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FC Metaloglobus București

Metaloglobus București
Full nameFotbal Club Metaloglobus București SA
NicknamesMetalo
Echipa Pantelimonului
(Pantelimon's team)
Short nameMetaloglobus
Founded1923 (1923)
GroundMetaloglobus / Clinceni
Capacity1,000 / 4,500
OwnerImad Kassas
ChairmanMarius Burcă
Head coachMihai Teja
LeagueLiga I
2024–25Liga II, 5th of 22
(promoted via playoffs)
Websitemetaloglobusfc.ro

Fotbal Club Metaloglobus București, commonly known as Metaloglobus București or simply as Metaloglobus, is a Romanian professional football club based in Bucharest, that competes in Liga I, the top tier of Romanian football.[1]

History

Former logo.

Metaloglobus București was founded in 1923 as the football team of the Metaloglobus factory, a powerful factory that was founded in the same year by the Austrian industrialist Manfréd Weiss.[2] The factory was further developed in the communist period and produced all kinds of objects made of steel and iron, from lanterns, bullets, boilers and from 1965 toys. After the 1989 Romanian Revolution, the factory began to undergo financial difficulties and in 1999 was bought by Syrian businessman Imad Kassas.[3]

Metaloglobus competed in the amateur leagues of Bucharest throughout its existence, and by 2008 the club had been reduced to youth teams only, with the U19 side winning the Bucharest Municipal Championship that year, laying the foundations for the club’s revival at senior level.[4]

In the 2010–11 season, they won the Liga IV Bucharest and qualified for the promotion play-off, where they were defeated 1–2 by Rapid Clejani, the champions of Giurgiu County. However, after many teams withdrew that summer, Metaloglobus was invited to join Liga III.[5][6]

In their first season in Liga III, Metaloglobus played at Clinceni Arena’s second ground and ranked 9th in Series IV under Octavian Ștefan and Adrian Matei, who took over in April 2012.[7]

Over the next four consecutive seasons, the team consistently finished in the top half, achieving 3rd place in Series II in the 2012–13 season under Matei and Leonard Strizu from the second half, and 4th place in Series III in 2013–14.[8]

In the 2014–15 season, the team was moved again to Series II, and following a modest run of results, Leonard Strizu was replaced at the end of the first half by Sorin Colceag, who led the team to a 5th-place finish and then to another 3rd-place finish in the 2015–16 season.[9]

In 2016, Bogdan Vintilă was appointed head coach and led the team to 1st place in Series III, securing promotion to Liga II with five rounds to spare in the 2016–17 season, ending 11 points ahead of 2nd-placed Viitorul Domnești.[10][11][12]

Their first season in the second tier was a difficult one under Vintilă, who also led Metaloglobus to the Round of 32 in the Cupa României, where they lost 1–2 to Gaz Metan Mediaș. He was replaced during the winter break by Alin Chița, as the team were unable to avoid the relegation zone, finishing 16th, but they were spared from relegation following the withdrawal of 5th-placed Afumați.[13]

The 2018–19 season began with Bogdan Andone as head coach, but he left in October after ten rounds. After a brief interim under assistant Gigel Coman, Cristian Popovici took over, earning only four points in seven matches, far below expectations, and parted ways by mutual agreement. He was succeeded by László Balint, who guided Metaloglobus to a 9th-place finish.[14][15][16][17]

On 1 June 2025, Metaloglobus got promoted to the Superliga for the first time in their history after beating Politehnica Iași in the promotion playoffs.[18][19][20][21][22]

Stadium

Main article: Metaloglobus Stadium

The club plays its home games on the Stadionul Metaloglobus from the Bucharest neighborhood of Pantelimon.

