ACF Gloria Bistrița


Asociația Club de Fotbal Gloria Bistrița, commonly known as Gloria Bistrița, or simply as Gloria, was a Romanian professional football club based in Bistrița, Bistrița-Năsăud County founded on 6 July 1922 and dissolved in 2015.

History

The club was founded on 6 July 1922 and among the founding staff members there were: Simion Sbârcea as the club's president; Teofil Moldovan as the club's secretary; Ion Bota; Dumitru Hara; Simion Pop; Ioan Archiudean; and others as the club's administration committee members.
Throughout its earlier history, the club had several other names: Ceramica Bistrița, CS Bistrița and Progresul Bistrița until 1956, when the old name, Gloria, was readopted.
In 1954, the team participated in the Liga II promotion playoffs but missed on the promotion, in spite of the fact that, at that time, Gloria had on its team future Romania national team players, the Munteanu brothers.

Divizia C

The club played in Divizia C three times. It was promoted for the first time in 1957, then for the second time in the 1960s. Gloria played in Divizia C for a third and final time during the 1974–75 season, following a short-lived relegation from Divizia B.

Divizia B

Gloria earned its first Divizia B promotion in 1958, just one year after they had promoted to Divizia C. They were promoted for a second time to B in 1970, under coach Titi Popescu, and, after the one-year relegation during the 1974–75 season, they finally were promoted for the 3rd time under Gheorghe Nuțescu's reign. The team then played in Divizia B for 15 years, between 1975 and 1990, possessing many valuable players, like Daniel Iftodi, Gheorghe Hurloi, Victor Ciocan, and others.

Promotion in top division and European cups

Gloria earned promotion to the Romanian top league, Divizia A, in 1990 under coach Remus Vlad, and then the team played at that level without interruption until 2011. During this time, the club also gave Romanian football remarkable players such as Viorel Moldovan, Gavril Balint, Lucian Sânmărtean, Ciprian Tătărușanu, Emilian Dolha, Cristian Coroian, and others. After beginning somewhat shyly in the top division, in 1993 Gloria finished in fifth place and managed to achieve their premiere qualification for a European international competition, the UEFA Cup. They drew 0–0 with Maribor at home, but were eliminated after a 2–0 defeat on the road in the second leg. In 1994, Gloria Bistrița won the Romanian Cup after defeating Universitatea Craiova by a score of 1–0. Despite finishing in seventh place, thanks to their cup final win, Gloria qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. They beat the future UEFA Cup Winners' Cup winners Real Zaragoza 2–1 in Bistrița, but were eliminated after losing 4–0 at the Estadio La Romareda. After an absence of one season, although having finished in 12th place, Gloria returned to the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup after losing 3–1 in the final of the Romanian Cup against league champions Steaua București. They qualified past the inaugural round after defeating Valletta FC by scores of 2–1 in both legs. In the first round proper, Gloria drew 1–1 in Bistrița against Italian giants Fiorentina, but were eliminated by losing 1–0 in Florence.
In 1997, Gloria made its debut in the UEFA Intertoto Cup. At the group stage, playing in group 10, they finished in fourth place, having lost against Montpellier, Čukarički Stankom and Groningen and having won against Spartak Varna. In 2000, Gloria won Cupa Ligii, 3–1 on penalties, after having drawn 2–2 after extra time against FCM Bacau. They then failed to qualify for the second round of the 2001 Intertoto Cup after losing 1-0 to Jazz Pori in Finland and winning 2–1 in Bistrița. In 2002, Gloria qualified for the third round for the first time after eliminating Union Luxembourg and Teuta Durrës, but were eliminated by Lille. In 2003, Gloria Bistrița finished the league season tied on points with FC Brasov in third place, the club's best ever performance, and qualified for the second round of the Intertoto Cup after eliminating Bangor City, but the team was eventually eliminated by Brescia.
In 2005, Gloria earned its best European results ever against Olympiakos Nicosia: 5-0 in Cyprus and 11–0 in Bistrița. In 2007, Gloria finished its business with European competitions. In the 2007 Intertoto Cup, they eliminated OFK Grbalj and Maccabi Haifa, but then lost the Cup final match against Atlético Madrid. Even though they beat Atlético, 2-1 in Bistrița, they lost 1–0 in Madrid, and so, 2–2 on aggregate, the Spanish prevailed on the away goals rule.
After 2007, Gloria changed its objective, from European competitions to avoiding relegation. In 2011, Gloria was relegated in Liga II after failing to achieve a license for the next season.

