FC Politehnica Iași (2010)


Fotbal Club Politehnica Iași, commonly known as Politehnica Iași, or simply Poli Iași, is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Iași, Iași County, currently playing in the Liga I.
The team was formed in 2010 as ACSMU Politehnica Iași, following the dissolution of the original FC Politehnica Iași. It began competing in the second division and made its first Liga I appearance in the 2012–13 season. They achieved their best result in the latter competition in 2018 when they finished in sixth place.
Stadionul Emil Alexandrescu is the home ground of "the White and Blues" and has a capacity of 11,390.

History

Foundation and first years (2010–2014)

The original Politehnica Iași was established in April 1945 and folded in 2010 because of unpaid debts. In August that year, Tricolorul Breaza merged with Navoby Iași and formed ACSMU Politehnica Iași. Playing in the Liga II, the club's objective was to return to the first tier of Romanian football.
Ionuț Popa was appointed manager of the newly founded club and Grigore Sichitiu was elected as executive president.
In the summer of 2011, the club was renamed Clubul Sportiv Municipal Studențesc Iași, or simply CSMS Iași. For the second half of the 2011–12 season ex-Romanian international Florin Prunea was brought in as president. On 2 June 2012, after the 4–2 victory against Farul Constanța. the team gained promotion to Liga I, after two years in the second tier of Romanian football.
On 29 August, Liviu Ciobotariu was appointed head coach. The Moldavian team finished the 2012–13 season in 17th place and were relegated to the second division. Even though there were hopes that they would be accepted for the 2013–14 Liga I season, eventually CS Concordia Chiajna secured the last place in the first league, due to the relegation of FC Rapid București for financial reasons.
For the 2013–14 Liga II season, promising young coach Costel Enache was brought in to head a team that retained the services of its young talent, the likes of Alexandru Crețu, Adrian Avrămia and Andrei Hergheligiu.

Return to the top division (2014–present)

After Marius Lăcătuș replaced Enache as manager, Politehnica finished 1st in the 2013–14 Liga II and were promoted back to Liga I. For the 2014–15 season, the club played for their first time in the Cupa Ligii, defeating ASA Târgu Mureș and advancing to the last-16, where they eliminated former Romanian Cup and Liga I winner CFR Cluj.
NamePeriod
ACSMU Politehnica Iași2010–2011
CSM Studențesc Iași2011–2016
CSM Politehnica Iași2016–2018
FC Politehnica Iași2018–present

The 2015–16 Liga I season was one of the best in the short history of Politehnica Iași and in the football history of Iași. After a great campaign, the team finished 7th and qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League under the command of Italian coach Nicolò Napoli, with a team that relied on experienced players like: Andrei Cristea, Bojan Golubović, Ionuț Voicu and Branko Grahovac. In the second round of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, Politehnica encountered Croatian team Hajduk Split and after a 2–2 draw at Iași, they were defeated at Split 1–2, prematurely leaving the competition.
On 22 July 2016, the club announced that it had changed its name, from CSM Studențesc Iași to CSM Politehnica Iași, a name more closely linked to the Iași football tradition and dissolved FC Politehnica Iași.
In June 2017, president Florin Prunea was let go after five years at the helm of Politehnica Iași. Adrian Ambrosie was subsequently appointed to the position. After a number of major departures, with the likes of Lukács Bőle and Daisuke Sato finishing their contracts, the team went into major reconstruction and signed a number of foreign internationals, like Denis Rusu, Kamer Qaka, Luwagga Kizito and Platini. On 24 February 2018, despite of a 0–1 loss to defending champions Viitorul Constanța, Poli Iași became the first team from Moldavia to qualify for the Liga I play-off round since its introduction in 2015. To the delight of manager Flavius Stoican, they went on to finish the league in 6th place, thus equalling the best result of predecessor FC Politehnica Iași.
On 11 July that year, the club announced that it earned the right to use the FC Politehnica Iași logo and name, which was considered to be the first step in the plan of regaining the club's full identity, the next one being the recovery of their record.

Stadium

Politehnica Iași plays its home matches at the Emil Alexandrescu stadium. It is located in the borough of Copou, near the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, and has a capacity of 11,390 seats.

Support

The biggest ultras groups of Politehnica Iași are Băieții Veseli and Ultras. Both supported FC Politehnica Iași until dissolution and regard the new team as its successor. They have friendly relationships with Zimbru Chișinău.

Rivalries

Politehnica Iași's main rival is FC Vaslui, and matches between these clubs are known as the "Moldavian Derby". The rivalry developed in the 2001-02 Divizia C, when the previous club from Vaslui, Sportul Municipal, was fighting for promotion to Divizia B together with Poli Iaşi, with the latter winning the championship and earning promotion to Divizia B. The rivalry between FC Vaslui and Politehnica Iaşi was fueled by another clash for promotion, this time in the 2003-04 Divizia B, with the whites and blues prevailing yet again. Ever since, the two sets of supporters participate in what is known as "The Derby of Moldavia". However, starting with their second season in Liga I, the tables have turned in favour of Vaslui after massive investments from the chairman, Adrian Porumboiu, with the yellow-greens dominating their rivals until their dissolution in 2014.
There are other smaller rivalries with Oțelul Galați and FC Botoșani.

Honours

Domestic

Leagues

Current squad

Out on loan

Club officials

Administrative staff

League history

SeasonLeaguePos.NotesCupa României
2019–20Liga ITBDSemi-finals
2018–19Liga I10Round of 16
2017–18Liga I6Quarter-finals
2016–17Liga I7Round of 16
2015–16Liga I7Quarter-finals

SeasonLeaguePos.NotesCupa României
2014–15Liga I10Round of 16
2013–14Liga II 1Promoted
2012–13Liga I17RelegatedRound of 32
2011–12Liga II 1Promoted
2010–11Liga II 6

European Cups history

;Notes
Competition
UEFA Europa League1201134−1
Total1201134−1