SSU Politehnica Timișoara
Societatea Sportivă Universitară Politehnica Timișoara (), commonly known as SSU Politehnica Timișoara, Politehnica Timișoara, or simply Poli Timișoara, is a Romanian professional football club based in Timișoara, Timiș County, which competes in the Liga II. Originally named ASU Politehnica, the team was formed following the dissolution of the original FC Politehnica Timișoara in 2012. During that year, ACS Recaș was moved to the city and renamed ACS Poli Timișoara, eventually reaching the top flight while ASU struggled in the lower leagues. Between the two, the majority of the fans chose to support the latter, and in 2021 ACS Poli was also dissolved. That summer, the Polytechnic University of Timișoara, founder of the original team in 1921, ceased the FC Politehnica brand and records to SSU. Hence, SSU Politehnica Timișoara is the only active entity asserting the history of the original club, which has totalled 44 seasons in the top national league and won two Cupa României trophies, in 1957–58 and 1979–80. The team plays its home matches in white and purple shirts at the Dan Păltinișanu Stadium, which has a capacity of 32,972 seats. Their bitter rivals are UTA Arad, with whom they contest the West derby. History Beginnings and lower leagues (1921–1945) The club was founded in 1921 by the Polytechnic University of Timișoara under the name Societatea Sportiva Politehnica. Its initial aim was to provide an opportunity for university students to work on their fitness within a competitive environment. The logistics of the sport proved problematic, as there were limited financial means available. Thanks to contributions gathered from university professors and employees, the club bought their first football kits, with white-black vertical stripes, and rented the "Patria" football stadium. It was not until 1928 that the club developed its own training grounds, "Politehnica", which were built by volunteers. Players for the team were chosen on merit from the pool of Timișoara students and high-schoolers, who trained after school hours during the week and played football on weekends. The football landscape in the city was already developed at that time, with CAT, RGMT and Chinezul dominating locally. After spending three years in the District Championships II, Politehnica won promotion to the first tier in 1924, by defeating Kadima Timișoara. The club became established in the years to come, even finishing 2nd in the 1926–27 District Championships I, when Politehnica lost out to Chinezul by a single point, who were one of Romania's most famous football names at the time. However, the competitive level could not be easily sustained by a university club, as it was subject to the inflow and outflow of players conditioned by their student status. After a decline towards the end of the decade, the low-point came at the beginning of the 1930s, between 1931 and 1933, when due to insufficient material resources, Politehnica had to suspend its football activities. It reappeared in 1934 but remained a modest club, with mid-table classifications in the District Championships I, as well as the Divizia C and Divizia B,