FC Universitatea Cluj

This article is about the football club. For the sports club, see CS Universitatea Cluj-Napoca.

Universitatea Cluj

Full name	Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj
Nickname(s)	Șepcile roșii (The Red Caps) Studenții (The Students) Alb-negrii (The White and Blacks)
Short name	U Cluj
Founded	23 November 1919 (1919-11-23) as Societatea Sportivă a Studenților Universitari 2016 (2016) (refounding) as ACSF Alb-Negru al Studenților Clujeni
Ground	Cluj Arena
Capacity	30,201
Owners	Cluj-Napoca Municipality Babeș-Bolyai University U Cluj Supporters Association
Chairman	Radu Constantea
Head coach	Ioan Sabău
League	Liga I
2023–24	Liga I, 10th of 16
Website	fcuniversitateacluj.ro
Home colours Away colours

Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (Romanian pronunciation: [universiˈtate̯a kluʒ]), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply as U Cluj, is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I.

Founded in 1919 by doctor Iuliu Hațieganu, Universitatea Cluj has spent more than half of its history in the top flight, but never became national champion. It has played six Cupa României finals under four names, and won the trophy in the 1964–65 season after a 2–1 defeat of Dinamo Pitești. Once considered the most important side in the region of Transylvania, its status has been threatened in the 21st century by the success of CFR Cluj, with whom it contests the Cluj derby.

Universitatea players and fans are nicknamed Șepcile roșii ("the Red Caps") after the red berets worn by students of the Cluj University of Medicine. The team traditionally plays in white and black kits, although variations of red, maroon and gold have been used in the past. Its home ground is Cluj Arena, which was opened in 2011 and can host around 30,000 spectators.

History

The Universitatea sports club of Cluj was founded on 23 November 1919 by the "Sports Society of University Students" (Romanian: Societatea Sportivă a Studenților Universitari—abbreviated to "U"), the press from Cluj wrote an announcement that day:"With patriotic warmth for every young Romanian university student to hold on to a holy duty to join the sports lists that are at the University's Secretariat". Its first chairman was Professor Iuliu Hațieganu, a physician and politician who in 1932 said:"Our goal is not to create champions, but healthy people. Not record, but harmony, not hate, but camaraderie; not personal victory, but the victory of the nation; don't speculate, but sacrifice". On 16 May 1920, the team played its first game, a 3–1 win over Gloria Arad with goals scored by Crâsnic II, Târla and Vatian, the first 11 being: Mihai Tripa – Aurel Guga, Eugen Metainu – Brutus Ratiu, Ioan Nichin, Petrila Petica, Arcadie Crâsnic I – Sabin Vatianu, Eugen Crâsnic II, Sabin Târla, Nicolae Gruescu. In addition to participating in the first regional championships, "U" stands out as the first Romanian team to perform in an international tournament. It happened in 1923, Cluj playing with some of the most important teams from France, Italy and Yugoslavia: 0–5 Stade Francaise, 4–2 with Lyon, 3–0 with Grenoble Etudiant Club, 0–1 with Politehnica Turin and 1–2 with HAŠK Zagreb.

In the early years of its existence "U" Cluj played in local competitions; at the time there was no national football championship in Romania. The team played against Chinezul Timișoara in the 1923 final of the Mara Cup, losing 0–2. "U" played in the Romania national football championship Divizia A from 1932. In their first season "U" finished first in its group and played the championship final against Ripensia Timișoara (0–0 and 3–5). In the first season of the Romanian Cup, in 1933–34, "U" reached the final, losing against Ripensia Timișoara (0–5).

