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Pandurii Târgu Jiu
Full name	Clubul Sportiv Pandurii Lignitul Târgu Jiu
Nickname(s)	Alb-albaștrii (The White and Blues); Minerii (The Miners); Gorjenii (The Gorj County People);
Short name	Pandurii
Founded	1 February 1962
Dissolved	20 October 2022
Ground	Tudor Vladimirescu
Capacity	12,518
2022–23	Liga IV, Gorj County, 13th (withdrew)
Website	http://www.panduriics.ro/
Home colours	Away colours
	Current season

Clubul Sportiv Pandurii Lignitul Târgu Jiu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˌklubul sporˈtiv panˈdurij liɡˈnitul ˌtɨrɡu ˈʒiw]), commonly known as Pandurii Târgu Jiu or simply Pandurii, was a Romanian football club based in Târgu Jiu, Gorj County, which last competed in the Liga IV.

Founded in 1962 following the merger of Flacăra-Unirea Târgu Jiu and CIL Târgu Jiu,^[1] the team's best performances were finishing as Liga I runners-up in the 2012–13 season and playing a League Cup final in 2015. Gorjenii qualified for the first time for a European competition in the 2013–14 campaign, when they reached the group stages of the UEFA Europa League.

The colours of Pandurii Târgu Jiu were white and blue, and they played their home games at the Tudor Vladimirescu Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 12,518.

History

Founding and lower divisions (1962–2005)

Pandurii Târgu Jiu was founded in August 1962, after the merger of the two big rivals from the town, Flacăra-Unirea Târgu Jiu and CIL Târgu-Jiu. The club entered the fourth division of Romanian football, with a strong objective, to promote immediately in the third division. And the target was reached, Pandurii gaining the promotion to Divizia C in June 1963. Their first game in this division was played on 1 September 1963, against Siderurgistul Hunedoara. Pandurii won by a big margin, 6–0, goals scored by Chițu (12'), Nelu Băloi (35'), Melinte (53', 80') and Vasilescu (83', 85').

In the first years, Pandurii finished constantly in the first half of the standings, so the club decided to attack a promotion to Divizia B. In the 1976–77 season, with a young team and with Titus Ozon as coach, the dream came true. Pandurii dominated the competition, climbed from the first stages on top of the standings and won the promotion to the second division. But this level was a much bigger hat to wear for Pandurii, who relegated the next season back to Divizia C.

The following years, the team changed frequently the division, promoting to Divizia B and relegating after a few years. They played in Divizia B between 1979 and 1983 then between 1986 and 1991. After a decade in Divizia C, in 2000 the team promoted again in the second league, and in 2004 finished second, behind Sportul Studențesc.

Beginning years in the top league (2005–2011)

The performance from the last seasons was an incentive for the management who decided to push for the first presence of Pandurii in Divizia A. With Emil Săndoi as coach, and with a young group of players like Tiberiu Lung and Sorin Vintilescu but also with some experienced players like, Florin Popete, Robert Vancea and Romulus Buia, the team won the promotion.

It was difficult to maintain its position in Divizia A, and Pandurii finished their first season in the 15th place, right below the relegation line. But the Romanian Football Federation decided at the end of the season not to give Sportul Studențesc their licence for the following year, and kept instead the first team under the line, Pandurii. With the bullet dodged, the management decided to enforce the team, so the relegation shouldn't be a problem.

Alexandru Păcurar, Ciprian Vasilache and Liviu Mihai were brought, and the team finished 11th in the 2006–07 season. They kept their position at the middle of the table for the next seasons.

In 2010, they finished below the line but avoided the relegation after the withdrawal of Internațional Curtea de Argeș, team that ended tenth but the owner decided to disband the club. With a lot of players from Internațional Curtea de Argeș like Vlad Chiricheș, Mihai Pintilii, and Dan Nistor, Pandurii were 13th the following season.

