Fotbal Club Dinamo București (Romanian pronunciation: [diˈnamo bukuˈreʃtʲ]), commonly known

as Dinamo București, or simply as Dinamo within Romania, is a Romanian

professional football club based in Bucharest.
Founded in 1948, it has spent its entire history in Liga I, the top tier of the Romanian football league
system. Domestically, Dinamo București is one of the two most successful teams in Romania,
having won 18 Liga I titles, 13 Cupa României, two Supercupa României, and one Cupa Ligii. In
the 1983–84 season, they became the second Romanian club to reach the semi-finals of
the European Cup.
Dinamo's traditional home colours are white red, while the current crest is a modified version of the
one adopted in the 1998. They are currently playing on the Arena Națională, their stadium being
renovated for UEFA Euro 2020.
The club holds a strong rivalry with neighbouring FC Steaua București, with matches between the
two being commonly referred to as "the Eternal Derby".

Contents

 1History
 2Crest and colours
 3Stadium
 4Support
o 4.1Rivalries
 5Youth program
 6Honours
o 6.1Domestic
 6.1.1Leagues
 6.1.2Cups
 7Players
o 7.1Current squad
o 7.2Out on loan
o 7.3Retired numbers
 8Club officials
o 8.1Board of directors
o 8.2Current technical staff
 9Statistics and records
o 9.1European cups all-time statistics
 10Notable former players
 11Notable former managers
 12Notes
 13References
 14External links

History[edit]
Main articles: History of FC Dinamo București and List of FC Dinamo București seasons
Dinamo was founded on 14 May 1948, when "Unirea Tricolor MAI" – newly entered, in January
1948, under the umbrella of the Communist regime's Internal Affairs Ministry – merged with
"Ciocanul București". The sporting club represented the above-mentioned institution.[1] The "Dinamo"
name was used for the very first time on 1 May 1948. Nevertheless, the real debut of Dinamo was in
the 1947-48 Divizia A edition (finishing 8th). Some of the team's players were Ambru, Angelo
Niculescu, Teodorescu, Siclovan, Bartha, and Sârbu. In 1955, Dinamo won their first championship.
With Angelo Niculescu as head coach, Dinamo impressed mainly in the offensive, with an attack
formed by Ene I, Neaga and Suru. The defense, with players like Băcuț I, Băcuț II, Szoko, Călinoiu,
was the best in the championship – only 19 goals against.[2]
In the fall of 1956, the team made its debut in the European Champion Clubs' Cup (competition
created a year before). Dinamo was the first Romanian team to play in the European competitions.
The debut game was played on 26 August 1956, in front of 32,000 spectators. Dinamo
defeated Galatasaray, 3–1. In the second leg, Dinamo lost in Istanbul 1–2, and moved forward.
In following years, Dinamo met famous teams in Europe, such as Real Madrid (a team with Di
Stefano and Gento – the game played in Bucharest took place at 23 August Stadium, and
established a new record for this arena: 100,000 spectators[3]), Inter Milan and Feyenoord: 0–3 and
0–2.
In 1973, in the European Cup, Dinamo surpassed Northern Ireland's Crusaders Belfast. The 11–0
home game against Northern Ireland's team is still the biggest margin of victory in the history of
the European Cup.
The autumn of 1983–84 was going to represent a valuable step into the international arena. The
"European Champions Cup campaign" started with the Finnish team, Kuusysi Lahti (1–0 and 3–0).
The second round pushed Dinamo against the current champion, Hamburger SV – team of Stein,
Kalz and Magath. At Bucharest, Augustin, Multescu and Orac scored for 3–0.[4][5] The thrilling second
leg finished 3–2 (goals Țălnar and Mulțescu). In order to accede to the semi-finals of CCE, Dinamo
had to defeat another top team: Dinamo Minsk, with Aleinikov, Zigmanatovich and Gurinovich. The
first leg was 1–1 (Rednic equalizing in the 87th minute), and it was followed by a 1–0 victory at
Bucharest (with Augustin scoring). Dinamo was the first Romanian team to reach the European
Champions Cup semi-finals,[6] where it met Liverpool F.C.. Dinamo lost 1–0 at Anfield and 2–1 in
Bucharest, as Liverpool progressed to the 1984 European Cup Final.
In 1986 Dinamo won the Cup against Steaua, the team that only a few days before won the
European Cup.

