FCM Bacău

Early years (1950–1992)

FCM Bacău was founded in 1950 as Dinamo Bacău under the Ministry of Internal Affairs with other clubs which bore the name "Dinamo". Its management decided to separate from the ministry, renaming it Sport Club Bacău and adding athletics and tennis.^[1]

Dinamo Bacău went undefeated in the 1952 season of the Bacău Regional Championship, finishing 1st, 11 points ahead of the 2nd-placed team, and passed Știința Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Locomotiva Galați, and Metalul Brăila in successive rounds of the promotion play-offs for Divizia B. The team also reached the Round of 16 in the Cupa României, eliminating Divizia B sides Locomotiva Iași and Metalul București before losing 2–6 to CCA București. The squad, coached by M. Popescu, included Anghel, Magheț, Weber, Guran, Birăescu, Olaru, Dinu, Oprea, Coidum, Chiriță, Marinescu, Zimba, and Haimovici.^[2]

In Divizia B, Dinamo Bacău finished 4th in Series I during the 1953 season before moving to Series II, where they were runners-up in 1954 and won the series in 1955, earning promotion to the top division under coach Florian Ambru. The squad comprised Varga, Miu, Weber, Chiriță, Matei, Cimaru, Ivanenko, Ioanovici, Csatary, Oaidă, Sîrbu, Lemnăru, Crețea, Șoimu, Stancu, and David. In the 1956 season of Divizia A, the club finished last and was relegated to the second division.^[3][4][5]

Returning to Divizia A, Dinamo Bacău finished 6th in the 1967–68 season and 5th in 1968–69 under the leadership of Nicolae Dumitru, earning qualification for the European Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.^[6]

In the European campaign Dinamo Bacău, coached by Valeriu Neagu, advanced to the Second Round, eliminating Maltese side Floriana (6–0 at home and 1–0 away), then overcame Norwegian Skeid after a 0–0 draw at Ullevaal Stadion and a 2–0 victory at the 23 August Stadium, and defeated Scottish club Kilmarnock in the Third Round with a 1–1 draw at Rugby Park and a 2–0 home win. In the quarter-finals, they faced English side Arsenal, losing decisively 0–2 at home and 1–7 at Highbury Stadium. Domestically, Dinamo ranked 9th in Divizia A in 1969–70 and reached the Round of 16 in Cupa României, losing 0–2 to Petrolul Ploiești. The squad for that season included Aristide Ghiță, Constantin Fugaciu, Vasile Panait, Alexandru Comănescu, Mircea Nedelcu, Laurențiu Velicu, Madocsa Kiss, Constantin Duțan, Nicolae Vătafu, Mircea Pană, Emerich Dembrovschi, Daniel Ene, Petre Băluță, Francisc Neumayer, and Constantin David.^[6][7][8][9]

Sport Club Bacău, as the club was known from 1970, continued to perform solidly in the domestic league, finishing 10th in 1970–71 and reaching the Round of 16 in Cupa României, where they lost to second-division side Progresul Brăila. The following season saw them finish 6th, again exiting the Cup in the Round of 16 after a 0–1 defeat to Jiul Petroșani. In the 1972–73 campaign, the club achieved its best league result, 4th place, and reached the quarter-finals of Cupa României, losing on penalties to Constructorul Galați. However, the next season brought an unexpected setback, as the team was relegated at the end of 1973–74 after finishing 17th, while also losing in the Round of 16 of Cupa României 1–3 to Steaua București. The squad for that match comprised Voinea, Margasoiu, Catargiu, Velicu, Volmer, Hrițcu (Sinăuceanu 66'), Florea, Pană, Dembrovschi, Munteanu (Pruteanu 66'), and Băluțiu.^[10]

Băcăuanii managed to bounce back the following year, winning Series I of Divizia B in the 1974–75 campaign under the guidance of Mircea Nedelcu and Nicolae Vătafu in the first part of the season, and Gheorghe Constantin in the second. The promotion-winning squad included Coman, Ursache, Pruteanu, Catargiu, Cărpuci, Lunca, Margasoiu, Sinăuceanu, Botez, Sosu, Florea, Hrițcu, Pană, Volmer, Popa, Duțan, Băluță, Chitaru, and Ilie.^[11]

