CSM București (women's handball)

CSM București was formed in 2007 by the General Council of Bucharest, as part of the program to promote handball among capital's youth.[1] The team played in the second division of Romania for two seasons without notable results. At the end of the 2008–2009 season, Rapid București experienced financial problems and eleven of their players along with coach Vasile Mărgulescu, moved to CSM. Benefiting from the experience of several new players, the club won all its Divizia A matches and promoted to the Liga Națională.[2]

Since 2010, CSM Bucharest were a constant presence of the Liga Națională,[3] and finished third in their debut season, after Oltchim Vâlcea and Universitatea Cluj-Napoca. The team made European debut playing in the 2011–2012 season of the EHF Cup, where they reached the Round of 16 but unfortunately being eventually beaten by Romanian HC Zalău. In the following two seasons they played in the Liga Națională without significant results.

Mărgulescu was fired after a poor start in 2014 and replaced with Mette Klit.[4] The ambitious board aimed to win the Liga Națională next season, wanting to become even a threat to win the Champions League.[5] In the spring of 2014, four Brazilian World Championship winners (Mayssa Pessoa, Ana Paula Rodrigues, Deonise Cavaleiro and Fernanda da Silva), plus 2014 European Championship's stars Carmen Martín and Linnea Torstenson, signed contracts at CSM.[6] A strong squad was filled with local talent including Oana Manea, Iulia Curea or Talida Tolnai.[6]

The club hosted first edition of Bucharest Trophy in preseason.[7] The hosts took the home advantage to win the final against Champions League Runners-Up ŽRK Budućnost.[8]

The Tigresses won their first eight matches of the season[9] before losing to title rivals HCM Baia Mare.[10] But at the second part of the season, CSM took revenge on Baia Mare with 29–23 win in Bucharest. They secured a spot in the playoffs and second place in the regular season. Eventually, they won 6 consecutive games, earning gold medal. CSM București beat HCM Baia Mare in both legs of the Championship Play Off Final. Previously they defeated HC Dunărea Brăila and Corona Braşov.[11]

By winning the national title, CSM qualified automatically for the groups of the 2015–16 EHF Champions League edition.[12] Once again, the club makes another number of top transfers including Isabelle Gulldén,[13] Romanian legend Aurelia Brădeanu and Danish duo Line Jørgensen and Maria Fisker.[14]

Between 20 and 23 August, Bucharest hosted in preseason the second Bucharest Trophy event and grabbed a second consecutive title by defeating Corona Braşov, ŽRK Vardar and ŽRK Budućnost in the final. In September 2015, Mette Klit was replaced in CSM, her Danish fellow Kim Rasmussen taking over.

Under Rasmussen, The Tigresses attained a milestone of 25 consecutive league victories. A second championship was won in April 2016.[15] In 2016, CSM won the treble winning all the country titles, including the Cup and the Supercup (both against HCM Roman).[16]

CSM București made Champions League debut playing against ŽRK Budućnost, IK Sävehof and SPR Lublin SSA in the group stage. Four wins over the opponents from Sweden and Poland, as well the Montenegro draw, secured second place. Into the main round, CSM bothered by injury.[17] Győri Audi ETO KC and ŽRK Vardar defeated CSM but the team reached the knockout phase where the Romanian side beat undefeated Rostov-Don twice in the quarterfinals.[18]

At the continent finals, in May 2016, București qualified for Final 4 finals for the first time after a semifinal victory over ŽRK Vardar, winning 27–21.[19] On 8 May, CSM București won their title beating Győri Audi ETO KC in the final after a nail-biting penalty shootout. Playmaker Isabelle Gulldén scored 15 goals for CSM and finished as Europe's top scorer, whilst Aurelia Brădeanu scored the final spot-kick.[17] Goalkeeper Jelena Grubišić was named Finals MVP.[20] CSM regained the trophy for Romania after a 52-year break.[21]

CSM Bucharest celebrating their Bucharest Trophy 2014 win against ŽRK Budućnost

• Liga Națională
  • Winners: 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2020–21, 2022–23
  • Second place: 2018–19, 2021–22
  • Third place: 2011
• Cupa României
  • Winners: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023
  • Finalist: 2015, 2020, 2021
• Supercupa României
  • Winners: 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023
  • Finalist: 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021

• EHF Champions League:
  • Winners: 2015–16
  • Third place: 2016–17, 2017–18

• Bucharest Trophy
  • Winners – record: 2014, 2015

Squad for the 2023–24 season

Squad information
No.	Nat.	Player	Position	Date of birth	In	Contract until	Previous club
1		Laura Glauser	Goalkeeper	20 August 1993	2022	2024	Győri ETO KC
2		Mihaela Mihai	Right Wing	15 December 2004	2022	2026
3		Emilie Hegh Arntzen	Left Back	1 January 1994	2021	2024	Vipers Kristiansand
7		Grâce Zaadi	Centre Back	7 July 1993	2022	2024	Metz Handball
8		Cristina Neagu	Left Back	26 August 1988	2017	2024	ŽRK Budućnost Podgorica
9		Andreea Rotaru	Centre Back	20 February 1994	2023	2025	Gloria Buzău
10		Ștefania Stoica	Left Back	24 August 2003	2020	2024
12		Marie Davidsen	Goalkeeper	20 August 1993	2021	2025	Thüringer HC
14		Željka Nikolić	Right Wing	18 December 1994	2023	2024	Gloria Bistrița
16		Evelina Eriksson	Goalkeeper	20 August 1996	2022	2024	Vipers Kristiansand
17		Elizabeth Omoregie	Centre Back	29 December 1996	2018	2024	RK Krim
18		Jennifer Gutiérrez	Left Wing	20 February 1995	2023	2025	Rapid București
20		Laura Flippes	Right Back	13 December 1994	2023	2025	Paris 92
21		Alexandra Dindiligan	Left Wing	16 February 1997	2021	2025	HC Zalău
25		Trine Østergaard	Right Wing	17 October 1991	2023	2025	SG BBM Bietigheim
28		Monika Kobylińska	Right Back	9 April 1995	2023	2025	Brest Bretagne Handball
49		Andreea Ailincăi	Line Player	15 December 2003	2021	2024
51		Vilde Ingstad	Line Player	12 July 1991	2023	2025	Team Esbjerg
77		Crina Pintea	Line Player	3 April 1990	2022	2024	Győri ETO KC

