Astra Giurgiu

Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈastra ˈdʒjurdʒju]), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County, currently playing in the Liga II. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești, Prahova County, as Clubul Sportiv Astra-Romana, it has spent the majority of its history in the lower leagues.

Astra only began to achieve success in the late 1990s under the ownership of businessman Ioan Niculae, having reached the top of the Romanian league system for the first time in 1998. In September 2012, after more than nine decades in Ploiești, it moved its home ground south to Giurgiu, a city at the border with Bulgaria. On short notice, the club became a prominent figure in Romanian football, and managed its most notable performance after head coach Marius Șumudica won the national championship in the 2015–16 season.

In addition to the aforementioned Liga I trophy, Astra's major honours include one Cupa Romaniei and two Supercupa Romaniei; the club has also lost three Cupa Romaniei finals between 2017 and 2021, all on the home ground of its former local opponent, Petrolul Ploiești. On the international stage, Astra's best performance is reaching the UEFA Europa League round of 32 in the 2016–17 season. All of the domestic and continental performances came after the Giurgiu relocation.

The colours of the team are white and black, hence the old nickname Dracii negri (The Black Devils). Red has also been worn on many occasions on away kits. Their home stadium is Marin Anastasovici, which has a capacity of 8,500.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Астра (russian)