Fotbal Club U Olimpia Cluj-Napoca, commonly known as FCU Olimpia Cluj, or simply as U Olimpia Cluj, is a women's football team from Cluj-Napoca in Romania. It is Romania's top women's football club, having won all league titles since its inception, and thus represents Romania year by year in the UEFA Women's Champions League. The club also gives a majority of the Romania women's national football team players.
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| Full name | Fotbal Club U Olimpia Cluj-Napoca | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Studentele (The Students) | ||
| Founded | 7 July 2010 | ||
| Ground | Clujana / Cluj Arena | ||
| Capacity | 1,300 / 30,335 | ||
| Owner | Radu Munteanu | ||
| Chairman | Alin Cioban | ||
| Manager | Ioana Bortan | ||
| League | Liga I | ||
| 2023–24 | Liga I, 2nd | ||
| Website | https://u-olimpiacluj.ro | ||
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History
editFounded on 7 July 2010[1] at the initiative of Mirel Albon, Clujana's coach, due to increasingly divergent views with his club's owners,[2][3] Olimpia started directly in Romania's top level women's league, as there was no second-level league at the time, and convincingly won the championship in its very first season. The team won all of its 24 matches which totaled a goal difference of 253–11 and wins as high as 26–0 and 27–0.[4] The title qualified them for the 2011–12 UEFA Women's Champions League. In addition they won the Romanian cup that year too.[5] They went on to win all of the league titles since, and most of the domestic cups.
Olimpia had a partnership with the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, its rector, Radu Munteanu being for a period of time also Olimpia's chairman (president).[6] This partnership reflected in the team's name between 2012 and 2015. Since the 2018–19 season, the teams signed a partnership with FC Universitatea Cluj and has rebranded as "U" Olimpia Cluj.[7]
Chronology of names
edit| Period | Full Club Name | Short name |
| 2011–2012 | Clubul de Fotbal Feminin Olimpia Cluj-Napoca[8] | Olimpia Cluj |
| 2012–2015 | Clubul de Fotbal Feminin Olimpia Universitatea Tehnică Cluj-Napoca[9][10] | Olimpia UT Cluj |
| 2015–2018 | Clubul de Fotbal Feminin Olimpia Cluj-Napoca | Olimpia Cluj |
| 2018–present | Asociația Fotbal Club Universitatea Olimpia Cluj[1] | U Olimpia Cluj |
Football Academy
editTogether with the club in 2010 the Olimpia Women's Football Academy was established, supported by a partnership with the city and the council.[11] The goal of south-east Europe's first female football academy is to advance women's football in Romania.
Honours
editLeagues
editCups
editSeason by season
editChampions Runners-up Third place Promoted Relegated
| Season | Division | Tier | Place | Cup | WCL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2010–11 | Liga I | 1 | 1st | W | – |
| 2 | 2011–12 | Liga I, Seria Vest | 1 | 1st | W | R32 |
| 3 | 2012–13 | Liga I, Seria Vest | 1 | 1st | W | R16 |
| 4 | 2013–14 | Superliga | 1 | 1st | W | Grp |
| 5 | 2014–15 | Superliga | 1 | 1st | W | Grp |
| 6 | 2015–16 | Superliga | 1 | 1st | F | R32 |
| 7 | 2016–17 | Superliga | 1 | 1st | W | Grp |
| 8 | 2017–18 | Liga I | 1 | 1st | QF | R32 |
| 9 | 2018–19 | Liga I | 1 | 1st | SF | Grp |
| 10 | 2019–20 | Liga I | 1 | 1st[a] | QF* | Grp |
| 11 | 2020–21 | Liga I | 1 | 1st | W | 2QR |
| 12 | 2021–22 | Liga I | 1 | 1st | W | 1R |
| 13 | 2022–23 | Liga I | 1 | 1st | F | 1R |
| 14 | 2023–24 | Liga I | 1 | 2nd | W | 2R |
| 15 | 2024–25 | Liga I | 1 | – | ||
- ^ not crowned as Champions
Current squad
edit- As of August 2021[12]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Club officials
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Board of directorsedit
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Current technical staffedit
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FC U Olimpia Cluj in Europe
editIn their first participation they started in the qualifying round of the 2011–12 UEFA Women's Champions League. Already after two wins against Bosnian and Lithuanian opposition they qualified for the round of 32.[15]
| UEFA Women's Cup / UEFA Women's Champions League | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Preliminary stage | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | Quarterfinals | Semi-finals | Final | |||||||||||||
| 2011–12 |  Sarajevo 1 |
 Olympique
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| 2012–13 |  1º Dezembro 1 |
 Neulengbach |
 Torres
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| 2013–14 |  Spartak 1
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| 2014–15 |  Raheny 1
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| 2015–16 |  Pomurje 1 |
PSG
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| 2016–17 |  Medyk 1
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| 2017–18 |  Hibernian 1 |
 Rosengård
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1 Group stage. Highest-ranked eliminated team in case of qualification, lowest-ranked qualified team in case of elimination.
Notable former players
editThe footballers enlisted below have been called up or had international cap(s) for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level and/or more than 50 caps for U Olimpia Cluj.
References
edit- ^ a b Despre noi. u-olimpiacluj.ro (in Romanian)
- ^ "A câştigat 8 titluri cu o echipă feminină de fotbal şi are un mesaj pentru cei care trimit femeile la cratiţă. "Fetele obţin rezultate pentru că sunt mai ambiţioase"" [He won 8 titles with a women's football team and has a message for people who send their women to the kitchen: „Girls obtain results because they are more ambitious”]. adevarul.ro. 21 June 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- ^ "Olimpia Cluj, fabrica de fotbal feminin. Cu un buget de 750.000 de lei, campioanele sunt invincibile" [Olimpia Cluj, the women's football factory. With a budget of 750.000 lei, the champions are invincible]. prosport.ro. 3 August 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- ^ "Liga 1 de Fotbal Feminin: Olimpia promovează fotbalul feminin în şcolile clujene" [Female Football League 1: Olimpia promote women's football schools in Cluj]. ziarulfaclia.ro. 5 April 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
- ^ "Olimpia Cluj a castigat Cupa Romaniei la fotbal feminin" (in Romanian). ziare.com. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
- ^ "Archived official website. The President's message" (in Romanian). 22 October 2013. Archived from the original on 22 October 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- ^ "Început bun de sezon pentru echipele U Olimpia Cluj". Monitorul.
- ^ "Archived official website" (in Romanian). 18 February 2011. Archived from the original on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- ^ "Archived official website" (in Romanian). 24 June 2013. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- ^ "Club page on the Romanian Football Federation's official website" (in Romanian). frf.ro. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
- ^ "Olimpia change goal: he wants the title and Champions League". fotbalfeminin.wordpress.com. 5 January 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
- ^ Echipa Archived 14 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine. u-olimpiacluj.ro (in Romanian)
- ^ Board of directors
- ^ Current staff
- ^ "Rayo Vallecano and Olimpia Cluj celebrate". UEFA. 13 August 2011. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
External links
edit- Official website
- Team profile at UEFA.com