Early years of football in Galați (1910–1964) Football spread to Romania shortly before 1900, first appearing in the cities of
Arad and
Bucharest. It arrived in
Galați about 10 years later, through foreign trade companies and offices in the city, as well as the efforts of one Officer Vladovici, a career soldier who studied in France and brought football game regulations and equipment to Galați. The first games took place , when Vladovici's team from the 3rd Artillery Regiment played groups of English sailors stationed in the harbour. A year later, the Cavalry Regiment of Galați established a second team in the city. This led to the organisation of several football matches, and the press highlighted the fact that matches were also possible with the sailors from British naval ships present in the Port of Galați. The students of Vasile Alecsandri High School (LVA) formed a team in 1919. A year later, emigrants from Turkey, Greece and Armenia set up the teams of Olimpia and Niki, consisting largely of players coming from Italy, Greece and Turkey, where football was much more developed as a sport. An exhibition match took place on 7 May 1921, in which Triumf București defeated Internaționala Galați 2–1. In the same year, the team of
HMS Ladybird defeated Internaționala Galați 6–2. Though there were too few teams for organised competitions, inter-city matches intensified with
Brăila,
Tulcea, and
Reni. There were also regular matches with local teams Internaționala, Niki, Olimpia, Şoimii Dacia, Atlas and LVA, as well as military teams. In 1922, Dacia Soimii and LVA merged to found
Dacia Vasile Alecsandri Galați (DVA). DVA gained great popularity and for two decades was one of the best football clubs in southern
Moldavia and eastern
Muntenia. Other new teams established in this era include
Maccabi, Aviaţia, Şcoala Comercială, Sportul, and Baza Navală. After three seasons in the
County Championship, Oțelul was promoted to
Divizia C at the end of the 1966–67. The next year, they were promoted to
Divizia B. The 1968 promotion was a close contest with Gloria Bârlad; both teams ended the season with 35 points, but Oțelul had a +23 goal differential to Gloria's +21. Oțelul's 1968 promotion squad included: Şerbănoiu, Berechet, Rusu, Florea–Boeru, Coman, Secăşeanu, Luban, Halmagy, Moşneagu, Cernega, Bruştiuc, Niculescu, Morohai, Leca, Ion Ionică, Ailoaiei, Obreja, Câmpeanu, Drăghiescu and Ogescu; with coaches Gh. Drăghiescu and Pompiliu Ionescu. Oțelul had not completely lost its identity after this manoeuvre, and in the 1973–74 season returned to the second league, finishing 7th. The team finished the 1974–75 season in 17th place with only 24 points, and was relegated to Divizia C, then disbanded. In 1976, the management of the steel industry decided to re-establish Oțelul, joining
Divizia D, and climbing to Divizia C and B. From 1976 to 1977 to 1980–81, their rankings were: 1st (
Divizia D); 11th, 10th, 9th, and 1st (
Divizia C). The 1980–81 squad of Oțelul included: Șerbănoiu, Călugăru, Cucu, Borș, Căstăian, Morohai, Ceacu, Ciurea, Pătrașcu, Pavel, Gheorghiu, Adamache, Ion Ionică, Basalîc, Ticu, Potorac, and Podeț; with coach Petru Moțoc. The progress and growth of Oțelul was more difficult than that of traditional Romanian football clubs, due to the 1970 dissolution of the club in favour of
Dunărea Galați, the 1972 reformation of Dacia Galați, and the 1975 refounding. In 1980, immediately after the promotion of the team to the second league, a political decision of
Galați County gave Oțelul's place in Divizia B to
Victoria Tecuci; some of the Oțelul players switched to the team from
Tecuci, and others signed with
Divizia C side
Metalosport Galați, owned by the Cristea Nicolae factory. The
1996–97 season brought
total football to
Oțelul Stadium. Led by squad captain
Valentin Ştefan and
Viorel Ion, Oțelul finished the season in 4th place. During the season, Oțelul beat league-leader
Dinamo București 3–1. They also defeated
Rapid București in a 4–3 win at
Giulești Stadium, which was an historic victory for the club. Then came an unexpected 5–1 victory against
FC U Craiova, which pushed Oțelul to 2nd place in the table. With a 3–1 victory at
FC Național (Romania's runners-up at the end of the season), Oțelul were only 3 points behind the leader. Winning the final match 3–0 against
Sportul Studențesc, Oțelul finished 4th in the league, matching their previous best finish.
