Tractorul Brașov

Tractorul Brașov was a football team from Brașov, Brașov County, Romania.

Tractorul Brașov

Full name	FC Tractorul Brașov
Founded	1927
Dissolved	2006
Ground	Tractorul, Brașov
Capacity	5,000
Home colours Away colours

History

Beginnings

Tractorul Brașov was founded in 1927 under the name IAR Brașov (Industria Aeronautică Română Brașov; English: Romanian Aeronautical Industry Brașov). Later, the team returned to activity after merging with Forex Brașov and currently competes in the Brașov County Fourth League.

In its early years, the club remained in the shadow of local rivals Colțea and Brașovia, which is why it was not involved in the establishment of Division A in 1932. During this period, one of Romania's most important players, Iuliu Bodola, spent a season at the club.

It was not until 1935 that IAR earned promotion to the newly founded Division B and immediately won its season. However, the team failed in the league play-off and missed qualification for Division A the following year via the promotion playoff. After finishing eighth in the 1936–37 season, the club competed in regional leagues in subsequent years.

Post-World War II era

Following the resumption of football after World War II, IAR qualified for Division B. With the factory’s shift to tractor production and its renaming to the Tractorul Brașov Factory in 1948, the club also changed its name to Clubul Sportiv Tractorul Brașov. At the end of the 1947–48 season, it was relegated to Division C, which was dissolved during the 1948–49 season. As a result, Tractorul was forced to compete in the regional league again in the following years.

Staying in Division B

In 1953, Tractorul managed to return to Division B. Over the next decade, the club largely finished mid-table. In 1958, future national team manager Angelo Niculescu, who would later lead Romania to the World Cup after a 32-year absence, became the team’s coach. After 11 years in Division B, Tractorul was relegated to Division C at the end of the 1964–65 season. From 1968 to 1969, the team was coached by Silviu Ploeșteanu, the founder of local rivals Steagu Roșu Brașov. Tractorul narrowly missed promotion in the following years but returned to Division B in 1973. There, the club consistently battled relegation. After narrowly avoiding the drop several times, Tractorul was finally relegated to Division C in 1982. Initially finishing as runners-up and missing promotion, the club returned to Division B after just two years.

In Division B, Tractorul spent the following years—except for the 1989–90 season—in the upper mid-table but never challenged for promotion. Its best finishes were fourth-place results. After 18 years under former international Aurel Țicleanu and featuring players like Gabriel Tamaș and Andrei Mărgăritescu, the team was relegated to Division C after the 2001–02 season.

Dissolution

The club’s best post-war achievement came in the 1955 season, when it finished third in Division B’s Series I. During the early 1990s, Tractorul secured six consecutive top-ten finishes in Division B (one 7th, one 6th, two 5th, and two 4th places). In 2003, due to financial difficulties, Tractorul Brașov merged with CS Forex Brașov, another local team. However, the merged entity was dissolved in 2011, ending a 76-year history.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

Chronology of names

Name [5]	Period
Industria Aeronautică Română Brașov (IAR Brașov)	1927–1948
Tractorul Brașov	1948–1950
Metalul Tractorul Orașul Stalin	1950–1956
Energia Tractorul Orașul Stalin	1957–1958
Tractorul Orașul Stalin	1958–1960
Tractorul Brașov	1960–2006

In 2003, Tractorul Brașov merged with FC Forex Brașov, another team from Brașov, who disbanded in 2011.

Honours

• Liga II:
  • Winners (1): 1935–36
• Liga III
  • Winners (3): 1969–70, 1972–73, 1983–84
  • Runners-up (5): 1965–66, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1971–72, 1982–83

Former managers

• Angelo Niculescu (1958–1959)
• Silviu Ploeșteanu (1968–1969)
• Dragoș Cojocaru (1973–1975)
• Nicolae Oaidă (1978–1979)
• Gabriel Stan (1982–1983)
• Eugen Moldovan (1998–1999)
• Aurel Țicleanu (2001–2002)
• Dorel Purdea (2004)
• Bondoc Ionescu-Crum