FC Progresul București
Fotbal Club Progresul București, commonly known as Progresul București or simply as Progresul, was a Romanian football club based in Bucharest.
The team was founded in 1944 as B.N.R. București, being the team of the National Bank of Romania. In 1947, B.N.R. was promoted to Divizia B. In 1955, B.N.R. made its debut in Divizia A, under the name of Progresul Finanțe Bănci București. Since then, Progresul has experienced various successes and setbacks, in total spending no less than 32 seasons in the top flight, being ranked 15th in the Liga I All-Time Table. Progresul was runner-up of the league three times, won the Romanian Cup in the 1959–60 season, and was also the finalist of the Cup on four other occasions.
Unlike the three biggest teams of Bucharest and Romania—Steaua, Dinamo and Rapid—Progresul was not historically supported by the communist regime. This, however, drew the sympathy of many supporters, including actors, artists and the then-bourgeoisie of Bucharest.
In April 2009, due to financial problems, Progresul was kicked out from the Cotroceni Stadium by the National Bank of Romania, which was no longer part of the club, but was still the owner of the stadium. In the same month, the club was excluded from the Liga II and subsequently declared bankrupt.
One of Romania's most well known footballers, Dan Petrescu, finished his career at the club.
History
Founding, early years and success (1944–1970)
FC Progresul București was founded as B.N.R. București on 10 May 1944 at the initiative of Nicolae Pop Sr. and Traian Pătrașcu, who proposed the creation of a football team to the National Bank of Romania at a meeting at the I. Vidrighin Hotel in Rășinari. The idea was quickly embraced by the bankers present, and the club was subsequently formed. Initially, no formal constitution was signed, an issue which remained unresolved for several years, until one was informally written by a local writer Valentin Căltuț, based on the wishes of Nicolae Pop Jr. and founding members Peter Lambru, Iosif Micu, Petre Mihăilescu, Ernest Rădulescu, and Constantin Stoian.File:Nicolae Oaidă.jpg|thumb|left|190px|Nicolae Oaidă, a legend of Progresul București with 226 matches played for "the bankers" in the Divizia A and Divizia B.
After only two seasons spent in the third tier, "the Bankers" promoted to Divizia B at the end of the 1946–47 season, being ranked 8th of 16 at the end of their inaugural season. In the summer of 1948, B.N.R. București was renamed as Banca de Stat București, before being renamed Spartac București the following year. 1955 was the first season spent by "the bleu and blues" on the main stage of Romanian football, Divizia A. Their successful performance and style of play impressed football fans in Romania, fostering a growing fan base for the organization. Approaching the championship with only one well-known player, who co-ordinated a group of players who were unknown at the time, the team eventually ranked 3rd of 13, ahead of leading clubs like CCA București or Știința Cluj. Titus Ozon also led "the barbers" into trailing results from the 1950s. The squad of Progresul in the first season of Divizia A was composed of: Popovici, Gică Andrei, Bratu, Paraschiv, Soare, Colosi, Ciocea, Banciu, Cosma, Știrbei, Cacoveanu, Fusulan, Dragomir, Dobrescu, Cruțiu, M. Smărăndescu, Tănase, Mihăilescu, E. Iordache and Ioan Lupaș.
In the summer of 1958, several prominent players left the team: first Ozon, then Moldoveanu, Dinulescu and Cojocaru. Some new players also came: Maior, Nedelcu, Nicu Smărăndescu, Ioniță, Baboie, Mafteuță, Marin, Birn or Vasilescu. At the 1958–59 season, the team was ranked 6th and reached the semi-finals of the Romanian Cup; there Progresul missed the chance to play the final, losing the match against Baia Mare with 1–2. The second semi-final took place between Dinamo București and Rapid București, which saw Ozon play his first match after a one-year career break as part of the Rapid team.
In the 1959–60 season, the team was ranked 9th with a squad led by international players such as Mândru, Karikaș, Soare and Oaidă, Progresul conquered the Romanian Cup, achieving a great performance: 15 goals scored and only one conceded. The final was played between Progresul and Dinamo Obor at Republicii Stadium in front of 30,000 spectators. Progresul won the match, with goals scored by Oaidă and Soare. The squad that brought the first cup to Dr. Staicovici street was composed of: Mândru – Nicu Smărăndescu, Karikaș, Soare – Ioniță, Maior – Oaidă, Mafteuță, Marin, Mișu Smărăndescu and Protopopescu. Despite earning the right to participate in the 1960–61 European Cup Winners' Cup by winning the Romanian Cup, the team were barred from doing so by communist authorities, who disliked the players' conduct at the Cup's award ceremony.
In the 1960–61 championship edition, the bankers ranked 9th, as in the previous one. At the Cup, they reached the quarter-finals, where they were eliminated by Steaua. The team finished at the following positions in subsequent seasons:, before ending last at the end of the 1964–65 season and being relegated to the second division.
