AsociaÃÂia Fotbal Club Unirea 04 Slobozia, (), commonly known as Unirea Slobozia or simply as Unirea, is a Romanian professional football club based in Slobozia, IalomiÃÂa County, which competes in the Liga I, the top tier of Romanian football.
The team was founded in 1955 and reestablished in 2004, being for the most part of its history a participant in the third division of the Romanian football. Unirea Slobozia has also spent several seasons in the second division, first in the early 1980s and then between 2012 and 2015, when also obtained 3rd place, the best ranking in the competition until then. Unirea promoted for the first time in history in first division at the end of the 2023âÂÂ24 season.
"The Yellow-Blues" play their home games at the Stadionul 1 Mai, which can host 6,000 spectators.
Unirea Slobozia was founded in 1955 under the name Combil Slobozia, initially under the tutelage of the IalomiÃÂa combine for the production and industrialisation of pork meat, spending fifteen seasons in the Regional and County Championships, during which it competed under several names, including Avântul, VoinÃÂa and Energia.
In the 1969âÂÂ70 season, Energia achieved promotion to Divizia C after winning the IalomiÃÂa County Championship and the promotion play-off against ITA BucureÃÂti, the Bucharest Municipal champions (0âÂÂ0 at home and 2âÂÂ1 away).
Meanwhile, the club was taken over by the Amonil chemical fertiliser combine and, following promotion to the third division, was renamed Azotul Slobozia, being mostly a mid-table side and finishing 6th in Series III in the 1970âÂÂ71 season, then moved to Series V where it finished 8th in 1971âÂÂ72, 4th in 1972âÂÂ73, 8th in 1973âÂÂ74, 3rd in 1974âÂÂ75 and 1975âÂÂ76, and 7th in 1976âÂÂ77, and then moved to Series IV, where it placed 5th in 1977âÂÂ78 and 2nd in 1978âÂÂ79, before being renamed Amonil Slobozia in 1979 and continuing to compete in Divizia C, finishing 2nd in the 1979âÂÂ80 season, 9th in 1980âÂÂ81 and 7th in Series V in the 1981âÂÂ82 season.
In the summer of 1982, the club was renamed Unirea Slobozia, and under the guidance of Ion PÃÂciulete, took the 1st place in Seria IV of the 1982âÂÂ83 season promoting for the first time in Divizia B. The squad was composed of following players: Dumitru Soare, Ion Ionescu, Titel Tache, SÃÂndel DrÃÂguÃÂ, Dan Cristea, Vasile BorÃÂ, Radu Gogan, Gh. Mateiu, N. Nicolae, Gh. Nicolae, LazÃÂr, Ion Lupu, PÃÂun, Liviu, Nini VintilÃÂ, Constantinescu and I. Damaschin.
In the first season in the second division, Unirea strengthened with players such as Gheorghe TÃÂtaru, as player-coach, L. Toader, Cr.NiÃÂÃÂ, V. JercÃÂlÃÂu, Marian Ene, Hadadea, Marchidan, V.Petrescu, G. Simionov, but Unirea have a bad run, finishing on 17th place relegating back to the third division.
The following season, Unirea finished 11th out of 16, tied on points with four other teams, securing their third division status at goal difference.
Unirea achieved promotion to Divizia B at the end of 1985âÂÂ86 season, detaching in the last two rounds after a spectacular duel with Sportul 30 Decembrie. The team managed by Constantin Dinu was composed among others from following players: D. Soare, Suciu, ÃÂoltuz, S. DrÃÂguÃÂ, R. Gogan, D. Cristea, I. ÃÂanicoiu, M. Ene, I. Iordache, Dumitru, I. Lupu, I. Constantin (34 goals), N. VintilÃÂ, PÃÂun and DÃÂnilÃÂ.
In the 1986âÂÂ87 season, managed by Nicolae Dumitru as head coach in the first part of the season and Emanoil HaÃÂoti in the second part, Unirea reinforced with new players such as M.Istrate, M. Dinu, Ad. Cîrîc, H. Mihale, C. Gache, C. PrepeliÃÂÃÂ, V. RoÃÂu, S. BÃÂtrâneanu and Cr. MustacÃÂ, was ranked 7th in Series I. The stay in second division lasted only two seasons, as in the 1987âÂÂ88 season IalomiÃÂenii finished 16th in its series being relegated to Divizia C.
The promotion was immediate. Unirea, under the leadership of Constantin PrepeliÃÂàas player-coach in the first part of the season and Vasile DobrÃÂu in the second part, won Series IV of Divizia C in the following campaign. Also, Slobozenii managed to reach the quarter-finals of Cupa României passing two first division teams, Universitatea Cluj 1âÂÂ0 in the first round and FC Bihor Oradea 2âÂÂ0 in the second round, being eliminated by Steaua BucureÃÂti 1âÂÂ3. The squad was composed among other players from M. Istrate, Matei, S. DrÃÂguÃÂ, I. ÃÂanicoiu, Ad. Cîrîc, Nedelciu, I. Iordache, IoniÃÂÃÂ, Paraschiv, C. PrepeliÃÂÃÂ, ProÃÂteanu, Vlase, Mîndru, N. VintilÃÂ, PiÃÂtalu, Costin, Gh.IovÃÂnescu, I. Constantin.
In Divizia B, Unirea competed in Series I, finishing the 1989âÂÂ90 season in 13th place, just one point above the relegation line, followed by 8th place in the 1990âÂÂ91 season and 9th place in the 1991âÂÂ92 season. However, the 1992âÂÂ93 season ended in last place out of 18 teams, resulting in relegation after four seasons in the second division.
In the early 2000s, the club encountered financial issues and was dissolved, being re-founded in 2004 as AFC Unirea 04 Slobozia.
The new entity also reached the second tier of the Romanian football league system, where it spent three years between 2012 and 2015. In the 2013âÂÂ14 season, the team obtained a third place in its series, behind top flight regulars Politehnica IaÃÂi and Rapid BucureÃÂti.
Unirea Slobozia played again in the Romanian second league in the 2020âÂÂ21 season till of the end of 2023âÂÂ24 season, when Slobozia finished on the 1st place and promoted for the first time in history in Liga I.
Divizia D / Liga IV â IalomiÃÂa County
The footballers enlisted below have had international cap(s) for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level and/or significant caps for AFC Unirea Slobozia.