The 1983–84 season was FC Dinamo București's 35th season in Divizia A. In this season, Dinamo made their best ever performance at the European level, reaching the semi-finals of the European Cup.
Dinamo's opponents in the first round were Finnish champions Kuusysi. Dinamo Bucharest won the first leg 1–0 away and the second leg 3–0 at home, thus winning the round 4–0 on aggregate. The Romanians' opponents in the second round were reigning European champions Hamburg. The first leg, which was played in Bucharest, was won by Dinamo 3–0. The second leg was played at Hamburg's home ground Volksparkstadion; Hamburg won the match 3–2, ("Dinamo ruined their [Hamburg's] evening with two goals in the last five minutes to send the holders crashing out at the first hurdle") which meant that Dinamo took the tie 5–3 on aggregate. Dinamo Bucharest's opponents in the quarter-finals were Soviet champions Dinamo Minsk. The first leg, played in Minsk, ended in a 1–1 draw. The second leg, played in Bucharest, was a close contest, but Dinamo Bucharest won 1–0 to take the tie 2–1 on aggregate.
The semi-final between Liverpool and Dinamo Bucharest was held over two legs in Liverpool and Bucharest, on 11 April 1984 and 25 April 1984, respectively. It was the first meeting between the two clubs. Liverpool won the first leg by the narrow margin of 1–0 after midfielder Sammy Lee scored. Dinamo nearly scored a late equaliser when a shot by Ionel Augustin beat Bruce Grobbelaar only to hit the post. The physical and aggressive nature of the Anfield encounter reached a peak in the seventieth minute, when the Liverpool midfield player and captain Graeme Souness knocked out in an off the ball incident his Dinamo counterpart Lică Movilă, breaking the Romanian's jaw in two places.
Liverpool secured a great advantage early on in the return leg when striker Ian Rush scored an away goal in the eleventh minute, leaving the Romanian champions needing three goals to win the tie thanks to the away goals rule. Dinamo striker Costel Orac scored in the thirty-ninth minute, but the tie was effectively killed off in the eighty-fourth minute when Rush scored a second goal.
At the beginning of the season, Cornel Dinu retired from the footballer career after 17 years spent only with Dinamo Bucharest. At that time, Dinu had two records for the Romanian football, the most capped player in the Romania national football team, with 75 matches, and the most capped player in Divizia A, with 454 matches. In this season, Dinu was the assistant manager for Nicolae-Nicuşor.
Results
Divizia ARoundDateOpponentStadiumResult128 August 1983Chimia Râmnicu VâlceaH2-023 September 1983Poli IașiA0-0310 September 1983Petrolul PloieștiH4-0418 September 1983Rapid BucureștiA2-1524 September 1983Dunărea GalațiA0-061 October 1983FC Baia MareH4-179 October 1983FC OltA0-187 December 1983U CraiovaH2-1922 October 1983Steaua BucureștiH0-31020 December 1983FC ArgeşA1-11123 December 1983Corvinul HunedoaraH4-21216 November 1983CS TârgovișteA3-21319 November 1983ASA Târgu MureșH3-0144 December 1983Sportul StudențescA3-01510 December 1983Jiul PetroșaniA1-11614 December 1983FC BihorH3-11717 December 1983SC BacăuA1-11818 February 1984Chimia Râmnicu VâlceaA1-11921 February 1984Poli IașiH4-12026 February 1984Petrolul PloieștiA0-02129 February 1984Rapid BucureștiH1-02211 March 1984Dunărea GalațiH3-12314 March 1984FC Baia MareA2-2248 May 1984FC OltH3-1251 April 1984U CraiovaA0-32616 May 1984Steaua BucureștiA1-12719 May 1984FC ArgeşH1-02815 April 1984Corvinul HunedoaraA2-22922 April 1984CS TârgovișteH3-03027 May 1984ASA Târgu MureșA1-13129 April 1984Sportul StudențescH3-1322 May 1984Jiul PetroșaniH6-2335 May 1984FC BihorA1-43413 May 1984SC BacăuH4-1
Divizia A 1983–84 WinnersDinamo București12th Title
Cupa RomânieiRoundDateOpponentStadiumResultLast 3212 February 1984Petrolul MoineștiA4-1Last 163 March 1984FC OltPloiești2-0Quarterfinals18 April 1984Petrolul PloieștiBrașov4-2Semifinals11 May 1984Sportul StudențescBucurești2-0Final22 May 1984Steaua BucureștiBucurești2-1
Cupa României 1983–84 WinnersDinamo București5th Title
Romanian Cup final
DINAMO:GK Dumitru MoraruDF Mircea RednicDF Alexandru NicolaeDF Ion MarinDF Nelu Stănescu MF Marin DragneaMF Ioan AndoneMF Alexandru CustovFW Cornel ȚălnarFW Ionel AugustinFW Costel OracSubstitutes:FW Ioan Mărginean Manager:Dumitru Nicolae NicuşorSTEAUA:GK Helmut DuckadamDF Nicolae LaurențiuDF Florin MarinDF Miodrag BelodediciDF Augustin EduardMF Mihail MajearuMF Tudorel StoicaMF Ștefan Petcu FW Marius LăcătușFW Victor Pițurcă FW Gavril Pelé BalintSubstitutes:MF Ioan Diaconescu FW Septimiu Câmpeanu Manager:Emeric Ienei
European Cup
First round
Dinamo București won 4-0 on aggregate
Second round
Dinamo București won 5-3 on aggregate
Quarterfinals
Dinamo București won 2-1 on aggregate
Semifinals
Liverpool F.C. won 3-1 on aggregate
Squad
Goalkeepers: Dumitru Moraru (31 / 0); Constantin Eftimescu (4 / 0); Ovidiu Barba (1 / 0). Defenders: Mircea Rednic (31 / 0); Marin Ion (28 / 0); Alexandru Nicolae (30 / 0); Ioan Andone (24 / 1); Nelu Stănescu (26 / 2); Ioan Mărginean (19 / 1); Liviu Baicea (1 / 0). Midfielders: Gheorghe Mulțescu (23 / 8); Ionel Augustin (31 / 17); Marin Dragnea (29 / 15); Alexandru Custov (28 / 2); Lică Movilă (19 / 1); Viorel Radu (9 / 1); Grațian Moldovan (8 / 0). Forwards: Cornel Țălnar (30 / 1); Iulius Nemțeanu (7 / 5); Gheorghe Iamandi (19 / 5); Costel Orac (23 / 5); Răzvan Dima (2 / 1); Viorel Turcu (11 / 2). (league appearances and goals listed in brackets)
Manager: Nicolae Dumitru.
Transfers
Before the season, Dinamo brought defenders Mircea Rednic and Ioan Andone from Corvinul Hunedoara, giving in return Florea Văetuș, Nicușor Vlad, Teofil Stredie and Laurențiu Moldovan. Dudu Georgescu is transferred to SC Bacău.
References
External links www.labtof.ro www.romaniansoccer.ro