Sport Club played well in the Cupa României, where, after the Romanian Revolution, they reached the final at the end of the 1990–91 season before losing 2–1 to Universitatea Craiova. Universitatea Craiova was also the winner of Divizia A that season, which allowed the yellow-and-blues to qualify for the second and final time in a European competition (the UEFA Cup). FC Bacău was drawn to meet Werder Bremen, which would defeat AS Monaco 2–0 in the Cup Winners' Cup. Werder Bremen was a tall, strong, cosmopolitan squad; FC Bacău was a little-known team with serious financial problems.^[12]

Sechelariu era (1992–2014)

From 1992 to 2006, the team remained in Divizia A as Selena, AS and FCM; Dumitru Sechelariu was its owner.^[1] It was a period of relative growth; the team finished 11th in 1995–96 (when they won 5–1 at Steaua Stadium), fifth in 1996–97, 10th in 1997–98, fifth in 1998–99, and eighth in 1999–2000. They were relegated in the summer of 2001 after a relegation play-off against Farul Constanța.^[1] The 2001–02 season began with high hopes, great investments and a 4–2 win against Dinamo București before a sixth place. After 2002, FCM Bacău was in the lower part of the tables and was relegated to Liga II at the end of the 2005–06 season. Sechelariu referred to FCM Bacău as "my child", "dear", but also "disabled".^[1]

At the end of the 2006–07 season, the team finished in fifth place; in the following season, they were one step away from relegation to the third tier. For the 2009–10 season, the team focused on promotion to Liga I; due to financial problems and misunderstandings between Dumitru Sechelariu and the municipal council, FCM was relegated to Liga III after forfeiting two matches.^[1]

The municipality of Bacău registered the team for the following season in Liga III as SCM Bacău.^[1] On 9 June 2010, it was announced that a new club would be developed by the municipality; Sechelariu became a minority shareholder. The new management of the yellow-and-blues decided to change their name to SC FCM Bacău SA and terminate the contracts of former AS FCM Bacău players. FCM Bacău was promoted to Liga II in 2011, finishing seventh the following season. Before the next season, the players left the club for financial reasons (most for FC Botoșani) and Sechelariu transferred the club entirely to the municipality. With the team facing relegation to the third league, the municipality decided to stop investing in the club and re-direct public financing to CS Mesagerul Bacău (which would be renamed SC Bacău). After Sechelariu's declining health and death in early 2013, the club withdrew from the league at the start of the season and was dissolved.^[1][13]

Supporters, the last hope (2017–2020)

The Supporters Association of FCM Bacău, supported by Sergiu Sechelariu (Dumitru's brother and owner of the FCM 1950 Bacău brand), began a collaboration with Gauss Bacău (the former SC Bacău) in 2017. The collaboration broke down during the summer of 2018; after a year of inactivity, fans (supported again by Sergiu Sechelariu) began the ASS FCM 1950 Bacău. They enrolled the senior squad in Liga IV, but the team was again dissolved at the end of the 2019–20 season.^[14][15][16]

Rivalries

The most important rivalry for FCM Bacău is the one against Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț. This match is known as the Derby of Moldavia or Il Classico.^[22] Over time, FCM had important rivalries with other teams, such as Steaua București, Dinamo București or Rapid București, as well as some regional ones and even local, for example against SC Bacău.^[20]

Leagues

Liga II

• Winners (4): 1955, 1966–67, 1974–75, 1994–95
• Runners-up (3): 1954, 1957–58, 1964–65

Liga III

• Winners (1): 2010–11

Liga IV – Bacău County

• Runners-up (1): 2019–20

Cups

Cupa României

• Runners-up (1): 1990–91

Cupa Ligii:

• Winners (1): 1998

Biggest victories and defeats

As of 24 November 2019'^[23]

Longest Streaks

As of 24 November 2019'^[24]