The first notable captain of "U" Cluj was Mircea Luca who took the captain armband in 1941, in the hardest period of the club's history, as in 1940, the team moved from Cluj-Napoca to Sibiu as a result of the Second Vienna Award, when the northern part of Transylvania was ceded to Hungary. In 1945, after the end of the Second World War and the return of the northern part of Transylvania to Romania, "U" returned to its home in Cluj. During these years some players left to play for Bucharest teams but Luca refused to do so, also the team's biggest performance was the reaching of the 1942 Cupa României final, which however was lost in front of Rapid București. After the war in which some of the club's players died, the team had to earn its right to play in Cluj, by playing against Ferar Cluj who during the war competed in the Hungarian league under the name Kolozsvár AC, finishing on the third place in one season and had more experienced and international footballers. According to historian Gheorghe Bodea who was at the game, the differences between the two teams could be seen since the players entered the field as the ones of Ferar had modern new equipment while the players of "U" appeared in equipment that was five years old. Bodea also claims that the game was dominated at first by Ferar but Universitatea resisted with Luca being the leader of the defense, at one moment in the game he got his arch broken during an aerial duel, teammate Sever Coracu bandaging him in order to continue the game. With Luca taking care of the defense and Coracu of the offense, "U" Cluj won with 4–0, Luca being named "Man of the match". In December 2007 in an interview for the Gazeta Sporturilor newspaper, Luca said:"Only I know how I gathered them for a match with Ferar (...) They had a strong team, as Cluj never had, one like a racing horse. We won that match 4–0, one that I care a lot about and that ended Ferar's hegemony in Transylvania".

In 1946, the name of the club was changed to Știința Cluj (Science Cluj) and in the summer of the same year, the Romanian Football Federation decided that they had to play a play-off against Victoria Cluj in order to earn the right to play in the 1946–47 Divizia A season. The first leg ended 1–1, but The Red Caps won the second leg with 3–1, thus earning their right to play in the first league where they would stay for the following three seasons, relegating in 1949. During this period the team also reached the 1949 Cupa României final for the third time, but it was beaten by CSCA București—now called Steaua București (1–2).

At the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, the manager of Știința Cluj was Ștefan Kovács—a famous Romanian coach who later became the manager of Ajax Amsterdam. In 1964–65, Știința Cluj defeated with 2–1 Dinamo Pitești with goals scored by Câmpeanu and Ivansuc and won the Cupa României under coach Andrei Sepci who used the following players in the final: Simion Moguț – Paul Marcu, Traian Georgescu (c), Paul Grăjdeanu, Remus Câmpeanu – Vasile Alexandru, Mircea Neșu – Nicolae Szabo, Zoltán Ivansuc, Mihai Adam, Ioan Suciu. In the following season, the club made its debut in European competitions, participating in the 1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup, eliminating Austrian team, Wiener Neustadt with 3–0 on aggregate in the first round, the goals being scored by Ivansuc (2) and Adam but they got eliminated in the following round by Atlético Madrid.

In 1966, the name of the team was changed back to "Universitatea". At the end of the 1971–1972 season, "U" was in the best position in the Romanian Championship Divizia A after the Second World War; it finished third in the league table, with the same number of points as the second placed team UTA Arad. In 1998, "U" reached the final of Cupa Ligii but lost to FCM Bacău. In 1999, "U" was relegated into the second Romanian division, Divizia B and in 2000 it was relegated for the first time in its history into the third division, Divizia C. It played one season in the third division, and in 2001 it was promoted back to Divizia B. The manager of the team at the time was the ex-Romanian international, Ioan Ovidiu Sabău—who started playing football in the 1980s at "U" Cluj.In the 2005–06 Divizia B season, the new objective became promotion to the first league. Under coach Leo Grozavu, who often played highly defensive football, the team made many nil draws and the team lost second place (promotion play-off) by a point, though in the last match days they won 4–0 with the first place and the third, and 3–2 (after leading 3–0) with the second place.

In the beginning of the 2006–07 Liga II season (Divizia B was renamed to Liga II in this season), a new manager, Adrian Falub—who had never coached before but had played over 220 matches for "U" Cluj in the first league—was hired. Under his lead, the team had a poor early season and only reached eighth position. Yet, the moment passed and the team reached first position, often separated by over 6 points from the next position. On 19 May 2007, virtual promotion was achieved after a 0–0 draw against second place contender Dacia Mioveni. Three weeks before the final match day, "U" ended its 8-year spell in the lower divisions, returning to the first league for the 52nd season in its history.

