ASU Politehnica Timișoara

Politehnica Timișoara

Full name	Asociația Club Sportiv Știința Poli Timișoara
Nicknames	Alb-violeții (The White-Purples) Băieții în Ghete (Boys in Boots) Timișorenii (The Timișoara People) Bănățenii (The Banat People) Echipa de pe Bega (The Bega River Team)
Short name	Poli
Founded	4 December 1921 (1921-12-04) as Societatea Sportivă Politehnica Timișoara' 2012 (2012) (reorganised) as Asociația Sportivă Universitară Politehnica Timișoara
Ground	Electrica / Știința
Capacity	5,000 / 2,600
Owners	Politehnica University of Timișoara Timiș County Council
General director	Dinu Bara
Head coach	Dan Alexa
League	Liga II
2025–26	Liga III, Seria IV, 1st (promoted)
Website	https://www.politehnicatimisoara.com
Home colours Away colours

Asociația Club Sportiv Știința Poli Timișoara (Romanian pronunciation: [poliˈtehnika timiˈʃo̯ara]), commonly known as Politehnica Timișoara, Știința Poli Timișoara or simply Poli Timișoara, is a Romanian professional football club based in Timișoara, Timiș County, that competes in Liga II, the second tier of Romanian football.

The original FC Politehnica Timișoara was founded in 1921 by the Politehnica University of Timișoara and won the Cupa României twice, in 1957–58 and 1979–80. Following its dissolution in 2012, a supporter-backed club named ASU Politehnica was formed, while ACS Recaș was relocated to Timișoara and renamed ACS Poli Timișoara. initially claimed the original club's sporting record, which was subsequently transferred free of charge to ACS Poli in March 2014, while ASU Politehnica began competing in the lower divisions of Romanian football. The two clubs attracted different sections of the city's football supporters and followed separate sporting paths. ACS Poli eventually reached Liga I but was dissolved in 2021. That year, the Politehnica University of Timișoara transferred the original club's brand and records to the reorganised SSU Politehnica, which continues the original club's history and sporting heritage.^[1][2][3]

In 2025, a new association, Știința Poli Timișoara, was established as part of a reorganisation involving Timiș County Council, Timișoara City Hall and the Politehnica University of Timișoara, with the aim of supporting the city's football team and providing a framework for public funding.^[4]

The team plays its home matches at Electrica Stadium in Timișoara, wearing white and purple kits. Its main rivals are UTA Arad, with whom it contests the West derby.^[5]

History

Established by the Politehnica University of Timișoara in 1921, the original FC Politehnica Timișoara became one of the city's leading football clubs, spending forty-four seasons in Romania's top division and winning two Cupa României trophies, in 1957–58 and 1979–80. Following changes in ownership and identity during the 1990s and 2000s, the white-and-purple side finished runner-up in Liga I in 2008–09 and 2010–11. Despite the latter result, the club was relegated to Liga II after failing to obtain a first-division licence and, following another unsuccessful licensing attempt the next year, was dissolved in September 2012.^[6]

Following the dissolution, some supporters opposed the relocation of ACS Recaș to Timișoara and instead backed ASU Politehnica, an amateur team run by the university that competed in local leagues with few other ambitions. Under Antonio Foale, who coached the team from 2004, ASU Politehnica won Series I of the Timiș Municipal Championship in the 2011–12 season, the fourth tier of the Timiș County league system and the seventh tier of Romanian football.^[7] Although supported by followers of the dissolved club, ASU Politehnica had its own competitive record and entered Liga V Timiș, the fifth tier of Romanian football, in the summer of 2012.^[8]

In the 2012–13 season, ASU Politehnica finished 2nd in Liga V Timiș under head coach Paul Codrea, who replaced Antonio Foale in March 2013, and earned promotion to Liga IV Timiș.^[9] The team finished 2nd again the following season, missing out on promotion, but won its first trophy by defeating FC Giarmata 4–3 after extra time in the Cupa României Timiș County phase, following a 3–3 draw after 90 minutes.^[10]

In January 2015, ASU Politehnica participated in Football Without Owners, an indoor friendly tournament held in Sibiu involving four Romanian clubs: ASU Politehnica, FC Argeș 1953 Pitești, FC Vaslui 2002 and hosts LSS Voința Sibiu.^[11]

ASU Politehnica won the Liga IV Timiș title in the 2014–15 season and secured promotion to Liga III for the first time in its history after a 5–1 home victory in the first leg and a 1–2 away defeat against Voința Lupac, the champions of Liga IV Caraș-Severin.

Supporters and Rivalries

Historically, Poli has been the most prominent football club in Timișoara after 1945, playing consistently in either the first or the second tier of Romanian football. Local rivalries with CFR Timișoara^[13] and UM Timișoara^[14] were relevant until the early 2000s. Afterwards, the former was relegated to a semi-professional status in the lower leagues and the latter was dissolved in 2008. A more recent local rivalry has emerged since the 2010s, with Ripensia Timișoara. SSU Poli has many fans in Romania but also in other countries. The roots of the Poli ultras movement was found in 1995 when groups like Urban Guerilla, Gruppo Soarelui, Frenetic, Banatica, Drojdierii or Gruppo Autonomo Viola appear in the South End.

