CSM Alexandria
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| Full name | Club Sportiv Municipal Alexandria | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Alexăndrenii (The Alexandria People) Rulmentul (The Bearing) | ||
| Short name | Alexandria | ||
| Founded | 1948 as Unirea Alexandria | ||
| Ground | Comunal (Buzescu) (temporary) | ||
| Capacity | 500 | ||
| Owner | Alexandria Municipality | ||
| Chairman | Bogdan Ciobanu | ||
| Manager | Ștefan Odoroabă | ||
| League | Liga III | ||
| 2023–24 | Liga II, 19th of 20 (relegated) | ||
| Website | https://csmalexandria.ro/ | ||
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Club Sportiv Municipal Alexandria, commonly known as CSM Alexandria or simply as Alexandria, is a Romanian professional football club based in Alexandria, Teleorman County, currently competes in Liga III, the third tier of the Romanian football.
The team that represents the men's football section of multi-sport club CSM Alexandria, which also include a women's football team and a women's basketball team, was founded in 1948 and during over time has had several names such as: Unirea, Progresul, Comerțul, Automatica, Rulmentul, FC Alexandria and FCM Alexandria,[1] being one of the most important football team of Teleorman County.
The best known players are Florea Voicilă (a player who represented the national team while playing in the second division for Alexandria) and Florică Mitroi – both home-grown players. Their best performance was 3rd place in the Romanian second league in 1982, above Rapid București.[2]
The club formed players like Dan Balauru, Valentin Badea and Basarab Panduru. These players played at the top level or even for the Romania national football team.
History
[edit]The club was founded in 1948 under the name Unirea Alexandria and played in the Bucharest Regional Championship.
The club was renamed as Progresul Alexandria in the summer of 1961 and promoted to Divizia B at the end of the 1961–62 season winning the Regional Championship and the Series II of the promotion play-off held at Piatra Neamț.[3]
Progresul lasted only one season in the second division, finishing in 12th place and being relegated to the newly formed Divizia C. The team played the following two seasons in the South Series of the third division, finishing 11th in the 1963–64 season and 14th in the 1964–65 season, which led to their relegation to the regional championship.
Renamed as Comerțul Alexandria, the team returned to Divizia C after three seasons in the regional championship, finishing 1st in the West Series of the 1967–68 season.
In the following seasons, Comerțul played in Series IV of the third division, finishing 3rd in the 1968–69 season, 2nd in the 1969–70 season, just four points behind Autobuzul București, 6th in the 1970–71 season, and 8th in Series VI in the 1971–72 season. The team was then renamed Automatica and continued to compete in Series VI of Divizia C, finishing 4th in the 1972–73 season and 1st in the 1973–74 season, which earned them promotion to the second division after eleven years of absence.
In the 1974–75 season, Automatica, coached by former Romanian national football team player Cornel Popa, finished 14th in Series II, tied on points with Flacăra Moreni. The team remained in the second division after winning the relegation tie-breaker match 1–0 held in Oradea, with a goal scored by Florea Voicilă.[4]
"We haven't forgotten that in '82/ You took us through Paradise/ After Rapid, you were also/ In 3rd place, and it wasn't a dream"
In the 1981–82 season, Rulmentul ranked 3rd in the Series II of Divizia B, behind promoted Petrolul Ploiești and Rapid București. It was the peak moment of Teleorman football until then, the team being coached by former international Nicolae Lupescu. Florea Voicilă shone in the team, a striker with exceptional qualities, who managed the performance of catching two selections for the national team even though he was part of a second division team.[2]
In the 2004–05 season of Divizia B, Rulmentul Alexandria was relegated to the third division after finishing last in Series II and slid into the fourth division at the end of the following season, finishing last in its series once again.
In the 2008–09 season, the club won the Liga IV – Teleorman County, but lost the promotion play-off for Liga III losing 1–2 against Comprest București. In spite of losing the play-off, the club managed to promote by an administrative decision; the Romanian Football Association announced that FCM Alexandria would play in the Series IV of 2009–10 Liga III season, FCM finished at the middle of the table in 8th place.
The following season, Alexandria finished 14th out of 16 in Series III and was spared from relegation due to the withdrawal of other teams from the competition. The 2011–12 season saw the team from Alexandria finished in 8th place.
Led by three coaches during the season, Alexandru Gheorghe, Marian Botea and Sorin Albeanu, the club was relegated to the fourth division at the end of the 2012–13 season.
Following the relegation, Mircea Cristescu was appointed as the new head coach. Cristescu guided the team to finish 2nd in the Liga IV – Teleorman County, 10 points behind Sporting Roșiori.[5][6]
The failure of promotion led to the dismissal of Cristescu to be replaced by Gabriel Lungu for 2014–15 season, but Lungu was sacked after the defeat from 8th round, 0–1 against Sporting Turnu Măgurele, the main contender for promotion, and Romulus Ciobanu was announced as the next head coach. “Alexăndrenii” finishing eventually as runners-up, 8th points behind its rival from Turnu Măgurele.[7][8][9]
With Ciobanu in charge, FCM Alexandria made the comeback to third league, winning the 2015–16 Liga IV –Teleorman County season and the promotion play-off against Andrias Andrășești (3–1 at home and 1–1 away), the winner of Liga IV – Ialomița County.[10][11]
In June 2023 it returned to second league after 18 years of absence – beating CSO Plopeni and Viitorul Dăești over two legs in the promotion play-offs.
