The 2021–22 Liga II (also known as Liga II Casa Pariurilor for sponsorship reasons) was the 82nd season of the Liga II, the second tier of the Romanian football league system, and the sixth consecutive season held in a single series. It began on 31 July 2021 and ended on 4 June 2022.
The competition format was maintained, consisting of two stages. In the first stage, each team played every other team once, followed by a six-team promotion play-off and a relegation play-out split into two groups of seven. In the second stage, the top two teams were promoted to Liga I, while the 3rd- and 4th-placed sides played two-legged play-offs against the 13th- and 14th-placed teams from Liga I. The bottom two teams in each group were relegated, and the 5th-placed teams met to decide the fifth relegation berth to Liga III.
Teams A total of twenty teams contested the league: twelve from the previous season, three relegated from Liga I, and five promoted from Liga III. Team changes
To Liga II Relegated from Liga I Astra Giurgiu – after twelve years in the top flight. Politehnica Iași – after nine years in the top flight. Hermannstadt – after three years in the top flight.
Promoted from Liga III Steaua București – debut. Dacia Unirea Brăila – after two years of absence. Corona Brașov – after nine years of absence. 1599 Șelimbăr – debut. Unirea Dej – after fourteen years of absence.
From Liga II Promoted to Liga I FCU 1948 Craiova – ended a one-year stay. Rapid București – ended a two-year stay. Mioveni – ended a nine-year stay.
Relegated to Liga III Comuna Recea – ended a one-year stay. Reșița – ended a two-year stay. Slatina – ended a one-year stay. Pandurii Târgu Jiu – ended a four-year stay. Aerostar Bacău – ended a one-year stay.
Other changes Turris Turnu Măgurele withdrew during the last season and were subsequently dissolved.
Viitorul Șelimbăr was renamed CSC 1599 Șelimbăr.
ASU Politehnica Timișoara became SSU Politehnica Timișoara and was officially recognized as the legal successor of the former FC Politehnica Timișoara.
ACS Dacia Unirea Brăila was renamed AFC Dacia Unirea Brăila.
SCM Gloria Buzău was renamed back as FC Buzău, in order to obtain a Liga I licence, as SCM Gloria was a public entity, while FC Buzău operates as a public private partnership, a structure that is legally eligible for a top flight licence.
In June 2021, Gheorghe Hagi (owner of Viitorul Constanța), chairman Gheorghe Popescu and Farul Constanța owner Ciprian Marica announced in a press conference that their two clubs have merged; second division club Farul Constanța therefore took Viitorul's place in the first league from the 2021–22 Liga I season.
On 2 July 2021, Ciprian Marica former owner and currently a shareholder of Farul Constanța announced that the second division place was sold to a new established club, Unirea Constanța, club that will play its home matches in Techirghiol.
Corona Brașov merged and then was absorbed by FC Brașov, club that was re-established as a new entity, but with the original "FC Brașov" brand, after four years of absence.
