Steaua București in European football

On 7 June 1947, at the initiative of several officers of the Romanian Royal House, the first Romanian sports club of the Army was born through a decree signed by General Mihail Lascăr, High Commander of the Romanian Royal Army. The club was to be called ASA București (Asociația Sportivă a Armatei București – English: Army Sports Association), with seven different sections (football, fencing, volleyball, boxing, shooting, athletics, tennis), and its leadership was entrusted to General-Major Oreste Alexandrescu. With a squad gathered in record time, ASA was preparing itself for the Romanian second league promotion play-offs. However, the new Communist government that had come to power in 1945 and assumed total control of the country at the end of 1947 stated that every sports association in the country was now to be linked to a certain trade union, be it a State Department, a Ministry or a company. However, this was not the case for first league club, Carmen București, owned by wealthy industrialist Dumitru Mociorniță, who saw his team excluded from the championship and later on dissolved, its place in the 1st league being now taken by newly formed ASA.[9]

The team's first official competition was the 1947–48 Romanian Football Championship season, in which they finished 14th. Their first official match was played in Bucharest against Dermata Cluj and ended 0-0. The team managed to avoid relegation after a play-out with seven other teams. On 5 June 1948, by Order 289 of the Ministry of National Defence, ASA became CSCA (Clubul Sportiv Central al Armatei – English: Central Sports Club of the Army), after which performances began to roll. In March 1950, CSCA changed its name to CCA (Casa Centrală a Armatei, English: "Central House of the Army").

The 1950s were years of great domestic performances, ones in which the famous "CCA Golden Team" was formed. 1956 was one of CCA's most prestigious years, when, apart from winning the title, the team entered a tournament in England where they defeated Luton Town 4–3, drew against Arsenal 1–1 and Sheffield Wednesday 3–3, then lost 5–0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Further, on 22 April 1956, the Romania national team defeated Yugoslavia 1–0 in Belgrade with a team comprised only by CCA players. In 1957, the team also made their first European Cup appearance, falling to Borussia Dortmund after a play-off in Bologna.

In 1961, CCA changed its name once again (for the final time) to CSA Steaua București (Clubul Sportiv al Armatei Steaua – English: Army Sports Club Steaua). The word "steaua" is Romanian for "the star and was adopted because of the presence, just like in any other Eastern-European Army team, of a red star on their badge.

Under the leadership of coaches Emerich Jenei and Anghel Iordănescu, Steaua had an impressive Championship run in the 1984–85 season, which they eventually won after a six-year drought. What followed was an astonishing European Cup season. After knocking-out Vejle Boldklub, Budapest Honvéd, Lahti and Anderlecht, they were the first ever Romanian team to make it into a Champions League final. On 7 May 1986, at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium in Seville, Spanish champions Barcelona were clear favourites, but after a goalless draw, goalkeeper Helmuth Duckadam saved all four penalties taken by Barça, being the first ever Romanian to reach the Guinness Book for that achievement,[10] while Gavril Balint and Marius Lăcătuș converted their penalties to make Steaua the first Eastern European team to win the supreme continental trophy.

Gheorghe Hagi, arguably the all-time best Romanian footballer, joined the club a few months later, scoring the only goal of the match against Dynamo Kyiv which brought Steaua an additional European Super Cup on 24 February 1987 in Monaco, just two months after having lost the Intercontinental Cup 1–0 to Argentinians River Plate in Tokyo.

Steaua remained at the top of European football for the rest of the decade, managing one more Champions League semi-final against Benfica (1987–88) and one more Champions League final in 1989, which was lost 4–0 in to the Milan side of Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard.

During these last years of the Communist regime in Romania, dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu's son Valentin was involved in the life of the team. Even though a controversial character, Valentin Ceaușescu admitted in a recent interview he had done nothing else than to protect his favourite team from Dinamo București's sphere of influence, ensured by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.[11] Though contested by some, their five-year winning streak in the championship between 1984–85 and 1988–89 corroborates the notion that the team was really the best during this period.

The Romanian Revolution led the country towards a free open market and, subsequently, several players of the great 1980s team left for other clubs in the West. Gheorghe Hagi joined Real Madrid for a then club record $4.3 million fee,[12] Marius Lăcătuș to Fiorentina, Dan Petrescu to Foggia, Silviu Lung to Logroñés, Ștefan Iovan to Brighton & Hove Albion, Tudorel Stoica to Lens and so on.

Therefore, three years followed in which the club won only a national cup in the 1991–92 season. However, a swift recovery followed and Steaua managed a six consecutive championship streak between 1992–93 and 1997–98. The club managed to reach the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals in 1993, when they lost on away goals to Royal Antwerp, and also qualified for the Champions League group stage for three-straight years between 1994–95 and 1996–97.

In 1998, following lobbying from football department president Marcel Pușcaș and new LPF regulations, the football club separated from CSA Steaua București and changed their name for the final time to AFC Steaua București (Asociația Fotbal Club Steaua București).[13]

In the summer of 2004, following a third consecutive year with no trophy won, former Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga was appointed as head coach, becoming the first ever foreign FC FCSB manager. Following the appointment, results came immediately, as the team qualified for the UEFA Cup group stage and further on became the first Romanian team to make it to the European football spring since 1993, where they defeated holders Valencia after a penalty shoot-out at Ghencea. Zenga was sacked with three matchdays to go in the Divizia A, but FC FCSB eventually won the title, performance repeated the following year with manager Cosmin Olăroiu. Under Olăroiu they reached the UEFA Cup semi-finals in 2005–06, where they were eliminated by Middlesbrough by a last minute goal. This was their best performance at a European competition since reaching the final of the 1988–89 European Cup.

The next season, after having successfully passed two qualifying rounds against Gorica and Standard Liège, FC FCSB reached the group stage of the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League, where they finished in third position in Group E, behind Lyon (0–3 home, 1–1 away) and Real Madrid (1–4 home, 0–1 away) and in front of Dynamo Kyiv (1–1 home, 4–1 away). However, their continuation in the UEFA Cup was short, having been eliminated by title holders Sevilla in the round of 32.

In the 2007–08 UEFA Champions League, they eliminated Zagłębie Lubin (1–0 away and 2–1 home) and BATE Borisov (2–2 away and 2–0 home) to reach the group stage, where they were drawn alongside Arsenal, Sevilla and Sparta Prague. However, their performance was sub-par, finishing last with one point.

The 2008–09 UEFA Champions League season saw FC FCSB advance to the group stage after defeating Galatasaray (2–2 away and 1–0 home), only to again finish in last place with one point, after Bayern Munich, Lyon and Fiorentina.

The 2012–13 season saw FC FCSB achieve their best European performance in six seasons, reaching the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League Round of 16 where they lost to eventual winners Chelsea. Steaua most recently qualified for the Champions League group stages in 2013–14, finishing last in their group with Chelsea, Schalke and Basel.

As of 14 June 2023[15]

Including away match with Nordsjaelland.