Dinamo București team in 1953.

In the summer of 1990, Dinamo – with Mircea Lucescu as coach – conquered a new national title,
the 13th. Also the team won the Cup final, against Steaua: 6–4. But the Romanian Revolution from
1989 opened the doors for the Romanian footballers to leave and play abroad and Dinamo lost
almost its entire team, thus a downfall regarding the results came the following years.
Dinamo managed to win the title in 1992, 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2007, but failed to reach the final
phases of the European competitions.
In 2013, the team changed ownership. Businessman Ionuț Negoiță bought the club and promised to
revive the golden years.[7]
On May 6, 2016, player Patrick Ekeng collapsed on the field and was diagnosed with a heart attack.
He was declared dead at the hospital 2 hours later.[8]

Crest and colours[edit]

Since the beginning, Dinamo's colours were red and white. The current team's badge includes two
red dogs, a nickname given to the club when the Nunweiller brothers played here, Radu and Ion, in
the 1960s and 1970s.

Stadium[edit]
Main article: Stadionul Dinamo

The Dinamo Stadium.

Dinamo plays its home games at Stadionul Dinamo. The arena was built in 1951, and for the official
inauguration Dinamo played a game against Locomotiva Timișoara. Initially, the stadium capacity
was 16,000, but following the installation of seats, it decreased to 15,032 places. The stadium is part
of a larger complex which contains another smaller stadium, Stadionul Florea Dumitrache, where the
second team, Dinamo II, used to play its matches. It is currently used by CS Dinamo București rugby
team. There is also a sports hall and a swimming pool.
The stadium is nicknamed "Groapa" (The Pit), because it was built by digging a hole, rather than by
raising its stands. Dinamo's fans use the North stand, named Peluza Cătălin Hîldan, after a former
Dinamo player who died in 2000 at the age of 24.
Dinamo also plays home and away matches against their biggest rivals, Steaua, as well as other
major fixtures at Arena Națională.

Support[edit]
Dinamo has an estimated 11% support in Romania, making them the second most supported
Romanian club, after Steaua.[9] The largest concentration of fans is in Bucharest, mainly in the
northeast and central areas of the city. The club also has important fan bases inside and outside the
country.
Dinamo fans paying homage to Cătălin Hîldanin 2005.

The roots of the Dinamo ultras movement can be found in 1995 when groups like Dracula and Rams
Pantelimon appeared in the North End.[citation needed] In 1996 a group called Nuova Guardia was formed,
and became the leading group in the stadium and later on in the entire Romanian ultras
movement.[10] Following the death of the former captain, Cătălin Hîldan, in 2000, the fans renamed
the North End of Dinamo's stadium to Peluza Catalin Hîldan (PCH Stand) in his honor. The majority
of supporters are located in the PCH, but several factions have moved to the South End.[citation needed]

Rivalries[edit]
Main article: Eternal derby
Dinamo's most important rivalry is with Steaua București. The match between them, dubbed
the Eternal derby, has been the leading Romanian football encounter in the last 60 years, as the two
clubs are the most successful in the country. Clashes between different factions of supporters have
often occurred and still occur inside and outside the stadium. In 1997, Dinamo's fans set a sector of
the Stadionul Ghencea on fire.[11] On 16 August 2016, during Steaua's UEFA Champions League 0–
5 play-off loss against Manchester City, undercover Dinamo fans displayed a huge message
reading Doar Dinamo București ("Only Dinamo Bucharest"), which was labelled[by whom?] one of the
biggest pranks in football history.[12]
The club's second most important rivalry is against Rapid Bucuresti. In the 1990's, there was fierce
competition between the two in winning the Divizia A (now Liga I).
Another rivalry is held against Universitatea Craiova. Both finished with the same number of points in
the 1972–73 Divizia A, but Dinamo was given the title because of their superior goal difference. A
conflict has existed ever since.[13][14]