Stadiums and locations
Club City Stadium Capacity Astra Giurgiu Giurgiu Marin Anastasovici 8,500 Concordia Chiajna Chiajna Concordia 5,123 Csíkszereda Miercurea Ciuc Miercurea Ciuc Municipal 1,200 CSC 1599 Șelimbăr Șelimbăr Central 1,000 Dacia Unirea Brăila Brăila Municipal 20,154 Dunărea Călărași Călărași Ion Comșa 10,400 FC Brașov Brașov Silviu Ploeșteanu 8,800 FC Buzău Buzău Municipal 18,000 FC Hermannstadt Sibiu Municipal 5,000 Metaloglobus București Bucharest Metaloglobus 1,000 Petrolul Ploiești Ploiești Ilie Oană 15,073 Politehnica Iași Iași Emil Alexandrescu 11,390 Politehnica Timișoara Timișoara Dan Păltinișanu 32,972 Ripensia Timișoara Timișoara Electrica 5,000 Steaua București Bucharest Steaua 31,254 Unirea Constanța Constanța Sparta 2,000 Unirea Dej Dej Unirea 6,000 Unirea Slobozia Slobozia 1 Mai 6,000 Universitatea Cluj Cluj-Napoca Cluj Arena 30,201 Viitorul Pandurii Târgu Jiu Târgu Jiu Tudor Vladimirescu 12,518
Personnel and kits
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor 1599 Șelimbăr Alexandru Curtean Joma — Astra Giurgiu George Șanțmare Gabriel Matei Joma Tinmar Brașov Călin Moldovan Radu Leonte Acerbis Primăria Brașov Buzău Ciprian Petre Kelme Superbet Concordia Chiajna Andrei Marc Joma — Csíkszereda Miercurea Ciuc Attila Csürös 2Rule Csíkszereda Dacia Unirea Brăila Marius Moroianu Acerbis CJ Brăila, Al Dahra Agricultural Dunărea Călărași Marius Păun Ionuț Țenea Joma Consiliul Județean Călărași Hermannstadt Ionuț Stoica Joma — Metaloglobus București Ovidiu Herea Jako — Petrolul Ploiești Valentin Țicu Joma Veolia Politehnica Iași Florin Plămadă Givova Municipiul Iași Politehnica Timișoara Nicolae Croitoru Ioan Mera Westiment Unibet Ripensia Timișoara Călin Mada Gabriel Stoi Cottontex Almira, La Migdali, ILA Steaua București Horia Iancu Adidas Get's Bet, Porotherm, International Alexander Holding Unirea Constanța Laurențiu Ardelean Macron / Nike — Unirea Dej Dragoș Militaru Marius Cătinean Joma / Hummel — Unirea Slobozia Constantin Toma Joma Consiliul Județean Ialomița Universitatea Cluj Costinel Gugu Adidas Superbet, De'Longhi, Irum Viitorul Pandurii Târgu Jiu Alexandru Ciobanu Ciprian Rus Nike Artego, Hotel Brâncuși, Vitalact
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming managerDate of appointment Universitatea Mutual agreement 10 May 2021 Pre-season 11 May 2021 Petrolul End of tenure as a caretaker 25 May 2021 Pre-season 26 May 2021 Metaloglobus End of contract 31 May 2021 Pre-season 17 June 2021 Poli Iași End of contract 31 May 2021 Pre-season 20 June 2021 Poli Timișoara Mutual agreement 17 June 2021 Pre-season 20 June 2021 Hermannstadt Mutual agreement 20 June 2021 Pre-season 21 June 2021 1599 Șelimbăr Florin Maxim Resigned 24 June 2021 Pre-season 28 June 2021 Dunărea End of contract 30 June 2021 Pre-season 1 July 2021 Buzău End of contract 30 June 2021 Pre-season 1 July 2021 Brașov Călin Moldovan End of contract 30 June 2021 Pre-season 1 July 2021 Astra End of contract 30 June 2021 Pre-season 1 July 2021 Unirea Released 17 August 2021 19 18 August 2021 Dunărea Mutual agreement 10 September 2021 15 10 September 2021 Unirea Mutual agreement 10 September 2021 19 10 September 2021 Viitorul Sacked 24 September 2021 16 25 September 2021 Ripensia Resigned 25 September 2021 12 (caretaker) 25 September 2021 Poli Timișoara Mutual agreement 28 September 2021 14 (caretaker) 30 September 2021 Brașov Sacked 4 October 2021 15 (caretaker) 5 October 2021 Poli Timișoara (caretaker) End of tenure as a caretaker 13 October 2021 13 13 October 2021 Ripensia (caretaker) End of tenure as a caretaker 26 October 2021 10 26 October 2021 Dunărea Resigned 1 November 2021 18 1 November 2021 Viitorul Signed by FC U Craiova 9 November 2021 14 (caretaker) 11 November 2021 Dunărea Resigned 16 November 2021 18 16 November 2021 Brașov (caretaker) End of tenure as a caretaker 16 November 2021 16 Călin Moldovan 17 November 2022 Viitorul (caretaker) End of tenure as a caretaker 23 November 2021 14 23 November 2021 Dacia Unirea Sacked 15 December 2021 19 3 January 2022 Viitorul Mutual agreement 11 January 2022 15 30 January 2022 Concordia Sacked 1 March 2022 4 2 March 2022 Miercurea Ciuc Sacked 14 March 2022 7 15 March 2022 Ripensia Resigned 21 March 2022 12 23 March 2022 Astra Resigned 15 April 2022 20 (caretaker) 15 April 2022 Viitorul Sacked 28 April 2022 12 (caretaker) 28 April 2022
Regular season League table
Results
Promotion play-off A promotion play-off tournament between the best 6 teams (after 19 rounds) will be played to decide the two teams that will be promoted to Liga I, meanwhile the third-placed and fourth-placed teams would play another play-off match against the 13th-placed and 14th-placed teams from Liga I. The teams will start the promotion play-offs with all the points accumulated in the regular season.
