Clubul Sportiv Unirea Ungheni 2018, also known as Unirea Ungheni, or just Unirea is a Romanian football club based in Ungheni, Mureș County, which currently plays in Liga II, the second tier of the Romanian football. The club promoted in the second division at the end of the 2023–24 season after beating Gloria Bistrița-Năsăud in the promotion play-off.[2]
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| Full name | Clubul Sportiv Unirea Ungheni 2018 | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Unghenenii (The people from Ungheni) Roș-Albaștrii (The reds and Blues) | ||
| Short name | Unirea | ||
| Founded | 1947[1] 2007 as ASA Unirea Ungheni 2018 as Unirea Ungheni | ||
| Ground | Central | ||
| Capacity | 750 | ||
| Owner | Ungheni Town | ||
| Chairman | Adrian Pop | ||
| Head Coach | Eusebiu Tudor | ||
| League | Liga II | ||
| 2023–24 | Liga III, Seria IX, 2nd (promoted via play-offs) | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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The club host their home matches in the Central Stadium.
History
editUnirea Ungheni was founded in 1947 and played mostly in the amateur leagues.
Unirea won the Mureș County Championship for the first time in the 1992–93 season, but lost the promotion to third division, finishing below the sixteen teams with the best aggregate results after the matches against Industria Sârmei Câmpia Turzii (0–3 away and 4–0 at home).
In the following seasons, the club continued to play in the County Championship, ranking as follows: 5th 1994–95, 4th 1995–96, 7th 1996–97, 6th 1997–98, 7th 1998–99, 5th 1999–2000.
The club promoted for the first time in its history to Divizia C at the end of the 2000–01 season. The team led by Fazakas Arpád won the Divizia D – Mureș County and beating Eco Forest Telciu, the Bistrița-Năsăud County champions, 4–2 in the promotion play-off match.
In their first season in third tier, the club finished 9th in Series VII with 36 points. In the following season the club finished once again in 9th place with 36 points ahead of former Divizia A club ASA Târgu Mureș.[3][4]
In the 2003–04 season, Unirea achieved their best result in this period, finishing 2nd in Series IX with 40 points, 27 points behind FC Sibiu.[5]
In the next season the club finished 10th place with 37 points, narrowly avoiding relegation by 2 points,[6] as in their final season in Divizia C, the club finished in 14th place (last place) in the eight series with 7 points, relegated to Liga IV and dissolved after that, having just one win in the entire season.[7]
In 2007, Maris Târgu Mureș moved their base from Târgu Mureș, to Ungheni, renaming to ASA Unirea Ungheni.
In their seasons since their reformation the club finished in the following rankings: 11th 2007–08, 6th 2008–09, 10th 2009–10, 7th 2010–11, 9th 2011–12.
In 2012, the club withdrew from the third tier due to financial problems and was dissolved for the second time in their history.
In the 2019–20 the season was suspended in March 2020, because of the COVID-19, and the club finished 1st place and finished 1st place in the third region ahead of Măgura Cisnădie and Sepsi OSK's second team.
In the 2023–24 Liga III season, under the command of Florentin Petre, with experienced players such as István Fülöp, Victoraș Astafei, Amancio Fortes, Cătălin Savin together with Ovidiu Horșia, Paul Ganea, Yvan Ndiesse, Abel Popa, Silviu Boar, Cristian Gherasim, Ioan Bârstan among others, the club finished in 3rd place during the regular season, but finished 2nd in the Play-off round of Series IX, overtaking ACS Mediaș and qualifying for the promotion play-offs. Unirea won in the first round against SCM Zalău (3–0 at home and 1–1 at Zalău), and in the second round against Gloria Bistrița-Năsăud (2–2 at Bistrița and 2–1 at Ungheni) promoted for first time in Liga II.[8][9]
Players
editFirst-team squad
edit- As of 15 June 2024
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
editNote: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Honours
editReferences
edit- ^ "Unirea Ungheni | Rezultate, meciuri, puncte și clasament".
- ^ "Unirea Ungheni e în Liga 2! Florentin Petre și "greii" Istvan Fulop și Victoraș Astafei au promovat: "O mare performanță!"" [Unirea Ungheni is in League 2! Florentin Petre and the "heavies" Istvan Fulop and Victoraș Astafei promoted: "A great performance!"]. liga2.prosport.ro. 6 June 2024. Archived from the original on 16 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.(in Romanian)
- ^ "Divizia C - Season 2001-02 - Edition 46". romaniansoccer.ro.
- ^ "Divizia C - Season 2002-03 - Edition 47". romaniansoccer.ro.
- ^ "Divizia C - Season 2003-04 - Edition 48". romaniansoccer.ro.
- ^ "Tables - Divizia C - statistics". www.romaniansoccer.ro.
- ^ "Tables - Divizia C - statistics". www.romaniansoccer.ro.
- ^ "Abel Popa a vrut să promoveze cu Lipova în Liga 2, dar a reușit cu Ungheni: "Nu vreau să mă opresc aici. Urmează SuperLiga!"" [Abel Popa wanted to promote with Lipova in League 2, but succeeded with Ungheni: "I don't want to stop here. The Super League is coming!"]. liga2.prosport.ro. 8 June 2024. Archived from the original on 16 June 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2024.(in Romanian)
- ^ "Unirea Ungheni a promovat în Liga 2-a de fotbal" [Unirea Ungheni was promoted to the 2nd Football League]. radiomures.ro. 5 June 2024. Archived from the original on 16 June 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2024.(in Romanian)