Fotbal Club Callatis Mangalia, commonly known as Callatis Mangalia, was a Romanian professional football club based in Mangalia, ConstanÃÂa County, founded in 1964 and dissolved in 2015.
The club was founded in 1964 under the name Metalul Mangalia and was financially sustained by the Mangalia Shipyard, achieving promotion to the Dobrogea Regional Championship at the end of the 1965âÂÂ66 season.
Metalul performed solidly in the Regional Championship, finishing 4th in the 1966âÂÂ67 season and 7th in the 1967âÂÂ68 season, gradually establishing itself as a competitive side.
In the 1968âÂÂ69 season, Metalul won the first edition of the ConstanÃÂa County Championship following the territorial reorganization of the country but failed to secure promotion to the third division, losing to Laromet BucureÃÂti, the winner of the BucureÃÂti Municipal Championship (0âÂÂ0 in Mangalia and 0âÂÂ2 in BucureÃÂti).
Metalul promoted to Divizia C at the end of the 1979âÂÂ80 season, winning the County Championship and the promotion play-off against Victoria Râmnicu SÃÂrat, the BuzÃÂu County Championship winner, 8âÂÂ2 on aggregate (5âÂÂ2 at home and 3âÂÂ0 away).
In the third division, Metalul first competed in Series IV, finishing 4th in the 1980âÂÂ81 season, 10th in the 1981âÂÂ82 season, and 8th in the 1982âÂÂ83 season.
In the 1983âÂÂ84 season, Metalul won Series III, earning promotion to Divizia B for the first time in its history. The team, led by Vasile Mihu as head coach and Dan Dima as assistant coach, was composed of: Dumitru, Jianu, VodÃÂ, Voicu, Greavu, Stoica, Toader, Negure, Sail, Gîrdea, Ali, George Turcu, Irimet, DrÃÂghiceanu, Belu, Stamate, Dedeanu, CÃÂciularu, Carastoian, Isaic, and Simion.
Metalul Mangalia struggled in the second division, finishing 16th in Series I, just two points short of safety, and being relegated after only one season. The following two seasons in Series IV of the third division saw the team fighting to avoid relegation, finishing 12th in the 1985âÂÂ86 season and improving in the 1986âÂÂ87 season, ranking 4th.
In the 1987âÂÂ88 season, Metalul won Series III of Divizia C, returning to the second division after three years of absence. The squad, coached by Vasile Enache with Dan Dima as assistant coach, included the following players: N. Dumitru, SÃÂrÃÂcin, Chera, CÃÂÃÂuneanu, Turcu, CrÃÂciuneanu, MihÃÂilÃÂ, Nedelcu, Gh. Dumitru, Voicu, NÃÂstase, Iordan, Biciu, Macovei, Peteanu, LazÃÂr, Georges Mihai, DrÃÂghiceanu, Carastoian (17 goals), B. Oprea (10 goals), and Isaic.
The club was immediately relegated back to the third division in the following season, finishing last after a disappointing campaign, despite Ion Carastoian emerging as the top scorer of Series II with 18 goals.
Following the relegation, Metalul merged with Callatis MangaliaâÂÂa team from the county championship named after the historical Greek name of the cityâÂÂand adopted its name. The newly formed team competed in Divizia C during the 1989âÂÂ90 season, finishing 1st in Series IV and earning promotion to Divizia B.
In Divizia B, Callatis competed in Series I, finishing 11th in the 1990âÂÂ91 season and 5th in 1991âÂÂ92 under Mihai StoichiÃÂÃÂ. In the 1992âÂÂ93 season, following the departures of StoichiÃÂàto Autobuzul BucureÃÂti and Lavi Hrib to Steaua during the winter break, Callatis appointed Vasile Enache as head coach, who guided the team to an 8th-place finish, followed by a 14th in 1993âÂÂ94.
The 1994âÂÂ95 season proved disastrous. Callatis fell to the bottom of the table early on and never recovered. Emil CaÃÂaroàwas dismissed after only three rounds, being succeeded by former player Ion Carastoian, who remained in charge for eleven rounds before also being replaced by Gheorghe Drogeanu, who led the team to close a bleak campaign in 18th place, which resulted in relegation.
Callatis began the 2010âÂÂ11 season with Cristian CÃÂmui as head coach but replaced him in November with Erik Lincar, who guided the team to win Series II of Liga III. The team finished one point ahead of its main rival, Unirea Slobozia, securing a return to the second division after five years.
In the 2011âÂÂ12 season, Marin Barbu was appointed as head coach, but after disappointing results in the first six rounds, where the team earned only 3 points, he was dismissed. Cristian ÃÂchiopu briefly served as interim coach before Mugurel CornÃÂÃÂeanu took over in October, guiding the team to a 9th-place finish in Series I of Divizia B. However, Callatis faced significant financial difficulties and withdrew from the competition just four days before the start of the following season.
Reorganized in Liga IV â ConstanÃÂa County, the team led by Mugurel CornÃÂÃÂeanu, finished 1st in the 2012âÂÂ13 season and earned promotion to Liga III by defeating VoinÃÂa Cocora 9âÂÂ1, the Liga IV â IalomiÃÂa County winner.
In the third division, Callatis competed in Series II, finishing 8th in the first stage and 9th overall in the 2013âÂÂ14 season, and 10th in the 2014âÂÂ15 season. However, due to ongoing financial problems, the team withdrew from Liga III in the summer of 2015.
Liga IV â ConstanÃÂa County
The footballers mentioned below have played at least 1 season for Callatis and also played in Liga I for another team.