Petrolul is the flagship of this city.
It's the only thing left in town that unites us all.
The team, our flag, Petrolul Ploiești.
The club went bankrupt.
It was very harsh.
An injustice to this club of great tradition.
How will my life be without Petrolul?
Dad took me, I was three or four, we were in Stand II.
He kept me on his shoulders.
My first away match, in Târgoviște, together with some friends.
I was 12. We were around 1500 away supporters.
My passion for Petrolul…
started at 5, the first time my dad took me to the stadium.
To me it means a lot to have played for a single club,
because it is the club where I grew,
for which I played for 20 years.
It's a honour to be a Petrolul homegrown player
and to have closed my career at this club.
Everybody stood up for the goal, I didn't understand, I was a kid.
The atmosphere made me feel…
that it was my place.
That is… It got into my blood.
I didn't see much, I was small. I wanted to try something new.
That's why I liked it so much. I was bound to this…
this phenomenon, and this team I've loved since I was a kid.
After a couple years I started going by myself.
At 12-13 I started to go to away matches by myself,
leaving from home, and my love for Petrolul developed.
My debut, promotion to the first division,
My debut as a player, at the age of 18 in the first division.
The trophies we won, victory in the Romanian Cup,
taking part to a European competition, the UEFA Cup.
The fact I reached 450 matches played in the first division for Petrolul.
At the age of 7 I told dad I wanted to go to the match by myself.
Mom told him: "Let him go", and I went to the stadium.
She got me boots and a jacket, it was raining.
And I went, and it was my first time.
I felt extraordinary. I was in the terraces, alone.
It's a special feeling, something else…
playing only here, in this stadium.
The atmosphere. I ran out of home, I told dad…
I told him: "Going to school", and I ran away to matches.
I loved to sing for Petrolul. It was like a drug for us.
From my point of view, this city has only one thing
keeping almost any social class together.
This stadium and this team.
In this town, the only great pride
is the team, our flag, Petrolul Ploiești.
Apart from that, from Leonard Doroftei, who was a boxing world champion,
there's absolutely nothing.
First of all, most young people from this city has left town.
Either to Bucharest, the capital, or they went abroad.
But for those who remained…
it's the only thing that keeps us together and gets us through.
Petrolul is the flagship of this city.
A team of tradition, with a name.
The best organised support from the province, one of the best in the land.
For Ploiești, for Petrolul, the terrace is the most important thing.
We've got a history behind us.
The only Romanian to beat Liverpool.
We won four league titles, we've got three cups.
*For Petrolul it's now Octavian Grigore.*
*Octavian Grigore, a legend of Petrolul.*
*He's played for Petrolul for his whole career*
First of all we remember the atmosphere at the National Stadium,
as it was called… then.
A beautiful atmosphere,
in which 30 thousand men from Ploiești made the trip to Bucharest.
A stadium filled with 50 thousand people,
against a very strong team of the Romanian league,
with which we shared a rivalry, Rapid Bucharest.
It was a tense match, a match in which…
we had the chance to open the score,
but we let them equalise. Luckily, we won on penalties.
*Octavian Grigore*
*Shoot and goal!*
I scored my penalty, yes.
I believe it was the third or fourth.
What is stuck in our minds is the beautiful atmosphere
of the trip back to Ploiești,
how people were out in the streets,
how they lived those moments of happiness.
Our greatest joy was in 2012/13, winning the Romanian Cup.
It was the 2013 final, when Petrolul…
won the Romanian Cup again after almost 20 years.
*It's the first consistent Petrolul attack.*
*Boudjemaa, back to Mustivar.*
*Mustivar crosses, Bokila is there, fantastic stop… goal!*
It was the greatest away match in the country by a team from the province.
We were 35 thousand away supporters.
Two trains, twenty coaches…
It was extraordinary,
We took 27 thousand people to the "Lia Manoliu" stadium in Bucharest,
by train, by car, by coach.
*"Petrolul won't play European competitions next season",*
*declared the executive director Alexandru Crângu,*
*in the very day the club entered insolvency proceedings.*
*Because of debts and to accounts blocked by revenue authorities,*
*Petrolul didn't receive the UEFA licence needed for European competitions.*
*Bad news for Petrolul supporters.*
*The Prahova court provided yesterday*
*the start of the bankruptcy procedure of FC Petrolul.*
In that moment, when the club entered bankruptcy,
as any supporter I felt a huge sense of frustration,
for this injustice made to this club of tradition,
and I felt the urge…
to help…
to get involved, to help the club to be back.
It was very harsh.
A bitter sensation.
We've loved the team since we were kids.
And we were left without our team.
We wondered: "How will my life be without Petrolul?".
We all gathered to the stadium, we all came together,
we gathered at the stadium,
we formed the UPS with the boys from Tribuna Latină,
from Tribuna II, from Peluza I Ilie Oană…
We gathered and we discussed how we could create a team.
One which would be right, transparent,
with honorable managers.
It all started from the supporters.
We created the Union of Petrolul Supporters,
all the groups from all the terraces signed a protocol,
through their leaders, supporting a single project.