Name	Period
Societatea Sportivă a Studenților Universitari Cluj	1919–1940
Universitatea Cluj-Sibiu	1940–1945
Știința Cluj	1946–1948
CSU Cluj	1948–1950
Știința Cluj	1950–1966
Universitatea Cluj	1966-1994
AS FC Universitatea Cluj	1994–2015
ACS Alb-Negru al Studenților Clujeni	2016–2017
FC Universitatea Cluj	2017–present

"U" Cluj players celebrating the promotion in the Liga I in 2007

The 2007–08 Liga I season, the first season of Liga I in the last eight years for "U" Cluj was a tough one. The club did not manage the promotion very well, and at the end of a tumultuous season the club finished in 18th place, the last one, with only 17 points, returning to Liga II.

The 2008–09 Liga II season was a transition one and "U" was saved from relegation to Liga III in the last round, after a 3–0 victory against Arieșul Turda while the main contra-candidate ACU Arad ended only 1–1 at home against Bihor Oradea, a match which was followed by a major scandal. Bihor Oradea accused ACU Arad of trying to fix the match, a victory being enough for the team from Arad to save from relegation.

In the summer of 2009 "U" Cluj was taken over by Florian Walter, owner of Romprest Service which is one of the leaders of the facility management sector in Romania. After only one season under the ownership of Walter, "U" Cluj was promoted to Liga I finishing second in the 2009–10 Liga II season.

In the new season, "U" Cluj demonstrated that was much better prepared from an administrative and sports point of view and managed to finish 2010–11 Liga I season in eighth place, far away from the relegation area.

The 2011–12 Liga I season brought "U" to another area of its existence. Well known and valuable players like Mircea Bornescu, George Galamaz, Gabriel Boștină, Marian Cristescu, Ovidiu Hoban, Gheorghe Grozav, Laurențiu Marinescu and Tony were bought by the club and the objective was qualification in the UEFA Europa League. Șepcile Roșii finished only in seventh place and failed to achieve the objective, but they got the best ranking of the club in the last 26 years.

In the summer of 2012, Florian Walter left "U" Cluj and became the owner of Petrolul Ploiești. Together with his departure, most valuable players left also the club and signed with the team from Ploiești. Left without the main financier, Alb-Negrii attempted to form a squad of competitive players with little money. In February 2013 club debts grew worrying and "U" went into insolvency. Despite all the financial problems the team saved from relegation, finishing 12th at the end of 2012–13 season.

In the spring of 2013 Florian Walter announced that he would return at "U" Cluj. At the end of the 2012–13 season a new problem shook the already disturbed environment of "U" Cluj. The license committee refused to license the club for the 2013–14 Liga I season and decided to relegate it to Liga II. Șepcile Roșii contested the decision at CAS and won, assuring their presence in the next season of Liga I. 2013–14 season it would once again be one without claims for "U" due to financial problems that the club had. Also Florian Walter no longer seemed interested in investing too much in the team. With all the problems Studenții managed again to save from relegation, finishing 11th.

"Universitatea Cluj won and lost when no one expected. Even its victory in the Cupa României is the result of some calendar coincidences, when the students found the maximum form through the laws of chance. "U" tried several times to be more more than it can. It tried to forget what it was. It tried, in the last resort, to stop being "U", sacrificing the lovely black horseshoe on its student chest, in the name of wanting to be what it could never be. Universitatea Cluj will always be just a champion of unsettled enthusiasms. Can there be a more beautiful title?"

–Former "U" Cluj captain, Mircea Luca's analysis about the club

The 2014–15 Liga I season was a reorganization one, with six teams relegated instead of four, in an attempt to reduce Liga I teams from 18 to 14. "U" Cluj struggled with its few resources until the very end, but at the end of the season the club was placed on 15th position and relegated to Liga II after its five-year spell in Liga I.

