AFC Dacia Unirea Brăila

Dacia Unirea Brăila

Full name	Asociația Fotbal Club 1919 Dacia Unirea Brăila
Nickname(s)	Alb-Albaștrii (The White and Blues)
Short name	Dacia Unirea
Founded	15 March 1919; 102 years ago (1919-03-15)
Ground	Municipal
Capacity	20,154
Owners	Brăila County Council Ovidiu Onosă Al Dahra-Agricost
Chairman	Valentin Avramescu
Manager	Laurențiu Ivan
League	Liga II
2020–21	Liga III, Seria II, 2nd (promoted via play-offs)
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Asociația Fotbal Club 1919 Dacia Unirea Brăila, commonly known as Dacia Unirea Brăila, is a Romanian professional football club from Brăila, founded in 1919. The club currently plays in the Liga II. Their home is the 18,256-seat Stadionul Municipal stadium, where they have played since 1974.^[1]

Among the club's best performances are one Romanian Cup final in the 1992–93 season^[2] and a 6th-place finish in the top division of the Romanian football league system in the 1991–92 season.^[3]

Dacia Unirea's current home colors are white and dark blue. Accordingly, the players are nicknamed The White-blues or The Cozmoc’s Lions (“Leii lui Cozmoc") and play their home games at the 20,000-seater Municipal Stadium. The club's most notable rivalry is the one against Oțelul Galați.

History[]

Dacia Brăila was founded in 1919 around the same time with another team, Unirea. Until 1928, when the two merge their collective and Dacia Unirea appears, each separately participated in the regional championship.^[4]

In November 1929 Dacia Unirea had the following base team: Padimatopol (Căpreanu), Stanciu, Vasiliu, Leo (Săvulescu), Fritz, Grigoriou, Anastasios, Leșu, I. Goldenberg, Teodorescu (Frătescu, Cavada, Geller, Munteanu). In the 1929–1930 season the team won the regional tournament and qualified for the national championship tournament. In the quarter-finals they were eliminated by Juventus Bucharest, the team that won the championship that year.

Early years of football (1919-1950)[]

Period	Name
1919–1928	Dacia Brăila
1928–1936	Dacia Unirea Brăila
1936–1938	Dacia Unirea Ignatz Goldenberg Brăila
1938–1939	Dacia Unirea Brăila
1939–1944	FC Brăila
1946–1947	Dacia Unirea Brăila
1948–1949	Progresul Brăila
1953–1955	Metalul Brăila
1955–1956	Energia Brăila
1960–1962	CSM Brăila
1962–1963	Progresul Brăila
1963–1964	Laminorul Brăila
1964–1965	Constructorul Brăila
1965–1975	Progresul Brăila
1975–1980	FC Brăila
1980–1991	FCM Progresul Brăila
1991–2006	Dacia Unirea Brăila
2006–2015	CF Brăila
2015–present	Dacia Unirea Brăila

Afterwards, Dacia Unirea played in the Divizia B between the years 1934–1937, 1938–1940 and in the Divizia A between the years 1937–1938, 1940–1941, the name of the team and of the club changing a few times: D.U.I.G. (Dacia Unirea Ignatz Goldenberg) in 1937, Dacia Unirea in 1938 and FC Brăila in 1940.

During the war it activated in the . After the war, the club changed its name back to the traditional "Dacia Unirea", and participated at only one season of the Divizia C, in the season 1946–1947, after which it disappeared from all divisional levels. We can mention a part of the players who played in that period: I. Goldenberg, N. Stanciu, Hagiopol, Saramet, Weiss, Cavadia, Bonațiu, V. Pop, Negrescu, Drăghicescu, Pascalide, D. Stanciu.

Hard times (1950-1965)[]

After 1949, when both teams (Dacia Unirea Brăila and Franco-Româna Brăila) disappear from all the divisional levels, the football in Brăila sees itself in crises, and not being able to get out of it, despite a few attempts to reorganize. Starting with 1953 the situation improves, the club is refounded and changes names successively: Metalul (1953–1956), Energia (1956–1957), Dinamo (1957–1958), Industria Sârmei (1958–1959), C.S.M. (1960–1961), Progresul (1962–1963), Laminorul (1963–1964), Constructorul (1964–1965), again Progresul (1965–1975), FC Brăila (1975–1980), FCM Progresul (1980–1991), Dacia Unirea (1991–2006) and finally CF Brăila starting with the 2006–2007 season. Taking into consideration these historical conditions, with a lot of problems in the organisation department, the participation in the divisional system after 1953 is as it follows: 10 times in Liga III (1956–1959, 1963–1964, 1967–1968, 1999–2001, 2007–2010), 41 times in Liga II (1953, 1954, 1960–1963, 1964–1967, 1968–1990, 1994–1999, 2001–2007, 2010 – present) and 4 times in Liga I (1990–1994).

