Fotbal Club Voluntari (Romanian pronunciation: [volunˈtarʲ]), commonly known as FC Voluntari or simply Voluntari, is a Romanian professional footballclub based in Voluntari, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga I.
Founded in 2010, they have been playing since the 2015–16 season in the Liga I, the highest tier of the Romanian league system. They claimed their first major honour in 2017, after defeating Astra Giurgiu at the penalty shoot-out in the Cupa României final, and went on to win the Supercupa României in the same year.
In the 2012–13 season of the Liga IV, they finished second and promoted to the next league Liga III. This time they won the 2013–14 Liga III and promoted again to Liga II. In Liga II they had notable performances against Farul Constanța and CF Brăila. They qualified via the promotion play-offs to Liga I from the first place.
Promotion to the first division[]
At the end of the 2014–15 Liga II season, they were promoted for the first time in their club history to Liga I, via the promotion playoffs. The 2015–16 Liga I season was a tough one for FC Voluntari, as many technical and administrative changes took the club to the relegation zone. Finishing 12th, the team faced a promotion/relegation play-off against UTA Arad, 2nd place in Seria II of the 2015–16 Liga II. FC Voluntari won 3–1 on aggregate and remained in Liga I.[2]
With experienced players like Vasile Maftei, Florin Cernat or Laurențiu Marinescu in the lineup, Voluntari improved in the 2016–17 Liga I season, finishing in 9th place and avoiding a second consecutive relegation battle. The biggest achievement for the club was winning the Romanian Cup against Astra Giurgiu, the first major trophy in its short history.[3]
