SB or not SB, that is the Question

It’s all eyes on Scotland tonight as both Hearts and Rangers are hosting European matches tonight. First up is Hearts who have the less than ideal 5.45pm kick off against Omonoia of Cyprus, before attention switches to Ibrox where Rangers host FCSB of Romania at 8pm. Both games are live on TNT Sports 3, so you don’t need to change channel between the games.

For Hearts, it’s match day two, and they go into this match against their pot three team having won their opening match away to Dinamo Minsk. A Sergey Politevich own goal and a last gasp winner from Yan Dhanda got the win after Steven Alfred had given Minsk the lead.

That win sees Hearts sitting in tenth place at the moment, behind Noah of Armenia on goal difference.

There’s not a lot to look back on here. Omonoia have never met a Scottish side before, and no Cypriot side has faced Hearts either. So let’s have a look at Omonoia.

This is the fourth time they’ve reach a group stage, which is now a league stage actually but you know what I mean. In 2020/21 they finished fourth in their Europa League group where they beat and drew with PAOK but lost to both PSV Eindhoven and Granada. The following season they finished third in their Conference League group by drawing with Basel, Qarabag and twice with Kairat. But their most recent group campaign in 2022/23 saw them lose all six of their Europa League matches to Manchester United, Real Sociedad and Sheriff Tiraspol.

This season they came through three qualifying rounds to reach this point, something they failed to do last season. Torpedo Kutaisi of Georgia were seen off 5-2 on aggregate in the second qualifying round, Fehervar of Hungary 3-0 on aggregate in the third qualifying round, and Zira of Azerbaijan 6-1 on aggregate in the playoff round. Indeed, the only one of those six games they didn’t win was the 1-0 defeat away to Zira. So here that is!

Omonoia are actually sitting pretty in second place in the Conference League after the first match day, thanks to their 4-0 home win over Vikingur of Iceland. Only Cercle Brugge are currently ahead of them on goals scored.

Omonoia are currently sixth in the Cypriot First Division after seven games, seven points behind leaders Pafos. On Saturday they lost 1-0 at home to Paralimni. They go to Karmiotissa on Monday.

Hearts are currently eleventh in the Premiership after nine games, having jumped over city rivals Hibernian on goal difference after a 4-0 win over St Mirren on Saturday. Hibernain do have a game in hand though. Hearts go to Easter Road on Sunday for the first Edinburgh derby of the season.

For Rangers, it’s match day three. It started well with a 2-0 win away to Malmo on match day one, goals from Nedim Bajrami and Ross McCausland got Rangers their first win in Sweden.

However, a 4-1 defeat at home to Lyon, two goals each from Alexandre Lacazette and Malick Fofana with a Tom Lawrence equalising briefly, on match day two has seen Rangers slip to seventeenth in the table, ahead of AZ on away goals and behind Elfsborg on goal difference.

FCSB on the other hand have won both games so far and find themselves fourth in the table behind Tottenham Hotspur on way goals. On match day one they beat RFS of Latvia 4-1 at home…

Before winning 1-0 away to PAOK on match day two.

So, who are FCSB exactly? Well, that’s quite a question, one that will see us delve into the murky world of same club/different club…

Steaua Bucharest (or Bucaresti if you go with the Romanian spelling) were formed in 1947 are were the Romanian Army club. Their crowning glory was of course winning the European Cup in 1986, beating Barcelona on penalties in the final.

The Romanian Army still own the sporting society, known today as CSA Steaua Bucharest. The football department, however, was split off and turned into a private company in 1998 and is owned by an entity called AFC Steaua Bucharest. That entity then went public in 2003 through controversial owner George Becali, something that has been legally challenged, disputed and even ruled against in the Romanian courts.

That ruling in 2017 led to CSA Steaua Bucharest forming a football team in the lower leagues, and claiming all the history of the football club. So according to the Romanian courts, the team that officially won the European Cup in 1986 isn’t the one Rangers are due to play tonight. Those European Cup winners are in fact currently playing in the Romanian second tier, unable to be promoted because they have no private ownership…

Yep, that the very same reason that the football department was split off in 1998! But that split didn’t go well and it actually took Becali coming in to bail them out of the threat of bankruptcy. But despite saving the football club in the process, it’s that 2003 takeover that was deemed invalid. They’ve been told they can’t use the branding of Steaua Bucharest, hence why they are now referred to as FCSB.

FCSB dispute all of this of course, and their fans still fly banners in the name of Steaua Bucharest. Not all the fans backed FCSB, some went with the ruling and followed the new team in the lower leagues, but the majority of them do.

And just to confuse things further, despite Romania’s ruling, UEFA recognise FCSB as the continuation of Steaua Bucharest. So as far as UEFA are concerned, Rangers are playing the 1986 European champions tonight. Even if UEFA also recognise that they go by the name of FCSB because of the legal issues.

Confused yet? Well, let’s just be glad that we don’t have such issues in Scotland…

Incidentally, this now can’t happen here, not that it was ever in much doubt anyway. The legal entity of Rangers that was incorporated in 1899 was finally dissolved last week after 12 years of going through the process of liquidation. There is now no chance of that being resurrected and starting its own team and trying to claim the same history that the legal entity of Rangers that was incorporated in 2012 currently claim, the one that is recognised by UEFA as the continuation of Rangers, as well as the domestic bodies in Scotland. No one has challenged this position in the Scottish or UK courts either, and all the Rangers fans recognise it as the continuation of Rangers – there’s no split there like with Steaua’s fans.

So, with all that in mind…

Rangers have hosted Steaua Bucharest three times previously. The first was in the 1969/70 Cup Winners Cup first round, with Rangers winning 2-0 on the night and on aggregate, both goals from Willie Johnston. Can’t find footage of this one though.

Rangers then hosted Steaua in the 1987/88 European Cup quarter final, with Rangers winning 2-1 at Ibrox. Richard Gough and Ally McCoist scored in the first half, but the even earlier away goal from Marius Lacatus left them too much to do after the away leg had finished 2-0 and so Rangers lose the tie 3-2 on aggregate.

They met for a third time in the 1995/96 Champions League group stage, Paul Gascoigne and Adrian Ilie getting on the scoresheet in a 1-1 draw.

I know it’s the away game from that same season, but it’s also worth pointing out that it was won 1-0 by Steaua thanks to a goal from Daniel Prodan, who later went on to sign for Rangers but never played due to injuries, and sadly passed away in 2016 aged just 44. RIP Daniel.

Steaua also faced Motherwell in the 2009/10 third qualifying round of the Europa League, winning 3-1 at… Airdrie. Fir Park’s pitch needed work, as was quite common back then. Ross Forbes had given Motherwell the lead as they tried to turn the tie around after a 2-0 defeat, but a second half penalty from Petre Marin and two goals from Bogdan Stancu saw off any hopes.

That same season, Rangers hosted Unirea Urziceni in the Champions League, the only other Romanians to visit Ibrox, but lost 4-1. Rangers had led early through Pedro Mendes, but Marius Bilasco levelled in the first half before Bruno Fernandez, a Lee McCulloch own goal, and Pablo Brandan saw the Romanians leave with all three points.

FCSB won the derby away to Dinamo Bucharest 2-0 on Sunday and are currently fifth in the Romanian SuperLiga, seven points behind leaders Cluj with a game in hand. They host Rapid Bucharest in another derby this coming Sunday. (You need to click on this one to watch it on YouTube)

Rangers lost 1-0 at Kilmarnock on Sunday and are third in the Premiership, six points behind leaders Celtic and second placed Aberdeen. They host St Mirren this coming Sunday.

Good luck to both Hearts and Rangers tonight!