Honours
[edit]- Winners (4): 1973–74, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2022–23
- Runners-up (6): 1969–70, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1990–91, 2017–18
Bucharest Regional Championship:
Other performances
[edit]Players
[edit]First team squad
[edit]- As of 10 September 2024
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
[edit]Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Club officials
[edit]
Board of directors[edit]
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Current technical staff[edit]
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Chronology of names
[edit]| Name[1] | Period |
|---|---|
| Unirea Alexandria | 1948–1961 |
| Progresul Alexandria | 1961–1967 |
| Comerțul Alexandria | 1967–1972 |
| Automatica Alexandria | 1972–1976 |
| Unirea Alexandria | 1976–1978 |
| Rulmentul Alexandria | 1978–1981 |
| Unirea Alexandria | 1981–1985 |
| Automatica Alexandria | 1985–1988 |
| Unirea Alexandria | 1988–1990 |
| Rulmentul Alexandria | 1990–1991 |
| Unirea Alexandria | 1991–1996 |
| FC Alexandria | 1996–1997 |
| Rulmentul Alexandria | 1997–2008 |
| FCM Alexandria | 2008–2018 |
| CSM Alexandria | 2018–present |
League history
[edit]
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Notable former players
[edit]- Romania
Former managers
[edit]
Gheorghe Dungu (1963–1964)- Cornel Popa (1974–1975)
- Viorel Kraus (1975)
- Constantin Marinescu (1976)
- Gheorghe Dungu (1977–1980)
- Viorel Ion (2003–2004)
- Romulus Ciobanu (2008–2009)
- Emil Ursu (2011)
- Romulus Ciobanu (2014–2017)
- Alin Chița (2018)
- Alin Pânzaru (2019)
- Laurențiu Diniță (2020)
- Eugen Trică (2023–2024)
- Nicolae Lupescu
- Gabriel Raksi
- Florea Voicilă
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Evoluția denumirilor echipelor de-a lungul anilor" [Evolution of team names over the years]. romaniansoccer.ro. Retrieved 1 January 2024.(in Romanian)
- ^ a b "Regele Alexandriei!** A prins naționala din Divizia B, dar Steaua și Dinamo erau vise interzise pentru el: el e Florea Voicilă" [The King of Alexandria!** He got the national team from Divizia B, but Steaua and Dinamo were forbidden dreams for him: he is Florea Voicilă]. prosport.ro. 26 March 2012. Archived from the original on 10 September 2024. Retrieved 10 September 2024.(in Romanian)
- ^ "A luat sfârșit turneul de baraj pentru calificare în categoria B" [The play-off tournament for qualification in category B has ended] (PDF). Sportul Popular. 23 July 1962. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 October 2023. Retrieved 9 September 2024 – via bibliotecadeva.eu.(in Romanian)
- ^ "În barajul de la Oradea" [În the Oradea dam] (PDF) (in Romanian). Sportul. 28 July 1975. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 December 2024. Retrieved 26 December 2024 – via bibliotecadeva.eu.
- ^ "S-au reunit și au jucat deja – FCM Alexandria pregătește noul sezon" [They reunited and played already – FCM Alexandria is preparing for the new season]. ziarulteleormanul.ro. 5 August 2013. Archived from the original on 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.(in Romanian)
- ^ "Liga a IV-a, etapa 30 – Sporting este din nou campioană, Suhaia a retrogradat, Buzescu așteaptă barajul!" [Liga IV, round 30 - Sporting is again champion, Suhaia has relegated, Buzescu is waiting for the playoff!]. ziarulteleormanul.ro. 9 June 2014. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2024.(in Romanian)
- ^ "O decizie neașteptată – Mircea Cristescu a fost demis de la FCM Alexandria!" [An unexpected decision - Mircea Cristescu was dismissed from FCM Alexandria!]. ziarulteleormanul.ro. 29 June 2014. Archived from the original on 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.(in Romanian)
- ^ "Starea de incertitudine s-a încheiat – Gabriel Lungu este noul antrenor al FCM Alexandria!" [The state of uncertainty is over – Gabriel Lungu is the new coach of FCM Alexandria!]. ziarulteleormanul.ro. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.(in Romanian)
- ^ "Romică Ciobanu a fost instalat antrenor la FCM Alexandria! – Albeanu rămâne secund" [Romică Ciobanu was installed as a coach at FCM Alexandria! – Albeanu remains second]. ziarulteleormanul.ro. 29 October 2014. Archived from the original on 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.(in Romanian)
- ^ "După trei sezoane, FCM Alexandria reușește să câștige titlul județean!" [After three seasons, FCM Alexandria manages to win the county title!]. ziarulteleormanul.ro. 15 June 2016. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2024.(in Romanian)
- ^ "FCM Alexandria – Andrias Andrășești 3-1 / Victorie mai categorică decât arată scorul în prima manșă a barajului pentru alexăndreni!" [FCM Alexandria – Andrias Andrășești 3-1 / A more decisive victory than the score shows in the first leg of the play-off for alexăndreni!]. ziarulteleormanul.ro. 20 June 2016. Archived from the original on 1 January 2024. Retrieved 1 January 2024.(in Romanian)