1923 The legend continues
1923 The legend continues
"Suntem peste tot acasa Portile ni se deschid Nu-i echipa mai frumoasa Si iubita ca Rapid Rapid, Rapid Lupta daca ne iubesti Rapid, rapid Haide, haide Rapid Giulesti! Haide, haide Rapid Giulesti! Inima ce-n piept ne bate La nevoie e un tun Pentru-o singura dreptate Sa invinga cel mai bun Rapid, rapid, Lupta daca ne iubesti Rapid, rapid Haide, haide Rapid Giulesti! Haide, haide Rapid Giulesti! Nu va dati batuti o clipa Invatati acest refren Imnul nostru de echipa Glasul rotilor de tren Rapid, rapid, Lupta daca ne iubesti Rapid, rapid Haide, haide Rapid Giulesti! Haide, haide Rapid Giulesti!"
Fotbal Club Rapid București, commonly known as Rapid București, or simply as Rapid within Romania, is a Romanian football club based in Bucharest.
It was founded in 1923 by a group workers of the Grivița workshops under the name of "Cultural and Sporting Association CFR" (Asociația culturală și sportivă CFR). Rapid won the Romanian championship three times, 1967, 1999 and 2003, and the Romanian Cup on 13 occasions.
1923–1945
In June 1923, Teofil Copaci, Grigore Grigoriu, Aurel Kahane, Geza Ginzer and other Romanian railroad workers agreed the fusion of two amateur clubs, "CFR" (ex-"Rampa Militari") and "Excelsior". After a few years, the team started competing in the first league in 1931.
During the pre-war years, Rapid was one of Romania's top teams, regularly winning the cup but never the championship although they came close. Once Rapid lost the championship because of fair play. One of Rapid's players touched the ball with his hand in the penalty area during a decisive match against Venus Bucharest. Rapid needed a win to finish first in the league. In the first place the referee did not see the incident but when hearing the audience protest the referee asked the player if he touched the ball with his hand, the player admitting. Venus converted the penalty and managed to draw 1–1 and to finish first in the league.
The railway workers were not the selection pool any longer, but a strong supporting audience. Some players were also selected in the national team. During those years, but also during the war, the competitions' formats changed for various reorganizations and Rapid won the "Bassarabia" Cup, in 1942. The strangest of all might be the qualification in the final of the Mitropa Cup (precursor of the UEFA Champions League) at a moment when the competition was taking its last breath.
1945–1970
In 1940, Rapid played two ties in the Mitropa Cup semi-finals and were drawn to the final, which was never played due to the outbreak of World War II. Rapid managed to secure the Romanian title in 1967.
1970–1990
In the 1970s and 1980s, Rapid reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup and won the Romanian Cup in 1972 and 1975 before declining, eventually confined to the second league for six-straight seasons. Even with Stănescu as coach, Rapid could not do better than returning to the lower ranks of the first league. The club was slowly starved, with less and less money in a championship where Romania's leading teams were successfully competing at the European level (Steaua București played two European Cup finals in 1986 and 1989, winning the former, and an additional semi-final in 1989; Dinamo București reached the European Cup semi-finals in 1984 and the Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals in 1990; and Universitatea Craiova reached the UEFA Cup semi-finals in 1983). Rpaid narrowly avoided relegation in 1987 in the last match of the season.
1990–2016
In 1990, the fall of communism brought only partial solutions until 1992, when Traian Băsescu, then-Minister of Transportation, appointed a new manager, Marcel Pușcaș, and a new coach, Mircea Rădulescu, both of whom were experienced, having previously worked with the Romania national team.The UEFA Cup, Rapid was defeated by Internazionale (1–3; 0–2). It was the moment when George Copos started managing the Rapid business, finding strong corporate sponsorships and winning political capital.
In the following years, the club won the most important official honours (two league titles and four national cups) and had the most important European achievements, especially due to a careful appointment of coaches. The most notable coach that managed Rapid in this period is Mircea Lucescu, the man who transformed the club into a force in the Romanian championship again. Also, his son Răzvan Lucescu has been the manager with the greatest achievements in the European competitions with Rapid. However, the coach who won the most trophies for the club is Mircea Rednic.
