Fans say farewell as non league club announces decision to cease operations after 20 years

Fans say farewell as non league club FC Romania announces making the tough decision to cease operations after 20 years.

On Friday night (15th May), FC Romania confirmed they are forced to cease its non league football operations due to the lack of a stable home ground for next season. For the past 14 years the club has relied on a groundshare arrangement.

They were established in August 2006 by Ionut Vintila, and started out in Sunday league football, and after winning the Sunday London Weekend League at the first attempt, a switch to Saturday football came about and fair to say, they made plenty of memories.

Their final season however saw them finish second bottom in the Eastern Counties League Division One South (10th tier), 34 points from 40 games.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞
𝐅𝐂 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 !

🇷🇴 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬ă
𝐅𝐂 𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚 is𝐢 î𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐳ă 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐚 𝐝𝐮𝐩ă 𝟐𝟎 𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐢 !

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 FC Romania announces that, after… pic.twitter.com/EmslZRqojs

— FC Romania (@FCRomania) May 15, 2026

A statement read: “FC Romania announces that, after 20 years of activity, the club is forced to cease its non-league football operations due to the lack of a stable sporting base for next season.

“For the past 14 years, FC Romania has operated through a groundshare agreement with Cheshunt FC. At the beginning of February 2026, the club was informed that, from next season, it would no longer be able to continue using this sporting base.

“Following this situation, together with the club committee, we made efforts to identify a new sporting base or a new groundshare agreement in London or the surrounding areas. Unfortunately, we have been unable to secure a viable solution that would allow the club to continue operating at the required non-league standard.

“Over the years, FC Romania proudly competed for 𝟏𝟏 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐀, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐀 𝐂𝐮𝐩, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐀 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐀 𝐕𝐚𝐬𝐞. The club received media coverage not only in the United Kingdom, but also across Europe and Asia, appearing in well know newspapers and on television. 𝗙𝗖 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗪𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘂𝗺,an important moment of visibility and pride for the club and the Romanian community in the United Kingdom.

“This decision has been made as a result of the impossibility of securing a stable location for official matches and for the continued operation of the club.

“We would like to thank all players, coaches, volunteers, committee members, sponsors, supporters and everyone who has supported FC Romania over the years.

“For almost two decades, FC Romania has represented an important project for the Romanian community in the United Kingdom and for non-league football in England.”

As mentioned, fans say farewell as the non league club announces the decision to cease operations after 20 years…

miswell: It’s hard to see the point of clubs like FC Romania once they start climbing the pyramid. They start out as a club for ex-pats of a nation, giving people a place to meet and socialise, footballers with something in common. They do very well in Sunday leagues so decide to move to Saturday football. Before long they’re successful again and decide to keep pushing further. However they’re now playing away from where they were founded and there’s not enough players that represent the origins of the club to sustain the new level so have to recruit from elsewhere. Being away from where they started means crowds dwindle and no one watches them. I’ve seen FC Romania a few times as they’ve been in the same league as a couple of non-league sides I watch. They’ve brought 0 fans away and sometimes don’t even seem to have a single home fan when we’ve visited them. There’s few if any Romanian players in the squad either. Just all seems a pointless exercise. Best for them to start again at Sunday level and give the Romanian community something to get involved with again.

@CannonsWoodFC: sorry to hear that guys!! football is unfair sometimes!!

@Lupta__Steaua: Noooo 😭😭😭😭

@G04lk33per: Sorry to see you go – we had an absolute humdinger with you last season and on another day you woulda got the win. Well run club with some decent players, you’ll be missed

@DannySherms: Vei fi dor de tine 🇷🇴

@HHDAGGER: Watched this club and when they was at there best over the years the football they played was fantastic, just shows enjoy while you can as nothing last for ever.

@CSMLondonFC: A lot of our management team earnt their stripes through some humblings against a great FC Romania side in non-league. You’ll be missed ♥️

@RussWWFC: Sad news, always had a soft spot for you after the USA 94 team. Can you not play at a lower level, based near where englaves of Romanians in London, make it more authentic and play just for fun. I’d definitely visit.

Chris Homer: Very sad news we had some fantastic times and was proud to become a part of the FC Romania family. It was a pleasure to watch so many talented players and a positive style of football. Standing on a freezing concrete slab on a rainy Wednesday night with 30 crazy Romanians, a drum and some clear liquid in a used coke bottle is what non league football is all about! Then there was the family side celebrating our engagement and all the support you gave me with my illness will never be forgotten. Now one last time Haide Lupii 👏🏻

@DanHarvey74: Sorry to hear this, enjoyed my one visit there, a warm friendly club with good people 🇷🇴 best of luck in all your future footballing endeavours @ggeorgiou10 👍🏻

@dedken: A shame to hear. Hope you can rise from the ashes at some point in the future

@jamieHu95: Sad to see this happen, you managed to do some incredible things and have an incredible rise in such a short space of time. Everyone at the club should be so proud of what it’s achieved. Awful news for non league

@dunmore_sam: Not another one 😢

@MrJohnAdams1: This is very sad. I enjoyed my time on the mic’ 🎤 with FC Romania. The good friends and players I met of FC Romania, will long live in my heart and memory. Well Done Ionut Vintilla. You Did Great! 👍⚽🇷🇴🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿😉

@JGGoalkeeping87: Really sad to read this. Romania’s story will struggle to be matched. Starting in Sunday league, using only Romanian players the rise to Step 4. On their day they would beat anyone. Was a pleasure to be involved with @vintila1977 in 2018. Haide Lupe 🇷🇴

George Georgiou: My time at FCRomania was absolutely unbelievable. At the beginning, we were so close to becoming an even better side than we were at Step 4, but unfortunately financial limitations prevented us from reaching the next stage of the ladder and becoming the team we truly believed we could be. Some of my most special memories were the coach journeys to FA Cup matches and away games — the team bonding during those trips was indescribable. What was even more rewarding for me were the friendships I made throughout my time at the club, and most importantly, the bond I built with the main man himself, my brother, Ionut Vintila. At times he was misunderstood, but he is a very loyal and honest man, and truly a friend for life. 🇷🇴🫶🏻💔

The FA announce the 2026/27 club allocations for non league steps 1-6