# FC Voluntari

Fotbal Club Voluntari (Romanian pronunciation:), commonly known as FC Voluntari or simply Voluntari, is a Romanian professional football club based in Voluntari, Ilfov County, that competes in the Liga II, the second tier of the Romanian league system.
Founded in 2010, Voluntari played in the Liga I between the 2015–16 season and the 2023–24 seasons. It claimed its first major honour the 2016–17 campaign, after defeating Astra Giurgiu in the penalty shootout of the Cupa României final, and went on to win the Supercupa României the same year.
Voluntari's home ground is the Anghel Iordănescu Stadium, which has a capacity of 4,600 people.

## History
### Early years

FC Voluntari was founded in the summer of 2010 and enrolled directly in the Liga III, after acquiring the berth of Petrolul Berca.
During their debut season in the third league, Ilfovenii finished in sixth place with Romeo Bunică as a head coach, and repeated the performance the next season with Bogdan Andone in charge. The 2012–13 season began with poor performances and after five rounds Andone was replaced by Bunică, who led the team to the seventh place.
Adrian Iencsi led Voluntari to winning the 2013–14 Liga III en fanfare, but despite the Liga II promotion, Iencsi was sacked and replaced for the next year by Ilie Poenaru. There, they had notable performances against Farul Constanța and CF Brăila, and then qualified to the Liga I from the first place via the promotion play-offs.

### Promotion to the first division

Voluntari earned promotion for the first time in their history to Liga I, the highest tier of Romanian football, at the end of the 2014–15 campaign. Its debut season was difficult, as many technical and administrative changes led the club to the relegation zone. Finishing 12th, the team faced a promotion/relegation play-off against UTA Arad, which it won 3–1 on aggregate and maintained its place in the Liga I.
With experienced players such as Vasile Maftei, Florin Cernat or Laurențiu Marinescu in the starting eleven, Voluntari improved itself in the 2016–17 season, finishing in ninth place and avoiding a second consecutive promotion/relegation play-off. During that year, the club achieved its biggest achievement so far by winning the Cupa României over Astra Giurgiu, being the first major trophy in its brief history.

## Stadium

The club plays its home matches at the 4,600-seater Stadionul Anghel Iordănescu in Voluntari. Attendances are usually modest, as Voluntari is considered a suburb of Bucharest and many of its citizens are inclined to support clubs from the capital instead.

## Honours
### Domestic
#### Leagues

* Liga II
** Winners (1): 2014–15
* Liga III
** Winners (1): 2013–14

#### Cups

* Cupa României
** Winners (1): 2016–17
** Runners-up (1): 2021–22
* Supercupa României
** Winners (1): 2017

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 14 March 2025
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 3 | DF | ROU | Ionuț Panțîru |
| 4 | DF | BRA | Rafael Garutti |
| 5 | DF | MDA | Igor Armaș (Captain) |
| 6 | MF | NCA | Matías Moldskred |
| 7 | MF | ROU | Daniel Toma |
| 8 | MF | ROU | Andrei Pandele |
| 9 | FW | ROU | Alberto Călin |
| 10 | MF | ROU | George Merloi (3rd captain) |
| 11 | MF | ROU | Doru Andrei |
| 12 | GK | ROU | Bogdan Ștefan |
| 13 | DF | ROU | Cătălin Alexe |
| 14 | GK | ROU | Eduard Chioveanu |
| 17 | DF | ROU | Andrei Pițian (Vice-captain) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | FW | ROU | Marvin Schieb |
| 20 | DF | ROU | Alexandru Gîț |
| 21 | FW | ROU | Andreas Niță |
| 23 | FW | ROU | Nicolae Carnat |
| 26 | FW | ROU | Denis Bujor |
| 27 | DF | ROU | Radu Crișan |
| 28 | DF | ROU | Vlăduț Andreș |
| 30 | DF | ROU | Alexandru Șuteu |
| 33 | GK | ROU | Iustin Chirilă (on loan from Universitatea Cluj) |
| 41 | FW | ROU | Andrei Dumiter (on loan from UTA Arad) |
| 44 | MF | ROU | Mihael Onișa |
| 59 | MF | ROU | Doru Popadiuc |
| 98 | MF | ROU | Remus Guțea |

