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Bucharest Rapid
Bucharest Rapid is one of the famous Romanian football clubs and a rival for Bucharest Steaua and Bucharest Dinamo. The symbol of Bucharest Rapid is the mixture of white and crimson and the Valentin Stanescu stadium, with a capacity of 19.100 seats, is the stadium of Bucharest Rapid.
Founded in September 1923 by a group of workers of the Griviţa workshops, Bucharest Rapid was then called CFR or Cultural and Sporting Association. Few years later, in 1931, Bucharest Rapid started competing in the first league. After the railroad workers' strikes and riots that took place in 1933, the owner of Bucharest Rapid until 1992 became the Romanian Ministry of Transportation. Before the Second World War, Bucharest Rapid was one of
Gheorghe Gheorghiu Dej, the first leader of the Communist Romania, said that his enrolment in the Communist Party was due to his work for the Romania Railroads. That made Bucharest Rapid the only pre-war team still activating in the first days of communism. Although luckier than other sports clubs, Bucharest Rapid entered into a dark era during the communist regime that brought a new series of teams and regulations. But few years later, the entire national team was represented by players and ex-players of Bucharest Rapid.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Bucharest Rapid was confined in the second league for 6 years in a row and the club was slowly starved. The 1990’s and the fall of communism brought partial solutions. In 1992, Traian Băsescu (back then the Minister of Transportation and presently the president of
The most famous coach of Bucharest Rapid and the one who transformed the football club into a force again is Mircea Lucescu. But the coach that won the most trophies for the Bucharest Rapid is Mircea Rednic. Presently, Bucharest Rapid is managed by Răzvan Lucescu, Mircea Lucescu’s son. Among the famous players of Bucharest Rapid are: Florin Marin, Marius Şumudică, Bogdan Lobonţ, Mircea Rednic, Marius Măldărăşanu, Ioan Ovidiu Sabău, Ioan Viorel Ganea, Daniel Pancu, Florin Bratu, Sabin Ilie or Valentin Bădoi.
Bucharest Rapid won four Romanian championships and eleven Romanian Cups, being the first Romanian team to reach the finals of the European clubs competition. In 2005-2006, due to UEFA Cup rules relaxation, Bucharest Rapid has reached the upper-level phases of the European competitions, going up to the quarter-finals.
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