Ascent and first European participation (2011–2013)

Period	Name^[2]
1963–1965	Pandurii Târgu Jiu
1965–1970	Victoria Târgu Jiu
1970–1973	Pandurii Târgu Jiu
1973–1975	Cimentul Târgu Jiu
1975–1976	Cimentul Victoria Târgu Jiu
1976–1985	Pandurii Târgu Jiu
1985–1988	Gloria Pandurii Târgu Jiu
1988–2022	Pandurii Târgu Jiu

In the 2011–12 season the team reached the highest place in history, finishing seventh. For a while, they were fifth and the fans hoped for Europa League.

The following season saw Pandurii finishing as Liga I runners-up for the first time ever, qualifying for the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League, the club's first ever European participation. After defeating Levadia Tallinn, Hapoel Tel Aviv and Braga, Pandurii entered the Group stage, being drawn into Group E with F.C. Paços de Ferreira, FC Dnipro and ACF Fiorentina.^[3]

Achieving performance (2013–2017)

On 10 March 2015, with Edward Iordănescu as coach Pandurii defeated FC Dinamo București in the semi-finals of the new established competition Cupa Ligii, to qualify for their first ever cup final. On their way to play the final they beat one of the Romanian giants FC Petrolul Ploiești at Ilie Oană Stadium. In the final FC Steaua București beat Pandurii at Arena Națională stadium but with a controversial penalty in the beginning of the match.

In the 2015–16, season of Liga I Pandurii had many achievements along the season with the same coach and players like UEFA Europa League winner Cristian Săpunaru, Dan Nistor, Ioan Hora and Mihai Răduț and Narcis Răducan as president. In April 2015 they became the first team to win a match in Liga I with the new play-off, play-out system. On 6 February 2016, they secured both a place in the competition play-offs and a place in a European competition next year with a victory with ASA 2013 Târgu Mureș. During this season they had the most matches without a defeat, about 10 games. At the end of the season, Pandurii finished on the podium as third-place qualifying for the second time in UEFA Europa League, but this time in the third qualifying round.

Back to the lower leagues (2017–2022)

Although the team had a fairly good start for the season 2016–17, with players like Lucian Sânmărtean or George Țucudean coming at the club, and playing in the summer against Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. in Europa League, problems occurred in the second half of the season. The main sponsor started having problems and for this reason they did not fund the team anymore. Many players have left the team so the young players from the second team were brought to the first team along with other players from elsewhere. Unfortunately after 12 seasons in Liga 1 Pandurii relegated for the first time since the 2005 promotion but fought to avoid it until the last round.

For the 2017–18 Liga II, Pandurii has been prepared with some players promoted from the second team or from the youth teams and moved to Motru until the new stadium was completed in 2019.

In the wake of the 2020–21 Liga II season, Pandurii relegated in Liga III for the first time after 21 years.

Ground

The club play its matches at the new Tudor Vladimirescu Stadium, opened in 2019.

Honours

Domestic

Honour		Season(s)
Liga I	Runners-up	2012–13
Liga I	Third place	2015–16
Liga II	Winners	2004–05
Liga II	Runners-up	2003–04
Liga III	Winners	1976–77, 1978–79, 1985–86, 1999–2000
Liga III	Runners-up	1975–76, 1983–84
Liga IV – Gorj County	Winners	1962–63
Cupa Ligii	Runners-up	2014–15

Youth

Honour		Season(s)
Cupa României U17	Winners	2015–16
Supercupa României U17	Runners-up	2016

Rankings

This is the UEFA club's coefficient as of 1 November 2018:^[4]

Pos.	Team	Points
304	Universitatea Craiova	3.190
305	Dinamo București	3.190
306	Pandurii Târgu Jiu	3.190
307	Politehnica Iași	3.190
308	Târgu Mureș	3.190

Records and statistics

Domestic

Liga I seasons: 12
Liga I play-offs seasons: 1
Liga I longest unbeaten run: 10 (2015–16)
Place 30 out of 98 teams in Liga I all-time table
Cupa României best result: Semi-finals (2006–07)
Cupa Ligii seasons: 3
The most successful team from Gorj County

