Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu, commonly known as Astra Giurgiu, or simply as Astra, is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County, currently playing in the Liga I.
Founded in 1921 in Ploiești, Prahova County, as Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română,[1] it spent the vast majority of its history in the lower leagues. Only after 1990, when taken under the ownership of businessman Ioan Niculae, the club began to achieve success, with a premiere promotion to the top of the Romanian football league system in 1998. In September 2012, the team was moved from Ploiești to Giurgiu.[3] At the end of 2015–16 season, the side led by coach Marius Șumudică won a historical championship title, whilst ending Steaua București's three-year domination.[4]
Domestically, Astra's major honours include one Liga I, one Cupa României and two Supercupa României. They qualified for the very first time in a European competition in 2013, playing in the UEFA Europa League.
The colours of the club are white and black, hence the nickname Dracii Negri (The Black Devils). Red, which is present on the current crest, was worn on many occasions on away kits.
History
| Name changes |
| Year |
Name |
| 1921 |
Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română |
| 1934 |
Astra Română Câmpina |
| 1937 |
Astra Română Ploiești |
| 1938 |
Colombia Ploiești |
| 1945 |
Astra Română Ploiești |
| 1959 |
Rafinorul Ploiești |
| 1990 |
CS Astra Ploiești |
| 1996 |
AS Danubiana Ploiești |
| 1998 |
SC FC Astra Ploiești |
| 2005 |
CSM Ploiești |
| 2007 |
FC Ploiești |
| 2009 |
FC Astra Ploiești |
| 2012 |
FC Astra Giurgiu |
Founding, early years and lower divisions (1921–1996)
On 18 September 1921, weekly newspaper Ecoul Sportiv announced the founding of the Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română ("Astra-Romanian Sports Club") by the Astra-Română Society, an oil-company owned by Henri Deterding and based in Prahova, composed of English, American and Dutch officials.[1][5]
Initially, the club consisted of several football sides based in towns from the entire county. In the summer of 1934, the inaugural edition of the Astra Societies Cup" was organised by the rafinery, a trophy open for all the Astra teams. The matches were played in the town of Moreni. At the time, the refinery had only one team, Astra Română Câmpina, that was playing in the district championship. In order to make the cup more attractive, the society created three new football sides for the event: Astra Română Moreni, Astra Română Boldești and Astra Română Unirea Hârsa. After the 1937 edition of the Cup, the society decided to merge all of its Prahova teams and thus created Astra Română Ploiești on 29 May 1937. The team was registered in the district championship. Just a few months after the team's foundation, the society changed its name to Columbia and moved it to a ground located near the society's headquarters, in Câmpina. In May 1945, Astra Română Ploiești was reformed and played its home matches on the old Columbia Stadium, a stadium that still exists today in Ploiești and is used as a training ground by the team.
In the summer of 1992, Astra were promoted for the first time to the Divizia C. The following seasons it finished 6, 12, 3 and 14 in the championship.
Ioan Niculae ownership and recent history (1996–present)
In the summer of 1996, the club merged with Danubiana București, it changed its name to Danubiana Ploiești, and played for the first time in the Divizia B. After one season the club changed its name back to Astra. Since that year, Ioan Niculae has become the owner of the team. In 1998, Astra were promoted to the Divizia A for the first time. They played at this level for five consecutive seasons, until 2003, when it merged with Petrolul Ploiești.[6] Two years of pause pass for Astra, until 2005, when Ioan Niculae founded once again the club directly in the Liga II. It was relegated to the Liga III after only one season. In the summer of 2007, under the name of FC Ploiești, the team promoted back to the Liga II. In 2009, after six years, it finally promoted back to Liga I, with promotion achieved at the end of the 2008–09 season. It changed its name back to the traditional Astra Ploiești and the black and white colours were brought back, hence the team's old nickname, "The Black Devils".[7]
After 91 years in Ploiești, in September 2012, the club moved to Giurgiu.[3] The last match played in the Astra Stadium was on 2 September 2012, against Bucharest giants Dinamo București, won by Astra 1–0. The first game played on the Marin Anastasovici Stadium was on 23 September 2012, against Gaz Metan Mediaș. Astra won 4–0.
It qualified for the first time to the UEFA Europa League at the end of the 2012–13 Liga I season, after finishing 4th in the table.
The 2013–14 season was the most successful season in the club's history, reaching 2nd place in Liga I, losing the title by only five points to Steaua București and winning the Romanian Cup on penalties against the same team, Steaua. One month later they defeated Steaua București on penalties again, and won the Romanian Supercup.
First European participations
Astra Giurgiu played its first European match ever in first qualification round of UEFA Europa League against Domžale, winning 1–0 in the first leg. In the second leg in Bucharest, Astra won 2–0 and qualified. In the second qualification round, Astra draw 1–1 with Omonia in the first leg in Bucharest and beat 2–1 in the second leg in Nicosia to advance. Seeded team after eliminating Omonia, Astra was drawn in third qualification round with Trenčín and qualified after winning 3–1 the first leg in Dubnica nad Váhom and drawing 2–2 in the second leg in Bucharest. In play-off, Astra faced the very first European defeat in a 0–2 against Maccabi Haifa in the first leg in Haifa, thus being eliminated after drawing 1–1 in the second leg in Bucharest.
