FC Ripensia Timișoara

Ripensia Timișoara

Full name	Fotbal Club Ripensia Timișoara 1928
Nickname(s)	Ripi
Short name	Ripensia
Founded	21 October 1928
Ground	Ciarda Roşie
Capacity	1,000
Chairman	Radu Ienovan
Manager	Remus Steop
League	Liga III
2015–16	Liga IV, Timiș County, 1st (promoted)
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

Fotbal Club Ripensia Timișoara is a football team from the Romanian city of Timișoara. It was founded in 1928 by Dr. Cornel Lazăr and it lasted only twenty years before folding due to lack of funds in 1948.

In 2012, the club was brought back to life in the Timiş County League.

Ripensia was the first Romanian football club to turn professional, and because of this status they were unable to compete in the national league until the 1932–33 season. After being accepted in the national system, Ripensia quickly became one of the best teams in the country, winning four leagues and two Romanian Cups in their short history.

The team's colors are red and yellow.

History

Ripensia Timișoara winning the 1933–34 Romanian Cup against "U. Cluj"

Ripensia Timișoara in 1931

Ripensia Timișoara in 1932

Ripensia-Unirea Tricolor 3–1 in 1932

It was founded in 1928 by Dr. Cornel Lazăr, a famous promoter of football in the Banat region, and the former president of Chinezul Timișoara. The players came from Chinezul Timișoara, C.A.T. and Poli Timișoara. Due to its professional status, until 1932–1933 (the first season of the National League – Divizia A), the team and its players could not participate in official national competitions.

They were champions of the Romanian Football League in 1933, 1935, 1936, and 1938, with two Romanian Cup appearances, winning 3–2 over Universitatea Cluj in 1934 and 5–1 over Unirea Tricolor Bucureşti in 1936. They were national vice-champions for 1933–34 and 1938–39. After World War II, due to financial problems, the communist sports organisation and controversial actions, Ripensia played in Divizia B and Divizia C. After 1948, without any support, it disappeared, merging with Electrica Timișoara. Their colours were red-yellow. Their home stadium was called Electrica (today UMT; the original wooden stand was demolished in 2004–2005). The greatest players in team history were:

• Goalkeepers: William Zombory, Dumitru Pavlovici
• Defenders: Rudolf Bürger, Balazs Hoksary
• Midfielders: Vasile Chiroiu II, Vasile Deheleanu, Rudolf Kotormany, Eugen Lakatos, Nicolae Simatoc
• Forwards: Gheorghe Oprean, Zoltan Beke, Silviu Bindea, Gheorghe Ciolac, Ştefan Dobay, Ladislau Raffinski, Alexandru Schwartz, Graţian Sepi II, Mihai Tänzer

In the 2012 the team was reestablished and competed in the municipal championship, they won it and promoted to Liga V. In Liga V they reached the first place in the 2013–2014 seasaon and promoted to the next league Liga IV. Also they made a good impression in the 2013–14 Romanian Cup, where they defeated again Universitatea Cluj to reach the Last 16 of the cup making them the surprise of the cup. In the Last 16 they lost to Pandurii Târgu Jiu.

Mitropa Cup

Ripensia played in the Mitropa Cup, an important inter-war football competition. In the 1938 season Ripensia knocked Italian giants AC Milan out of this competition. The Romanians won the first leg 3–0 at Bucharest, and lost the second leg 1–3. In the next round Ripensia was eliminated by Hungarian side of Ferencváros (1–4, 4–5).

Season	Round	Country	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1938	First Round	Italy	A.C. Milan	3–0	1 – 3	4–3
	Quarter-finals	Hungary	Ferencváros	4–5	1 – 4	5–9

Current squad

As of 5 September 2016

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Iulius Rădulescu 3 FW Ndiaye Mediop 4 DF Ciprian Ștreangă 5 DF Darius Vasiliu 6 DF Claudiu Apro 7 MF Adrian Popa (Captain) 8 MF Cosmin Mânecan 9 FW Denis Golda 10 MF Raul Briciu 11 MF Florin Nanu 12 GK Georgios Gakos 13 MF Claudiu Filip 15 MF Marius Semeniuc