European

UEFA Europa League seasons: 2
UEFA Europa League best result: Group Stages (2013–14)
UEFA Europa League biggest win: 4–0 vs. Levadia Tallinn (2013–14)

League history

Season	Tier	Division	Place	Cupa României
2021–22	3	Liga III (Seria VII)	4th (R)
2020–21	2	Liga II	19th (R)	Third Round
2019–20	2	Liga II	19th	Third Round
2018–19	2	Liga II	15th	Fourth Round
2017–18	2	Liga II	14th	Fourth Round
2016–17	1	Liga I	13th (R)	Round of 16
2015–16	1	Liga I	3rd	Round of 16
2014–15	1	Liga I	9th	Quarter-finals
2013–14	1	Liga I	7th	Quarter-finals
2012–13	1	Liga I	2nd	Round of 16
2011–12	1	Liga I	7th	Quarter-finals
2010–11	1	Liga I	13th	Round of 16
2009–10	1	Liga I	15th	Round of 32
2008–09	1	Liga I	11th	Quarter-finals

Season	Tier	Division	Place	Cupa României
2007–08	1	Liga I	12th	Quarter-finals
2006–07	1	Liga I	11th	Semi-finals
2005–06	1	Divizia A	15th	Round of 16
2004–05	2	Divizia B (Seria II)	1st (C, P)	Round of 32
2003–04	2	Divizia B (Seria II)	2nd	Round of 32
2002–03	2	Divizia B (Seria II)	12th
2001–02	2	Divizia B (Seria II)	9th
2000–01	2	Divizia B (Seria II)	6th	Round of 32
1999–00	3	Divizia C	1st (C, P)	Round of 32
1998–99	3	Divizia C	5th
1991–92	3	Divizia C	11th (R)
1990–91	2	Divizia B (Seria II)	16th (R)
1989–90	2	Divizia B (Seria II)	14th

European Cups history

Notes

1Q: First qualifying round
2Q: Second qualifying round
3Q: Third qualifying round
PO: Play-off round

Season	Competition	Round	Opponent	Home	Away	Aggregate
2013–14	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Levadia Tallinn	4–0	0–0	4–0
		3Q	Hapoel Tel Aviv	1–1	2–1	3–2
		PO	Braga	0–1	2–0 (aet)	2–1
		Group E	Fiorentina	1–2	0–3	4th
			Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	0–1	1–4
			Paços de Ferreira	0–0	1–1
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	3Q	Maccabi Tel Aviv	1–3	1–2	2–5

European cups all-time statistics

As of August 2016.

Competition	S	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
UEFA Europa League	2	14	3	4	7	14	19	−5
Total	2	14	3	3	8	14	19	−5

Notable former players

The footballers enlisted below have had international cap(s) for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level and/or more than 100 caps for CS Pandurii Târgu Jiu.

Romania

Romania

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Brazil

Cardoso

Congo

Armel Disney

Cyprus

Paraskevas Christou

Czech Republic

Lukáš Droppa

Ivory Coast

Lithuania

Deivydas Matulevičius

Nigeria

Christian Obodo

Portugal

Slovenia

Jaka Štromajer

Notable former managers

References

^ "De 50 de ani "Panduri"! Gorjenii sărbătoresc jumătate de secol prin lansarea unei sigle aniversare" ["Pandurs" for 50 years! The Gorj people celebrate half a century by launching an anniversary crest]. ProSport (in Romanian). 16 October 2012. Archived from the original on 13 August 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
^ "Evolutia denumirilor echipelor de-a lungul anilor". Archived from the original on 9 October 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
^ "Former winners learn group stage fates". UEFA. 30 August 2013. Archived from the original on 17 September 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
^ "UEFA Team Ranking 2018". Archived from the original on 18 March 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2018.