Over the years, Poli developed rivalries with UTA Arad and Dinamo București. The rivalry with UTA, also known as West Derby, stems from the natural competition between the cities of Timișoara and Arad, which are located close to each other and are the main cities in the region. Both Timișoara and Arad claim to be the first place where football was played in Romania, with Timișoara being the true first city in Romania to host a football game.^[15]

Other rivalries are shared with CFR Cluj, Bihor Oradea and Steaua București.

Over the years, Politehnica Timișoara fans have established close friendships with the supporters of Universitatea Craiova,^[16] Rapid București and the Nordkurve from Borussia Mönchengladbach.^[17]

Honours

Liga III

• Winners (2): 2015–16, 2025–26
• Runners-up (2): 2023–24, 2024–25

Liga IV – Timiș County

• Winners (1): 2014–15
• Runners-up (1): 2013–14

Liga V – Timiș County

• Runners-up (1): 2012–13

Players

First-team squad

As of 23 October 2026^[18]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ROU Sebastian Micu 3 DF  ROU Cornel Ene 4 DF  POR Pedro Paul 5 MF  ROU Robert Burlacu-Luca 6 DF  HUN András Huszti 7 MF  ROU Stephan Drăghici 8 FW  ROU David Popa (3rd captain) 9 FW  ROU Aurelian Chițu 10 MF  ROU Fabian Marincu (4th captain) 11 FW  ROU Vlad Morar 14 FW  NED Kevin Nyarko 15 DF  ROU Aurel Vlaicu 16 MF  ROU Ion Vasluian 17 FW  ROU Mihai Bonț 18 MF  ROU Andrei Artean (Captain) 19 DF  ROU Călin Toma

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 DF  ROU Romario Benzar (Vice-captain) 21 MF  ROU Raul Gârlonța 22 DF  ROU Ștefan Ștefanovici 23 GK  ROU Luca Ungureanu 24 FW  ROU Ianis Doană 25 MF  ROU Iosif Rotariu 26 MF  ROU Eric Adam 27 MF  ROU Ovidiu Popescu 28 DF  MDA Mihai Dolghi 29 FW  ROU Dan Spătaru (on loan from Universitatea Craiova) 30 GK  ROU Tudor Coșa — GK  ROU Ionuț Rus — DF  ROU Alin Techereș — MF  ROU Raul Ailenei — MF  ROU Lukas Pall

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ROU Mihai Enășescu (at Dumbrăvița until 30 June 2027) — DF  ROU Angelo Radu (at Timișul Șag until 30 June 2027)

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  ROU Dennis Krista (at Dumbrăvița until 30 June 2027)

Club officials

Board of directors Role Name Owners Politehnica University of Timișoara Timiș County Council General Director Dinu Bara Executive Director Wiliam Harasim President Simon Pescari Board Member Iosif Rotariu Sporting Director Ion Timofte Economic Director Delia Drăguescu Communications Director Cornel Biholari Marketing Director Andrei Birtea Academy Technical Director Ovidiu Vîlceanu Organizer of Competitions Petre Mușat Chief Scout Florin Bătrînu Team Manager Ciprian Freanț Head of Security Flavius Muntean Press Officer Octavian Stăncioiu

Current technical staff Role Name Head coach Dan Alexa Assistant coaches Ștefan Grigorie Antonio Foale Goalkeeping coach Mădălin Smaranda Fitness coach Vlad Țăran Club doctor Musab Al-Qatawneh Physiotherapist Adrian Rus Masseurs Marius Inciulescu Adrian Blaj Kit man Bogdan Comănișteanu

Most capped players

#	Name	Career	Matches	Goals
1	Sorin Vlaicu	1987–2001	288	29
2	Simion Surdan	1963–1975	282	58
3	Constantin Varga	1986–1999	274	71
4	Dan Păltinișanu	1970–1985	271	24
5	Stelian Anghel	1974–1984	262	72
6	Adrian Stoicov	1987–1998	246	3
7	Iosif Lereter	1957–1967	227	89
8	Gheorghe Șerbănoiu	1975–1984	222	13
9	Aurel Șunda	1979–1987	218	10
10	Emerich Dembrovschi	1966–1981	208	51

League and cup history

European record

Notable wins

Season	Match	Score
UEFA Cup / Europa League
1978–79	Poli Timișoara – MTK Budapest	2 – 0
1978–79	Poli Timișoara – Honvéd Budapest	2 – 0
1990–91	Poli Timișoara – Atlético Madrid	2 – 0
1990–91	Poli Timișoara – Sporting Lisbon	2 – 0
2009–10	Poli Timișoara – Dinamo Zagreb	2 – 1
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
1980–81	Poli Timișoara – Celtic Glasgow	1 – 0
1980–81	Poli Timișoara – West Ham United	1 – 0

Former managers

See also

• List of fan-owned sports teams
• ASU Politehnica Timișoara (women)

References

• "Derby în Timișoara! ASU Poli a învins-o pe Ripensia, 6–2, în faţa a 6.500 de fani". www.gsp.ro.

External links

• Official website (in Romanian)
• SSU Politehnica Timișoara on Facebook