Insolvency

Gloria's funding problems worsened. However, Gloria Bistrița resisted on the pitch, and finished runner-up in the second division, thereby earning promotion to Liga I once again, under the leadership of coach Nicolae Manea. In the following season, however, Gloria had the worst record in first division, finishing 18th, and were relegated yet again. After the second relegation, Manea left the club to coach Corona Brașov, taking with him former Gloria strikers, Cristian Coroian and Sandu Negrean, as technical director and head coach respectively, with the stated objective of gaining promotion.
On 25 July 2014, Gloria was relegated to Liga III, due to many financial problems, and changed its name from ACF Gloria 1922 Bistrița to Gloria Progresul Bistrița.
On 3 August 2015, the club was relegated to Liga V, due to many financial problems, and went bankrupt.

Successors

After the bankruptcy of ACF Gloria 1922 Bistriţa, a new club was formed, AF Gloria Bistrița, also known as Academia Gloria, club that wanted to continue the football tradition of Gloria and had also a short term rivalry with FC Bistrița, another team that wanted to fight for the supremacy in the town. Eventually FC Bistrița won the battle and promoted to Liga III, but due to lack of funds the team retired in the second part of the season and dissolved soon after. The death of the one who led Gloria for decades, Jean Pădureanu, seemed to be the last hammer blow for the football in Bistrița. Academia Gloria was a disputed project from its beginning, the new logo that depicted an ostrich with a ball at its feet has long been challenged by both media and supporters. Even if the team managed to promote from Liga V to Liga IV in its first year, has been stuck to this level for next two. The lack of results, the lack of interest in getting the ACF Gloria 1922 Bistriţa brand and the lack of professionalism at the level of management have removed both supporters and local authorities from this team, which was finally dissolved in the summer of 2018.
In the summer of 2018 when it seemed the situation had already a note of apathy and resignation, ACS Dumitra, a multiple champion of the Bistrița-Năsăud County and also the champion of the last season, announced that it changed its name to 1. FC Gloria Bistrița. The new president of the club was named Ioan Horoba, who was also the sporting director of ACF Gloria 1922 Bistriţa, in Pădureanu's era. In the squad were found players who have been successful with the old club such as: Sergiu Costin, Alin Chibulcutean, Sergiu Mândrean or Adrian Nalați. 1. FC Gloria also announced that in the future would like to buy ACF Gloria 1922 Bistriţa brand and to become its official successor.

Stadium

The stadium was inaugurated in 1930 and modernized in 2008. It was called Stadionul Municipal Gloria, before being named after the most important person in the club's history, Jean Pădureanu. The stadium has a total capacity of 7,800 seats.

European record

Statistics by competition

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup / European Cup Winners' Cup

SeasonRoundCountryClubHomeAwayAggregate
1994–95First round SpainReal Zaragoza2 – 10 – 42 – 5
1996–97Qualifying round MaltaValletta2 – 12 – 14 – 2
1996–97First round ItalyFiorentina1 – 10 – 11 – 2

UEFA Europa League / UEFA Cup

SeasonRoundCountryClubHomeAwayAggregate
1993–94First round SloveniaNK Maribor0 – 00 – 20 – 2

UEFA Intertoto Cup

SeasonRoundCountryClubHomeAwayAggregate
1997Group stage FranceMontpellier1 – 24th place
1997Group stage YugoslaviaČukarički Stankom2 – 34th place
1997Group stage BulgariaSpartak Varna2 – 14th place
1997Group stage NetherlandsGroningen1 – 44th place
2001First round FinlandFC Jazz2 – 10 – 12 – 2
2002First round LuxembourgUnion Luxembourg2 – 00 – 02 – 0
2002Second round AlbaniaTeuta3 – 00 – 13 – 1
2002Third round FranceLille0 – 20 – 10 – 3
2003First round WalesBangor City F.C.5 – 21 – 06 – 2
2003Second round ItalyBrescia Calcio1 – 11 – 22 – 3
2004First round SwitzerlandFC Thun0 – 00 – 20 – 2
2005First round CyprusOlympiakos Nicosia11 – 05 – 016 – 0
2005Second round CroatiaNK Slaven Belupo0 – 12 – 32 – 4
2007First round MontenegroGrbalj2 – 11 – 13 – 2
2007Second round IsraelMaccabi Haifa 0 – 22 – 02 – 2
2007Third round SpainAtlético Madrid2 – 10 – 12 – 2

Managers

Managerial history dating from the past 20 years

Domestic

Championships

Club records in Liga 1 dating from the past 20 years
Longest winning run
Longest unbeaten run
Biggest wins
Biggest losses
Most played games
Most goals