Dacia Unirea, ascension (1965-1994)[]

The team that succeeded to bring Brăila back to the Divizia A, after half a century, in 1990, had the following players:, C Brătianu-V. Brătianu II, , Gh. Negoiță, Cristea Rusu, Minciu Sandu – M. Anton, A. Marin, Muscă, N. Pascu, M. Petrache, N. Rădulescu, A. Stamate, Titirișcă – Cujbă, Drăgoi, E. Popescu, Vio. Radu, M. Săvescu, M. Ivan. Coach: Bujor Hălmageanu.

In the 1992–1993 season the team qualified in the Cupa României final (its best performance so far), coach Ioan Sdrobiș (who came at half season to replace Gheorghe Mulțescu) had at his service the following players: C. Brătianu I, Hăisan, Nicoloff – G. Baciu, Adrian Baldovin, Vasile Brătianu, , Gh. Negoiță, Tudorel Pelin, Sandu Minciu – Burleanu, Drăgoi, Jica, M. Lazăr, Matincă, Măstăcan, M. Petrache, Titirișcă – Cujbă, Dochia, C. Luca, Marcadonatu, Mașcu, Arben Minga, Marius Șumudică. Coaches who were in charge of the team worth mentioning: I. Economu, Viorel Mateianu, , Dumitru Nicolae "Nicușor", C. Oțet, Dumitru Dumitriu III, V. Dridea II. Special merits go to committed chairmen who obtained great results in charge of the club, especially to .

Decline of football (1994-2006)[]

Four years after the relegations from the Divizia A came that from the Divizia B (in 1999), the tear between the club and Insula Mare a Brăilei (its main sponsor) having disastrous consequences. Actually, prior to that, the main event that triggered the fall happened during the 1994–1995 season. Fighting at the time with Selena Bacău for the promotion to the Divizia A, the team from Brăila was stopped by a corruption case at a game with FC Politehnica Iaşi, in which, in exchange for a sum of money, the team from should have conceded the game. The case was highly mediated, ending up with arrests, (Dacia Unirea's competition organiser) and (journalist from Iași, ex football player). Dacia Unirea ended up with an 8-point penalty, and being forbidden to participate at the qualification knock-out for the promotion to the Divizia A. The team succeeded to make a comeback to the Divizia B in 2001.

Reformation (2006-2015)[]

At the end of the 2006–2007 CF Brăila was relegated to the Liga III. Their best performance during this period was the acceding to the Cupa României quarter-finals in the 2004–2005 season, where they lost to Dinamo București 1–0 at Stadionul Dinamo and 2–0 at Stadionul Municipal. In the round of 32, Dacia Unirea won against Rapid București (coached at the time by Răzvan Lucescu) at Stadionul Municipal, goal scored by Romeo Buteseacă and in the round of 16, they passed by FC Unirea Alba Iulia with 2–0, goals scored by Romeo Buteseacă and Cristian Dicu. Players who had a great contribution to this performance, among others, are: Marius Mindileac, Iulian Olteanu;– Laurențiu Ivan, Gheorghe Rădulescu, Valentin Stan, Victor Olenic, Tudorel Pelin, Nicolae Ciocea – Daniel Pleșa, Dumitru Horovei, Mihalache Basalîc, Cristian Dicu;– Romeo Buteseacă, Marius Matei, Paul Sorin Bogdan. We also have to mention Bănel Nicoliță, who played at Dacia Unirea until 2004 and where he made his debut.

The 2008/09 season meant some serious reorganisation, SC CONCIVIA SA became the owner of the team,^[5] and the objective was the promotion to the Liga II. But in the end, the club finished 8th the Championship, and it seemed that Liga II was further than was thought.

