I am not writing this just because I grew up, from 1999, as a huge Rapid Bucharest fan. No, on the contrary. Now, being more objective than ever, after several years of heavily criticizing the club for one reason or another, I have gathered, in the season at the end which the club will celebrate its centenary and, hopefully, a league title, some reasons that transform Rapid Bucharest in the undisputed greatest Romanian football team ever.
1. The fans & new stadium
Simple as that. Since the new Giulesti was inaugurated, in 2022, the crowd behaved apparently better than ever. I mean, the supporters are from the very beginning a huge advantage for Rapid. Now, though, with the newly built stadium with 14.000+ seats, the crowd remain on average above 12.000 for every match and this is something impressive. I mean, from the numbers point of view, clubs like fcsb or csu Craiova have more supporters, but their capacity is far higher. “Ion Oblemenco” from Craiova has almost 31.000 seats and at the derby between csu and fcu it hosted only 23.000 fans, while fcsb plays on National Arena, a stadium with 65.000 seats. Don’t get me wrong, but if Rapid Bucharest would have, at this moment, a 25.000 seats home field, it would have also an average of at least 20k fans at home.
These are not only impressions, are facts, Rapid works this way, especially when the team plays well and especially in this special season, that leads to a centenary. Of course, like all football fans across the world, Rapid supporters are also in some proportion driven by the results, but this is not really relevant in the Romanian football culture, and I will use the CFR Cluj example for this. So, the club from Transylvania, even though won eight league titles in 14 years, their average attendance this season is around 3.000 spectators / match, even though their stadium can host up to 25.000 fans! Therefore, the support of people, Rapid has on its stadium it is not by accident, it is not something normal, neither is something any other Romanian club can be proud of.
Now, on the same chapter, because it is relevant, I will add the pricing as well. Since the stadium was built, and since it looks wonderful, the rent paid to CS Rapid is significant and also the utility costs and other expenses are. Therefore, the cheapest ticket is 30 lei, which means around 6 euros. Of course, for European football, this doesn’t mean a lot, but for Romania is huge. From my perspective, it is more than a fair price, and the supporters got that, and they are willing to pay, which adds more value to the 12.000 average. If that price would have been applicable for any other club – I mean the minimum – then Rapid’s average would have been more than double comparing to the second place in the table. To be added, Rapid’s supporters are not regarded as wealthy ones, on the contrary.
2. The away… fans!
OK, I am using the fans as another reason, but from a different angle. Regardless, where the match is played, at Arad, Craiova, Voluntari, Sfântu Gheorghe or Botoșani, a couple of hundred of loud fans are chanting for the team. The whole match! This is something no other club from Romanian football has, at least not at this level. If you don’t believe me, search the net or watch closely the situation when you see games played away by UTA, Craiova, U Cluj or Petrolul, teams that suppose to have a lot of fans as well. They have more than CFR Cluj, yes, but nothing compares to what Rapid can offer! These being said, the two chapters dedicated to “fans”, that have the purpose to explain clear the statement from the title end here. A successful team has an impressive fan base, on the pitch, always, and Rapid is by far the leader of this in Romania
3. The owners & future plans
As I have always said, if Rapid Bucharest will follow the right strategy in the following years, then it might become even more successful when it comes to winning league titles even then CFR Cluj from the last years. It was not something relevant in the history of the club, just winning trophies, but at this point, something like this will top on everything Rapid has best built in 100 years of history and the growth will be exponential. I am sure that this is the vision shared by Dan Șucu, the share owner of the club, alongside with Victor Angelescu. I am mentioning Șucu, because he was the one to come some months ago and shared his ideas that look great. On top of this, Șucu has a clear net worth, of around 120 million euros, mostly from developing his furniture brand, “Mobexpert“, starting 1993.
I am pointing this out because, normally, in Romanian football, the owners don’t have necessary clear businesses, even though they are said to have a lot of money. Șucu has 2.300 employees and a lot of projects, the last and maybe most important one, being Rapid Bucharest. Now, what he has to say regarding this? Well, he announced a progressive budget for the upcoming seasons, starting the ongoing, with 7 million, 10 million, 14 million and maybe beyond. He states that Rapid Bucharest will win the title and in four years it will become profitable. Now, based on this, I can say that Rapid Bucharest, if it keeps the line of the strategy can win, in the next 15 years somewhere between 5 to 10 league titles. It is a bet, a courageous one, but Dan Șucu said the following: “I don’t want to be loved by the fans, but respected!” This is something Dan Pena always say. The best sign you can get!
