FC Zimbru Chișinău

Zimbru Chișinău

Full name	Fotbal Club Zimbru Chișinău
Nickname(s)	Galben-verzii (The Yellow-Greens)
Founded	16 May 1947; 74 years ago (1947-05-16)
Ground	Zimbru Stadium
Capacity	10,400
President	Nicolae Ciornîi
Head Coach	Vlad Goian
League	Divizia Națională
2020–21	Divizia Națională, 8th of 10
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Fotbal Club Zimbru, known as Zimbru Chișinău, is a Moldovan professional football club based in Chișinău, which competes in the Divizia Națională, the highest tier of Moldovan football.

Founded in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1947, Zimbru entered the Soviet Top League in 1956 and totalled eleven participations before their last relegation in 1983. After the independence of Moldova in 1991, the team established itself as an early force in the country, winning all the first five national titles and eight of the first nine, but have not won since. Zimbru's honours also include six Moldovan Cups and one Moldovan Super Cup.

Galben-verzii play their home matches at the 10,400-seater Zimbru Stadium.

History[]

Zimbru Chișinău was formed in 1947 in the Moldovan Soviet Republic (present day Republic of Moldova). 'Zimbru' is a Romanian word for a form of European bison, but the club also previously functioned under names such as Dinamo, Burevestnik, Moldova, Avântul, and Nistru. The Soviet Era was spent mostly in Class B of the regional league until eventual promotion to Class A. The club then flitted between Class A and Class B as well as spending time in the Soviet Top League and First League. In total, Zimbru spent 11 seasons in the Top League between 1956 and 1983. Zimbru had their biggest success in 1956 when they finished in 6th place out of 12 in the Soviet Top League and in 1963 when they reached the quarter-finals of the Soviet Cup.^[1]
Zimbru's fortunes changed after the fall of the USSR and the establishment of the Republic of Moldova. The club won all five of the initial seasons of the Moldovan National Division (1992–96), and apart from finishing as runners-up to Chișinău rivals Constructorul Chișinău in 1996–97, won eight of the first nine championships. Zimbru have also won the Moldovan Cup six times, including a double in 1997–98 and the Moldovan Super Cup once.

Crest and colours[]

Since its foundation, Zimbru's colours always was yellow and green. Throughout history, Zimbru Chișinău had many logos. Traditional colours were always present on club crests.

Stadium[]

Zimbru Stadium

Full name	Zimbru Stadium
Location	Botanica, Chișinău
Owner	Zimbru Chișinău
Capacity	10,400[2]
Field size	105 x 68 m
Surface	Grass
Scoreboard	1,600 lux
Construction
Built	March 2004 – May 2006
Opened	20 May 2006
Construction cost	$11 million
Architect	Ceproserving SA
Structural engineer	INCONEX-COM

FC Zimbru's home ground is Zimbru Stadium, a football-specific stadium in Botanica sector of Chișinău. It was opened in 2006. The stadium has a natural grass playing surface, and its capacity is 10,400.

Rivalries[]

In the 1990s (the first decade of Moldova's independence), Zimbru's rival was the other team from Chișinău, Constructorul Chișinău. Then Contructorul was dissolved. In 1997, a new team was founded in Tiraspol, Sheriff Tiraspol. In a few years, Sheriff was promoted to the first league and became a force in Moldovan football. Considering the strength of team and the tensions between Moldovans and separatist Transnistrians, the match between Zimbru and Sheriff became a derby, the most important match in country. Thus, it has been named "Derby of Moldova", being labelled even as "Moldovan El Clasico" (Romanian: El Clasico de Moldova).^[3][4] Another rivalry was established in the mid 2000s when Dacia Chișinău, another team from Chișinău, became one of Moldova's top teams. The match between them is known as "The Derby of the capital" (Romanian: Derbyul capitalei).^[5]

Honours[]

Moldova[]

• Divizia Națională / Liga Națională / Superliga

Winners (8): 1992, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–2000

Runners-up (5): 1996–97, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2006–07

Third place (4): 2001–02, 2003–04, 2011–12, 2015–16

• Cupa Moldovei

Winners (6): 1996–97, 1997–98, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2013–14

Runners-up (3): 1994–95, 1999–00, 2017–18

• Supercupa Moldovei

Winners (1): 2014

Runners-up (3): 2003, 2004, 2007

Soviet Union[]

