac" Popescu, the club reached the Balkans Cup final on two occasion, winning it once; it qualified to the UEFA Cup on six occasions, it reached the Romanian Cup final once, and it had the highest league finish in club history in the 1985–86 season. Stars like Marcel Coraş, Mircea Sandu, Gino Iorgulescu, and Gheorghe Hagi played for Sportul Studenţesc during that time period.
After the fall of communism in late 1989, the club struggled to keep afloat. Financial struggles and a constant loss of talented players lead to an unavoidable outcome. At the end of the 1997–98 season the club relegated to the second division, after more than 25 years at the top flight. One year later, the club came very close to a demotion to the third division, however, with the help of a young investor, Vasile Şiman corroborated with massive rejuvenation of the squad, Sportul Studenţesc turned things around and the team remained in the second league.
Two years later, at the end of the 2000–01 season Sportul Studenţesc saw its third accession to the first league. After a fierce battle with Farul Constanţa for the top spot in the standings, "the students" finished first, with 81 points and a 71–17 goal differential. The promotion to the top flight was short lived. At the end of the 2001–02 season the club relegated back to the second league.
At the end of the 2003–2004 season the club, once again, promoted to the first league, despite having sold half of their squad from the previous season. They had a praiseworthy evolution in the 2004–2005 seasons, ending the championship in sixth place with Gigel Bucur the league's top scorer (21 goals). Throughout the 2005–06 season the team, coached by former international player Dan Petrescu in the first half of the season, and by Gheorghe Mulţescu in the second half, had a very good run, finishing the season in fourth place, the highest since 1987. During the off-season, the club was relegated due to financial reasons.
After spending four seasons in Liga II, at the end of the 2009–10 season, the club promoted back to Liga I. Sportul finished the 2010–11 season in last place, and therefore, should have been relegated. However, due to licensing controversies by other Liga I clubs, Sportul Studenţesc was allowed to continue playing in the first league for the 2011–2012 season. At the end of the 2011–12 season, the club finished 17th and relegated from the top tier.
Colours and badge
The team's colours are black and white, the traditional students' team colours.
The logo consists of a stylized "S" on a black and white background, alongside the club's official name and year of establishment.
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