After a few years during which their experience in the European competitions was limited, Rapid started to perform better, and for the third time in the post-war history, in the 2005–06 season, the team reached the spring, upper-level, phases of the UEFA Cup, up to the quarter-finals. Rapid was stopped by Steaua București after a 1–1 draw at home and a 0–0 draw away. In 2006, Rapid became an incorporated company with George Copos as its largest shareholder. After the 2006–07 season, Răzvan Lucescu left Rapid and went to manage Brașov. Cristiano Bergodi was named as the main coach, but after winning the Supercupa României and an unbeaten run in the championship, he was sacked by club owner George Copos.
In 2008, Fathi Taher became the new owner of Rapid. He named José Peseiro as his new coach and brought an important number of players, investing a considerable sum of money. The club's performances under Peseiro, however, were poor, and he was sacked several months later. Rapid finished the 2008–09 season in eighth place, outside the European qualification positions. In 2009–10, Viorel Hizo was named coach of Rapid, but the team missed Europe again. In 2010–11, Marius Șumudică came as the new coach and Dinu Gheorghe returned as the club's chairman. Rapid finished fourth and qualified for Europa League after a two-year absence.
The 2011–12 season started with high hopes, as Răzvan Lucescu had returned as coach. Rapid finished fourth at the end season and lost the Romanian Cup final against Dinamo București, with the score of 1–0. In the summer, Lucescu resigned and Ioan Ovidiu Sabău was brought in as new coach, along with many free agent players. However, after the elimination from the Europa League against Heerenveen (4–0 away and 1–0 at home) and several surprising defeats in the league, Sabău was sacked and Marian Rada was appointed as manager.
In December 2012, funding problems became serious and the club entered insolvency. This led to 16 players leaving the club, along with the president Constantin Zotta, during the winter break. Many youth players were brought in from the third league satellite team Rapid II. In 2013, Copos sold the club to another businessman, Adrian Zamfir. In July 2014, Rapid changed again its owner, Valerii Moraru buying the club from Zamfir.
Rapid won the promotion play-offs in 2015–16 Liga II but the club was declared bankrupt in June 2016 and was denied promotion to Liga I.
Valentin Stanescu
1946-1952
Necula Raducan
1965-1975
Leontin Toader
1984-1995
Ion Motroc
1960-1969
Dan Coe
1962-1971
Adrian Iencsi
1997-2004
Iuliu Baratky
1937-1945
Nicolae Manea
1972-1987
Daniel Pancu
1997-1999, 2000-2002, 2006, 2008, 2011-2015
Domestic
Leagues
Liga I
Winners (3): 1966–67, 1998–99, 2002–03
Runners-up (14): 1936–37, 1937–38, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1948–49, 1950, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2005–06
Liga II
Winners (6): 1952, 1955, 1974–75, 1982–83, 1989–90, 2015–16
Runners-up (3): 1979–80, 1981–82, 2013–14
Liga V - Bucharest
Winners (1): 2016–17
Cups
Cupa Eroilor (Heroes Cup)
Winners (1): 1942
Cupa României
Winners (13): 1934–35, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1941–42, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2005–06, 2006–07
Runners-up (6): 1960–61, 1961–62, 1967–68, 1994–95, 1998–99, 2011–12
Cupa Ligii
Winners (1): 1994
Supercupa României
Winners (4): 1999, 2002, 2003, 2007
Runners-up (2): 1998, 2006
European
UEFA Cup
Quarter-finals (1): 2005–06
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Quarter-finals (1): 1972–73
Balkans Cup
Winners (2): 1964, 1966
Giuleşti-Valentin Stănescu Stadium is the home stadium of Rapid Bucureşti.
The stadium is named after Valentin Stănescu, the coach that helped Rapid to win its first title, but it is still commonly known as the "Giuleşti Stadium", after the name of the neighborhood in which it is located. Landmarks near the stadium include Podul Grant, Giuleşti Theatre, Gara de Nord and the Grivița Railway Yards.
Construction started in the year 1936 and the stadium was inaugurated on 10 June 1939. At the time, it was the most modern stadium in Romania, a smaller replica of Arsenal's Highbury Stadium, with a capacity of 12,160 seats. Among the guests at the opening ceremony King Carol II of Romania, Prince Mihai of Romania and Prince Paul of Greece.
Replacement of the north stand was completed in the mid-1990s, increasing the capacity to 19,100 seats. The stadium was renovated again in 2003.
Since the summer of 2004 the stadium has been administered by Rapid Bucureşti. Its capacity is currently restricted to 11,704 seats due to safety concerns regarding parts of the stadium.