Chart showing the progress of U Cluj's league finishes from 1932 to 2017

The relegation in the Liga II was a real disaster for "U"'s already shaky financial situation. The club made a squad full of young players from the academy hoping that through the ambition of the young players and a miracle the team would promote back in Liga I after only one season of Liga II. That was the only solution for saving the club, which was at that moment in insolvency for two and a half years and with an owner, Florian Walter, present only as a name in the papers, without investing in the club anyway and also being in international tracking for tax evasion and money laundering.

The 2015–16 Liga II season was one of extremes for "U" Cluj. In the first part of the championship the team had run over expectations and had great chances of promotion. But after the winter break the financial situation become worse and the team started to have bad results which ended with a qualification in the play-out tournament, without any chances of promotion. This moment was a crucial one; without any motivation the team ended the championship on tenth place and relegated to Liga III.

The summer of 2016 meant a new beginning for "U". With a sporting society in insolvency, with big chances of bankruptcy and an owner arrested for tax evasion and money laundering, there was no other solution than the formation of a new club. Cluj-Napoca Municipality, which is the owner of "U" Cluj logo and record, terminated the lease agreement with the company of Florian Walter. Then Cluj-Napoca Municipality together with Babeș-Bolyai University and "U" Cluj Supporters Association started a new project entitled ACSF Alb-Negru al Studenților Clujeni (ACSF White-Black of the Students from Cluj) a name that was given to the new team, because the society administered by Florian Walter was not yet bankrupt and the name of FC Universitatea Cluj could not belong to two companies. After the foundation of the new team Cluj-Napoca Municipality rented "U" logo and record to the new society. The team was enrolled in Liga IV–Cluj County, Ioan Ovidiu Sabău has been named team manager and Marius Popescu the new coach. Șepcile Roșii also signed with a lot of valuable players like Octavian Abrudan, Alexandru Păcurar, Dorin Goga or Gabriel Giurgiu. Together with them in the team have been added the most talented players of "U" Cluj Football Academy and the objective was the promotion. The project was a real success and Studenții won Liga IV without any problems, winning 26 matches and making only a draw in a match against Sticla Arieșul Turda. Also the team achieved the number of 1,000 contributing members and a lot of development projects are planned.

On 29 September 2016 Walter's society, FC Universitatea Cluj, has gone bankrupt leaving the name free. But the bankruptcy occurred after the starting of the 2016–17 Liga IV season, so the name remained ACSF Alb-Negru al Studenților Clujeni for that season. On 11 May 2017 was announced officially that from the 2017–18 season the team will return to the old name, FC Universitatea Cluj and also the basketball team will evolve under the same brand.

Stadium

Cluj Arena at night

Ion Moina Stadium, the first football and athletics stadium in Cluj-Napoca, was built between 1908 and 1911 and had a capacity of 1,500. The official inauguration in 1911 was a game between a Cluj team and Galatasaray Istanbul. It was the first game in Europe for Galatasaray; the Cluj team won 8–1. In 1961, new U-shaped stands were built and the capacity of the stadium became 28,000. In 2000, most of the stands were declared structurally unsafe for hosting supporters and were closed, leaving the stadium with a capacity of 12–13,000. In late 2008, the old "Ion Moina" Stadium was demolished, and building works begun for the Cluj Arena. The last official game at the old stadium was played on 22 November 2008; Universitatea drew 0–0 in their Liga II game with Mureșul Deva.

During the construction works for the new stadium, Universitatea played its home games in the 2008–09 and 2009–10 Liga II seasons at the Clujana Stadium and its home games in the 2010–11 Liga I season at the Cetate Stadium in Alba Iulia, Gloria Stadium in Bistrița and Gaz Metan Stadium in Mediaș.

On 11 October 2011, the first match at the new Cluj Arena stadium—a friendly between Universitatea and the Russian team Kuban Krasnodar—was played and Kuban won 4–0; the game was also the retirement match for one-club man, Cristinel Pojar who played a few minutes for "U". The first official match at the new stadium was played; Universitatea won the Liga I game against FC Brașov 1–0 on 16 October 2011.

Support

"U" Cluj supporters during a First Division game (season 2011–12)

"U" has many supporters in Cluj-Napoca, but also in some other parts of Romania—especially in Transylvania. One of the reasons for the team's popularity is that Cluj-Napoca has some of Romania's most important universities—including the Babeș-Bolyai University, the largest in the country with more than 45,000 students.

