page_title: FC Rapid București
section_title: A glorious period (1990–2008)
hierarchical_section_title: FC Rapid București / History / A glorious period (1990–2008)
caption_attribution_description: Русский: Динамо - Шахтер
context_page_description: Fotbal Club Rapid 1923, commonly known as Rapid București or simply as Rapid, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest.
  It was founded in 1923 by a group of employees from the Grivița workshops under the name of Asociația Culturală și Sportivă CFR. Domestically, Rapid București is one of the most successful clubs in Romania, having won 3 Liga I titles, 13 Cupa României and 4 Supercupa României. Internationally, their most notable achievements are reaching the quarter-finals of the 1972–73 Cup Winners' Cup and of the 2005–06 UEFA Cup, and the final of the 1940 Mitropa Cup, which was not played because of the Second World War.
  In July 2016, the club was declared bankrupt and subsequently replaced in the first division by ACS Poli Timișoara. Several new entities claimed the legacy of Rapid, including ACS Rapid – Frumoșii Nebuni ai Giuleștiului, AFC Rapid and Academia Rapid. In June 2018, after 18 auctions along which the price of the Rapid brand had fallen with about €3 million, Academia officially became the successor of the original club.
  Since 1939, the club plays its home matches at the Stadionul Giulești in burgundy and white uniforms.
context_section_description: Promoted back in the top flight Rapid had a balanced path and finished 11th, 4 points away from the relegation zone. Followed another two seasons of progress in which "the Railwaymen" finished 7th, then 4th. In 1993 the club was bought by George Copos and began probably one of the most fruitful times in the history of "the White and Burgundies".
  After the 4th place occupied at the end of the last season, Rapid returned in the European Cups after 18 years of absence, but was eliminated from the first round of the 1993–94 UEFA Cup by the Italian side Inter Milan, 1–5 on aggregate. In the Divizia A, the club finished 4th again, but no one risked a prognosis for the team that previously had oscillating developments. 1994–95 UEFA Cup season bring again two tough opponents for the Giulești side, Charleroi of Belgium which they eliminated 3–2 on aggregate and Eintracht Frankfurt, which eliminated Rapid after a 6–2 on aggregate, especially due to the 0–5 defeat registered on Waldstadion. In the Divizia A, they finished again on the 4th place, but this time with no qualification for the European Competitions.
  In the 1995–96 season the team raised the stakes and finished 3rd, qualifying again in the UEFA Cup. After a 2–-0 victory on aggregate against Lokomotiv Sofia, "the Railwaymen" were eliminated by Karlsruher SC, 2–4 on aggregate, second time when a German side sent home the team from Giulești. The squad had a fall in the first league and finished only 8th at the end of the 1996–97 season.
  With Mircea Lucescu as the new coach, Rapid made a very good 1997–98 season, the best one in the last 22 seasons for "the White and Burgundies". In the championship the team finished 2nd, only two points behind Steaua București, missing the chance of a historical title, the first one since 1967. In the last match of the season, with over 20.000 fans travelling from Bucharest, Rapid only managed a 2–2 draw against Universitatea Craiova, a result which was heavily contested after Rapid had a clear goal denied by the referee. Without title, Rapid focused on the Romanian Cup where they won their 10th title, but the first one since 1975. In the final they again met Craiova, with Lucian Marinescu's 67th-minute goal securing the trophy. This triumph has returned the team back to the UEFA Competitions, this time 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The 1998–99 season started pretty bad for the "Burgundies". After an 8–2 on aggregate against Grevenmacher in the qualifying round, Rapid was again eliminated pretty fast, this time in the first round by Vålerenga, with a 2–2 on aggregate and 2 goals scored on the Giulești Stadium by the Norwegian club. In the championship, Rapid had one of the best seasons in the history of Divizia A, finishing 1st with 89 points and winning the much-desired title of champion of Romania, the 2nd one in the history of the club. This great performance was obtained with coaches: Mircea Lucescu (24 rounds), Nicolae Manea (5 rounds), Dumitru Dumitriu (4 rounds) and Mircea Rednic (1 round) and the following players: Marius Bratu, Bogdan Lobonţ – Daniel Chiriţă, Adrian Iencsi, Dorel Mutică, Ștefan Nanu, Vasile Popa, Răzvan Raţ, Mircea Rednic, Nicolae Stanciu (C), Ion Voicu – Bogdan Andone, Constantin Barbu, Mugur Bolohan, Zeno Bundea, Dănuț Lupu, Ovidiu Maier, Marius Măldărăşanu, Ioan Sabău, Cezar Zamfir – Ionel Ganea, Radu Niculescu, Daniel Pancu, Sergiu Radu and Marius Şumudică. The team also included Cristian Dulca, Lucian Marinescu and Stefan Nanu, who left during the winter break.
  1999–2000 season was again a very good one for Rapid, but despite the fact that they had a solid 2nd place, with 15-point over 3rd place (Steaua București), could not oppose to a nearly perfect season made by Dinamo București, which ended on the 1st place, at a distance of 12 points. They also could not defend their Cup, being eliminated in the semi-finals by FC U Craiova, 2–3 on aggregate. In the UEFA Champions League was a great disappointment, the team being eliminated by the Latvian side Skonto, 5–4 on aggregate.
  2000–01 season was started with Ang
caption: Mircea Lucescu (pictured) and his son, Răzvan, had several spells as Rapid managers between 1997 and 2012. They won three, respectively two domestic trophies with the club.
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