AFC Unirea Slobozia

Unirea Slobozia

Full name	Asociația Fotbal Club Unirea 04 Slobozia
Nickname(s)	Galben-albaștrii (The Yellow-Blues) Dragonii (The Dragons)
Short name	Unirea
Founded	1955; 69 years ago (1955) as Combil Slobozia 2004; 20 years ago (2004) (refounded) as Unirea 04 Slobozia
Ground	1 Mai
Capacity	6,000
Owner	Slobozia Municipality
Chairman	Ilie Lemnaru
Head coach	Adrian Mihalcea
League	Liga II
2022–23	Liga II, 11th of 20
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Asociația Fotbal Club Unirea 04 Slobozia, (Romanian pronunciation: [uˈnire̯a sloboˈzi.a]), commonly known as AFC Unirea Slobozia or simply as Unirea Slobozia, is a Romanian football club based in Slobozia, Ialomița County, which competes in the Liga II.

The team was founded in 1955 and reestablished in 2004, being for the most part of its history a participant in the third tier of the Romanian league system, the Liga III. Unirea Slobozia has also spent several seasons in the Liga II, first in the early 1990s and then between 2012 and 2015, when it also obtained its best ranking in the competition, namely a third place behind top flight regulars Politehnica Iași and Rapid București.

"The Yellow-Blues" play their home games at the Stadionul 1 Mai, which can host 6,000 spectators.

History

The club was founded in 1955 under the name of Combil Slobozia, being under the tutelage of the enterprise with the same name and played fifteen seasons in the Regional and County Championships, having during this time several names such as Avântul, Voința and Energia.^[1]

In the 1969–70 season, Energia promoted to Divizia C winning the Ialomița County Championship and the promotion play-off against ITA București, the Bucharest Municipal champion (0–0 at home and 2–1 away).

Unirea Slobozia has been for most of its history a classic Liga III team, as it only promoted to the Liga II for the first time in 1989. In the early 2000s, the club encountered financial isses and was dissolved, being refounded in 2004 as AFC Unirea 04 Slobozia.

The new entity also reached the second tier of the Romanian football league system, where it spent three years between 2012 and 2015. In the 2013–14 season, the team obtained a third place in its series, behind top flight regulars Politehnica Iași and Rapid București

Since the start of the 2020–21 campaign, Unirea Slobozia has been again competing in the Liga II.

Honours

Liga III

• Winners (5): 1982–83, 1985–86, 1988–89, 2011–12, 2019–20
• Runners-up (3): 1978–79, 1979–80, 2010–11

Liga IV – Ialomița County

• Winners (3): 1969–70, 1997–98, 2004–05

Players

First team squad

As of 19 March 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 2 MF  ROU Andrei Dorobanțu 3 DF  ROU Mario Aioanei (on loan from Farul Constanța) 4 DF  ROU Ionuț Dinu 6 DF  ROU Vlăduț Andreș (on loan from Voluntari) 7 FW  ROU Laurențiu Vlăsceanu 8 MF  ROU Ionuț Coadă 9 FW  BUL Iliya Dimitrov 10 DF  ROU Constantin Toma (Captain) 11 MF  ROU Cosmin Atanase 12 GK  MDA Denis Rusu 14 DF  ROU Gabriel Lazăr (3rd captain) 17 MF  ROU Denis Bujor (on loan from Farul Constanța) 19 MF  ROU Dragoș Lazăr (on loan from Gloria Buzău)

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 MF  CMR Serges Ekollo 21 DF  ROU Florinel Ibrian (Vice-captain) 22 MF  ROU Mihăiță Lemnaru 23 FW  ROU Viorel Gîrbăcea 24 DF  ROU Mihai Șandru 25 MF  ROU Denis Milotin 27 MF  ROU Ștefan Pacionel 30 MF  ROU Florin Purece 33 GK  ROU Ștefan Ciupercă 60 DF  UKR Dmytro Pospyelov 77 MF  MDA Serafim Cojocari 86 GK  ROU Ștefan Georgescu 98 FW  CMR Christ Afalna

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 — DF  ROU Ionuț Negoiu (to CS Amara) — MF  ROU Alexandru Eavaz (to Recolta Gheorghe Doja)

No. Pos. Nation Player — FW  ROU Dorin Radu (to Recolta Gheorghe Doja)

Club officials

Board of directors Role Name Owner Slobozia Municipality President Constantin Prepeliță Executive President Ilie Lemnaru Sporting director Laurențiu Radu Head of Youth Center Ion Ionescu Team Manager Marian Nohai

Current technical staff Role Name Head coach Adrian Mihalcea Assistant coaches Enache Costea Romeo Soare Goalkeeping coach Dănuț Harnagea Fitness coaches Bogdan Hetco Club Doctor Vitalie Suvac Masseur Gabriel Basarab Store man Andrei Vizireanu

Notable former players

The footballers enlisted below have had international cap(s) for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level and/or significant caps for AFC Unirea Slobozia.

Romania

Notable managers

League history

References

External links

• Official website
• AFC Unirea Slobozia on Facebook