FC Astra Ploieşti
Encyclopedia
Fotbal Club Astra Ploieşti is a Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

n professional football club
Football team
A football team is the collective name given to a group of players selected together in the various team sports known as football.Such teams could be selected to play in an against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-star team or even selected as a...

 from Ploieşti
Ploiesti
Ploiești is the county seat of Prahova County and lies in the historical region of Wallachia in Romania. The city is located north of Bucharest....

, Prahova County
Prahova County
Prahova is a county of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploieşti.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 829,945 and the population density was 176/km². It is Romania's most populated county, having a population density double than the country's mean...

, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

. They were founded in 1934 and spent their vast majority in the lower leagues
Romanian football league system
The Romanian football league system refers to the system in Romanian club football that consists of several football leagues bound together hierarchically by promotion and relegation.-Liga I:...

, but are currently playing in the country's top league, Liga I
Liga I
Liga I, or in full, due to sponsorship reasons, Liga I Bergenbier, is the top division of the Romanian football league system. Before the 2006/2007 season, it was called Divizia A, but the name had to be changed following the discovery that someone else had registered the trademark "Divizia A"...

, after obtaining the promotion in 2009.

The traditional colors of the team are white and black, although they have also used predominantly red, blue or yellow kits. Astra plays its home games on the Astra Stadium
Stadionul Astra
Astra Stadium is a football-only stadium in Ploieşti, Romania. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of FC Astra Ploieşti...

.

Origins and background

Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română (Sports Club Astra-Română) was founded on 18 September 1921 by "Astra-Română", an oil-company owned by Henri Deterding
Henri Deterding
Henri Wilhelm August Deterding KBE , was one of the first executives of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company and for 36 years its chairman and the chairman of the combined Royal Dutch/Shell oil company. He came to power after the early death of the Royal Dutch's original leader, Jean Baptiste August...

 and based in Prahova
Prahova County
Prahova is a county of Romania, in the historical region Muntenia, with the capital city at Ploieşti.-Demographics:In 2002, it had a population of 829,945 and the population density was 176/km². It is Romania's most populated county, having a population density double than the country's mean...

. Initially, the club consisted of several football sides based in cities from the entire county. The players of these teams were workers of the company.

In the summer of 1934, the Club organized the inaugural edition of Cupa societăţilor “Astra”, a trophy open for the Astra teams. At the time, only Astra Română Câmpina
Câmpina
Câmpina is a city in Prahova county, Romania, north of the county seat Ploieşti, located on the main route between Wallachia and Transylvania. In 2003, the city celebrated 500 years since its founding.-History:...

 was playing a district league. In order to make the cup more attractive, the society created three new football sides for the event: Astra Română Moreni, Astra Română Boldeşti
Boldesti-Gradistea
Boldești-Grădiștea is a commune in Prahova County, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Boldești and Gradiștea; the former is the administrative centre....

 and Astra Română Unirea Hârsa.

After the 1937 edition of the Cup, the society decided to merge all of its teams and thus created Astra Ploieşti. The team was registered in Prahova's district league. Just a few months after the team's foundation, the society changed its name in Columbia and moved it to a ground located near the society's headquarters. The name Columbia was kept until 1945 when the team returned to its original name, Astra, but the stadium on which the team played is called Columbia to this day.

Later history

The club was founded in 1934, but until 1998 it hadn't achieved any notable honours. In the summer of 1998 they were promoted to the Divizia A where they have played for five seasons until 2003, when it merged with Petrolul Ploieşti
Petrolul Ploiesti
Fotbal Club Petrolul Ploiești is a Romanian professional football club based in Ploiești, Prahova County, currently playing in the Liga I.-History:...

. Two years of pause passes for Astra, until 2005 when Ioan Niculae founded once again the club. In 2007 the club is renamed FC Ploieşti, but in 2009 after the promotion to the Liga I
Liga I
Liga I, or in full, due to sponsorship reasons, Liga I Bergenbier, is the top division of the Romanian football league system. Before the 2006/2007 season, it was called Divizia A, but the name had to be changed following the discovery that someone else had registered the trademark "Divizia A"...

, it comes back to its traditional name of Astra Ploieşti and the black and white colours, hence the team's old nickname, "The Black Devils".
The club's reserve team will play, starting the 2010/2011 season, in Liga II
Liga II
Liga II is the second tier league of the Romanian football league system. The league acquired this name in the 2006-07, being previously called Divizia B....

.

Crest and colors

Astra's primary colors are white and black, although the kit design also included red on many occasions, especially on the away outfits.

