Fotbal Club Politehnica Iași (Romanian pronunciation: [po.liˈteh.nika ˈjaʃʲ]), commonly known as Politehnica Iași, or simply Poli Iași, is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Iași, Iași County, currently playing in the Liga I.

The team was formed in 2010 as ACSMU Politehnica Iași,^[1] following the dissolution of the original FC Politehnica Iași. It began competing in the second division and made its first Liga I appearance in the 2012–13 season. They achieved their best result in the latter competition in 2018 when they finished in sixth place.

Stadionul Emil Alexandrescu is the home ground of "the White and Blues" and has a capacity of 11,390.

The original Politehnica Iași was established in April 1945 and folded in 2010 because of unpaid debts.^[2] In August that year, Tricolorul Breaza merged with Navoby Iași and formed ACSMU Politehnica Iași.^[3] Playing in the Liga II, the club's objective was to return to the first tier of Romanian football.

Ionuț Popa was appointed manager of the newly founded club and Grigore Sichitiu was elected as executive president.^[4]

In the summer of 2011, the club was renamed Clubul Sportiv Municipal Studențesc Iași, or simply CSMS Iași. For the second half of the 2011–12 season ex-Romanian international Florin Prunea was brought in as president.^[5] On 2 June 2012, after the 4–2 victory against Farul Constanța.^[6] the team gained promotion to Liga I,^[7] after two years in the second tier of Romanian football.

On 29 August, Liviu Ciobotariu was appointed head coach.^[8] The Moldavian team finished the 2012–13 season in 17th place and were relegated to the second division. Even though there were hopes that they would be accepted for the 2013–14 Liga I season, eventually CS Concordia Chiajna secured the last place in the first league, due to the relegation of FC Rapid București for financial reasons.^[9]

For the 2013–14 Liga II season, promising young coach Costel Enache was brought in to head a team that retained the services of its young talent, the likes of Alexandru Crețu, Adrian Avrămia and Andrei Hergheligiu.^[10]

After Marius Lăcătuș replaced Enache as manager, Politehnica finished 1st in the 2013–14 Liga II and were promoted back to Liga I. For the 2014–15 season, the club played for their first time in the Cupa Ligii, defeating ASA Târgu Mureș and advancing to the last-16, where they eliminated former Romanian Cup and Liga I winner CFR Cluj.^[11]

The 2015–16 Liga I season was one of the best in the short history of Politehnica Iași and in the football history of Iași. After a great campaign, the team finished 7th and qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League under the command of Italian coach Nicolò Napoli, with a team that relied on experienced players like: Andrei Cristea, Bojan Golubović, Ionuț Voicu and Branko Grahovac.^[12] In the second round of the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, Politehnica encountered Croatian team Hajduk Split and after a 2–2 draw at Iași, they were defeated at Split 1–2, prematurely leaving the competition.^[13]

On 22 July 2016, the club announced that it had changed its name, from CSM Studențesc Iași to CSM Politehnica Iași, a name more closely linked to the Iași football tradition and dissolved FC Politehnica Iași (1945).^[14]

In June 2017, president Florin Prunea was let go after five years at the helm of Politehnica Iași.^[15] Adrian Ambrosie was subsequently appointed to the position. After a number of major departures, with the likes of Lukács Bőle and Daisuke Sato finishing their contracts, the team went into major reconstruction and signed a number of foreign internationals, like Denis Rusu, Kamer Qaka, Luwagga Kizito and Platini.^[16][17][18] On 24 February 2018, despite of a 0–1 loss to defending champions Viitorul Constanța, Poli Iași became the first team from Moldavia to qualify for the Liga I play-off round since its introduction in 2015.^[19] To the delight of manager Flavius Stoican, they went on to finish the league in 6th place, thus equalling the best result of predecessor FC Politehnica Iași.

On 11 July that year, the club announced that it earned the right to use the FC Politehnica Iași logo and name, which was considered to be the first step in the plan of regaining the club's full identity, the next one being the recovery of their record.^[20]

Politehnica Iași plays its home matches at the Emil Alexandrescu stadium. It is located in the borough of Copou, near the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, and has a capacity of 11,390 seats.^[21]

The biggest ultras groups of Politehnica Iași are Băieții Veseli and Ultras. Both supported FC Politehnica Iași (1945) until dissolution and regard the new team as its successor. They have friendly relationships with Zimbru Chișinău, Farul Constanța and FC Braşov.^[22]

Politehnica Iași's main rival is FC Vaslui, and matches between these clubs are known as the "Moldavian Derby". The rivalry between them started in 2004, when FC Politehnica was promoted to the Romanian first league at the detriment of FC Vaslui.^[23]

There are other smaller rivalries with Oțelul Galați and FC Botoșani.^[24]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.