Transfers for the 2024–25 season

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
2015–16	Champions League Winner	Group Matches (Group D)	SPR Lublin SSA	33–21	30–27	2nd
			IK Sävehof	28–17	27–22
			Budućnost	22–28	23–23
		Main Round (Group 2)	FC Midtjylland	24–22	28–23	4th
			HC Vardar	25–30	21–22
			Győri Audi ETO KC	22–24	22–28
		Quarter Final	Rostov-Don	26–25	29–28	55–53
		Semi Final (F4)	HC Vardar	27–21
		Final (F4)	Győri Audi ETO KC	29–26 (ET)
2016–17	Champions League Third place	Group Matches (Group C)	Rostov-Don	24–21	22–20	2nd
			FC Midtjylland	26–20	21–24
			Győri Audi ETO KC	24–27	25–33
		Main Round (Group 2)	Larvik HK	26–26	33–35	3rd
			Team Esbjerg	33–25	25–20
			RK Krim	24–21	28–26
		Quarter Final	FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria	30–25	27–26	57–51
		Semi Final (F4)	HC Vardar	33–38
		3rd (F4)	Budućnost	26–20
2017–18	Champions League Third place	Group Matches (Group A)	RK Krim	30–18	33–30	1st
			Nykøbing Falster H.	39–26	22–25
			GTPR Gdynia	34–22	34–23
		Main Round (Group 1)	Győri Audi ETO KC	28–22	24–28	3rd
			FC Midtjylland	29–24	31–26
			Rostov-Don	22–22	24–25
		Quarter Final	Metz Handball	34–21	20–27	54–48
		Semi Final (F4)	Győri Audi ETO KC	20–26
		3rd (F4)	Rostov-Don	31–30
2018–19	Champions League	Group Matches (Group D)	Vipers Kristiansand	26–31	29–27	1st
			FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria	36–31	34–28
			SG BBM Bietigheim	32–24	28–30
		Main Round (Group 2)	Győri Audi ETO KC	25–27	27–36	4th
			Krim Mercator	32–26	22–23
			Thüringer HC	23–23	38–30
		Quarter Final	Metz Handball	26–31	22–23	48–54
2019–20	Champions League	Group Matches (Group B)	Rostov-Don	23–23	22–23	3rd
			Team Esbjerg	21–25	24–22
			MKS Lublin	35–19	28–19
		Main Round (Group 1)	Metz Handball	32–27	26–28	4th
			Vipers Kristiansand	28–22	25–23
			FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria	27–24	23–33
		Quarter Final	Győri Audi ETO KC	Cancelled
2020–21	Champions League	Group Matches (Group A)	Metz Handball	31–26	22–25	3rd
			Rostov-Don	22–27	10–0[nb 1]
			Vipers Kristiansand	22–29	25–30
			Team Esbjerg	28–26	30–29
			FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria	25–19	27–31
			SG BBM Bietigheim	10–0[nb 1]	32–22
			RK Krim	22–22	25–23
		Round of 16	SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea	33–24	21–27	54–51
		Quarter-finals	CSKA Moscow	32–27	19–24	51–51(a)
2021–22	Champions League	Group Matches (Group A)	Brest Bretagne Handball	29–30	21–24	5th
			FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria	27–21	30–31
			Budućnost BEMAX	30–22	28–20
			BV Borussia 09 Dortmund	33–29	25–22
			Rostov-Don	27–30	0–10
			Team Esbjerg	29–29	21–22
			RK Podravka Koprivnica	29–21	36–31
		Playoffs	CSKA Moscow	10–0	10–0	20–0
		Quarter-finals	Team Esbjerg	25–26	27–27	52–53
2022–23	EHF Champions League	Group A	Odense Håndbold	40–31	31–27	2nd
			Vipers Kristiansand	27–24	29–35
			RK Krim Mercator	30–28	26–28
			SG BBM Bietigheim	28–28	27–25
			Brest Bretagne Handball	30–30	33–26
			FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria	30–24	33–29
			DHK Baník Most	40–25	35–26
		Quarter-finals	Team Esbjerg	31–33	28–32	59–65
2023–24	EHF Champions League	Group A	Győri ETO KC	23–27
			IK Sävehof		41–26
			Odense Håndbold	28–24
			Brest Bretagne Handball	28–30
			SG BBM Bietigheim		24–26
			ŽRK Budućnost Podgorica
			DVSC Schaeffler

Green – Win; Yellow – Draw; Red – Lost.

Season	Player	Award
2015–16	Isabelle Gulldén	Top Scorer (108 goals)
	Jelena Grubišić	Most Valuable Player of the Final Four
2016–17	Carmen Martín	All–Star Team (Best Right Wing)
2017–18	Cristina Neagu	Top Scorer (110 goals)
	Cristina Neagu	All–Star Team (Best Left Back)
2018–19	Jovanka Radičević	All-Star Team (Best Right Wing)
2019–20	Cristina Neagu	All–Star Team (Best Left Back)
2020–21	Cristina Neagu	All-Star Team (Best Left back)
2021–22	Cristina Neagu	All-Star Team (Best Left back)

Last updated on 3 June 2022