No. Position Player 17 DF Laurenţiu Luca 18 FW Pavel Olărescu 19 DF Călin Toma 21 MF Sebastian Bobină 22 MF Gabriel Stoi 23 DF Mădălin Grunță 24 GK Raul Boboiciov 25 DF Mihai Hecsko 26 DF Octavian Popescu 27 MF Adrian Ungureanu 29 MF Adrian Zaluschi 30 MF Silviu Francescu

Club Officials

Board of directors Role Name President Radu Ienovan Vice-President Ioan Nină Vice-President Erol Baeram Board Member Nicolae Ţăran Board Member Ilie Vlaicu Board Member Doru Ienovan Board Member Nicolae Bibu Board Member Vasile Cărpinişan Board Member Nicola Carabenciov Board Member Ioan Moica Board Member Cristian Dănescu Board Member Ernst Holzheimer Board Member Iosif Lazăr Board Member Sorin Sulcină Delegate Adrian Onica Press Officer Sergiu Raca Photographer Cosmin Dan

Current technical staff Role Name Manager Remus Steop Assistant Manager Orlando Trandu Goalkeeping Coach Gheorghe Stoianov Doctor Marian Cotoşpan Masseur Cristian Chivu

Honours

Liga I

• Winners (4): 1932–33, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1937–38
• Runners-up (2): 1933–34, 1938–39

Romanian Cup

• Winners (2): 1933–34, 1935–36
• Runners-up (2): 1934–35, 1936–37
• Winners of Timiș County Phase (2): 2012–13, 2014–15

Liga III

• Winners (1): 1946–47

Liga IV – Timiș County

• Winners (1): 2015–16
• Runners-up (1): 2014–15

Liga V – Timiș County

• Winners (1): 2013–14

Liga VI – Timiș County

• Winners (1): 2012–13

Domestic record

Key

Pos = Final position P = Played W = Games won D = Games drawn L = Games lost GF = Goals For GA = Goals Against Pts = Points

Div A / L1 = Liga I Div B / L2 = Liga II Div C / L3 = Liga III L4 = Liga IV L5 = Liga V L6 = Liga VI p = Preliminary Round 1R = Round 1 2R = Round 2

3R = Round 3 4R = Round 4 5R = Round 5 GS = Group stage R32 = Round of 32 QF = Quarter-finals R16 = Round of 16 SF = Semi-finals F = Final

Champions

Runners-up

Third place

Promoted

Relegated

The players in bold were the top goalscorers in the division.

Seasons

Season	League									Cup	European Cup		Other		Top Goalscorer(s)		Notes
	Division	Pos	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts						Name	Goals
1932–33	Div A	1st	12	10	0	2	49	10	20	–			Finals	W	Ștefan Dobay	16	Foundation of the Romanian Football League system
1933–34		1st	14	10	2	2	55	13	22	W			Finals	F	Ștefan Dobay	15
1934–35		1st	22	14	4	4	66	34	32	F					Ștefan Dobay	24
1935–36		1st	22	13	4	5	59	37	30	W					Ștefan Dobay	12
1936–37		3rd	22	13	1	8	59	39	27	F					Ștefan Dobay	21
1937–38		1st	18	15	0	3	63	25	30	R32			Finals	W	Silviu Bindea	21
1938–39		2nd	22	11	4	7	53	39	26	R32					Adalbert Marksteiner	21
1939–40		6th	22	8	6	8	36	37	22	R32					Adalbert Marksteiner	15
1940–41		3rd	24	13	6	5	58	32	32	R32					Silviu Bindea	10
1941–42	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	QF
1942–43	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	R32
1943–46 Not involved in any competitions due to World War II.
1946–47	Div C	1st	18	13	4	1	48	21	30	–
1947–48	Div B	8th	29	12	4	13	44	54	28	R32							Merged with Electrica Timișoara. Disbanded.
1948–2012 Not involved in any competitions.
2012–13	L6	1st	22	21	1	0	143	9	64	–			Timiș County Phase	W	Adrian Boghian	23
2013–14	L5	1st	28	25	2	1	152	9	77	R16			Timiș County Phase	2R	Raul Briciu	37
2014–15	L4	2nd	34	29	2	3	122	27	89	–			Timiș County Phase	W	Ndiaye Mediop	32
2015–16		1st	32	28	3	1	150	28	87	R32			Timiș County Phase	SF	Ndiaye Mediop	55
2016–17	L3	3rd	13	6	5	2	23	14	23	–					Ndiaye Mediop	4

References

External links

• ripensiatimisoara.ro Official site (Romanian)