FC Voluntari

FC Voluntari was founded in the summer of 2010, when the club took over the place of Petrolul Berca in Liga III and assembled a new squad under head coach Romeo Bunică, playing home matches at Viscofil Stadium in Popești-Leordeni. In their debut season in the third tier, the club finished 6th in Series II.^[3]

In the 2011–12 season, Bunică left in October after nine rounds to join Otopeni and was replaced by Robert Niță, who was succeeded in January 2012 by Bogdan Andone. Under Andone’s leadership, the Ilfov-based side once again finished 6th in Series II.^[4][5]

In the 2012–13 season, the club was placed in Series III and, despite moving its home matches to the newly opened Niță Pintea Stadium in Voluntari, poor results left the team bottom of the standings after five rounds, leading to the dismissal of Bogdan Andone. Romeo Bunică returned as head coach in early October 2012 and guided the team to a 7th-place finish.^[6]

Following the establishment of the FC Voluntari Academy in 2012 and a development model inspired by Gheorghe Hagi’s youth system, the club entered a partnership with Viitorul Constanța. Within this project, Adrian Iencsi was appointed head coach for the 2013–14 campaign, with Ilie Poenaru as assistant, bringing several young players such as Tănase, Achim, Vasile, Mitache, and Țîru into the senior squad. The squad also included players such as Botaș, Irimia, Maxim, Rădoi, Todoran, Ad. Bălan, Călințaru, Ad. Voicu, and Voduț. Voluntari dominated Series II, finishing first in both the regular season and play-off, securing promotion to Liga II.^[7][8][9]

Following promotion, Ilie Poenaru was appointed head coach after Adrian Iencsi’s departure.^[10][11][9] In the 2014–15 season, Voluntari continued their strong form in Series I, finishing first in both the regular season and play-off, thirteen points ahead of 2nd-placed Academica Argeș and thirty points ahead of 3rd-placed Gloria Buzău, securing promotion to Romania’s top flight.^[12]

Its debut season in Liga I was difficult, as many technical and administrative changes led the club to the relegation zone. Finishing 12th, the team faced a promotion/relegation play-off against UTA Arad, which it won 3–1 on aggregate and maintained its place in the Liga I.^[13]

With experienced players such as Vasile Maftei, Florin Cernat or Laurențiu Marinescu in the starting eleven, Voluntari improved itself in the 2016–17 season, finishing in ninth place and avoiding a second consecutive promotion/relegation play-off. During that year, the club achieved its biggest achievement so far by winning the Cupa României over Astra Giurgiu, being the first major trophy in its brief history.^[14]

The club plays its home matches at the 4,600-seater Stadionul Anghel Iordănescu in Voluntari. Attendances are usually modest, as Voluntari is considered a suburb of Bucharest and many of its citizens are inclined to support clubs from the capital instead.^{[citation needed]}

The footballers enlisted below have had international cap(s) for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level and/or more than significant caps for FC Voluntari.

Romania