Astra qualified directly in the third qualifying round after winning the Romanian Cup and met Slovan Liberec, winning both legs 3–0 in Giurgiu and 3–2 in Liberec, this time being the first European match to take place in Giurgiu. In the play-off round, Astra met French squad Olympique Lyon. They defeated them in Lyon in a 2–1 win, with Kehinde Fatai and Constantin Budescu scoring the goals of victory. In Giurgiu, Olympique Lyonnais won 1–0 but Astra Giurgiu went on to the group stage phase due to the away goal rule. They were subsequently drawn in Group D alongside Red Bull Salzburg, Glasgow Celtic and Dinamo Zagreb. Astra began their group stage adventure with a harmful 1–5 defeat at Stadion Maksimir in Zagreb against Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb, ending with Aurelian Chițu scoring their first goal in the group stages of a European cup. On 2 October 2014, Astra played against Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg one of the most important matches held on Marin Anastasovici Stadium in Giurgiu. Astra took the 1–0 lead with Takayuki Seto's goal, but were stunned by Soriano's winner, losing 1–2. In matchday three, Astra faced Celtic at Glasgow, and hold them to a goalless draw until Stefan Šćepović's opener, a match that ended 1–2. In matchday four, Astra hold Celtic in a 1–1 draw at Giurgiu, with William Amorim scoring the equaliser that brought their first group stage point. In matchday five, Astra won 1–0 against Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb with Sadat Bukari's winner, and secured its first ever victory in the UEFA Europa League group stages. Astra's Europa League was concluded at Red Bull Arena in Salzburg with another harmful 1–5 defeat to FC Salzburg. Astra ended in fourth place with four points, behind Red Bull Salzburg with 16 points, Celtic with eight and Dinamo Zagreb with six points.
Crest and colours
Emblem
The present crest was adopted in July 2009, following the team's promotion from Liga II. The design is based on a classical template, and is characterized by the same black and white stripes which could 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 word which translates as "The Star".
Kit
Currently, Astra Giurgiu's primary colors are white and black, although the kit design also included red on many occasions, especially on away outfits.
Grounds
Marin Anastasovici Stadium
The club plays its home matches in Giurgiu at the Marin Anastasovici Stadium,[2] having moved here in September 2012, with the former Astra Stadium based in Ploiești now acting as a training ground. It has a current capacity of approximately 8,500 spectators.
Support
Rivalries
After Astra's premiere promotion to the Divizia A in the summer of 1998, its few fans engaged in a grudge with their cross-town rivals Petrolul Ploiești. Often, the matches between Astra and Petrolul ended with clashes between the supporters. Most Astra fans consider Petrolul as their main rivals, however Lupii galbeni regard Rapid București as their principal arch-enemies. The conflict was kept despite Astra's move to Giurgiu,[8] whilst the match has sometimes been referred to as Fostul derbi al Ploieștiului (English: Former Ploiești derby).
A mild rivalry also exists with Steaua București. In early 2016, at the time when the two clubs fought for the championship title, the non-playing staff of both sides often engaged in disputes via press statements.[9]
Honours
Leagues
Cups
Rankings
Players
First team squad
- As of 6 September 2016.[12]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Second team squad (Astra II)
- As of 2 October 2016
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. |
|
Position |
Player
|
| — |
 |
GK |
Adrian Nedelcu
|
| — |
|
DF |
Fabian Ioniță
|
| — |
|
DF |
Bogdan Mihăilă
|
| — |
|
DF |
Cătălin Pahonțu
|
| — |
|
DF |
Andrei Roman
|
| — |
|
DF |
Daniel Vîrtej
|
| — |
|
MF |
Paulian Banu
|
| — |
|
MF |
Ionuț Chiși
|
| — |
|
MF |
Cristian Cioran |
|
|
| No. |
|
Position |
Player
|
| — |
|
MF |
Denis Constantin
|
| — |
|
MF |
Leonard Dăncilă
|
| — |
|
MF |
Berti Nicola
|
| — |
|
MF |
Alexandru Oaie
|
| — |
|
MF |
Constantin Popescu
|
| — |
|
MF |
Răzvan Șerban
|
| — |
|
FW |
Alin Gheorghe
|
| — |
|
FW |
Marius Șumudică Jr. |
|
Club officials
Records and statistics
Cup history
European Cups history
- Notes
- 1Q: First qualifying round
- 2Q: Second qualifying round
- 3Q: Third qualifying round
- PO: Play-off round
European cups all-time statistics
- As of 9 September 2016.
References
External links
Official websites
Others
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.svg.png){kind=small}
Joma
Domžale
Omonia
AS Trenčín
Maccabi Haifa
Slovan Liberec
Lyon
Red Bull Salzburg
Celtic
Dinamo Zagreb
West Ham United
AZ Alkmaar
Copenhagen
Roma
