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| Ex-Chelsea man Petrescu guided Unirea to the Champion's League |
Urziceni is a tiny town in the Ialomita county of Romania. Until 2003 the town's team bobbed along in the lower echelons of the Romanian league system, achieving essentially nothing. Unirea were promoted in the 2002/03 season, entering the split 2nd division of the Romanian football pyramid. It was then that they were taken over by a company called Valahorum, owned by local property magnate Dumitru Bucşaru who made his money cashing in on the collapse of communism by buying up half built Government building projects in the late 80's and turning them into flats.
The newly owned Unirea were quick to reap the rewards, being promoted to the top tier for the first time in their history by winning the play-offs in the 2005/06 season. They didn't start life in Liga I brilliantly, so the manager was replaced a few weeks into the season by Romanian legend and former Chelsea man Dan Petrescu. He managed to consolidate the team (who he had nicknamed 'Chelsea of Ialomita' and who's crest he requested be changed to a near carbon-copy of Chelsea's) to a mid-table finish in his first season at the helm, before a fantastic season in 2007/08 saw them finish 5th and reach the Romanian Cup Final, qualifying for the UEFA Cup in the process (they lost to Hamburg in the 1st round).
It was the next season though that really saw the Unirea story kick into life. Petrescu's men became only the 2nd team (after CFR Cluj) outside of Bucharest to win the title in 10 years, securing the trophy with a 2-1 last day victory over 2nd placed Timisoara. Just three years after reaching the top level, Unirea were the Champions and would be joining Europe's elite in the group stage of the 2009/10 Champions League.
As expected, Unirea were seeded 4th for the group draw and fared relatively well in drawing Rangers, Sevilla and Stuttgart in Group G, although they were heavily tipped to finish bottom and treat it as a learning curve. They instead performed brilliantly. Petrescu's men achieved a real shock in remaining unbeaten at home (including an incredible 1-0 win against Sevilla) and stunned Scottish giants Rangers by turning them over 4-1 at Ibrox. The home record was even more spectacular considering that their 7,000 seater stadium was not fit for UEFA competition and thus they had to play in Bucharest. In the last game of the group stage they travelled to Stuttgart needing just a point to become the first Romanian side to reach the last 16 since 1997. The German side managed to triumph 2-0 on the night, meaning that Unirea had to settle for a still highly respectable 3rd place, and a spot in the newly created Europa League.
It would seem that this is where things started to go wrong for the club. Petrescu left for Russia before they could meet Liverpool in the Europa League and was replaced by Israeli coach Roni Levy. Levy couldn't get through Gerrard and co. but did manage to secure a 2nd position in Liga I and so ensured Champions League football for the next season.
The draw wasn't kind to the Romanian's, and although they managed a goalless draw at home to Zenit, a Danny goal in St Petersburg was enough to see the Russian club through. This is when it started to turn really pear shaped for Urziceni.
The owner, Dumitru Bucşaru, had spent a fair bit of money on the club (signing players and improving facilities) he had in no way financed a Chelsea or Manchester City style mega-spree. After Unirea's elimination from the Champions League, Bucşaru declared that Unirea had reached their peak and that he was no longer interested in the club. He was, however, interested in trying to re-coup his investment by selling practically all of Unirea's assets for bargain basement prices, with Steua Bucharest being the main beneficiaries as they picked up four first team players from the 2nd best team in Romania. Levy left the club in the middle of August as the team around him was falling apart, the sale of goalkeeper Giedrius Arlauskis proving to be the final straw.
The owner continued the cull by tearing up contracts and announcing that the whole of the remaining squad were available on a free transfer. The club managed to cobble together a squad of loaned reserve team players from other clubs and it was no surprise that they were relegated.
Whilst the runners-up of the season before getting relegated is a massive shock, that was not the end of the agony for the club's fans. The owner didn't register Unirea in any Romanian competition at all for the coming season and thus they have ceased to exist. It is an unbelievable turn of events in that in just over 11 months a club can go from sharing a stage with the continent's best to complete extinction but it is a fate that reflects the shocking state of finance in the Romanian game.
The team who finished 2nd in Liga I, Timisoara, will not be taking their place in the Champions League as they have instead been relegated to the 3rd tier due to their financial position. The team known as Poli will be joined by 14th placed Gloria Bistrita who share their financial plight.
It's a similar story to that of Gretna who rise and fall was almost identical to Unirea's in that they were both very small clubs who secured rapid promotions through the leagues, and although Gretna never quite reached the very top, it is fair to say that both clubs were growing well above their means.
The story of Unirea, whilst tragic, could prove to be a stark reminder to some teams on these shores. With more and more football clubs becoming entirely dependent on outside investment from owners, tales such as this become an all too real reminder that football clubs are not invincible.
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