CSM Reșița
Asociația Club Sportiv Muncitoresc Reșița, commonly known as CSM Reșița or simply as Reșița, is a professional football club based in Reșița, Caraș-Severin County, which competes in the Liga II.
The club was founded on 16 May 1926 as UD Reșița and throughout its almost centennial history survived to many sharp ups and downs, from a national title in 1931 and a silver medal in 1932 to the last shine in the late 1990s, several reorganizations in the 2000s and an almost fatal fall at the level of amateur leagues during the 2010s.
Over time CSM had important battles with local rivals as Muncitorul Reșița or Gloria Reșița, but has secured itself the city's supremacy, as well as the title of county's most important and supported club. Despite the strong support from the Mountain Banat, Reșițenii have never succeeded in imposing themselves on a regional level, not even the national title won in 1931 or the 1954 cup not being able to tilt the balance in favor of "the red and blacks", in their duel for Banat against FC Politehnica Timișoara. In time the rivalry between the two sides increased as intensity and continued even after the bankruptcy of FC Politehnica, but now at a much lower level, against ASU Politehnica Timișoara, fans team and unofficial successor of the old white and violet side.
CSM Reșița is nicknamed by fans Rosso-Nerii or Milan from Banat due to its classical red kits with black stripes. Reșița's supporters are well known in Romania for the eagerness with which support their team, the ultras group of CSM being named Guardia Ultra. Rosso-Nerii play their home matches on Mircea Chivu Stadium.
History
The club was founded on 16 May 1926 from a merger between local teams Clubul Sportiv and Societatea Sportivă Muncitorească, the new team was named SS UDR, the first coach of the team being native Ernest Loukota who also helped at the merger, the main starting 11 in the club's first year of activity being: Ștefan Czinczer – Szilágyi, Rech – Bundy, Andresz, Pecsenovszky – Grosz, Pázler, Lakatos, Adalbert Deșu, Keller. In the 1930–31 season, UDR won the Romanian West League and qualified to the national finals, where it defeated with 2–0 Societatea Gimnastică Sibiu in the final after a double scored by Eugen Lakatos, coach Loukota using the following 11: Carol Damacsek – Alexandru Pomacsek, Györi – Sinko, Sepi, Jozsef Bundi – Fibișanu, Eugen Lakatos, Silviu Ploeșteanu, Jozsef Kilianovics, Moise. In the following season, the club reached again the championship final, losing it with 3–0 in front of Venus București, this time coach Loukota used the following players: Carol Damacsek – Iosif Czako, Györi – Sinko, Sepi – Jozsef Bundi, Kilianovics – Tudor, Silviu Ploeșteanu, Eugen Lakatos, Moise, Keller.After World War II and the advent of the Communist regime, professional football was forbidden, UDR merged with a local labor union team, Locomotiva and was renamed Oțelul Reșița and after several further name changes, it was ultimately branded Metalul Reșița.
The 1950s were a period of slow decline for the club. By 1954, Metalul Reșița was playing in the Romanian second division, Divizia B, finishing the season in 7th place, however, the season also brought the club's second trophy, in the form of the 1954 Cupa României, this being the first time that a team from Divizia B had won the trophy after defeating five Divizia A teams, Știința Timișoara 5–1, Locomotiva Tg. Mureș 4–0, Locomotiva Timișoara 2–0, and CCA București 1–0 and a 2–0 victory in the final with Ștefan Szeleș scoring twice in the 30th and 40th minutes against Dinamo București, coach Mihai Zsizsik using the following players in the final: Iosif Zarici – Emil Chirilă, Valentin Teodorescu, Eugen Potoceanu – Mihai Munteanu, Ștefan Apro – Iosif Jojart II, Petru Mioc, Ștefan Urcan, Petre Iovan, Ștefan Szeleș.
During its 87-year history, the club won one championship and one cup and has played for 16 seasons in Liga I, the last time in the 1999–2000 season.
The early 2000s brought financial problems to Domanului Valley and, in 2004, Reșița was dissolved and converted to FC Universitatea Craiova's reserve team. In 2005, the club was refounded as FCM Reșița and bought its place in the second tier from Tricotaje Ineu, but lost its brand, record and the right to use the name of CSM Reșița.
The club was dissolved in the autumn of 2008 due to financial difficulties. In the summer of 2009, it was brought back to life, this time with the name of Școlar Reșița, playing in Liga III, Romania's third league. In the summer of 2012, it was renamed again, this time returning to the old name of FCM Reșița.
In the 2012–13 season, the club finished third in Liga III. The objective for the 2013–14 season was initially to be promoted to Liga II after a six-year absence, but in the summer of 2013 Damila Măciuca was moved to Reșița and was renamed to Metalul Reșița. The municipal government of Reșița chose to support this new team, forcing Școlar Reșița to enter Liga IV due to the loss of funding.
In 2015, relations between Metalul and the Municipality of Reșița cooled and the latter resumed its financial support for CSM Școlar. Metalul moved to Snagov in 2016 and was renamed a year later to Sportul Snagov. On the other hand, CSM Școlar was promoted back to Liga III at the end of the 2015–16 season. It then finished runner-up in 2017 and 2018 before winning the fourth series and being promoted to Liga II in 2019.
CSM Școlar returned to the second division after an 11-year absence, regaining its logo and name. It was thus renamed to CSM Reșița in the summer of 2019.
Ground
CSM Reșița plays its home matches at Mircea Chivu Stadium, a sports complex named after manager Mircea Chivu, who was also the father of player Cristian Chivu. With a capacity of 12,500 seats, the stadium is located in Domanului Valley. It was opened in the 1920s and was renovated several times, most recently in 2018.Honours
Leagues
- Divizia A / Liga I
- *Winners : 1930–31
- *Runners-up : 1931–32
- Divizia B / Liga II
- *Winners : 1937–38, 1971–72, 1991–92, 1996–97
- *Runners-up : 1948–49, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1968–69
- Divizia C / Liga III
- *Winners : 1936–37, 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23
- *Runners-up : 2016–17, 2017–18
- Liga IV – Caraș-Severin
- *Winners : 2015–16
- *Runners-up : 2014–15
Cups
- Cupa României
- *Winners : 1954
- Cupa României – Caraș-Severin
- *Winners : 2014–15
