F.C. Romania

Football Club Romania is a football club based in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England. The club are members of the Southern League Division One Central and groundshare at Cheshunt’s Theobalds Lane.

The club was established in August 2006 by Ionuţ Vintilă, an immigrant from Romania, with the team name reflecting the Romanian immigrant background of most of the team.[1] They started in Sunday league football, initially playing in the Sunday London Weekend League. After winning their division at the first attempt, the club switched to Saturday football, joining the Essex Business Houses League in 2008.[3] In 2010 they joined Division One (Central and East) of the Middlesex County League. After finishing as runners-up in their first season in the division, they were promoted to the Premier Division. In 2011–12 the club finished as runners-up in the Premier Division,[4] but were unable to be promoted due to ground grading regulations.[3]

In 2012–13 the club entered the FA Vase for the first time, beating Tring Athletic in the first qualifying round, before losing 7–0 at Hoddesdon Town in the next round.[5] In the same season the club finished second in the Premier Division for a second successive season and were promoted to the Essex Senior League after a groundsharing agreement with Cheshunt allowed them to meet the ground grading regulations. The season also saw them win the Middlesex County League’s Open Cup with a 3–1 win over Bratham in the final.[3] In 2014–15 the club entered the FA Cup for the first time, reaching the second qualifying round, where they lost to Sutton United.

The 2017–18 season saw FC Romania finish third in the Essex Senior League. After Shaw Lane folded, they were promoted to the South Central Division of the Isthmian League as part of the league readjustments. At the end of the 2020–21 season, which was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were transferred to Division One Central of the Southern League.