The 2009/10 season has started with a lot of promise. During the summer, Gheorghe Mulțescu was appointed advisor with the transfers, and a lot of promising players were bought. At the end of the first half of the championship, the club sees itself on the top of the table, 1st, in the run with Politehnica II Iași, Petrotub Roman and for the promotion.

At half season, coach was replaced with Daniel Timofte and the season ended with the victory and the promotion to the Liga II, and to top it all, Nelu Bucă finished 1st in the goalscorers ranking, with 25 goals.^[6][7]

Brăila started poorly the 2010/11 season, by being eliminated from the Romanian Cup in the 4th Round by Unirea Slobozia and by being last in the championship after five rounds, with only one point. After round five of the championship, Gheorghe Bunea Stancu replaced Daniel Timofte with Liviu Ciobotariu.,^[8] but brought Timofte back after round 10 of the championship, after the disaster at Piatra Neamţ, 0–4 with Ceahlăul,^[9] thus concluding Ciobotariu's charge in front of our club, and like Timofte, with only one point obtained in five matches. Timofte's return had no success, the club ranking last at the end of the first half of the championship, with only four points in 15 rounds.^[10]

The second half of the championship was more productive, CF Brăila managing to raise 17 more points, totaling 21 in the end, but not enough to avoid relegation, finishing next to last in the series.^[11] But all was not lost, because Unirea Urziceni withdrew from the 2011–12 Liga II season, this meaning that our club could play in its place.^[12]

CF Brăila had an excellent run in the first half of the 2011–12 Liga II, ranking 5th during the winter brake, just three points behind the second-placed team, Săgeata Năvodari. It finished 6th at the end of the championship.

Return to Dacia Unirea name (2015-present)[]

In 2015, the club decided to return to its first name, Dacia Unirea.^[13]

Stadium[]

Dacia Unirea Brăila plays its home matches at the Municipal Stadium,^[14] Brăila, which has a capacity of 20,000.^[15]

The stadium was opened on 21 August 1974 and was built on the ground of the old Vasile Roaită Stadium, a small stadium that had only one stand.^[16]

The original capacity was 30,000 on benches. A general renovation occurred in 2008. This included installing seats, which dropped the capacity to 20,154, making the 10th stadium in the country, by capacity. (List of football stadiums in Romania)

European record[]

Competition	S	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Balkans Cup	1	2	0	1	1	1	2	– 1
Total	1	2	0	1	1	1	2	– 1

Honours[]

Leagues[]

• Liga II
  • Winners (2): 1934–35, 1989–90
  • Runners-up (6): 1935–36, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1988–89, 1994–95, 1995–96
• Liga III
  • Winners (3): , , 2009–10
  • Runners-up (3): , , 2020–21

Cups[]

• Romanian Cup
  • Runners-up (1): 1992–93

Other Performances[]

• Appearances in Liga I: 6
• Best finish in Liga I: 6th in 1991–92
• The most successful team from Brăila County
• Semi-finalist of 1992–93, Balkans Cup

Players[]

First team squad[]

As of 3 Fabruary 2022

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 6 MF  ROU Valentin Robu (Vice-Captain) 11 FW  ROU Alexandru Duțu 12 GK  ROU Alexandru Duță (on loan from Chiajna) 13 DF  ROU Marius Moroianu 16 MF  ROU Aurelian Petrache (on loan from ) — GK  ROU Andrei Moisoiu — DF  ROU Andrei Bădilaș — DF  ROU Robert Lascu — DF  ROU Răzvan Mocanu (on loan from Chiajna) — DF  ROU Mario Palade — DF  ROU Bogdan Petre

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  ROU Ionuț Roșu — MF  CMR Patrick Arnaud — MF  ROU Rareș Boroșu — MF  ROU Marian Caplea — MF  ROU Bogdan Edmundo (on loan from Chiajna) — MF  ROU Mario Palade — MF  ROU Ștefăniță Sava — FW  ROU Răzvan Băcanu — FW  ROU Alexandru Gruia — FW  ROU Laurențiu Lemnaru

Out on loan[]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player

No. Pos. Nation Player

Club Officials[]

Statistics[]

Up to and including the end of the 2012–13 season

	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
In Liga I (6 seasons)	138	178	54	30	94	193	328
In Liga II (49 seasons)	1476	1464	631	262	581	2081	1912
In Liga III (11 seasons)	378	296	165	48	83	602	316

Notable managers[]

League history[]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• AFC Dacia Unirea Brăila on Facebook