Clubul Sportiv Gloria Bistrița, commonly known as Gloria Bistrița or simply as Gloria, is a professional football club based in Bistrița, Bistrița-Năsăud County, competing in Liga II, the second tier of Romanian football.
Founded in 2018 as 1. FC Gloria Bistrița, the team is widely regarded as the unofficial successor of ACF Gloria Bistrița, sharing its name, white and blue colors, stadium, and former staff and players. In 2021, the club was taken over by the Bistrița-Năsăud County Council, renamed Gloria Bistrița-Năsăud, and changed its colors to black and red. In 2025, following its promotion to Liga II, the club dropped "Năsăud" from its name to strengthen its identity and align more closely with the Municipality of Bistrița. Gloria reached the quarter-finals of the Cupa României in the 2025–26 season.
History Following the bankruptcy of ACF Gloria Bistrița in 2015, football in the city sought revival through FC Bistrița and Academia Gloria Bistrița. However, both projects were short-lived due to financial difficulties, dissolving in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
1. FC Gloria Bistrița was founded on 31 May 2018 and directly enrolled in Liga III, taking the place of newly promoted ACS Dumitra. The latter ceded its spot and right to compete in the third tier, along with all its players, administrative and technical staff, to the newly established club. Simultaneously, ACS Dumitra enrolled in Liga IV Bistrița-Năsăud County and became the official second team and partner of 1. FC Gloria.
The club is widely regarded as the unofficial successor of the historic club by supporters, the media, and by the club itself, which has embraced this legacy. It shares a similar name, the same white and blue colors, plays at the same stadium, and includes former directors, managers, and players from the original club, further reinforcing the continuity between the two entities.
In the following three seasons, under the guidance of Dănuț Matei and featuring experienced top-flight players such as Costin, Chibulcutean, Nalați, Lőrincz, Stoianof, Curtuiuș, Albuț, and Enescu, 1. FC Gloria finished 9th in Series V of the 2018-19 Liga III season. In the 2019–20 season, which was interrupted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team placed 7th in the same series. During the 2020–21 season, competing in Series X, Gloria achieved a 3rd-place finish.
In the summer of 2021, 1. FC Gloria, facing financial collapse, was taken over by the Bistrița-Năsăud County Council and renamed Gloria 2018 Bistrița-Năsăud. In the 2021–22 season, the team competed in Series IX of Liga III, finishing 5th in both the regular season and the play-out round, with Adrian Falub taking charge in February 2022.
In the 2022–23 campaign, playing in Series X, Gloria finished 3rd in the regular season and 2nd in the play-off round, thus qualifying for the promotion play-off, where it was eliminated in the first round by Corvinul Hunedoara (1–2 at home and 1–2 away). During the 2023–24 season, the club once again qualified for the promotion play-off after winning Series IX, but was knocked out in the first round by Unirea Ungheni (2–2 at home and 1–2 away).
Named in June as the new head coach, Iosif Rotariu parted ways with the club just a month later. In his place, Cristian Pustai was appointed as head coach for the 2024–25 season. With a core of players including R. Avram, Began, Mitran, Salka, Chukwu, Mogoș, Burdeț, Vișinar, Vencu, Llullaku (cpt.), V. Alexandru, Tonini, Cristea, Covaci, Rafael Tavares, Chiorean, Forizs, Buziuc, Andraș and G. Deac, the White and Blues dominated Series VII, securing qualification for the promotion play-off. After advancing past Filiași, who was disqualified, Gloria earned promotion to Liga II with a 1–0 home victory and a dramatic second leg against Râmnicu Vâlcea, which ended 2–3 after extra time and 5–4 in the penalty shootout.
The 2025–26 Liga II season marked Gloria's first campaign in the second tier under the current club. A modest start to the season led to the dismissal of coach Cristian Pustai after five rounds, with Nicolae Grigore appointed as his replacement. Gloria had already secured qualification for the Cupa României group stage under Pustai, and subsequently recorded its best run in the competition since the club's establishment, advancing from the group stage after victories over Sănătatea Cluj and UTA Arad, before being eliminated 2–3 after extra time by FC Argeș in the quarter-finals. The team finished 14th after the regular season and entered the play-out, where it secured its Liga II status, concluding the campaign with a 3–0 home victory over Câmpulung Muscel and finishing 5th in Group A.
Grounds
CS Gloria Bistrița, like its predecessor, ACF Gloria Bistrița, plays its home matches on Jean Pădureanu Stadium in Bistrița, with a capacity of 7,800 seats. The stadium is named in honor of the longest-running president of a football club in Romania, Jean Pădureanu, the man who led the old Gloria for 47 years (1966–2013). A respected, but also a controversial character, the Lord, as he was called, managed to maintain the club in the Liga I for twenty-two consecutive years.
Honours Liga III Winners (2): 2023–24, 2024–25 Runners-up (1): 2022–23
Players First-team squad
Out on loan
Club Officials
Board of directors
RoleName Owners Bistrița-Năsăud County Council Bistrița Municipality President Eugen Cosma Board President Ioan Mocan General Manager Bogdan Apostu Sporting Director Paul Șomodean Technical Director Viorel Paraschiv Team Manager Ioan Mironaș Youth Center Manager Valer Someșan
Current technical staff
RoleName Head coach Nicolae Grigore Assistant coach Ionuț Mazilu Goalkeeping coach Călin Albuț Fitness coach Lucian Andreieș Masseur Daniel Frossard
League and cup history
Season Tier League Regular season Play-off / Play-out Notes Cupa României 2026–27 2 Liga II TBD TBD 2025–26 2 Liga II 14th 3rd (Group B play-out) Quarter-finals 2024–25 3 Liga III (Series VII) 1st 1st (C) (play-off) Promoted Third round 2023–24 3 Liga III (Series IX) 1st 1st (C) (play-off) Second round 2022–23 3 Liga III (Series X) 2nd 2nd (play-off) Play-off round 2021–22 3 Liga III (Series IX) 5th 5th (play-out) Third round 2020–21 3 Liga III (Series X) 3rd – Second round 2019–20 3 Liga III (Series V) 7th – Second round 2018–19 3 Liga III (Series V) 9th – Third round
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 CS Gloria Bistrița.
Romania
Călin Albuț Alin Chibulcutean Sergiu Costin Marius Curtuiuș Gabriel Deac Andrei Enescu Costinel Gugu József Lőrincz Sergiu Mureșan Adrian Nalați Ovidiu Stoianof Bogdan Vasile Albania Azdren Llullaku
Former managers
Dănuț Matei (2018–2021) Adrian Falub (2022–2024) Cristian Pustai (2024–2025) Nicolae Grigore (2025–)
References
External links