With a valuable squad, the team was expected to return to the first division shortly. After a close battle against Știința București, they confirmed those expectations. At the promotion round, Progresul entered in the first eleven players such as Mateianu, Mândru, Oaidă, Baboie, Unguroiu, Colceriu, Adrian Constantinescu or Mafteuță. In the first season after promotion, the team ended at the 10th position, and were subsequently almost relegated again after finishing 13th out of 14 at the end of the 1967–68 season. At second-to-last place, the team played a promotion/relegation play-off where, together with Crișul Oradea, they qualified for the next season of Divizia A, to the detriment of Steagul Roșu Brașov and Politehnica Galați. However, the team's weak form only led them to relegation in the next season, when they finished 15th out of 16. Nonetheless, the team was once again promoted after only one season, starting the 1970s as a Divizia A member.
Ups and downs, years of exile (1970–1990)
After the first rounds of the new season, another great player of the team, Viorel Mateianu, retired from his professional career. The new players Raksi, Pavlovici and Dudu Georgescu also made their debut in the first squad; Dudu Georgescu would also join later at the European Golden Shoe. Despite the fact that during the second part of the 1970–71 season, Progresul housed one of the most talented teams in its history, with a middle line comprising Kassai and Beldeanu, a forward line composed of Sandu Ion, Dudu Georgescu, Mircea Sandu and Viorel Năstase, and a defensive comprising Tănăsescu and Filipescu, the weak results from autumn sentenced them to relegation.After relegation, the many of Progresul's talents left. Mircea Sandu and Viorel Năstase were transferred in the summer; at the end of the season, the team took second place behind Sportul Studențesc, resulting in the losses of Paul Manta, Adalbert Kassai, Nicolae Tănăsescu, Gabriel Raksi and Aurel Beldeanu. In the 1972–73 edition, the team was ranked as a middle-table squad of the second tier. It was only in 1976 that the team promoted into Divizia A again, after three seasons spent in the second division. The joy of promotion was a short one, however. After a season spent in the top flight, Progresul relegated again in 1977, after finishing only 17th out of 18. The inconsistency of the team continued over the next few years, especially due to financial problems, and the youthfulness of the team. After two mediocre campaigns, the team would promote again in the summer of 1980, this time under the name of Progresul Vulcan București, finishing at only two points ahead of Rapid București.
| Period | Name |
| 1944–1948 | B.N.R. București |
| 1948–1949 | Banca de Stat București |
| 1949–1952 | Spartac Banca RPR București |
| 1953 | Spartac Finanțe Bănci București |
| 1954–1957 | Progresul Finanțe Bănci București |
| 1958–1977 | Progresul București |
| 1978–1988 | Progresul Vulcan București |
| 1988–1989 | Progresul Energia București |
| 1989–1991 | Progresul Șoimii București |
| 1991–1994 | Progresul București |
| 1994–2007 | FC Național București |
| 2007–2009 | Progresul București |
The 1980s started with a tough season for Progresul, which managed to stay in the first division by having a better goal difference than Politehnica Iași after scoring a goal at the end of the last day of the season. The team also secured victories against Steaua and Universitatea Craiova. At the following championship, Progresul relegated, alongside Universitatea Cluj and UTA Arad. In the 1980s, teams such as FC Olt Scornicești, Flacăra Moreni and Victoria București appeared in the first stage of Romanian football.
Management of the club tried to replace Mateianu, who returned to the team after a successful stint at Baia Mare, with Robert Cosmoc. The results were unsatisfactory and in the spring, the team reached only 10th place. The journalist Radu Cosașu, a sympathizer of the team, wrote about this period: "Throughout these years, Progresul has strengthened me through suffering."
The decade continued in a bad rhythm for the team, which could not promote to the first league for six years, in which it finished at the following positions: 1983–84 – 10th, 1984–85 – 3rd, 1985–86 – 2nd, 1986–87 – 2nd. After three unsuccessful seasons, an overall lack of success and the decommissioning of the team's own Dr. Staicovici Stadium, the club was demoralized, and could only play its home matches at various other stadiums.
The 1987–88 season was a disastrous one. During this season, Progresul collected only 14 points, and head coach Paul Popescu resigned. The club then went through a number of coach replacements in short succession: Marin Moraru and Vasile Aelenei in the first part of the season, Costică Toma and Adrian Rusu in the second part of the season, and then Nicolae Lupescu. The series of Divizia B was won in that season by Inter Sibiu; Progresul, after 40 years, was relegated to the lower leagues of the Romanian football. Twelve players left the club afterwards, in their place arriving at least twenty-five, many of them having been promoted from youth squads, or having returned after completing military service. Very few of them succeeded; among the valuable players were Liviu Ciobotariu, Cristian Diaconu, Carol Marina and Valentin Oprea, who each stayed for at least five consecutive years and later went on to contribute to the return of Progresul in the first division.
The club's next season, in the Divizia C, was started under the name of Progresul Energia București, with a new chairman, Dan Ionescu, and a new manager, Paul Popescu. The club also reduced the size of the squad from 38 to 24 players. Unfortunately, the club was ranked only 2nd in its series at the end of the season, after Mecanică Fină București. During the 1989–90 season, events took a happy turn for the barbers. The Romanian Revolution resulted in a change in the organization of the National Bank of Romania. With new institutional support, Gheorghe Cristoloveanu as a new manager, and a squad debuting the young striker Florin Cârstea, Progresul won the series with five points ahead of second place. It, along with Metalul București, promoted into Divizia B after two tough seasons. The first season after the promotion was not a great one; the club finished only 14th in the second series. Nonetheless, the season saw Tinel Petre made his debut at the first squad.