In the current season, Astra's home kit consists of white and black stripped shirts, white shorts and white socks. The away shirts are decorated with red and black strips, making them similar to those of AC Milan. The shorts and socks are predominantly black, but they also include splashes of white.

The present Astra crest was adopted in July 2009, following the team's promotion from Liga II
Liga II
Liga II is the second tier league of the Romanian football league system. The league acquired this name in the 2006-07, being previously called Divizia B....

. The design is based on a classical template, and is characterized by the same black and white stripes which can be found on the team's shirts. The numerous stars which adorn the crest have their origin in the club's name, with Astra (like Steaua) being a Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...

 word that translates as "star".

Rivalries

Astra is engaged in a grudge with their cross-town rivals Petrolul Ploieşti. The rivalry however is mostly one-way based, because Astra was never a match for Petrolul's successes and fan involvement. Most Astra fans consider Petrolul as their main rivals, but the Yellow Wolves generally regard Rapid as their arch-enemies.

The enmity has increased mildly of late, as Astra has started to progressively finish on higher places than Petrolul.

Honours

Liga II
Liga II
Liga II is the second tier league of the Romanian football league system. The league acquired this name in the 2006-07, being previously called Divizia B....

  • Winners (1): 1997–98
  • Runners-up (1): 2008–09


Liga III
Liga III
Liga III is the third level of the Romanian football league system. Its name was changed from Divizia C into Liga III before the start of the 2006-07 season.-Relegation:...

  • Winners (1): 2007–08
    2007–08 Liga III
    The 2007-08 Liga III season was the 52nd season of Liga III, the third tier of the Romanian football league system. It was the second in this format .The winners of each division got promoted to the 2008-09 Liga II season...



Cupa României
  • Semi-finalists (2): 2001–02, 2002–03

Current squad

As of 2 August 2011

Shirt sponsor and supplier

Kit supplier Shirt sponsor
  Adidas
Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...

  InterAgro

League history

Season League Pos. M W D L GS GA Pts. Notes
1992/93 Liga III
Liga III
Liga III is the third level of the Romanian football league system. Its name was changed from Divizia C into Liga III before the start of the 2006-07 season.-Relegation:...

6 38 19 4 15 57 51 42
1993/94 Liga III
Liga III
Liga III is the third level of the Romanian football league system. Its name was changed from Divizia C into Liga III before the start of the 2006-07 season.-Relegation:...

12 36 14 6 16 40 47 34
1994/95 Liga III
Liga III
Liga III is the third level of the Romanian football league system. Its name was changed from Divizia C into Liga III before the start of the 2006-07 season.-Relegation:...

3 36 21 3 12 68 35 66
1995/96 Liga III
Liga III
Liga III is the third level of the Romanian football league system. Its name was changed from Divizia C into Liga III before the start of the 2006-07 season.-Relegation:...

14 36 15 3 18 51 52 48
1996/97 Liga II
Liga II
Liga II is the second tier league of the Romanian football league system. The league acquired this name in the 2006-07, being previously called Divizia B....

8 34 14 9 11 42 31 51
1997/98 Liga II
Liga II
Liga II is the second tier league of the Romanian football league system. The league acquired this name in the 2006-07, being previously called Divizia B....

1 34 28 4 2 80 20 88
1998/99 Liga I
Liga I
Liga I, or in full, due to sponsorship reasons, Liga I Bergenbier, is the top division of the Romanian football league system. Before the 2006/2007 season, it was called Divizia A, but the name had to be changed following the discovery that someone else had registered the trademark "Divizia A"...

10 34 13 7 14 40 38 46
1999/00 Liga I
Liga I
Liga I, or in full, due to sponsorship reasons, Liga I Bergenbier, is the top division of the Romanian football league system. Before the 2006/2007 season, it was called Divizia A, but the name had to be changed following the discovery that someone else had registered the trademark "Divizia A"...

10 34 13 8 13 43 41 47
2000/01 Liga I
Liga I
Liga I, or in full, due to sponsorship reasons, Liga I Bergenbier, is the top division of the Romanian football league system. Before the 2006/2007 season, it was called Divizia A, but the name had to be changed following the discovery that someone else had registered the trademark "Divizia A"...

10 30 11 7 12 41 36 40
2001/02 Liga I
Liga I
Liga I, or in full, due to sponsorship reasons, Liga I Bergenbier, is the top division of the Romanian football league system. Before the 2006/2007 season, it was called Divizia A, but the name had to be changed following the discovery that someone else had registered the trademark "Divizia A"...