• Soviet First League

Winners (1): 1955

Runners-up (2): 1973, 1982

• Soviet Second League

Winners (2): 1987, 1988

Current squad[]

As of 26 August 2021^[6]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  MDA Anatol Chirinciuc 12 GK  MDA Silviu Șmalenea 35 GK  MDA Jan-Ivan Gomoja 2 DF  MDA Vasile Cojocari 3 DF  MDA Ștefan Burghiu (captain) 4 DF  MDA Vladislav Zavalișca 5 DF  MDA Tudor Pavalachi 15 DF  MDA Mihai Morozan 18 DF  NGA Okezie Ebenezer 21 DF  MDA Mihai Lițcan 23 DF  MDA Alexandru Vacarciuc 27 DF  MDA Alexei Ciopa 28 DF  MDA Arcadie Rusu

No. Pos. Nation Player 6 MF  MDA Vlad Răileanu 8 MF  MDA Eugeniu Cociuc 9 MF  MDA Cristian Dani 10 MF  MDA Artur Pătraș 14 MF  NGA Saleh Yahaya 17 MF  MDA Andrei Cojocari 19 MF  POL Martin Kuittinen 20 MF  MDA Iulian Bejan 22 MF  MDA Alexandru Gău 25 MF  MDA Gheorghe Spînu 26 MF  MDA Alexandru Vremea 30 MF  MDA Alexandru Bejan 7 FW  MDA Petru Neagu 11 FW  MDA Eugen Sidorenco 33 FW  MDA Daniel Muntean

Player of the year[]

Zimbru players who received the award Moldovan Footballer of the Year:

Year	Winner
1992	Alexandru Spiridon
1993	Alexandru Curtianu
1994	Serghei Cleșcenco
1995	Ion Testemițanu
1997	Ion Testemițanu
1999	Sergiu Epureanu
2002	Boris Cebotari

League history[]

Table[]

Season	Div.	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GS	GA	P	Cup	Europe		Top scorer (league)
1992	Divizia Națională	1	22	15	5	2	40	15	35	1/4	–		Alexandru Spiridon Iurie Miterev – 8
1992–93		1	30	22	6	2	66	17	50	1/8	–		Alexandru Spiridon – 12
1993–94		1	30	25	2	3	86	22	52	1/2	UCL	PR	Serghei Cleșcenco – 14
1994–95		1	26	21	4	1	69	10	67	RU	UC	PR	Serghei Cleșcenco – 11
1995–96		1	30	26	3	1	110	11	81	1/4	UC	R2	Vladislav Gavriliuc – 34
1996–97		2	30	22	4	4	112	21	70	W	UC	PR	Iurie Miterev – 34
1997–98		1	26	22	3	1	75	8	69	W	CWC	QR	Serghei Cleșcenco – 25
1998–99		1	26	18	7	1	43	9	61	1/4	UCL	Q1	Vladislav Gavriliuc – 10
1999–00		1	36	25	7	4	78	21	82	RU	UCL UC	Q3 R1	Victor Berco – 15
2000–01		2	28	20	6	2	46	15	66	1/2	UCL UC	Q3 R1	Iurie Miterev – 8
2001–02		3	28	12	10	6	52	20	46	1/2	UC	QR	Victor Berco – 12
2002–03		2	24	15	5	4	47	20	50	W	UC	R1	Vladimir Shishelov – 13
2003–04		3	28	14	7	7	40	23	49	W	UC	R1	Vladimir Shishelov – 15
2004–05		5	28	12	7	9	29	15	43	1/4	–		Sergiu Chirilov – 7
2005–06		2	28	15	8	5	47	20	53	1/2	–		Sergiu Chirilov – 11
2006–07		2	36	21	8	7	63	23	71	W	UC	Q2	Alexei Zhdanov – 14
2007–08		5	30	13	13	4	43	21	52	1/2	UC	Q1	Alexei Zhdanov – 12
2008–09		4	30	13	7	10	42	30	46	1/2	–		Oleg Andronic – 16
2009–10		4	33	17	8	8	47	29	59	1/4	UEL	Q2	– 7
2010–11		4	39	22	10	7	56	20	76	1/8	–		Oleg Andronic – 9
2011–12		3	33	17	10	6	47	24	61	1/4	–		Oleg Molla – 14
2012–13		6	33	12	10	11	53	38	46	1/4	UEL	Q2	Oleg Molla – 7
2013–14		4	33	18	7	8	56	24	61	W	–		Sergey Tsyganov – 13
2014–15		6	24	7	6	11	23	19	27	1/4	UEL	PO	Alexandru Dedov – 4
2015–16		3	27	15	4	8	42	26	49	1/4	–		Rui Miguel – 9
2016–17		5	30	13	7	10	32	29	46	1/2	UEL	Q2	Hugo Neto – 6
2017		8	18	5	4	9	17	21	19	RU	–		Jean Theodoro – 5
2018		5	28	9	9	10	28	37	36	1/2	–		Ilie Damașcan Ion Nicolaescu – 5
2019		7	28	3	7	18	16	43	16	1/4	–		Dan Pîslă – 5
2020–21		8	36	6	7	23	39	63	25	1/8	–		Artur Pătraș – 10

