About

Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (Romanian pronunciation: ), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club last based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română, it spent most of its history in the lower leagues. Astra Ploiești only began to achieve success in the late 1990s under the ownership of businessman Ioan Niculae, having reached the top flight for the first time in the 1998–99 season. In 2012, after more than nine decades in Prahova County, it moved its home ground south to Giurgiu, a city at the border with Bulgaria. On short notice, Astra became a prominent figure in Romanian football and head coach Marius Șumudică won it the 2015–16 national title. The club also held one Cupa României and two Supercupa României trophies. Between 2017 and 2021, Astra lost three Cupa României finals, all played on the home ground of its former local opponent, Petrolul Ploiești. Internationally, its best performance was reaching the UEFA Europa League round of 32 in the 2016–17 season. After losing the financial support of its owner Niculae, in October 2022 the team withdrew from the Liga III championship and was subsequently dissolved. The colours of the team were white and black, hence the old nickname Dracii negri (The Black Devils). Red was also worn on many occasions on the away kits. Their last home stadium was Marin Anastasovici, which has a capacity of 8,500, but spent most of their history at the namesake Astra Stadium in Ploiești.