12 30 9 10 11 29 28 37
2002/03 Liga I
Liga I
Liga I, or in full, due to sponsorship reasons, Liga I Bergenbier, is the top division of the Romanian football league system. Before the 2006/2007 season, it was called Divizia A, but the name had to be changed following the discovery that someone else had registered the trademark "Divizia A"...

9 30 13 3 14 42 42 42 Best positioning
2005/06 Liga II
Liga II
Liga II is the second tier league of the Romanian football league system. The league acquired this name in the 2006-07, being previously called Divizia B....

10 30 12 4 14 45 50 40 Relegated
2006/07 Liga III
Liga III
Liga III is the third level of the Romanian football league system. Its name was changed from Divizia C into Liga III before the start of the 2006-07 season.-Relegation:...

5 32 15 7 10 48 40 52
2007/08
2007–08 Liga III
The 2007-08 Liga III season was the 52nd season of Liga III, the third tier of the Romanian football league system. It was the second in this format .The winners of each division got promoted to the 2008-09 Liga II season...

Liga III
Liga III
Liga III is the third level of the Romanian football league system. Its name was changed from Divizia C into Liga III before the start of the 2006-07 season.-Relegation:...

1 34 31 2 1 83 18 95
2008/09 Liga II
Liga II
Liga II is the second tier league of the Romanian football league system. The league acquired this name in the 2006-07, being previously called Divizia B....

2 30 21 4 5 62 32 67 Promoted
2009/10
2009–10 Liga I
The 2009–10 Liga I season was the ninety-second since its establishment. Unirea Urziceni were the defending champions.- Teams :Farul Constanţa, Otopeni and Gloria Buzău were relegated at the end of the 2008–09 season after finishing in 16th through 18th place...

Liga I
Liga I
Liga I, or in full, due to sponsorship reasons, Liga I Bergenbier, is the top division of the Romanian football league system. Before the 2006/2007 season, it was called Divizia A, but the name had to be changed following the discovery that someone else had registered the trademark "Divizia A"...

14 34 8 12 14 33 45 36
2010/11
2010–11 Liga I
The 2010–11 Liga I was the ninety-third season of the top-level football league of Romania. The season commenced on 23 July 2010 and ended on 21 May 2011. A winter break where no matches were played was held between December 11, 2010 and February 18, 2011...

Liga I
Liga I
Liga I, or in full, due to sponsorship reasons, Liga I Bergenbier, is the top division of the Romanian football league system. Before the 2006/2007 season, it was called Divizia A, but the name had to be changed following the discovery that someone else had registered the trademark "Divizia A"...

11 34 10 15 9 36 30 45

Cup history

Season Opponent 1st Leg 2nd Leg Cup Round Notes
1996/97 Farul Constanţa 1–2 1/32
1998/99 UM Timişoara 0–2 1/32
1999/00 Oţelul Galaţi 1–2 (ET) 1/16
2000/01 Metrom Braşov 1–2 (ET) 1/32
2001/02 Rapid Bucureşti 2–2 0–0 Semi-finals Best performance
2002/03 Dinamo Bucureşti 2–1 1–3 (ET) Semi-finals Best performance
2005/06 Chimia Brazi
Chimia Brazi
Chimia Brazi is a Romanian football team from Prahova county founded in 1968 by the Brazi oil refinery. They currently play in the Liga III.-Honours:Liga III:*Winners : 1977–78, 2005–06*Runners-up : 1980–81, 1983–84, 2004–05, 2010–11...

1–2 5th Round
2006/07 Petrolistul Boldeşti 0–3 3rd Round
2007/08 FCM Câmpina
FCM Câmpina
FCM Câmpina was a Romanian football team from Poiana Câmpina, Prahova County founded in 1936 and dissolved in 2008.-History:The team was founded under the name Astra Câmpina, which was a local factory that was sponsoring the team...

3–4 4th Round
2008/09 Universitatea Craiova
FC Universitatea Craiova
Fotbal Club Universitatea Craiova is a Romanian professional football club from Craiova. They became the first Romanian football team to reach the semi-finals of a European tournament, during the UEFA Cup in 1982–83...

1–3 1/32
2009/10
2009–10 Cupa României
The 2009–10 Cupa României was the seventy-second season of the annual Romanian football knockout tournament. It began on 15 July 2009 with the matches of Phase 1 and ended with the Final on 6 June 2010...

Dinamo Bucureşti 1–2 Quarter-finals
2010/11
2010–11 Cupa României
The 2010–11 Cupa României is the seventy-third season of the annual Romanian football knockout tournament. It began on 17 July 2010 with the matches of the first round. For the third consecutive season, CFR Cluj were the defending champions...