The stadium was under renovations between 2011 and 2015; during this period the team played its home matches on Stadionul Clinceni and on Stadionul CNAF.[23]

Honours

Liga III

Liga IV – Bucharest

Players

First-team squad

As of 17 February 2026[24]

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
1 GK  ROU George Gavrilaș (Captain)
4 DF  ROU George Caramalău (4th captain)
5 MF  ESP Damià Sabater
6 MF  CPV Bruno Carvalho
7 MF  ROU Laurențiu Liș
8 MF  ROU Florin Purece
9 FW  SRB Stefan Višić
10 FW  CPV Ely
11 FW  ROU Dragoș Huiban (3rd captain)
13 DF  ROU Andrei Sava
14 MF  ROU Alexandru Gheorghe
15 MF  ROU Alexandru Irimia (on loan from Dinamo București)
16 FW  FRA Martins Toutou
17 MF  GHA Moses Abbey (on loan from FC U Craiova)
18 DF  ROU Alexandru Țîrlea (on loan from CFR Cluj)
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 DF  BIH Omar Pašagić
20 MF  ROU Giovani Ghimfuș (on loan from Sepsi OSK)
21 DF  ROU David Irimia (on loan from Dinamo București)
22 MF  ROU Robert Neacșu
23 DF  ROU Gabriel Dumitru
24 MF  NED Yassine Zakir
29 FW  ROU Daniel Popa
30 DF  FRA Aboubacar Camara (on loan from FC U Craiova)
33 GK  ROU Alexandru Soare
34 GK  ROU Cristian Nedelcovici
60 MF  ROU Liviu Pancișin
75 DF  COD Mike Cestor
77 FW  ALB Endri Çelaj
99 DF  ROU Robert Bădescu (on loan from Rapid București)

Other player 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
12 DF  BRA Júnior Morais (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
— MF  ROU Răduț Burcea (at Pucioasa until 30 June 2026)
— MF  ROU David Răduță (at Agricola Borcea until 30 June 2026)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF  ROU Robert Cătălin (at Agricola Borcea until 30 June 2026)
— MF  ROU Robert Șoșa (at Agricola Borcea until 30 June 2026)