Youth program[edit]
Main article: Dinamo II București
Dinamo has an important infrastructure for training and preparing children towards professionalism.
The youth center has nine organised groups managed by age categories, for children between nine
and 18 years. In total, Dinamo has around 180 juniors.
All the groups play in the competitions organised by the Bucharest Football Association and in those
created by the Romanian Federation. Youths around 16–18 years old are promoted to the second
team, Dinamo II.
The youth center has its base in the Dinamo Sports Center, where they have eight dressing rooms
for the players, one for the coaches, one for the referees, a medical center and a store room for the
equipment. Also, the center has many training grounds, among them the Piți Varga field.[15]
Honours[edit]
Domestic[edit]
Leagues[edit]

 Liga I
 Winners (18): 1955, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1974–
75, 1976–77, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2003–
04, 2006–07
 Runners-up (20): 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958–59, 1960–61, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1973–
74, 1975–76, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1992–93, 1998–
99, 2000–01, 2004–05
Cups[edit]

 Cupa României
 Winners (13): 1958–59, 1963–64, 1967–68, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1989–90, 1999–
00, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2011–12
 Runners-up (10): 1954, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1986–87, 1987–88,[16][17][18] 1988–
89, 2001–02, 2010–11, 2015–16
 Supercupa României
 Winners (2): 2005, 2012
 Runners-up (4): 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007
 Cupa Ligii
 Winners (1): 2016–17

Players[edit]
Current squad[edit]
As of 2 November 2018
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-
FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player No. Position Player

1 GK Vlad Muțiu 18 MF Armando Cooper
3 DF Giorgos Katsikas 19 FW Daniel Popa
4 MF Sergiu Hanca (vice-captain) 20 MF Diogo Salomão
5 DF Marco Ehmann 21 MF Tomislav Gomelt
6 DF Mihai Popescu 22 MF Deian Sorescu
7 DF Naser Aliji 23 MF Ionuț Șerban
8 MF Andrei Tîrcoveanu 26 GK Jaime Penedo
9 MF Ivan Pešić 27 DF Ricardo Grigore
10 MF Dan Nistor (captain) 29 FW Mihai Neicuțescu
12 GK Mihai Eșanu 30 FW Mircea Axente
13 DF Denis Ciobotariu 93 DF Sergiu Popovici
15 DF Vlad Olteanu 99 FW Robert Moldoveanu
17 DF Laurențiu Corbu
Out on loan[edit]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-
FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player No. Position Player

Alin Dudea (to Chindia Mihnea Vlad (to Turris-Oltul
24 DF — MF
Târgoviște) Turnu Măgurele)
Andreas Mihaiu (to Chindia Raul Negotei (to Metaloglobus
— MF — MF
Târgoviște) București)
Liviu Gheorghe (to Dacia Vlăduț Vlad (to Metaloglobus
— MF — MF
Unirea Brăila) București)

Retired numbers[edit]
Main article: List of retired numbers in association football
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-
FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player

11 MF Cătălin Hîldan (1994–2000) – posthumous honour)[a]
14 MF Patrick Ekeng (2016)[b]

Club officials[edit]
Board of directors[edit] Current technical s
Role Name Role

Owner Ionuț Negoiță Manager

Honorary president Nicolae Badea

Assistant managers
President Alexandru David
Goalkeeping coach
Cornel Dinu
Constantin Eftimescu Fitness coach
Board members
Cristian Herciu
Club doctor
Cristian Hîldan
Physiotherapist
Economic director Doinița Stoica

Marketing director Mihaela Racu Masseurs

Youth center director Gabriel Răduță

Organizer of competitions George Trandafir  Last updated: 16 Octob

 Source: Technical staf
Secretary Bogdan Bălănescu

International relations Adrian Alexandrescu

Responsible for Order and Safety Cristea Cojocaru

 Press officer Ionel Culina

Photographer Octavian Cocoloș

 Last updated: 13 July 2018

 Source: Board of directors

Statistics and records[edit]

European cups all-time statistics[edit]
Main article: FC Dinamo București in European football
As of August 3, 2017.