Rapid Bucureşti 0–2 1/16
2011/12
2011–12 Cupa României
The 2011–12 Cupa României is the seventy-fourth season of the annualRomanian football knockout tournament. The winner of the competition qualifies for the play-off round of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League.- Fifth round :- Round of 32 :...

Petrolul Ploieşti 0–1 1/16

Notable players

Marius Alexe
Marius Alexe
Marius Silviu Alexe is a Romanian football striker who currently plays for Dinamo Bucureşti.Chelsea is believed to want him after a great 2009-2010 season. Dinamo asks €5 million for the player.- Dinamo Bucureşti :...

 Marius Bratu Mircea Ciorea Daniel Costescu
Daniel Costescu
Daniel Ştefan Costescu is a Romanian football player. He usually plays as a striker. He played as a central forward due to his well-known strength. He was born on 14 July 1976 in the city of Câmpina, Prahova county. He is 180 cm tall and he weighs 75 kg.He scored 44 goals in 222 matches...

 Cristian Crăciun
Cristian Crăciun
Cristian Crăciun is a retired Romanian football player.-References:*...

 Mihai Dăscălescu Cornel Dobre
Cornel Dobre
Cornel Dobre is a Romanian footballer currently under contract for Romanian second league side Progresul Bucureşti.-External links:*...

 Lucian Dobre
Lucian Dobre
Lucian Dobre is a former Romanian football defender plays for FC Iskra-Stal Rîbniţa.- External links :*...

 Florentin Dumitru
Florentin Dumitru
Florentin Dumitru is a Romanian football player.-External links:* at RomanianSoccer.ro...

 Marin Dună
Liviu Ganea
Liviu Ganea
Liviu Adrian Ganea is a Romanian professional soccer striker playing for Dinamo Bucureşti.-External links:*...

 Alexandru Iatan Robert Ilyeş
Robert Ilyes
Róbert Ilyés is a Romanian footballer of Hungarian descent, currently playing for Liga I club FCM Târgu Mureş.-Club:* Rapid Bucureşti** Romanian League : 2002-03** Romanian Cup : 2002...

 Dan Lăcustă Dragoş Mihalache
Dragoş Mihalache
Dragoş Mihalache is a retired Romanian football player. He was the manager of Petrolistul Boldeşti from June 2008 until November 2009, when he was fired .-References:*...

 Cornel Mihart Daniel Movilă Cătălin Mulţescu
Catalin Multescu
Cătălin Emanuel Mulţescu, is a Romanian football player for FC Dunărea Călăraşi. He's the son of former international player and coach Gheorghe Mulţescu.-External links:* *...

 Liviu Negoiţă
Liviu Negoita (footballer)
Giani Liviu Negoiţă is a Romanian footballer currently under contract for Romanian first league side Dacia Mioveni.-External links:*...

 Bogdan Nicolae
Bogdan Nicolae
Bogdan Nicolae is an Romanian footballer currently playing for Juventus Bucureşti-External links:*...


Adrian Pătulea
Adrian Patulea
Adrian Marian Pătulea is a Romanian football striker, currently playing for FC Farul Constanţa.He made headlines around the world when it was revealed that he was seen at Lincoln City's training ground running around the field with his wife on his back.-Career:Pătulea played for Rapid Bucharest,...

 Georgian Păun
Georgian Păun
Georgian Păun is a Romanian football player, currently under contract at Dinamo Bucureşti.-External links:*...

 Daniel Petroesc Ştefan Preda
Stefan Preda
Ştefan Gabriel Preda is a retired Romanian football goalkeeper.Preda got three caps for the national team, and was in the squad for the 1994 World Cup.-Club:Petrolul Ploieşti*Romanian Cup: 1994-95Dinamo Bucureşti...

 Florin Prunea Gheorghe Rohat
Gheorghe Rohat
Gheorghe Rohat is an Romanian footballer.-Titles:-External links:* * *...

 Pompiliu Stoica
Pompiliu Stoica
Pompiliu Stoica is a Romanian football defender. He has a few caps for Romania.- Notes : The 2009-2010 appearances and goals made for Petrolul Ploieşti are unavailable.-External links:*...

 Ovidiu Tâlvan
Iosif Tâlvan
Iosif Ovidiu Tâlvan is a retired Romanian football midfielder.-External links:*...

 Dinu Todoran
Dinu Todoran
Dinu Marius Todoran is a Romanian footballer who plays for Victoria Brăneşti.-Honours:-External links:*...