### Other players under contract

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 24 | FW | ROU | Cătălin Țîră |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 77 | FW | SVK | Adam Nemec (Vice-captain) |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | ROU | Mario Bărăitaru (to CSM Slatina) |
| — | DF | ROU | Cătălin Ploeșteanu (to Olimpia Satu Mare) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | FW | ROU | Alexandru Munteanu (to Popești-Leordeni) |
| — | FW | ROU | Robert Popescu (to Hermannstadt) |

## Domestic records and statistics

| Season | League | Pos. | Notes | National Cup |
| 2024–25 | Liga II | TBD | | Play-off round |
| 2023–24 | Liga I | 15th | Relegated | Semi-finals |
| 2022–23 | Liga I | 9th | | Group Stage |
| 2021–22 | Liga I | 4th | | Runner-up |
| 2020–21 | Liga I | 13th | Releg. PO winner | Round of 32 |
| 2019–20 | Liga I | 11th | | Round of 16 |
| 2018–19 | Liga I | 11th | | Round of 16 |
| 2017–18 | Liga I | 12th | Releg. PO winner | Round of 32 |
| Season | League | Pos. | Notes | National Cup |
| 2016–17 | Liga I | 9th | | Winner |
| 2015–16 | Liga I | 12th | Releg. PO winner | Round of 32 |
| 2014–15 | Liga II (Seria I) | 1st (C) | Promoted | Fifth Round |
| 2013–14 | Liga III (Seria II) | 1st (C) | Promoted | Fifth Round |
| 2012–13 | Liga III (Seria III) | 7th | | Third Round |
| 2011–12 | Liga III (Seria II) | 6th | | Third Round |
| 2010–11 | Liga III (Seria II) | 6th | |

## Notable former players

The footballers enlisted below have had international cap(s) for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level and/or more than significant caps for FC Voluntari.

### Romania

* Cosmin Achim
* Florin Acsinte
* Ionuț Balaur
* Dragoș Balauru
* Adrian Bălan
* Radu Boboc
* Mircea Bornescu
* Marius Briceag
* Mihai Căpățînă
* Florin Cernat
* Cristian Costin
* Costin Curelea
* Gabriel Deac
* Andrei Dumiter
* Daniel Florea
* Ion Gheorghe
* Petre Ivanovici
* Costin Lazăr
* Vasile Maftei
* Laurențiu Marinescu
* Florin Maxim
* Daniel Novac
* Daniel Pancu
* Mihai Popa
* Mihai Răduț
* Alexandru Răuță
* Victor Rîmniceanu
* Gabriel Tamaș
* Dinu Todoran
* Alexandru Tudorie
* Alexandru Vlad
* Mihai Voduț

### Albania

* Naser Aliji

### Argentina

* Juan Cascini
* Nicolás Gorobsov
* Patricio Matricardi
* Cristian Paz

### Brazil

* Eric

### Bulgaria

* Bozhidar Mitrev

### Cape Verde

* Hélder Tavares

### Czech Republic

* Lukáš Droppa

### Croatia

* Ljuban Crepulja
* Hrvoje Spahija

### DR Congo

* Wilfred Moke

### Greece

* Thanasis Papazoglou

### Haiti

* Jean Sony Alcénat

### Iceland

* Rúnar Már Sigurjónsson

### Ivory Coast

* Ulrich Meleke

### Moldova

* Vitalie Damașcan
* Vadim Raţă

### Netherlands

* John Goossens

### Portugal

* Marcelo Lopes
* Ricardinho

### Spain

* Jefté Betancor
* Jesús Fernández
* Pablo de Lucas

### Tunisia

* Aïssa Laïdouni

## Notable former managers

* Bogdan Andone
* Cristiano Bergodi
* Liviu Ciobotariu
* Adrian Iencsi
* Florin Marin
* Gheorghe Mulțescu
* Claudiu Niculescu
* Ilie Poenaru
* Mihai Teja