For the third Romanian Groundhop the fixture gods had been unkind in city of Timişoara itself so the ever resourceful Andrei Otineanu had to cast his net for suitable matches to the wider area of Timiş County. It would mean lower level matches but given our experiences in previous organised hops in Bucharest, there had to be some cracking grounds, right? A short list of about ten were identified and once kick off times and distance between grounds had been calculated a more than decent looking itinerary was established.
Saturday morning saw a reasonably early start for a slow winding trundle south west of Timişoara to the small town of Gătaia. Local fourth tier side CS Progresul Gătaia had an 11am kick off against AS Pobeda Dudeştii Vechi. We arrived in good time and after putting a voluntary donation in the wooden box at the entrance gate the band of hoppers were confronted with a decent size ground in a quite delightful state of dilapidation. On one side a sort of scaffold and wooden plank stand took a leap of faith to climb up into and take advantage of its vertiginous rake in a narrow confined area behind the dugouts. On the far side was a big covered stand painted in club colours but certainly had seen better days. An entertaining 1-1 draw was witnessed on a blisteringly warm morning.
Saturday September 23rd 2017 – Romania IV Liga (Timis)
CS Progresul Gătaia 1 (Pelg 71)
AS Pobeda Dudeștii Vechi 1 (Kalapis 35)
Att:119 (at Stadionul Progresul)
I was really looking forward to the afternoon game as I knew the ground of CSM Şcolar Reşiţa was very decent. Upon arrival we were all opened jawed at the Stadionul Mircea Chivu. This is an incredible stadium at the foot of a steep and heavily wooded valley. The near side has a smart open seated stand but opposite is an incredible feat of engineering, the valley slope and trees have been cleared and a stepped plateau of concrete laid out. Hundreds of plastic seats have been bolted on to form a quite unique stand. Both ends of the stadium have uncovered terracing too. It’s a real beauty to behold and many in attendance now had a new entry in their own “Top Ten Best Grounds ever” lists. After the glory of the stadium the third division match felt almost incidental as the hosts, champions of Romania in 1930/31, easily dealt with scant resistance from visitors CS Gloria Lunca Teuz Cermei. Their 2-0 win was watched by around 430 people, again with free entry, this included a small band of enthusiastic ultras.
Saturday September 23rd 2017 – Romania III Liga (Serie 4)
CSM Şcolar Reşiţa 2 (Costin 55,Beloescu 89)
CS Gloria Lunca Teuz Cermei 0
Att:430 (at Stadionul Mircea Chivu)
On the Sunday, Andrei and I played our trump card which we had held back from the rest of the party. In the whittling down the shortlist of matches it became clear that our only option for Sunday morning was watching the sixth tier game at the home of ASO Deta reserves! A quick Google of the ground found photos of a cracking ground however a cross check of the fixtures website found that disappointingly the reserves had their own basic ground in a village outside of Deta. Reluctant to pass up the opportunity of watching a game at their superb first team ground, I suggested Andrei should ring the club and ask if they would consider moving the match to the first team ground. After confirming that ten English people and two Germans were definitely coming and it wasn’t some sort of wind up, the club said they would be only too happy to move the game for us!
The Stadionul Arena Parc is set in a wooded park and is really delightful. The 1953 wooden stand looks far older and the club had already repaired the tiled roof after it had suffered some damage in storms that hit the region the previous weekend. It is clearly their pride and joy and built very much in the English style of grandstands. The little separate booths, like VIP seating, at the front of bench seating are truly magnificent. The hosts put on a great show by besting a hapless opposition, Vointa Ionel, by six goals to one. A smashing club, amazing ground and a morning to remember.
Sunday September 24th 2017 – Romanian VI Liga (Timis,Serie 2)
ASO Deta II 6 (Mihalache 11, Toader 21, Ruyan 52, Minea 59, Radu 68,86)
Vointa Ionel 1 (Valcan 41)
Att:52 (at Stadionul Arena Parc)
The final port of call on our groundhopping extravaganza was at FC Unirea Tomnatic who hold the distinction of being the first village club to make the second tier of Romanian football. Those heady days are long behind them though as they had slumped down to the fifth tier before winning the division last season. The Stadionul Fenşi Petre more than lived up to standard of stadiums set in the weekend so far. An eye catching red and white pitch length stand replete with billowing flags stood regally on the far side. The dressing room side of the ground had two smaller covered stands as well. It really is a very pretty ground indeed.
Sunday September 24th 2017 – Romanian IV Liga (Timiş)
FC Unirea Tomnatic 3 (Antemie 19, Hota 82, Vladuti 84)
AS Seceani 4 (Berar 57, Ramneantu 61, Plopeanu 74, Maranescu 80)
Att:125 (at Stadionul Fenşi Petre)
If you would like to join Andrei Otineanu on his next adventure promoting the weird and wonderful grounds of Romania, please connect with him across all forms of social media and his website RomanianGroundhopper.com and Facebook page.
An extended version of this article will appear in a future edition of “Football Weekends” magazine.
The Itinerant Football Watcher 