Competition S P W D L GF GA GD

–
UEFA Champions League / European Cup 18 66 24 10 32 96 106
10

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup / European Cup

5 20 8 4 8 25 18 +7
Winners' Cup

+
UEFA Europa League / UEFA Cup 23 90 37 14 39 147 127
20

UEFA Intertoto Cup 1 4 1 0 3 4 6 –2

+
Total 47 180 70 28 82 272 257
15

Records in the league:

 Consecutive winning games: 17 games (12 June 1988 – 27 November 1988)

 Best unbeaten run: 47 games (26 May 1991 – 20 September 1992)
 Player with most appearances: Cornel Dinu (454)
 Top scorer: Dudu Georgescu (207)
 Top scorer in international games: Claudiu Niculescu (18)
Records in the European competition:

 Biggest home win: Dinamo 11–0 Crusaders F.C. (1973–74) (still the biggest margin of
victory in the history of the European Cup)
 Biggest away win: Alki Larnaca F.C. 0–9 Dinamo (1979–80)
 Heaviest home defeat: Dinamo 0–3 Feyenoord (1971–72), Dinamo 0–3
Galatasaray (2009–10)
 Heaviest away defeat: PFC CSKA Sofia 8–1 Dinamo (1956–57)

Notable former players[edit]

The footballers enlisted below have had international cap(s) for their respective countries at
junior and/or senior level and/or more than 100 caps for FC Dinamo București.
For a list of all former and current FC Dinamo București players with a Wikipedia article,
see Category:FC Dinamo București players.
For a list of FC Dinamo București players by caps and goals, see List of FC Dinamo București
players.
Romania Romania

 Dan Alexa  Lucian Goian

 Vasile Alexandru  Dragoș Grigore
 Marius Alexe  Ștefan Grigorie
 Ioan Andone  Leontin Grozavu
 Paul Anton  Florin Halagian
 Ionel Augustin  Cătălin Hîldan
 Ilie Balaci  Marin Ion
 Cristian Bălgrădean  Marian Ivan
 Cosmin Bărcăuan  Zoltán Kádár
 Alexandru Boc  Giani Kiriță
 Gabriel Boștină  Michael Klein
 Florin Bratu  Bogdan Lobonț
 Iosif Cavai  Mircea Lucescu
 Rodion Cămătaru  Srdjan Luchin
 Marius Cheregi  Ionuț Lupescu
 Liviu Ciobotariu  Dănuț Lupu
 Cosmin Contra  Ciprian Marica
 Florin Constantinovici  Adrian Matei
 Adrian Cristea  Cosmin Matei
 Andrei Cristea  Dorin Mateuț
 Alexandru Custov  Andrei Mărgăritescu
 Marian Damaschin  Adrian Mihalcea
 Ilie Datcu  Gheorghe Mihali
 Ionel Dănciulescu  Ion Moldovan
 Augustin Deleanu  Viorel Moldovan
 Cornel Dinu  Dumitru Moraru
 Anton Doboș  Cosmin Moți
 Marin Dragnea  Lică Movilă
 Florea Dumitrache  Gheorghe Mulțescu
 Haralambie Eftimie  Cătălin Munteanu
 Alexandru Ene  Dorinel Munteanu
 Gheorghe Ene  Vlad Munteanu
 Steliano Filip  Adrian Mutu
 Daniel Florea  Valentin Năstase
 Constantin Frățilă  Ionuț Nedelcearu
 Liviu Ganea  Dumitru Nicolae
 Dudu Georgescu  Marius Niculae
 Vasile Gergely  Claudiu Niculescu
 Gábor Gerstenmájer  Ion Nunweiller
Albania Croatia

 Elis Bakaj  Antun Palić

 Sulejman Demollari Ghana
Angola
 George Blay
 Zé Kalanga Ivory Coast
Burkina Faso
 Zié Diabaté
 Djakaridja Koné Morocco
Cameroon
 Khalid Fouhami
 Patrick Ekeng Senegal
 Collins Fai
 Ousmane N'Doye