The history of U's fanatic supporters began in the 1970s, when fan-groups started to appear on the stadium. First, in 1972 appeared Amicii U, one of the first supporters groups in Romania. The group started to compose songs along with Music Academy's students and wear accessories like the well-known red hats or pins with the club's crest. Those years, Slavă ție studenție was composed, being nowadays club's anthem. After the fall of communist regime, the Ultras idea arrived in Romania. First ultras group founded was Vecchia Guardia in 1996, followed by Ultra Curva Groapa in 1997 and Ultras 19 in 2004.

"U" Cluj fans during a Liga 1 promotion game against Dinamo Bucharest in 2022

Some of the present-day ultras groups of "U" Cluj are Groparii, VG (Vecchia Guardia), BOYS, MADS, FPU (The Few The Proud The Ultras), Potaissa, PPS (Prezenti pentru simbol), MNST (Mănăștur). .

The fanaticism sometimes led to violence, some violent episode being in 1979 when Sportul Studențesc won the match with "U" due to poor referee decisions. After the match, supporters began to shout thieves in front of the stadium and the police started to fight the angry fans. Other episode happened in 2008, when CFR fans went to one of the main squares of the city to celebrate a Dinamo victory over Steaua, that advantage their team to win the league that year. Some Universitatea fans went to the square and had a fight with the rivals before police intervention.

Rivalries and friendships

Main article: Cluj derby

"U" Cluj supporters during a Second Division game against CFR Cluj in 2003

Universitatea have a rivalry with local city team CFR Cluj. The animosity between the teams is one of the oldest in Romanian football. The first incidents between fans of the two sides occurred in the 1920s. A particularly violent episode took place during a derby played in 1924, when the stadium had to be evacuated because of a large-scale fight between supporters. Universitatea won the match 2–1. Other episodes of this rivalry are: in 2005, upset by the fact that Universitatea lost a match against UTA Arad, "U" fans injured CFR players at the Sport Hotel in Cluj-Napoca; in 2008, following a derby, CFR won and obtained its first league title and Universitatea relegated in Liga II, but this match was preceded by a corruption scandal, because Steaua București's owner, Gigi Becali, offered "U" staff one million euros for defeating CFR.

The second-most important rivalry is against FC Rapid București due serious clashes between fans in 2006, 2011, 2019. Another rivalries are Steaua București, Farul Constanța, UTA Arad, FCSB, Petrolul Ploiești and SSU Politehnica Timișoara.

Universitatea's fans have a good friendship with Dinamo's fans, the main rivals of Steaua, FCSB and Rapid. Dinamo friendship started in the mid-1990s, both ultras groups being linked with the "mentality, fanaticism and nationalist side", although in the 1970s and 1980s, "U" supporters had friendships with other important clubs fans, like Politehnica Timișoara or Rapid București, these teams being the few that already had fan-groups.

Honours

Leagues

• Liga I
  • Runners-up (1): 1932–33
• Liga II
  • Winners (6): 1950, 1957–58, 1978–79, 1984–85, 1991–92, 2006–07
  • Runners-up (3): 1939–40, 1983–84, 2009–10
• Liga III
  • Winners (2): 2000–01, 2017–18
• Liga IV – Cluj County
  • Winners (1): 2016–17

Cups

• Cupa României
  • Winners (1): 1964–65
  • Runners-up (5): 1933–34, 1941–42, 1948–49, 2014–15, 2022–23
• Cupa Ligii
  • Runners-up (1): 1998

Junior Teams

The "U" Cluj Under 21 and Junior teams have always ranked among the best in the country and have won several National Championship titles:

• The Under-21s were Romanian champions 3 times in: 1962–63, 1970–71, 1971–72
• The Under-21s were Romanian champions 8 times in: 1955, 1956, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1971–72, 1973–74, 2000–01