Vasile Simionaș was named Romanian coach of the year, and
Viorel Ion and
Valentin Ştefan were named to the
Romanian national team. In this period, the club earned the nicknames
Cimitirul Granzilor () and
Campioana Provinciei ("The Provincial Champion"). The squad was also called
Generația de Aur ("The Golden Generation"), although they were later overshadowed by the 2010–11 team. This generation could be considered one of the Oțelul's three best teams, along with the 1988 and 2011 squads.
Simionaș was fired in 1999 after a conflict with sporting manager
Mihai Stoica. Oțelul beat
Dinamo Tirana in the first round, 8–1 on aggregate, but lost in the second round, 0–1 on aggregate against
Partizan. In the
2004–05 Divizia A season Oțelul finished 8th.
Marius Stan was appointed as the club's president starting in the
2005–06 season. The team struggled early in the season and was rebuilt, with coach
Aurel Şunda replaced by
Petre Grigoraş and 18 new players brought to the team. The changes turned the team's season around, beginning with a 3–0 victory against
Dinamo, and Oțelul finished in 9th place. In the Romanian Cup, Oţelul was eliminated in the quarterfinals in penalty shoot-outs against
FC Național. , the coach who led Oțelul to their only Romanian title to date In the
2006–07 season Oțelul finished 5th in the standings. At the end of this season, prominent player
Viorel Tănase retired, scoring a goal in his last match. Thanks to good positioning in the league table, the team qualified for the
UEFA Intertoto Cup. In the Romanian Cup, Oțelul was once again eliminated in penalties, this time by
Steaua București. The first match of the 2007–08 season was in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, where Oțelul met
Slavija Sarajevo (3rd place in the
Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina). The first leg at
Koševo Stadium ended 0–0. The second leg was played in Galați, and was an unexpected 3–0 win for Oțelul, with goals by
Emil Jula (at 31 and 42 minutes) and
Gabriel Paraschiv (70 min). For these feats head coach
Petre Grigoraș was called
cel mai tare din oraș ("the best of the city"). Problems arose in the
2008–09 season. Oțelul finished 12th, and the club was close to bankruptcy.
Petre Grigoraş left the following season and was replaced by
Dorinel Munteanu. In the 2009–10 season, Oțelul finished in 8th place. Oțelul achieved its best performance in the
2010–11 season, winning the first league, defeating main rival
FC Timişoara in a match that decided the title. Two months later, the club won the Supercupa României in a 1–0 victory over Steaua București. The squad which won included: goalkeepers
Branko Grahovac,
Cristian Brăneţ, and
Gabriel Abraham; defenders
Cornel Râpă,
Samoel Cojoc,
Cristian Sîrghi,
Milan Perendija,
Sergiu Costin,
Enes Šipović,
Constantin Mișelăricu,
Adrian Salageanu, and
Silviu Ilie; midfielders
Ionuț Neagu,
Gabriel Giurgiu,
Ioan Filip,
Ciprian Milea,
Liviu Antal,
Laurenţiu Iorga,
Laurenţiu Petean,
John Ibeh,
Gabriel Viglianti,
Răzvan Ochiroşii,
Laurenţiu Buş, and
Gabriel Paraschiv; and forwards
Marius Pena,
Bratislav Punoševac and
Róbert Elek; with coach
Dorinel Munteanu. Their Champions League group featured
Manchester United,
Benfica and
FC Basel. It was a huge moment for the club to play against top European teams, but Oțelul lost all six matches: 2–3 and 0–1 against Basel; 1–2 and 0–1 against Benfica; and 0–2 in both matches against Manchester United. , the coach who saved Oțelul from relegation in 2014, despite a difficult financial situation Grigoraş left the club at the end of the
2013–14 season, and
Ionuţ Badea was hired for the new season. Poor results led to Badea's resignation and the arrival of
Ewald Lienen, a German coach trained in the
Bundesliga. He managed to finish the season with Oțelul in 10th place. After this season, Lienen and almost all of the players left due to financial mismanagement. The
