The 2010–11 Liga I was the ninety-third season of the top-level football league of Romania. The season commenced on 23 July 2010 and ended on 21 May 2011. A winter break where no matches were played was held between 11 December 2010 and 18 February 2011. A total of eighteen teams participated in the league, where CFR Cluj were the defending champions.

Teams Politehnica Iași, Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț and Unirea Alba Iulia were relegated to Liga II after finishing the 2009–10 season in the bottom three places. Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț and Unirea Alba Iulia made their immediate return to the second level, while Politehnica Iași ended a six-year tenure in the highest football league of Romania. 15th-placed team Pandurii Târgu Jiu, who originally were to be relegated as well, were allowed to remain in Liga I after Internațional Curtea de Argeș withdrew from the league because of financial reasons. Internațional thus returned to Liga II after having been promoted the previous season.

The four relegated teams were replaced by the champions and runners-up from both 2009–10 Liga II divisions. Victoria Brănești and Sportul Studențesc were promoted from Seria I while Târgu Mureș and Universitatea Cluj were promoted from Seria II, with Victoria Brănești and Universitatea Cluj being constrained to play their home games on grounds in other cities (than home based) as their did not meet Liga I requirements.

Venues FC Timișoara Steaua București FC U Craiova CFR Cluj Dan Păltinișanu Steaua Ion Oblemenco Dr. Constantin Rădulescu Capacity: 32,972 Capacity: 28,365 Capacity: 25,252 Capacity: 23,500 Pandurii Târgu Jiu Victoria Brănești Dinamo București Oțelul Galați Municipal Municipal Dinamo Oțelul Capacity: 20,054 Capacity: 18,000 Capacity: 15,032 Capacity: 13,500 Rapid București Sportul Studențesc Giulești-Valentin Stănescu Regie Capacity: 11,704 Capacity: 10,020 FC Vaslui Astra Ploiești Municipal Astra Capacity: 9,240 Capacity: 9,000 FC Brașov Târgu Mureș Silviu Ploeșteanu Trans-Sil Capacity: 8,800 Capacity: 8,200 Universitatea Cluj Gaz Metan Mediaș Gloria Bistrița Unirea Urziceni Cetate Gaz Metan Gloria Tineretului Capacity: 8,000 Capacity: 7,814 Capacity: 7,800 Capacity: 7,000

Personnel and kits Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt Sponsor Astra Ploiești Takayuki Seto Adidas InterAgro Brașov Robert Ilyeș Puma Roman CFR Cluj Cadú Joma EnergoBit Dinamo București Ionel Dănciulescu Nike Orange FC U Craiova Andrei Prepeliță Adidas Ediție Specială Gaz Metan Mediaș Cristian Todea Joma RomGaz Gloria Bistrița Călin Albuț Puma Teraplast Oțelul Galați Sergiu Costin Masita ArcelorMittal Pandurii Târgu Jiu Mihai Pintilii Umbro USMO Rapid București Marcos António Puma SuperBet Sportul Studențesc Costin Curelea Puma Omniasig Steaua București Ciprian Tătărușanu Nike— Târgu Mureș Florin Dan Joma Primăria Târgu Mureș Dan Alexa Lotto Balkan Petroleum Unirea Urziceni Epaminonda Nicu Givova GreenCity Universitatea Cluj Gabriel Boștină Nike Romprest Vaslui Gabriel Cânu Adidas New Holland Agriculture Victoria Brănești Sergiu Bar Nike—

Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming managerDate of appointmentSteaua București Victor PițurcăResigned9 August 2010 Ilie Dumitrescu12 August 2010Unirea Urziceni Ronny LevyResigned21 August 2010 Octavian Grigore12 September 2010FC U Craiova Aurel ȚicleanuSacked22 August 2010 Victor Pițurcă26 August 2010Astra Ploiești Mihai StoichițăSacked31 August 2010 Tibor Selymes6 September 2010Târgu Mureș Adrian FalubMutual Termination31 August 2010 Ioan Ovidiu Sabău3 September 2010Sportul Studențesc Tibor SelymesSigned by Astra Ploiești6 September 2010 Viorel Moldovan9 September 2010CFR Cluj Andrea MandorliniSacked12 September 2010 Sorin Cârțu13 September 2010Timișoara Vladimir PetrovićSigned by Serbia15 September 2010 Cosmin Contra15 September 2010Steaua București Ilie DumitrescuResigned21 September 2010 Marius Lăcătuș28 September 2010Pandurii Târgu Jiu Ionuț BadeaSacked2 October 2010 Petre Grigoraș2 October 2010Vaslui Juan Ramón López CaroSacked8 October 2010 Viorel Hizo8 October 2010Gloria Bistrița Laurențiu ReghecampfSacked22 October 2010 Nicolae Manea23 October 2010Sportul Studențesc Viorel MoldovanResigned31 October 2010 Florin Tene1 November 2010Universitatea Cluj Marian PanăResigned8 November 2010 Ionuț Badea25 November 2010CFR Cluj Sorin CârțuSacked24 November 2010 Alin Minteuan24 November 2010Timișoara Cosmin ContraSacked4 December 2010 Dušan Uhrin, Jr.13 December 2010Brașov Daniel IsăilăMade Assistant Manager18 December 2010 António Conceição18 December 2010Unirea Urziceni Octavian GrigoreResigned10 January 2011 Marian Pană26 February 2011FC U Craiova Victor PițurcăSacked13 January 2011 Nicolò Napoli15 January 2011Steaua București Marius LăcătușResigned7 March 2011 Sorin Cârțu8 March 2011Sportul Studențesc Florin TeneResigned13 March 2011 Gheorghe Mulțescu15 March 2011FC U Craiova Nicolò NapoliPromoted Director of football7 April 2011 Laurențiu Reghecampf8 April 2011Victoria Brănești Ilie StanResigned19 April 2011 Ciprian Urican20 April 2011Rapid București Marius ȘumudicăSacked27 April 2011 Marian Rada (interim)28 May 2011FC U Craiova Laurențiu ReghecampfSacked2 May 2011 Aurel Țicleanu2 May 2011Steaua București Sorin CârțuResigned4 May 2011 Gabriel Caramarin (interim)5 May 2011FC U Craiova Aurel ȚicleanuResigned7 May 2011 Sandu Tăbârcă (interim)8 May 2011

League table

Positions by round

Results

Top goalscorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Ianis Zicu Timișoara 18 2 Eric Gaz Metan Mediaș 15 3 Claudiu Niculescu Universitatea Cluj 13 Bogdan Stancu1 Steaua București Wesley Vaslui 6 Tiberiu Bălan Sportul Studențesc12 7 Adaílton Vaslui 11 Ovidiu Herea Rapid București 9 Adrian Cristea Dinamo București / Universitatea Cluj 10 10 Robert Ilyeș Brașov 9 Vasile Olariu Victoria Brănești Gabriel Torje Dinamo București Costin Curelea Sportul Studențesc

Source: Liga1.ro 1 Bogdan Stancu was transferred to Galatasaray during the winter transfer window.

Champion squad

Oțelul GalațiGoalkeepers: Branko Grahovac (32 / 0); Cristian Brăneț (1 / 0). Defenders: Samoel Cojoc (7 / 0); Sergiu Costin (31 / 1); Milan Perendija (23 / 0); Laurențiu Petean (6 / 0); Cornel Râpă (33 / 1); Cristian Sârghi (16 / 2); Adrian Sălăgeanu (29 / 1). Midfielders: Liviu Antal (28 / 7); Laurențiu Buș (9 / 1); Ioan Filip (11 / 0); Gabriel Giurgiu (28 / 4); John Ibeh (9 / 1); Silviu Ilie (29 / 2); Laurențiu Iorga (28 / 3); Ionuț Neagu (26 / 0); Răzvan Ochiroșii (15 / 0); Gabriel Paraschiv (25 / 6); Gabriel Viglianti (25 / 3). Forwards: Csaba Borbély (8 / 1); Róbert Elek (2 / 0); Marius Pena (28 / 8); Bratislav Punosevac (10 / 2). (league appearances and goals listed in brackets)

Manager: Dorinel Munteanu.

Attendances

# Club Average 1 Timișoara 11,059 2 Craiova 10,418 3 Steaua 8,424 4 FC Rapid 7,500 5 Oțelul 7,500 6 CFR Cluj 6,812 7 Târgu Mureș 5,324 8 Vaslui 4,441 9 Pandurii 4,250 10 Dinamo 1948 4,175 11 Gaz Metan 3,882 12 U Cluj 3,194 13 Brașov 3,106 14 Gloria 2,912 15 Brănești 2,771 16 Sportul Studenţesc 1,665 17 Unirea 1,488 18 Astra 1,424Source:

References