Players

First-team squad

As of 24 September 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
3	DF	ROU	Bogdan Mitrea (4th captain)
5	DF	ARG	Lucas Masoero
6	DF	ROU	Iulian Cristea
7	MF	ROU	Robert Silaghi
8	MF	ROU	Dorin Codrea
9	FW	TUN	Adel Bettaieb
10	MF	ROU	Dan Nistor (Vice-captain)
11	FW	ARM	Artur Miranyan
12	GK	ROU	Denis Moldovan
13	FW	CMR	Franck Tchassem
16	DF	SUI	Jasper van der Werff
17	DF	ESP	Daniel Lasure
18	DF	ROU	Andrei Ștefan
19	MF	ROU	Răzvan Oaidă
20	MF	ROU	Alexandru Bota

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	MF	ROU	Mario Șfaiț
22	MF	MDA	Vadim Rață
23	MF	ROU	Ovidiu Popescu
24	DF	ROU	Radu Boboc
26	DF	ROU	Dorinel Oancea
27	MF	ROU	Alexandru Chipciu (Captain)
30	GK	LTU	Edvinas Gertmonas
33	GK	ROU	Andrei Gorcea
66	DF	ROU	Ștefan Opriș
77	FW	ROU	Vladislav Blănuță (on loan from FC U Craiova)
93	FW	SEN	Mamadou Thiam
94	MF	ROU	Ovidiu Bic (3rd captain)
97	FW	ROU	Alin Baciu
98	MF	ROU	Gabriel Simion

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ROU	Patrick Kis (at CSM Târgu Mureș)
11	MF	ROU	Antonio Suciu (at Minaur Baia Mare)
—	GK	ROU	Iustin Chirilă (at Voluntari)
—	DF	ROU	Luca Podea (at Gloria Bistrița)
—	DF	ROU	Alin Chinteș (at Unirea Ungheni)
—	DF	ROU	Alexandru Fărăgău (at SCM Zalău)
—	DF	ROU	Darius Mureșan (at Unirea Dej)
—	DF	ROU	Rareș Uțiu (at Unirea Dej)
—	DF	ROU	Iustin Neacșu (at Unirea Dej)
—	MF	ROU	Tudor Pojar (at Unirea Dej)
—	MF	ROU	Matei Moraru (at FC U Craiova)

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	ROU	Tiago Mureșan (at Unirea Dej)
—	MF	ROU	Raul Nistor (at Unirea Alba Iulia)
—	MF	ROU	Darius Nistor (at Unirea Alba Iulia)
—	MF	ROU	Ciprian Călugăr (at Unirea Dej)
—	MF	ROU	Rareș Scocîlcă (at CSM Vaslui)
—	MF	ROU	Daniel Todoran (at CSM Târgu Mureș)
—	FW	ROU	Luca Nagy (at SCM Zalău)
—	FW	ROU	Vlad Moraru (at Unirea Dej)
—	FW	ROU	Eric Vînău (at Unirea Ungheni)
—	FW	ROU	Albert Hofman (at Oțelul Galați)

Club officials

Board of directors

Role	Name
Owners	Cluj-Napoca Municipality Babeș-Bolyai University "U" Cluj Supporters Association
President	Radu Constantea
Executive President	Sevastian Botnari
Vice-president	Cosmin Irimieș
Sporting director	Gabriel Giurgiu
Technical director	Sandu Tăbârcă
Team Manager	Zsolt Szilágyi
Scouting Director	Néné Reis
Organizer of Competitions	Marian Onicaș
Head of Youth Development	Mircea Cojocaru

• Last updated: 14 August 2024
• Source:

Current technical staff

Role	Name
Head coach	Ioan Sabău
Assistant coaches	Daniel Sima Eugeniu Cebotaru
Goalkeeping coach	Florentin Rădulescu
Fitness coaches	Lucian Turcu Flavius Nistor
Club doctors	Dragoș Vălean Eusebyu Juncu
Medical Assistant	Florin Rașoveanu
Physiotherapists	Alin Ardelean Liviu Ciucă
Masseurs	Raul Mihai
Storeman	Florin Bibire