2014–15 season brought huge changes at Oțelul. Team owner
Dan Adamescu was arrested in a case of bribery, and a lack of financing made transfers difficult. Among the coaches brought in and subsequently fired were:
Michael Weiß,
Tibor Selymes and
Florin Marin. Additionally,
Liga I reorganised so the bottom six teams in the table were relegated instead of just four. Oțelul finished 17th and was relegated to
Liga II after 23 consecutive seasons in the top flight of the Romanian football. The fall of Oțelul gave rise to many concerns in the Romanian media. In 2016,
Marius Stan accused Adamescu for the devaluation of the club: In 2017, Adamescu's son, Alexander Adamescu, accused Stan of defective management and that the club was his piggybank:
Refounding and returning to the top flight (2016–present) After the dissolution of the club, Oțelul supporters immediately founded a new association, called Asociația Supporter Club Oțelul Galați, and registered it to compete in
Liga IV. On 19 July 2016,
ASC Oțelul Galați was officially born with the objective of continuing the tradition of Oțelul in Galați. ASC Oțelul Galați was considered the spiritual successor of the old club because it wore the same colours, it played in the same stadium and was supported by the same fans. The new entity, didn't own the brand and league record of the old club, which had been bought at auction for 10,000. Under coach
Stelian Bordeianu, a former player of the club, Oțelul won 30 of its 32 matches in all competitions, setting a record for Romanian football. Former Oțelul coach
Dorinel Munteanu returned at the beginning of the
2021–22 season and helped secure promotion after five years in
Liga III. Oțelul dominated both the regular season and the playoffs, finishing first in Liga III Seria 2, nine points clear of 2nd-place
Focșani. In the playoff semifinal, Oțelul got past
Foresta Suceava with a 1–0 victory in Suceava, and a 2–0 win in Galaṭi. The first leg of the final, played in
Botoșani against
Dante Botoșani, ended in a 1–1 tie. The decisive match was played in Galați, in front of a crowd of 13,000 spectators on
Stadionul Oțelul.
George Cârjan, Alin Nica and Denis Cires scored in a 3–0 win for Oțelul that propelled the steelworkers into
Liga II. Oțelul with
Dorinel Munteanu at the helm, took this momentum well into the
2022–23 season, in
Liga II. Although newly promoted at this level, the Galați team proved to be a real contender as the regular season went on. They finished 3rd in the regular season and qualified for the promotion playoffs. The steelworkers managed to keep their form during the play-off and before the final day, were still 3rd, behind
Poli Iasi and
Steaua Bucuresti. On the last day, Oțelul got the win they needed against
Unirea Dej (1-0 Răzvan Gorovei), in front of a packed
Oțelul stadium. The 3rd spot finish, coupled with
Steaua's (2nd) legal limitations, sealed a historic comeback to the elite for the steelworkers, 8 years after their previous
Liga I match. The first season back in the elite was
2023–24. During this season, Oțelul with the same
Dorinel Munteanu as head coach managed to prove wrong most of the certain relegation pre-season predictions. Oțelul finished the regular Liga I season 11th out of 16. In the relegation playout phase, results were even better, granting a 2nd-place finish in the playout, 8th in the final general Liga I table. This position also enabled the team to qualify for the
UEFA Conference League playoffs semifinals which they lost against
U Cluj. In the Romanian Cup, Oțelul stunned most pundits with a run to the final, eliminating better tipped teams on the way like
Universitatea Craiova or
U Cluj. The final, against
Liga II participant
Corvinul Hunedoara was a surprise in the negative sense for Oțelul, losing on penalties after a hard-fought 2–2 after extra time in
Sibiu. 3500 supporters made the long trip from
Galați to
Sibiu, the full number of tickets available to them. ==Youth program==