Asociația Club de Fotbal Gloria Bistrița (), commonly known as Gloria Bistrița, or simply as Gloria, was a Romanian professional football club based in Bistrița, Bistrița-Năsăud County founded on 6 July 1922 and dissolved in 2015. History The club was founded on 6 July 1922 and among the founding staff members there were: Simion Sbârcea as the club's president; Teofil Moldovan as the club's secretary; Ion Bota; Dumitru Hara; Simion Pop; Ioan Archiudean; and others as the club's administration committee members. Throughout its earlier history, the club had several other names: Ceramica Bistrița (before World War II), CS Bistrița (after World War II) and Progresul Bistrița until 1956, when the old name, Gloria, was readopted. In 1954, the team participated in the Liga II promotion playoffs but missed on the promotion, in spite of the fact that, at that time, Gloria had on its team future Romania national team players, the Munteanu brothers. Divizia C The club played in Divizia C (now Liga III) three times. It was promoted for the first time in 1957, then for the second time in the 1963. Gloria played in Divizia C for a third and final time during the 1974–75 season, following a short-lived relegation from Divizia B. Divizia B Gloria earned its first Divizia B (now Liga II) promotion in 1958, just one year after they had promoted to Divizia C. They were promoted for a second time to B in 1970, under coach Titi Popescu, and, after the one-year relegation during the 1974–75 season, they finally were promoted for the 3rd time under Gheorghe Nuțescu's reign. The team then played in Divizia B for 15 years, between 1975 and 1990, possessing many valuable players, like Daniel Iftodi, Gheorghe Hurloi, Victor Ciocan, and others. Promotion in top division and European cups Gloria earned promotion to the Romanian top league, Divizia A (now Liga I), in 1990 under coach Remus Vlad, and then the team played at that level without interruption until 2011. During this time, the club also gave Romanian football remarkable players such as Viorel Moldovan, Gavril Balint, Lucian Sânmărtean, Ciprian Tătărușanu, Emilian Dolha, Cristian Coroian, and others. After beginning somewhat shyly in the top division, in 1993 Gloria finished in fifth place and managed to achieve their premiere qualification for a European international competition, the UEFA Cup. They drew 0–0 with Maribor at home, but were eliminated after a 2–0