View source for Venus Bucharest

[[File:Venus.jpg|thumb|200px]]
'''Venus Bucharest''' was a sports club established in the old ''Venus'' neighborhood in [[Bucharest]], [[Romania]], in 1914.

The hockey section was created in 1938 at the behest of Andrei Barbulescu after [[HC Bragadiru Bucharest]] was disbanded. They won the Category II Championship of Bucharest easily in their first season.

In 1938-39, Venus finished atop the table of the Liga Regionala du Sud in the first round, but lost to [[Telefon Club Bucharest]] in the final. They qualified for the [[Romanian Hockey League|Romanian Championship]] in 1940, making it all the way to the final, where [[Rapid Bucharest]] was victorious, 5-2. 

Venus again lost in the championship finals in 1941 and 1942, falling to [[Juventus Bucharest]] on both occasions. In 1943, they did not qualify for the national championship (which was eventually cancelled anyway) after their 6-3 win against [[Viforul-Dacia Bucharest]] was changed to a 5-0 defeat due to the use of an ineligible player. In protest, Venus did not appear for their match against Juventus, which was also counted as a 5-0 forfeit loss.

The club won their first and only Romanian Championship in 1944, defeating Juventus Bucharest 2-0 in the first game of the finals. They clinched the title with a 9-1 win over [[Universitatea Sibiu]]. Barbulescu, Venus' hockey director, initially claimed the club need not play Juventus again as they had defeated them twice already. The match did go on, but Barbulescu received a one year ban from the federation for "unsportsmanlike conduct". 

Venus and Juventus met again for the Romanian Championship in 1945. Juventus won a tightly-contested match 1-0. Demoralized by the defeat, several Venus players announced they were giving up hockey, although the club did exact revenge on Juventus with a 2-1 win in the '''Cupa Nicusor Grecescu'''.

They finished third in the 1945-46 championship, but did not take part in any hockey competitions after that. The sports club itself was dissolved in 1948.

[[Category:Ice hockey teams in Romania]]