FC Botoșani

Predecessors

The first traces of organised football in Botoșani appear just after World War 1, when a team was established in 1919. 5 years later Venus Botoșani was founded, associated with the local Jewish Maccabi sports association. Venus made its first appearance in the Romanian football pyramid in the 1937–38 season, playing amateurishly in the Divizia C East.

Following World War II, the team underwent several name changes: Flamura Roșie ("Red Flame") in 1949, Textila ("The Textile Factory") in 1957, and Unirea ("The Union") in 1963, after which it became a regular presence in Divizia C. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s these names alternated before the team eventually settled on CS Botoșani in 1973. The team subsequently won the 1974–75 Divizia C and achieved its first promotion to Divizia B, although it was immediately relegated. Throughout the rest of the 1970s, the team would oscillate between Divizia C and Divizia B.

In the summer of 1979, CS Botoșani achieved its third promotion to Divizia B, and in the 1979–80 season season, they finished third in the league, the best performance the team had ever managed. After this season, results declined, and the team occupied places near the middle and bottom of the table. After eleven consecutive seasons in Divizia B, the team was relegated. In 1993, the club dropped from Divizia C to the county leagues and was eventually dissolved.

One of Romania's greatest ever players, Nicolae Dobrin, ended his career at CS Botoșani. He played for the team in the 1985–86 season and was also the team manager.^[3]

Founding and early years (2001–2013)

After the post-revolutionary period of turmoil and corruption that characterised Romania throughout the 1990s, and several attempts to form a new club - Fotbal Club Botoșani was founded in 2001 by two businessmen, Salavastru and Sfaițer, with support from the local council, and the club started to compete in Divizia C. In the summer of 2004, the club promoted to Divizia B.^[4]

In 2005 the president of the Administration Council, Valeriu Iftime, took over the main projects of the club after the French model. Therefore, the first team played in Divizia B, the second team, formed with youngsters, played in the third league. Also, the club has a centre for children and youths who are prepared for the future of the first team.^[1]

Since the 2005–06 season, the matches of FC Botoșani were transmitted live on the radio, on "Radio AS". Until the beginning of the season, not even a radio station transmitted live. FC Botoșani participated in the second division of the Romanian football for nine consecutive seasons. In the 2005–06 season it finished on the 4th place, which was the highest position obtained until the 2012–13 season, when FC Botoșani won the series and promoted for the first time in Liga 1.^[1]

Promotion to the first division and recent history (2013–present)

The main objective for the 2013–14 season was to avoid relegation. At the start of the season, FC Botoșani was the only first league team that had only Romanian players. FC Botoșani made their debut in Liga I on 21 July 2013, in a 0–0 draw against CFR Cluj, with eight newcomers in a top tier level of the starting eleven and played most of the match with nine-man as Ciprian Dinu received a red card in the ninth minute.^[5] The next matchday, on 26 July, saw FC Botoșani netting their first Liga I victory, in a 2–1 away win over Gaz Metan Mediaș.^[6] On 25 August, FC Botoșani beat 1–0 FC Vaslui to record their first ever home win in the top tier. However, after this record, Botoșani had a poor run and manager Cristian Popovici was sacked, letting the team on the 12th place, two points above relegation. Leontin Grozavu was named manager and lead the team to a tough fight to avoid relegation.^[7]

FC Botoșani started the next season with two important victories against Astra Giurgiu and Dinamo București, teams that fought for the championship title. At the end of the season they qualified for the first time ever in 2015–16 season of UEFA Europa League, because several clubs failed to obtain UEFA licences.^[8] After a 4–4 draw with Viitorul Constanța, Botoșani again finished in eighth place.

On 2 July 2015, FC Botoșani made their debut in European competitions, in the first qualifying round of UEFA Europa League in a 1–1 tie against Spartaki Tskhinvali in the first leg in Botoșani. In the second leg in Georgia, FC Botoșani netted their first European victory in a 3–1 win over Spartaki Tskhinvali to advance to the next round, where they met Legia Warsaw.^[2]

After their first qualification in the championship play-offs, FC Botoșani finished the 2019–20 season on the 4th place, thus achieving their best Liga I performance and, once again, qualifying for UEFA Europa League after 5 years since their last participation. They netted a 2–1 away victory against Kazakh side Ordabasy in the first round, before eventually being eliminated by Shkëndija of North Macedonia after a 0–1 home loss in the second round.

Rivalries

The main rivalry of Botoșani is with Foresta Suceava, but they recently developed a rivalry with Politehnica Iași.^[11]

Domestic

First-team squad

As of 25 June 2026^[12][13]

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 4 DF  ROU Andrei Miron (Captain) 5 DF  ROU Răzvan Creț 6 DF  BIH Riad Šuta 7 MF  ROU Sebastian Mailat 10 FW  MDA Ștefan Bodișteanu 11 FW  ROU Zoran Mitrov 15 MF  ROU Denis Ștefan 23 DF  SEN Djibril Diaw 25 FW  UKR Mykola Kovtalyuk 26 MF  FRA Hervin Ongenda 28 MF  MWI Charles Petro 30 DF  ROU Alexandru Țigănașu (Vice-captain)

No. Pos. Nation Player 37 MF  ROU Mihai Bordeianu (4th captain) 41 FW  ROU Andrei Dumiter 44 DF  BIH Rijad Sadiku 73 DF  ROU Narcis Ilaș 82 GK  ROU Iustin Filote 99 GK  GRE Giannis Anestis (3rd captain) — GK  ROU Ion Gurău — DF  FRA Mamadou Diarra — FW  ROU Mario Preda — FW  BRA Gabriel Gama — FW  ROU Jovan Marković — FW  ROU George Șorodoc

Other players under contract

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 17 MF  ROU Ștefan Pănoiu 18 DF  ESP Miguel Muñoz 21 MF  BRA Lucas de Vega

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 MF  ROU Andrei Dumitru 75 MF  ROU David Ciurel 94 GK  ROU Șerban Tomache

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 33 MF  ROU Gabriel David (to Cetatea Suceava until 30 June 2027) 77 FW  ROU Alexandru Cîmpanu (to Chongqing Tonglianglong until 31 December 2026) — GK  ROU Alin Ciobanu (to Cetatea Suceava until 30 June 2026)

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  ROU Alberto Brașoveanu (to CSM Sighetu Marmației until 30 June 2026) — FW  ROU George Gligor (to Politehnica Iași until 30 June 2026) — FW  ROU Codrin Cărăușu (to Bucovina Rădăuți until 30 June 2026)

European Cups history

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Spartaki Tskhinvali	1–1	3–1	4–2
		2Q	Legia Warsaw	0–3	0–1	0–4
2020–21	UEFA Europa League	1Q	Ordabasy	—N/a	2–1	—N/a
		2Q	Shkëndija	0–1	—N/a	—N/a

Notes

• 1Q: First qualifying round
• 2Q: Second qualifying round
• 3Q: Third qualifying round
• PO: Play-off round

European cups all-time statistics

As of 17 September 2020

League history