Full Name: Fotbal Club Timişoara City: Timişoara Founded: 2002 Stadium: Stadion Dan Păltinişanu (33,000) Colors: Black, White Previous: Fulgerul Bragadiru (-2000), Rocar Fulgerul Bragadiru (2000-01), Fulgerul Bragadiru (2001-02), AEK Bucuresti (2002), Poli AEK Timişoara (2002-05), Universitar Politehnica Timişoara (2005-06)
Description:
In the summer of 2000 Fulgerul Bragadiru, recently promoted from the Romanian third to second division, purchased the first division position of Rocar Bucuresti. The intention was that the two clubs would swap league places. The Romanian federation ultimately rejected the arrangement and only allowed a merger. So for 2000-01 Rocar Fulgerul Bragadiru competed in (and were relegated from) the Romanian first division, playing their matches in Bucharest. The merger was dissolved at the end of the season.
In the middle of the 2001-02 season Folgerul Bragadiru again moved to Bucharest and this time were renamed AEK Bucuresti by their owner Anton Dobos, who had been an AEK Athens player. AEK Bucuresti won promotion to the Romanian first division and in the summer of 2002 Dobos moved the club to the city of Timişoara, taking advantage of the city's lack of top-class football with the departure of Politehnica Timişoara in 2000. Dobos also renamed the club Poli AEK Timişoara and adopted the previous Poli's violet and white colors and a very similar logo.
As mentioned the original Politehnica Timişoara (founded in 1920 and two-time Romanian Cup winners) moved out of Timişoara to the capital Romania under the ownership of Italian magnate Claudio Zambon. Strangely the club kept the Politehnica Timişoara name despite being based in Bucharest. The move to Bucharest has generally not paid of for the club as they currently toil in the Bucharest section of the amateur Romanian fourth division.
Poli AEK Bucuresti then merged with yet another Poli Timişoara in 2005 (this one formerly AS Politehnica Timişoara then CSU Politehnica Timişoara) and changed the club name to Universitar Timişoara. The following year Claudio Zambon took the new Politehnica Timişoara to court over the rights to the name and won, forcing them to change their name to FC Timişoara and colors to something else. They eventually chose black and white and a new logo.
The lawsuits continue to circulate while the heritage of the club is disputed. It probably goes without saying that the versions of events listed above might not be agreed upon by everyone...
Details:
http://www.justiceforpoli.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64&Itemid=69&lang=en