When a friend asked if I’d like to fly to Timisoara in Romania for £20, I said yes practically before he’d finished the question. And as my fare was being paid for as a birthday present, I started packing a suitcase before the hotel was booked. To top off the plan, we discovered that Timisoara’s biggest team – at least in terms of league standing – would be at home that weekend as well.
I use the label ‘biggest team’ carefully in relation to ACS Poli Timisoara. Football has had a turbulent and tangled recent history in this city. The club’s name dates back to 1921, when the local university formed a team. Although the league title eluded them, the Romanian cup was won twice. In 1980 Politehnica Timisoara – as they were called at the time – beat Celtic in the first round of the European Cup Winners’ Cup before going out to West Ham. An even more famous result followed 10 years later when the team in purple eliminated Atletico Madrid from the UEFA Cup.
Protesting points deductions
A crowd of 40,000 filled the sweeping curves of the 1 Mai stadium – now named after a former player, Dan Paltinisanu – for that game against Atleti, but it’s a very different atmosphere this evening. Poli’s current attendances rarely exceed three figures, as prior research had attested, and this relegation scrap against fellow strugglers Concordia is no exception. Only a few hundred are here at the most.
After paying the equivalent of £3 for a ticket, my friend and I wander to the far side of the stadium. We watch a group of young fans attach a banner to the fence down at the front. They’re not happy and it seems to have a lot to do with Poli’s 14-point deduction, handed down by the Romanian authorities at the end of the previous season. The club’s handling of its finances – a recurring problem – accounts for six of those points. Bizarrely, the other eight points of their handicap were incurred as a result of Poli being spared relegation last year. Their reprieve came about because Rapid Bucharest declared bankruptcy and could not take up their place in Liga I, Romania’s top flight.
It’s been a mild day in Timisoara. However, there’s a noticeable chill growing in the air by the time Concordia go in front after 10 minutes through Cristian Albu’s looping header. It’s pretty exposed at the top of the terrace and, with no wall behind us let alone a roof above, I realise that leaving the hotel without a jacket was foolhardy in March, in eastern Europe, By half-time it’s virtually dark and Poli’s recovery from the early goal extends only to a weak shout for a penalty.
ACS Poli Timisoara: A brief history
The present-day team’s terribly poor following is a legacy of the messy events away from the pitch over the last 15 years. In 2002, Politehnica dropped to the third tier after a decline in fortunes that had begun in the 1990s. AEK Bucharest – newly promoted to Romania’s first division – relocated to the city and adopted the name Politehnica AEK Timisoara. Further name changes followed and the new team’s claim to the original club’s identity and colours was the subject of a legal challenge, but the project was successful to a degree. Along with two second-place finishes in the league, there was an appearance in the group stage of the Europa League in 2009 and a tie with Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City in 2010 as FC Timisoara.
The club was in debt, however, and, after the second of their runner-up campaigns in 2011, the price was demotion to the second tier. Twelve months later, playing as Politehnica Timisoara for a final time, they won their division but were again denied a licence to play in Liga I. At this point the Politehnica name was officially dissolved, leading to another relocation and merger. ACS Recas, a team from a neighbouring town which had just reached the second division for the first time, moved 30km in order to become ACS Poli Timisoara. The team was promoted to the top tier the next year. Following all this?
The end result is that the latest attempt to remodel the club was considered one step too far by the core of the team’s fans, who formed ASU Politehnica Timisoara in 2012. The phoenix club began in the fifth division but now plays in Liga II at a ground on the other side of the city.
A late goal and another reprieve from relegation?
After a walk around the stadium during the interval to get the blood pumping through my feet again, the match livens up in the second half. If you’ve ever wondered what noise a stadium that’s 98% empty makes when the home team scores an injury-time equaliser, the answer arrives thanks to Alin Seroni’s glancing header right at the end.
The draw leaves Poli on 14 points, after deductions, but has no great effect on their position in the league. This was the final fixture of the regular season, after which teams’ tallies are halved and rounded upwards. Nevertheless, with the giant scoreboard behind the goal reading 1-1, we join the other supporters descending the steps at the back of the stands somewhat more joyfully than we expected to a few minutes earlier.
After this game Poli entered the relegation round and avoided the drop in their last league match, recovering from 2-0 down to draw away from home. They beat UTA Arad of Liga II in a play-off and will compete in the top division again in 2017-18.