 Ştefan Vrăbioru

Former managers

Gabriel Stan
Gabriel Stan
Gabriel Stan is a Romanian football manager who is currently in charge at the Moldovan second division team Ursidos Chişinău. He is nicknamed Gabello, from his sympathy towards Italian manager Fabio Capello.-Braşov:...

 (1996–99), (2001) Valentin Sinescu (1999) Vasile Simionaş (1999) Costică Ştefănescu
Costica Stefanescu
Costică Ştefănescu is a retired Romanian football player and coach. He spent the majority of his career at Universitatea Craiova, where he made a club record 378 appearances...

 (1999-00) Marin Ion
Marin Ion
Marin Ion is a retired Romanian football defender and current manager of Dubai Club.- Career :FOOTBALL PLAYER1986-1987 FC Rapid Bucharest, Romanian Premier League...

 (2000–01) Constantin Stancu
Constantin Stancu
- Records :*Total matches played in Romanian First League: 447 matches - 1 goal*European Cups: 14 matches - 0 goals*Olympic team: 13 matches - 0 goal*U-21 national team: 24 matches - 0 goals-External links:*...

 (2001) Gheorghe Mulţescu
Gheorghe Multescu
Gheorghe "Gigi" Mulţescu is a former football player, who coached several teams both in Turkey and Romania.Mulţescu managed several clubs in Turkey, including Adanaspor, Gaziantepspor and Samsunspor....

 (2001–02)
Marian Bondrea
Marian Bondrea
Marian Bondrea is a Romanian football manager and former footballer.-Playing career:Marian Bondrea started his career at Electroputere , in the second division, he went on to play for Universitatea Craiova in , but has only played there three official matches, was sent back at Electroputere in ,...

 (2002) Florin Marin
Florin Marin
Florin Flocea Marin is a former Romanian football defender and current manager last he managed Universitatea Craiova as an assistant coach.-Statistics:* Liga I: 281 matches, 3 goals* Cupa României winner: 1975, 1976...

 (2002–03) Marin Dună (2005) Petre Gigiu (2006) Vasile Cosarek (2006) Dennis Şerban
Dennis Serban
Dennis Şerban is a Romanian retired football player.-Club career:He played for FC Farul Constanţa and Portul Constanţa before joining the squad of Steaua Bucureşti in 1996...

 (2007) Valeriu Răchită
Valeriu Rachita
Valeriu Răchită, is a former Romanian football player and now acts as the manager of the Romanian Liga 1 club Petrolul Ploieşti.-Player:*Petrolul Ploieşti:** Romanian Cup: 1994-95*Steaua Bucureşti:...

 (2007–08)
Marius Şumudică
Marius Şumudică
Marius "Şumi" Şumudică is a Romanian former football player and current manager of FC Braşov.-External links:* at RomanianSoccer.ro*...

 (2009) Ion Moldovan
Ion Moldovan
Ion Moldovan is a retired Romanian football player and currently unemployed as a manager. Because he spent most of his playing time as a player of FC Dinamo Bucharest and during the communist rule of Romania players of Steaua and Dinamo were officers of the Romanian Army or Militia / Police, he...

 (2009) Nicolò Napoli
Nicolò Napoli
Nicolò Napoli is an Italian former football player turned manager.A former professional player with several Serie A teams, including Juventus F.C., he moved to Romania in 2007 to work as a manager with Liga I outfit Universitatea Craiova...

 (2009–10) Marin Barbu
Marin Barbu
Marin Barbu is a Romanian football coach and former footballer, who currently manages Liga II team Callatis Mangalia. During his football career, Marin Barbu played, among others, for Steaua Bucureşti and FC Braşov....

 (2010) Mihai Stoichiţă
Mihai Stoichita
Mihai Stoichiţă is a Romanian football manager.- Coaching career :The Kuwait Football Association hired him in 2006 to coach its national football team. The one-year deal is believed to be worth between $300,000 and $460,000...

 (2010) Tibor Selymes
Tibor Selymes
Tibor Selymes is a retired Romanian footballer, and current manager.He was born in Bălan and debuted in Divizia A with FC Braşov in 1988...

 (2011) Marius Şumudică
Marius Şumudică
Marius "Şumi" Şumudică is a Romanian former football player and current manager of FC Braşov.-External links:* at RomanianSoccer.ro*...

(2011)

External links

Official site Club profile on RomanianSoccer Club profile on Liga1.ro Club profile on UEFA.com Club profile on Transfermarkt
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