*The Union of Petrolul Supporters was established as a new entity.*
*It includes all organised groups and all officially recognised supporter clubs,*
*in conformity to the protocol.*
*The main aim of the UPS is to represent Petrolul supporters,*
*to promote and protect the image, the identity, the history*
*and tradition of the team.*
The idea came…
from a group of former players.
We decided to get involved actively,
to try, through the sporting association,
together with supporters,
to form a group to carry on the club's identity,
and to become the continuation of Petrolul Ploiești.
- There would have been nothing without us. - Not a chance.
Without us supporters,
who gathered daily at the stadium for two straight months,
day after day.
We were under pressure. We wanted to create a team.
Children, old men, students…
- men. - A team without supporters doesn't exist.
We had discussions with supporters,
with members of all firms of this beautiful stadium,
and we discussed,
we found a common path to create…
something good
to go on.
And we started our journey.
We formed the team
and at the beginning we raised funds.
We raised money in boxes at the gates of the stadium.
After the press conference in which we announced the UPS
through a protocol which was signed in front of all leaders,
we held a lot of meetings, daily meetings,
to put on paper what it takes to create a club from scratch
from a managing point of view.
And we started from there,
we approved a budget, a business plan.
Out of nothing.
We started our journey…
without having the resources we needed,
but our enthusiasm,
of those who wanted to do something, of those from the terraces,
took us towards the path we're walking today.
The team was created out of nothing.
We had no investors, no players, no managers.
We created everything you can see today.
On this piece of paper we noted the players of this region, of the city,
who could help us in this project.
We noted them like this, on paper: "He'd come, he wouldn't, he's a goalie…"
They were supporters of the team.
We started from scratch,
we didn't have anything, not even a registered player.
We didn't have the money,
together we tried to find solutions,
sponsors, people who would help us.
We managed to build a team
two weeks before the fourth division league began.
We gained the crest back through an auction,
the brand belonging to the Ploiești city hall.
A four-year contract,
with the obligation that in the final year the team is in the first league,
in the first ten of the table.
It's important for us, it's important for our supporters,
this stadium was built for Petrolul Ploiești,
we want to be named Petrolul Ploiești.
The supporter groups are actively involved
in the club's decisions.
They're part of a directors' board with three representatives,
they're part of the directors' board.
They're constantly informed
through some meetings we hold each month.
A collaboration in the context in which we have…
two members in the board from the Union of Petrolul Supporters,
who take part each month to the club's meetings,
and we are informed about all decisions and changes.
And then we always have open e-mails and telephones.
There is always transparence, we discuss, we speak our minds
with the president and the sponsors of the club.
A system defect created a perfect Petrolul.
The relation between supporters and club is closer…
than other clubs and the old club which has folded.
We hold this relation with supporters dear,
we want a fair relation, a good relation,
and that they support with all their heart…
this team,
and together we reach the place we desire.
It was an immense pride,
because we had attendancies which surpassed first division matches,
derbies, I mean,
so we had about 7-10 thousand people in Liga IV.
Supporters keep growing at our matches.
We started with 2-3 thousand people in the first half of Liga IV.
We played matches with up to 7 thousand supporters.
At the last match, the promotion match, there were 10-12 thousand people,
and it means a lot for a fourth division team,
although we never thought we were a fourth division team,
because we had the same supporters as two years ago, in 2016.
It's an incendiary atmosphere, an atmosphere…
that leads the team to victory.
To me it meant a lot.
I saw…
a full stadium in Liga IV.
To see the team on the pitch, your friends from the terraces
playing for your team,
to see 10 thousand frantic men after the match,
all the town painted in yellow and blue.
We simply had goosebumps the whole time.
*President Cristi Vlad is being challenged by some of the supporters*
*Those from the Peluza I Ilie Oană have publicly requested him to resign.*
*They want to know what is the club's budget,*
*why the official name hasn't changed,*
*whether there are other sponsors*
*and whether, if promoted, the team will become a joint-stock company.*
On our path… when we started, everything was OK.
We were close like brothers.
Then things worsened deeply.
There is no transparence.
We don't want this. We want performance, attitude…
- Transparence. - Transparence, honesty.
We want to speak.
That's it.
We don't want the same story to repeat again.
The owner puts his hands on the team then we go bankrupt.
The owner goes in prison and the teams disappears again.
And we're left with a fan-filled stadium, just staring at the pitch.
*Also those from the UPS are disappointed with the clubs' board.*
*They say the UPS-management dialogue is becoming extremely hard.*
At a personal level it means a great responsibility,
because Petrolul is a demanding brand.
It's a huge responsibility when you stand up to create something,
and in two years we fulfilled what we had promised.
The league is extremely attractive this year,
because there are many historic teams seeking promotion,
teams with which we haven't played in a long time,
and I'm convinced the team will be good to watch
and will also gain the points we need to promote.
The future is…
a long-term one, I hope.
One in which, through hard work, we get in Liga I as soon as possible.
We want to get back to that level,
but it will take a lot of work,
patience,
and unity.
We're ready for a long journey,
a hard one,
but one we want to be full of fulfilled goals.
I may be a dreamer, but I wish to see the team become national champion.
Everybody wants the club to be champion in the next few years.
They deserve it.
The city and the supporters deserve it.
Those who fought for this team deserve to be champions.
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