Corvinul

The Pride of the Iron Workers (1921–1953)

Football has been practiced in Hunedoara, in an unorganized way, since the early 1900s, being brought by young locals which were studying in the big cities of the country or abroad, as happened with most of the football beginnings in Transylvania.

The year 1921 will be the first one in which a Football Championship was organized between the borders of the Kingdom of Romania, a championship which was running as a tournament with regional leagues and a national final stage. In the same year, in Hunedoara, on the initiative of several sports enthusiasts, led by Ludovic Rimbaș was established the first organized football team, Fero Sport Hunedoara. The new football club operated under the patronage of the local Iron Plant. Iosif Onciu (then director of the Iron Plant) was elected president, and Ludovic Rimbaș held both the position of secretary of the club and the manager of the team. The company's headquarters were in the former premises of the "Red Union" in Severin Street.

Hunedoara's first organized football team aroused great enthusiasm among the locals, but especially among the employees of the Iron Plant, who agreed to each contribute 1% of their salary to support the new football team. At the same time, the footballers were regularly awarded by the management of the Plant and had priority in employment. Thus, from the very beginning, the football team had a close connection with the local Iron Plant, which later became a Steel Plant.

From 1924, the team changed its name to U.F.H (Uzinele de Fier Hunedoara) and in 1936, to Iancu Corvin Hunedoara. During the World War II the situation was very difficult, the team played on various makeshift grounds, more or less arranged. The club's financial situation was particularly difficult, but the club survived. In 1943, the team's name returned to U.F.H. (Uzinele de Fier Hunedoara). With the reorganization of Romania under the communist regime, the team took over the new name of the old Iron Plant, I.S.S. Hunedoara (Întreprinderile Siderurgice de Stat Hunedoara). In the same year, the football team played in the third tier (Divzia C) under the name I.M.S. Hunedoara (Întreprinderea Muncitorească Siderurgică Hunedoara) and a year later, the club's management was taken over by the union within the steel unit, the name changed again and became Metalul Hunedoara.

In 1953, Metalul was promoted to the top-flight (Divizia A) for the first time, a moment that remained in history as the first time when a football club based in the “Steel City” crossed the threshold of the first tier. In that season, Hunedoara finished on the first place in the 2nd Series, 4 points away from the runners-up, another team financially supported by the Steel Industry of Romania, Metalul Câmpia Turzii.

A Period of Struggles (1954–1975)

Metalul fought proudly in its first top-flight season (1954), but finally relegated after it was ranked 11th of 14, first team placed under the relegation line. The 1950s continued with five consecutive appearances in the Second Division: (1955 – 6th, 1956 – 2nd, 1957–58 – 2nd, 1958–59 – 4th and 1959–60 – 1st). In 1956 Metalul Hunedoara was renamed as Energia Hunedoara, but in 1958 the named was changed again, this time in Corvinul Hunedoara. The football club based in Hunedoara frequently changed its name between 1921 and 1958 in order to create a personalized identity, something more special, that will remain in people's minds and be directly associated with Hunedoara. Even if the name Corvinul did not catch on immediately, the later performances and its uniqueness in the Romanian football landscape stuck it to the football club based in Hunedoara.

Corvinul promoted to Divizia A in the summer of 1960, and it seemed that a new era was starting "under the blast furnaces", but again, the team relegated after only one season in the top-flight after it was ranked the last, out of 14 teams. The situation began to become dramatic after another year, when Corvinul made one of its worst seasons and was ranked the last in the Divizia B, relegating down to the third tier, for the first time in the last decade. After the relegation, the local authorities decided to change again the name, because Corvinul was an unlucky choice and renamed the club as Siderurgistul Hunedoara, again financially supported by the Iron Plant. Iron Plant of Hunedoara was not as big as Galați steel works, so automatically had less financial strength. As a result, Siderurgistul (again Metalul Hunedoara since 1964) played for no less than five consecutive seasons in the Divizia C. Finally, the Steelworkers earned promotion back to the second division at the end of the 1966–67 campaign, finishing top of the table in the West Series, four points ahead of another factory team, Tractorul Brașov. The squad, coached by Gheorghe Bărbulescu and Abagiu Pîrvu, included Dobîndă, Stainer, Mercea, Vlad, Szekely, Tătaru, Ceaușu, Grozescu, Olaru, Homeghi, Pîrvu, Păunescu, Popa, Găceanu, Ciocănaru, Socol, Cristescu, Molnar, and Hristos Iorgos.

From the middle 1960s to the middle 1970s, Metalul Hunedoara, then renamed again as Corvinul Hunedoara (in 1970) settled as an important Divizia B side, ranking between 4th and 13th place, but never with really important chances of promotion.