Club officials

Notable former players

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

Romania
Ivory Coast
Japan
Netherlands

Former managers

League and Cup history

See also: Romanian football league system

References

  1. ^ "Metaloglobus a promovat în premieră în Superligă" [Metaloglobus promoted to the Super League for the first time] (in Romanian). hotnews.ro. 1 June 2025. Archived from the original on 1 June 2025. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  2. ^ "Cum a fugit rapidistul Radu Florian de comuniști!" [How Rapid’s Radu Florian Fled from the Communists!] (in Romanian). as.ro. 15 July 2021. Archived from the original on 2 December 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Fabricile de jucării românești, îngropate de speculanții imobiliari" [Romanian toy factories, buried by real estate speculators] (in Romanian). digi24.ro. 24 December 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  4. ^ "Președintele lui Metaloglobus: "Acum 15 ani nu exista echipă de seniori, aveam doar juniori. Apoi actualul patron m-a întrebat asta"" [Metaloglobus' president: "15 years ago there was no senior team, we only had juniors. Then the current owner asked me this"] (in Romanian). sport.ro. 28 May 2025. Archived from the original on 6 January 2026. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  5. ^ "Metaloglobus, noua campioană a Capitalei" [Metaloglobus, the new champion of the Capital] (in Romanian). liga2.prosport.ro. 6 June 2011. Archived from the original on 5 January 2026. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
  6. ^ "Metaloglobus a fost primită în Liga 3" [Metaloglobus was accepted into League 3] (in Romanian). liga2.prosport.ro. 23 August 2011. Archived from the original on 5 January 2026. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
  7. ^ "Metaloglobus, zmeul de la Clinceni" [Metaloglobus, the kite from Clinceni] (in Romanian). liga2.prosport.ro. 10 October 2011. Archived from the original on 29 January 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  8. ^ "Leo Strizu a preluat pe Metaloglobus!" [Leo Strizu took over Metaloglobus!] (in Romanian). liga2.prosport.ro. 25 March 2013. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
  9. ^ "Strizu out, Colceag e noul principal al Metaloglobusului" [Strizu out, Colceag is the new head of Metaloglobus] (in Romanian). liga2.prosport.ro. 10 December 2014. Archived from the original on 6 January 2026. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  10. ^ "Un fost antrenor de la Viitorul a preluat-o pe Metaloglobus!" [A former coach from Viitorul took over Metaloglobus!] (in Romanian). gsp.ro. 12 July 2016. Archived from the original on 5 January 2026. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
  11. ^ "Metaloglobus este a doua echipă promovată matematic în eșalonul secund" [Metaloglobus is the second team mathematically promoted to the second echelon] (in Romanian). frf.ro. 24 April 2017. Archived from the original on 5 January 2026. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
  12. ^ "Metaloglobus și-a primit titlul de campioană și medaliile pentru cucerirea Seriei a 3-a a Ligii 3. Bucureștenii vor juca în premieră în Liga 2" [Metaloglobus received its champion title and medals for winning the 3rd Series of League 3. The Bucharest team will play in League 2 for the first time] (in Romanian). liga2.prosport.ro. 20 May 2017. Archived from the original on 6 January 2026. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  13. ^ "Șoc în Liga 2. Una dintre cele mai bune echipe din ultimele două sezoane părăsește competiția. S-a înscris în Liga 3. "O decizie întârziată, dar justificată"" [Shock in League 2. One of the best teams in the last two seasons leaves the competition. It joined League 3. "A late but justified decision"] (in Romanian). liga2.prosport.ro. 13 July 2018. Archived from the original on 28 August 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  14. ^ "Bogdan Andone revine ca antrenor la Liga 2" [Bogdan Andone returns as coach to Liga 2] (in Romanian). liga2.prosport.ro. 20 July 2018. Archived from the original on 3 October 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  15. ^ "Bogdan Andone a plecat de la Metaloglobus" [Bogdan Andone left Metaloglobus] (in Romanian). liga2.prosport.ro. 9 October 2018. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  16. ^ "Cristian Popovici, noul antrenor principal al echipei Metaloglobus" [Cristian Popovici, the new head coach of the Metaloglobus team] (in Romanian). liga2.prosport.ro. 26 October 2018. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  17. ^ "Provocare curajoasă pentru Laszlo Balint. A lăsat liderul Ligii 2 și a preluat o echipă din zona retrogradării" [Brave challenge for Laszlo Balint. He left the leader of League 2 and took over a team from the relegation zone] (in Romanian). liga2.prosport.ro. 17 January 2019. Archived from the original on 11 September 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2026.
  18. ^ "Metaloglobus București – Poli Iași 1-0: promovare istorică pentru gazde, dezastru pentru echipa lui Miriuță! | Sport.ro". www.sport.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2025-06-01.
  19. ^ Dobrescu, Petre (2025-06-01). "Poli Iași a retrogradat, Metaloglobus a promovat în prima ligă pentru prima dată în istoria de aproape 70 de ani". Libertatea (in Romanian). Retrieved 2025-06-01.
  20. ^ "Metaloglobus Bucureşti a promovat, în premieră, în Superligă". www.antena3.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2025-06-01.
  21. ^ "Surpriză colosală în barajul pentru Superliga. Metaloglobus a promovat în premieră în elita fotbalului". adevarul.ro (in Romanian). 2025-06-01. Retrieved 2025-06-01.
  22. ^ "Metaloglobus a promovat în Liga 1 Bucureștenii au realizat supriza și au învins Poli Iași". golazo.ro (in Romanian). 2025-06-01. Retrieved 2025-06-01.
  23. ^ "Sinteticul verde de acasă: arena Metaloglobus la debutul în Liga 3". 24 April 2015. Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  24. ^ "FC METALOGLOBUS BUCURESTI" (in Romanian). Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
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