Romanian club football’s first international trophy | Romanian Football Clubs in Europe

1961 · Balkans Cup

Steagul Roșu Brașov · 1960/61

Club crest · visual identifier

The winning campaign

Steagul Roșu Brașov · winners of the 1960/61 Balkans Cup

Match cassette · results and dates

Romanian club’s score first.

Date not supplied · HomeSteagul Roșu Brașov 2–0 AEK Athens (Greece)
15 February 1961 · AwaySteagul Roșu Brașov 4–2 AEK Athens (Greece)
9 March 1961 · HomeSteagul Roșu Brașov 1–0 Partizani Tirana (Albania)
21 April 1961 · AwaySteagul Roșu Brașov 1–1 Fenerbahçe SK (Turkey)
28 September 1961 · HomeSteagul Roșu Brașov 2–2 Levski Sofia (Bulgaria)
22 October 1961 · HomeSteagul Roșu Brașov 3–0 Fenerbahçe SK (Turkey)
5 November 1961 · AwaySteagul Roșu Brașov 0–0 Partizani Tirana (Albania)
15 November 1961 · AwaySteagul Roșu Brașov 4–2 Levski Sofia (Bulgaria)

Steagul Roșu Brașov team with coach Silviu Ploeșteanu, identified in the photograph as 1961 — Steagul Roșu Brașov in 1961, with coach Silviu Ploeșteanu. The names shown are those printed on the photograph. Image supplied for the archive.

A first for Romanian club football

In 1961, Steagul Roșu Brașov became the first Romanian football club to win an international trophy, taking the inaugural Balkans Cup. Coached by Silviu Ploeșteanu, the side brought a regional European honour to Brașov long before Romanian clubs’ later successes in UEFA competitions.

Unbeaten across the campaign

The competition was decided through a group rather than a final. Steagul Roșu faced AEK Athens, Partizani Tirana, Fenerbahçe and Levski Sofia, completing the campaign with five wins, three draws and no defeats. Their journey began with a 4–2 victory away to AEK.

Sealing the trophy in Sofia

A 4–2 away victory against Levski Sofia on 15 November 1961 secured the trophy. The team received the cup in Brașov four days later, bringing the achievement home to its supporters.

A trophy collected over a journey

There was no single final to decide this first edition. Brașov had to build their claim over a series of trips and returns against clubs from the region. The club’s own retrospective recalls the long journey to Athens and, months later, Mészáros’s hat-trick in Sofia. The cup arrived in Brașov four days after the decisive result.

A regional honour with a lasting place

The Balkans Cup is classified as a Secondary Competition in this archive. Its regional scope distinguishes it from the Principal Competitions, while Steagul Roșu’s success remains a pioneering achievement: the first international trophy won by a Romanian club.

Explore the archive

Explore the season ↗Club profile →Competition archive →

Sources & image credits

About the historical details and source differences

The supplied archive records the unplayed home match against AEK as an awarded 2–0 win. RSSSF records 3–0. This story preserves the archive’s supplied score below and avoids a goals-total claim pending reconciliation; both records show the same unbeaten title-winning outcome.

Match results and dates follow the archive records. Reference pages:

Club crest: the image already stored in the club archive, used as a visual identifier rather than a photograph of this encounter.

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