The Steaua Stadium (Stadionul Steaua), also known as Ghencea, is a multi-purpose stadium in the Ghencea neighborhood of Bucharest. It is the home ground of the football club CSA Steaua București, which currently plays in Liga II, the second-highest football competition in Romania. Occasionally it is also used for matches of the Romanian national football team.
History Of Steaua Bucharest
Clubul Sportiv al Armatei Steaua București is a multi-sports club that was founded during the Communist regime on 7 June 1947 by the Ministry of National Defence. The club is mostly known for its football team but has also had large successes in other sports including, rugby, ice hockey, handball, athletics, basketball, and water polo.
The Steaua Bucharest football team is the most succesful in the country, having won the most national league titles and cups and in 1986 it was the first team from Eastern Europe to win the European Champion Clubs’ Cup (now called UEFA Champions League).
After the fall of the communist regime in 1989, the club has become the subject of a major controversy. In 1998 the football division was separated from CSA Steaua București sports club under a post-Communist privatization scheme. While keeping its claim on the history and achievements of the original club, the football team continued under the name FC Steaua București. Years later, the transaction and claims on the history were disputed in court and in 2017 it was decided that the club had to withdraw its claims on the name and history of the original military club and was forced to change its name to FCSB. They also had to leave the stadium and now play their matches in the National Arena.
In the meantime, the CSA Steaua București sports club had reactivated its football division and entered into the 2017-2018 season of Liga IV, the fourth tier of the Romanian football league system. This means that there are now two rivaling Steaua teams with some fans supporting FCSB while others have moved to support the ‘new’ CSA Steaua.
About The Steaua Stadium
The current stadium was built between 2019 and 2021 on the grounds of the former stadium of the same name built in 1974. The inaugural match took place on 7 July 2021 between Steaua and OFK Beograd from Serbia, the same team with whom the club played its inaugural match in the former stadium in 1974. The construction of the new stadium cost €95 million and the venue offers a seating capacity of 31,254 people.
Steaua Bucharest Museum
The stadium also hosts a small museum about the history of Steaua Bucharest. Of course you can see all the trophies won by the prestigious football club, but you can also learn about the developements and achievements of the other branches of sports within the military club, like handball or athletics.
If you’re interested to learn more about the history of Romanian football, you might also want to visit the Football Museum Bucharest in the old town. Other noteworthy football stadiums in the capital are the National Arena, the Rapid-Giulești Stadium, and Stadium Dinamo.
