FCM Bacău

Lore & Background

In the early 2010s, the club entered a shadowy period due to conflict between owner Dumitru Sechelariu (former mayor of Bacău) and the newly elected mayor, who withdrew public financing and supported SC Bacău. Health problems and the premature death of Dumitru Sechelariu in early 2013 multiplied financial problems, causing FCM Bacău to withdraw from the 2013–14 Liga III season before dissolving. In 2017, the Supporters Association of FCM Bacău, supported by Sergiu Sechelariu (brother of Dumitru and legal owner of the FCM 1950 Bacău brand), collaborated with Gauss Bacău (former SC Bacău), but the collaboration broke in summer 2018. After a year of inactivity, fans (supported again by Sechelariu's brother) started ASS FCM 1950 Bacău and enrolled the senior squad in Liga IV.

Reader's Guide

The club played home matches at Steaua Roșie Stadium until 1966, then moved to Municipal Stadium in Bacău (capacity 17,500). During Sechelariu's era, the stadium was renovated and modernized with floodlights, and was named Dumitru Sechelariu between 2001 and 2004.

Did You Know?

• Dinamo Bacău went undefeated in the 1952 Bacău Regional Championship, finishing 11 points ahead of second place.
• The club reached the quarter-finals of the European Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969–70, losing to Arsenal.
• Dumitru Sechelariu referred to FCM Bacău as 'my child', 'dear', but also 'disabled'.

Origins and the First Ascent

FCM Bacău traces its roots to 1950, when it was established as Dinamo Bacău under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, one of several Romanian clubs sharing the "Dinamo" name. The management soon sought independence from the ministry, rebranding as Sport Club Bacău and broadening its sporting scope to include athletics and tennis. The team's breakthrough arrived in 1952, when they went undefeated in the Bacău Regional Championship, finishing eleven points clear of their nearest rivals. They then stormed through promotion play-offs, eliminating Știința Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Locomotiva Galați, and Metalul Brăila to reach Divizia B. Under coach M. Popescu, the squad also made a deep run in the Cupa României, reaching the Round of 16 before a heavy 2–6 defeat to CCA București. After consolidating in the second tier, Dinamo Bacău clinched the Divizia B Series II title in 1955 under Florian Ambru, earning their first taste of the top division. Their 1956 debut in Divizia A, however, ended in last place and immediate relegation, a reminder that the road to sustained success would be long.

European Ambitions and Domestic Highs

The late 1960s marked FCM Bacău's most ambitious chapter on the continental stage. After finishing sixth in 1967–68 and fifth in 1968–69 under Nicolae Dumitru, the club qualified for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Coached by Valeriu Neagu, the team dispatched Maltese side Floriana with a 6–0 home thrashing and a 1–0 away win, then edged past Norwegian Skeid after a goalless draw at Ullevaal Stadion and a 2–0 victory at the 23 August Stadium. In the Third Round they overcame Scottish club Kilmarnock with a 1–1 draw at Rugby Park and a 2–0 home win. The quarter-finals brought a collision with English giants Arsenal, who proved too strong, winning 2–0 at home and a staggering 7–1 at Highbury. Domestically, the club's best league finish came in 1972–73 with a fourth-place result, and they reached the Cupa României quarter-finals before falling on penalties to Constructorul Galați. The 1990–91 season delivered another peak: a Cupa României final appearance, lost 2–1 to Universitatea Craiova, and a UEFA Cup berth against Werder Bremen.

The Sechelariu Era and the Road to Dissolution

From 1992 through 2006, Dumitru Sechelariu, a former mayor of Bacău, owned the club, which operated under various names including Selena, AS, and FCM. Those fourteen years brought a mix of promise and decline: a 5–1 victory at Steaua Stadium in 1995–96, a fifth-place finish in 1996–97, and a 4–2 win over Dinamo București in 2001–02. Yet the trajectory was downward, with relegation to Liga II by the end of 2005–06. Sechelariu himself described the club as "my child," "dear," but also "disabled," a telling reflection of the mounting financial strain. The final blow came in the early 2010s, when a newly elected mayor withdrew public funding from FCM Bacău in favor of rival SC Bacău. Sechelariu's deteriorating health and his premature death in early 2013 compounded the crisis. The club ultimately withdrew from the 2013–14 Liga III season before dissolving entirely, ending six decades of professional football in the city.

The Supporters' Resurrection

The story of FCM Bacău did not end with its 2013 dissolution. In 2017, the Supporters Association of FCM Bacău, backed by Sergiu Sechelariu—who held the legal rights to the "FCM 1950 Bacău" brand and was the late owner's brother—forged a collaboration with Gauss Bacău, the rebranded SC Bacău team that had also lost municipal funding. The partnership aimed to restore competitive football to the city under the historic FCM banner. However, the collaboration fractured in the summer of 2018, leaving the project in limbo. After a year of inactivity, the fans regrouped, once again supported by Sergiu Sechelariu, and launched a fresh initiative: the Association of FCM 1950 Bacău Supporters. The new entity enrolled a senior squad in Liga IV, the fourth tier of Romanian football, marking a humbling but determined return to organized competition. The club's journey from a Ministry-backed founding in 1950 to a grassroots fan-driven revival in the 2010s encapsulates both the fragility and the enduring passion of Romanian provincial football.