4. The sponsors & partnerships
Directly these are strongly linked with the management and fans. Having a competent board and owners attracts many companies that want to associate the name with a good brand and mostly with a brand that has exposure. And Rapid has it! Exposure, in essence, is the state where supporters also watch the games on TV, discuss actively on social media about the club and other stuff like this. The number of supporters that come to the stadium is very important, but in the reality, the ones who are watching on TV are even more important. Why? It is simple! Because they are generating the reason for which the televisions are paying clubs TV rights. Unfortunately, they are not split as they should in Romania, because if it will be the case, Rapid would have be in the top 3 to get money for this. Regardless, on the long run it is very important to be visible for additional reasons.
If you are exposed at TV and have 12.000 fans at home matches and maybe at least 8.000 – 9.000 in away matches – let us not forget that teams like Petrolul, UTA, Spesi or Craiova crowd their stadiums when Rapid comes, especially when the team is at the level from this moment, and so the exposure it is huge. Because of this, sponsors want to come and since there might be an inflation of which of them where to appear on the sports kit, the money proposed grows considerably and the budget is adjusted and infused with these amounts which transforms the club into a more profitable one, into a shorter span of time.
5. Budgeting & payment strategies
Even though it is very hard to confirm if the money is paid properly to all employees and what are the salaries, Rapid Bucharest has a very healthy policy to not inflate artificially the salaries, like other clubs do, but in the end don’t pay the money. One year ago, the club was heavily negotiating with Hatem Ben Arfa – one of the most talented players from France football history – but they didn’t propose a salary higher than 10k EUR / month. This is how it should be done. I have heard of mediocre players like Puscas or Andone asking / their representatives discussing about amounts of 15.000 to 20.000 / month. From my perspective, to earn such money in Romanian football you need to score at least somewhere between 30 and 40 goals in one season, without considering penalties.
The board resisted and made only fair transfers, good players, at decent salaries, as it should do, regardless of the budget. Because only good performance on the pitch should attract money and bonuses, not the other way around. This, more than everything, show that Victor Angelescu and Dan Șucu have the healthiest approach that can be in building a sustainable and powerful brand that can grow exponentially from one year to another. After all, to have the opportunity of playing at Rapid and receiving a fair salary is far better than going to another club by an apparent extraordinary salary.
6. The culture of the club
I’ve started the article with something everlasting, the fans, continued with the current ownership to justify my conclusion that Rapid Bucharest is the greatest club in Romania’s football, and now I am mixing the two. Rapid’s culture, from its very beginning, included huge names, not only because their display on the field, but also because their way in playing football and achieving facts, approaching the fans and representing at their best the club’s colors. Baratky, Bogdan, Marian, Andrei, Răducanu, Motroc, Macri, Greavu, Năsturescu, Codreanu, Țîră, Gonață, Pancu, Lupu, Niculae and so are only a few names on the huge list. It is not by accident I have put Niculae here, at the end. He is now the president of the actual club and constructs the strategy with Angelescu and Șucu, which is not very easy for a former footballer!
On top of this, in the folklore entered, slowly, Adrian Mutu. One of the greatest attackers in the Romanian football history. At first, I didn’t see how he can bring value to the team, to make things better than Mihai Iosif, an historic figure for eternity for Rapid Bucharest, even though he started from the very scratch. And Adi Mutu wasn’t great in the last part of 2021-2022 season. Now, though, when I am writing this, Mutu contributed to build a team that even though is very pragmatic, and different of what Rapid supporters where accustomed in the whole history of the club, is very, very efficient! When I see Rapid playing and scoring, it is the first time since 1999 when I don’t have any fear that opponents can equalize or beat the team. Of course, this can happen, but it looks far harder comparing to the past.
Adrian Mutu was brought mostly for his image, but he proves a winning move from the board, one that nobody, from my perspective, could have predicted. Mutu becomes stronger and stronger part of a unique culture, an unique culture that no other club in Romania has. Even though there are Craiova Maxima, Nicolae Dobrin, Baia Mare of Mateianu, Petrolul from the ’60s or some other generations for the province, but the culture of Rapid was not something episodic, it lasts from the very beginning, from June 1923.
Does this matter?
In the ending, I want to discuss about a topic hater will expose: lack of trophies, comparing to other teams. Does this matter for a squad? Yes, they for sure do! But Rapid, despite not winning more than three official league titles until now, is a bigger club than CFR Cluj, even though they won five in five consecutive years. It is true that Rapid would have even more fans if it will start to win trophies, but it is important that Rapid has the most fans in Romania now, without winning trophies. This makes it a big club. If you write something about steaua or dinamo, which are, fortunately, in the second division now, you can only talk about trophies – most of them fake – but you cannot present a tradition, a history, some delicious stories. So, to make it simple and to answer directly: winning trophies count, but it is not impacting the way in how Rapid it is loved right now, comparing to other Romanian teams. I am sure, though, that if Rapid would win not five, but three league titles in a row, it will become the only team in Romania with genuine football fans. Not to forget this!