Play-off table
Results
Positions by round
Relegation play-out A relegation play-out tournament between the last 14 ranked teams at the end of the regular season was played to decide the five teams that will be relegated to Liga III. Two play-out groups were made: the first group consisted of teams ranked 7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 18 and 19, and the second group consisted of teams ranked 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17 and 20, at the end of the regular season. The teams started the relegation play-out with all the points accumulated in the regular season. Two teams from each group were relegated to Liga III, while the 5th placed teams in both groups will meet in a tie to avoid relegation.
Group A
Group B
Liga II play-out The 5th-placed teams of the Liga II relegation play-out groups face each other in order to determine the last relegated team to Liga III.
First leg
Second leg
Season statistics Regular season, promotion play-off and relegation play-out overall statistics
Top scorers RankPlayerClubRegularPlay-off Play-out Total 1 Adi Chică-RoșăBuzău12–315 Bogdan ChipirliuSteaua București114–15 Sory Ibrahim DiarraPetrolul Ploiești114–152 Valentin BuhăcianuHermannstadt111–12 Sekou CamaraPolitehnica Iași9–312 Richárd JelenaCsíkszereda Miercurea Ciuc7–5123 Lóránt KovácsCsíkszereda Miercurea Ciuc6–4104 Silviu BalaureHermannstadt71–8 Ovidiu HereaMetaloglobus București6028 Serges EkolloBuzău6–285 Cristian CiobanuBuzău6–17 Mircea ManoleUnirea Dej6–17 Albert HofmanUniversitatea Cluj7––7 Adrian VoicuConcordia Chiajna43–7 Baba AlhassanHermannstadt34–7 Denis GoldaRipensia Timișoara5–27 Alin CârstoceaBuzău5–27 Claudiu HereaMetaloglobus București4–37
Hat-tricks
PlayerForAgainstResultDateRound Alexandru PopUnirea DejȘelimbăr3–0 (H)21 August 20214 (Regular season) Adi Chică-RoșăBuzăuUnirea Constanța14–0 (H)28 August 20215 (Regular season) Cristian CiobanuBuzăuUnirea Constanța14–0 (H)28 August 20215 (Regular season) Serges EkolloBuzăuUnirea Constanța14–0 (H)28 August 20215 (Regular season) Sory Ibrahim Diarra4Petrolul PloieștiDacia Unirea Brăila4–0 (H)28 August 20215 (Regular season) Adi Chică-Roșă4Dacia Unirea BrăilaBuzău0–7 (A)16 October 202110 (Regular season) Valentin BuhăcianuHermannstadtȘelimbăr3–2 (H)23 October 202111 (Regular season) Zakaria El AzzouziBrașovUnirea Constanța4–2 (H)4 December 202116 (Regular season) Alexandru CoreAstra GiurgiuViitorul Târgu Jiu0–6 (A)30 April 20226 (Play-out) Milcho AngelovBrașovAstra Giurgiu6–1 (H)7 May 20227 (Play-out) 4 – Player scored four goals.
See also 2021–22 Liga I 2021–22 Liga III 2021–22 Liga IV 2021–22 Cupa României
References
External links FRF