page_title: ASC Oțelul Galați
section_title: Golden Age of Oțelul (1999–2012)
hierarchical_section_title: ASC Oțelul Galați / History / Golden Age of Oțelul (1999–2012)
caption_attribution_description: Romanian footballer Emil Jula, MSV Duisburg
context_page_description: Asociația Suporter Club Oțelul Galați, commonly known as Oțelul Galați, or simply as Oțelul, is a Romanian football club based in the city of Galați, Galați County, currently playing in the Liga III.
  Founded in 1964 as the team of the Galați steel works, Oțelul spent the first two decades of their history in the lower leagues. They reached the Liga I for the first time in 1986 and have spent a total of twenty-seven seasons playing in the top flight, while also securing several seasons of European football.
  Oțelul won the league title at the end of the 2010–11 campaign, becoming the first and only Romanian champion from the region of Moldavia to date; this triumph was accompanied by winning the 2011 Supercup. Their best result in the Romanian Cup is reaching the 2004 final. Internationally, Oțelul's best performances are qualifying for the group stages of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League, and being one of the eleven co-winners of the 2007 UEFA Intertoto Cup.
  Oțelarii's team colors are red, white and blue, and they play at the Oțelul Stadium.
context_section_description: After Simionaș was fired, Dumitru Dumitriu became the new coach and Oțelul fell to 8th place at the end of the 1999–2000 season. Next season Oțelul dropped to 12th place, but then rose to 5th place, with Victor Roșca and then Marius Lăcătuș as coach.
   
  This oscillation continued in 2002–03 when Oțelul finished at 13th place, and faced a relegation play-off against Bihor Oradea (called FC Oradea at that time). At Galați, "the Steelworkers" won 2–1, goals scored by Gheorghe Cornea and Mihai Guriță, but at Oradea, in front of 20,000 supporters and a motivated FC Oradea team – which had the chance to play in Divizia A again after a 12-year absence – Oțelul lost 1–3. Bogdan Vrăjitoarea scored a hat-trick for the hosts, while Viorel Tănase scored for Oțelul. It was a difficult defeat for the team. However, there was an unexpected turn of events: top division clubs Astra Ploiești and Petrolul Ploiești merged, leaving a vacant place in the league table for Oțelul.
  The club was then bought by Nicolai Boghici, a businessman from Galați. Oțelul had a strong 2003–04 Divizia A season under coach Sorin Cârțu and finished at 5th place, while also making the club's first appearance in the Cupa României Final, where it lost 0–2 to Dinamo București. Immediately after this final, it was discovered that the association holding the club had debts of over 15 billion Romanian leu (ROL). Oțelul earned a position for the 2004–05 UEFA Cup competition, starting from the first qualifying round. Oțelul passed the first round after an 8–1 on aggregate against Dinamo Tirana, but stopped in the second round after a 0–1 on aggregate against Partizan.
  In the 2004–05 Divizia A season Oțelul finished 8th. Marius Stan was appointed as the club's president starting in the 2005–06 season. In the first part of that season, Oţelul had failed to obtain more than 9 points and the team was rebuilt, coach Aurel Şunda replaced by Petre Grigoraş and 18 new players brought to the team. The changes turned the team's season around, beginning with a 3–0 victory against Dinamo, and Oțelul finished in 9th place. In the Romanian Cup, Oţelul was eliminated in the quarterfinals in penalty shoot-outs against FC Național.
  In the 2006–07 season Oțelul finished 5th in the standings. At the end of this season, prominent player Viorel Tănase retired, scoring a goal in his last match. Thanks to good positioning in the league table, the team qualified for the UEFA Intertoto Cup. In the Romanian Cup, Oțelul was once again eliminated in penalties, this time by Steaua București.
  The debut of the 2007–08 season was made in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, where Oțelul met Slavija Sarajevo (3rd place in the Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina). The match played in Bosnia and Herzegovina at Koševo Stadium ended 0–0. The second match played at Galați was an unexpected 3–0 win for Oțelul, with goals by Emil Jula (at 31 and 42 minutes) and Gabriel Paraschiv (70 min). In the finals, Oțelul faced well-known Turkish side Trabzonspor (4th place in the Süper Lig). Oţelul won the first match in Galați 2–1 in front of 5,000 spectators. Daniel Stan opened the score (28 min), Ersen Martin tied (83 min) and the match was decided by the goal of Gabriel Paraschiv (87 min). The second match was played at Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadium before more than 20,000 spectators. The Turkish side opened the score with a 15-metre-long shot in the corner by Ceyhun Eriş (8 min). János Székely scored five minutes later, then Gălățenii defended and counterattacked, Tadas Labukas and Emil Jula passing next to the second goal (77 min). After a counterattack, a Turkish defender made a penalty (88 min), and Emil Jula scored and qualified the team for the preliminary round of the UEFA Cup. In the UEFA Cup, Oțelul faced Lokomotiv Sofia (3rd place in the A PFG). The first match played on Balgarska Armia Stadium in Sofia was lost 1–3. In the second match Oțelul attacked but failed to score, and a 0–0 draw eliminated the team.
  In the Liga I, Oţelul finished at 8th place. Emil Jula took 2nd place in the league's top scorers table, with 17
caption: Emil Jula, Oțelul's top scorer in 2007–08
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