European record[]

UEFA Champions League

Season	Round	Opponents	Home leg	Away leg	Aggregate
1993–94	PR	Beitar Jerusalem	1–1	0–2	1–3
1998–99	Q1	Újpest	1–0	1–3	2–3
1999–00	Q1	St Patrick's Athletic	5–0	5–0	10–0
	Q2	Dinamo Tbilisi	2–0	1–2	3–2
	Q3	PSV Eindhoven	0–0	0–2	0–2
2000–01	Q1	KF Tirana	3–2	3–2	6–4
	Q2	Maribor	2–0	0–1	2–1
	Q3	Sparta Prague	0–1	0–1	0–2

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

Season	Round	Opponents	Home leg	Away leg	Aggregate
1997–98	QR	Shakhtar Donetsk	1–1	0–3	1–4

UEFA Cup

Season	Round	Opponents	Home leg	Away leg	Aggregate
1994–95	PR	Budapest Honvéd	0–1	1–4	1–5
1995–96	PR	Hapoel Tel Aviv	2–0	0–0	2–0
	R1	RAF Jelgava	1–0	2–1	3–1
	R2	Sparta Prague	0–2	3–4	3–6
1996–97	PR	Hajduk Split	0–4	1–2	1–6
1999–00	R1	Tottenham Hotspur	0–0	0–3	0–3
2000–01	R1	Hertha BSC	1–2	0–2	1–4
2001–02	QR	Gaziantepspor	0–0	1–4	1–4
2002–03	QR	IFK Göteborg	3–1	2–2	5–3
	R1	Real Betis	0–2	1–2	1–4
2003–04	QR	Litex Lovech	2–0	0–0	2–0
	R1	Aris	1–1	1–2	2–3
2006–07	Q1	Qarabağ	1–1	2–1 (aet)	3–2
	Q2	Metalurh Zaporizhya	0–0	0–3	0–3
2007–08	Q1	Artmedia Bratislava	2–2	1–1	3–3 (a)

UEFA Europa League

Season	Round	Opponents	Home leg	Away leg	Aggregate
2009–10	Q1	Okzhetpes	1–2	2–0	3–2
	Q2	Paços de Ferreira	0–0	0–1	0–1
2012–13	Q1	Bangor City	2–1	0–0	2–1
	Q2	Young Boys	1–0 (aet)	0–1	1–1 (1–4 pen.)
2014–15	Q1	FK Shkëndija	2–0	1–2	3–2
	Q2	CSKA Sofia	0–0	1–1	1–1 (a)
	Q3	SV Grödig	0–1	2–1	2–2 (a)
	PO	PAOK	1–0	0–4	1–4
2016–17	Q1	Chikhura Sachkhere	0–1	3–2	3–3 (a)
	Q2	Osmanlıspor	2–2	0–5	2–7

Notes: PR – preliminary round. QR – qualifying round. R1 – First round. R2 – Second round
Q1, Q2, Q3 – qualifying rounds. PO – play-off round.

Club officials[]

Former players[]

Former managers[]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website (in Romanian, Russian, and English)
• Profile at soccerway.com (in English)
• Zimbru Chișinău at weltfussballarchiv.com
• Zimbru Chișinău supporters website – ”OASTEA FIARĂ”
• Profile at footballfacts.ru (in Russian)