• Last updated: 13 August 2024
• Source:

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Period	Kit manufacturer	Period	Shirt partner
2008–2009	Lotto	2008–2009
2009–2014	Nike	2010–2015	Romprest
2014–2019	Erima
		2017–	IRUM
2019–	Adidas	2020–	Superbet

Records and statistics

European cups all-time statistics

Competition	S	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup / European Cup Winners' Cup	1	4	2	0	2	3	6	–3
UEFA Europa League / UEFA Cup	1	2	1	0	1	5	6	–1
UEFA Intertoto Cup	1	4	0	1	3	3	8	–5
Total	3	10	3	1	6	11	20	–9

1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup
Round 1
Wiener Neustädter	0–1	Știința Cluj
Știința Cluj	2–0	Wiener Neustädter
Round 2
Știința Cluj	0–2	Atlético Madrid
Atlético Madrid	4–0	Știința Cluj
1972–73 UEFA Cup
Round 1
Știința Cluj	4–1	Levski Sofia
Levski Sofia	5–1	Știința Cluj
1995 UEFA Intertoto Cup
Group stage
HB Tórshavn	0–0	Universitatea Cluj
Universitatea Cluj	0–1	Tromsø
Germinal Ekeren	4–1	Universitatea Cluj
Universitatea Cluj	2–3	Aarau

History by season

Key

• Pos = Final position
• P = Played
• W = Games won
• D = Games drawn
• L = Games lost
• GF = Goals For
• GA = Goals Against
• Pts = Points

• Div A / L1 = Liga I
• Div B / L2 = Liga II
• Div C / L3 = Liga III
• L4 = Liga IV
• p = Preliminary round
• 1R = Round 1
• 2R = Round 2
• 3R = Round 3

• 4R = Round 4
• 5R = Round 5
• GS = Group stage
• R32 = Round of 32
• QF = Quarter-finals
• R16 = Round of 16
• SF = Semi-finals
• F = Final

Champions

Runners-up

Third place

Promoted

Relegated

The players in bold were the top goalscorers in the division.

Season	League									Cup	European Cup		Other		Top Goalscorer(s)		Notes	Name
	Division	Pos	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts						Name	Goals
1921	District	5th	5	1	2	2	6	11	4	–								Universitatea Cluj
1921–22		4th	14	6	1	7	16	21	13	–					Nicolae Bonciocat	4
1922–23		5th	12	4	3	5	13	8	11	–					Nicolae Bonciocat/Aurel Guga	4
1923–24		1st	12	8	2	2	20	10	18	–			Finals	QF	Nicolae Bonciocat	6
1924–25		1st	14	10	4	0	27	6	24	–			Finals	QF	Nicolae Bonciocat	5
1925–26		2nd	18	11	4	3	43	26	26	–					Nicolae Bonciocat	14
1926–27		1st	10	7	2	1	21	8	16	–			Finals	SF	Aurel Blaj	8
1927–28		2nd	10	4	4	2	37	14	12	–					Vasile Giurgiu	14
1928–29		2nd	13	8	1	4	34	18	17	–					Vasile Giurgiu	8
1929–30		1st	11	8	2	1	32	16	16	–			Finals	SF	Vasile Giurgiu	12
1930–31		1st	9	7	1	1	31	9	15	–					Grațian Sepi	7
1931–32		1st	9	5	4	0	28	0	9	–					Grațian Sepi	9
1932–33	Div A	1st	12	8	2	2	24	15	18	–			Finals	F	Grațian Sepi	10	Foundation of the Romanian Football League system
1933–34		3rd	14	8	1	5	33	17	17	F					Grațian Sepi	14
1934–35		4th	22	12	1	9	36	34	25	R16					Silviu Ploeșteanu/Cornel Orza	8
1935–36		12th	22	7	2	13	29	53	16	SF					Ion Păunescu	8
1936–37		9th	22	8	2	12	38	62	18	QF					Janos Szaniszlo	13
1937–38		6th	18	7	2	9	33	50	16	R32					Petre Truță/Petru Draga	8
1938–39	Div B	3rd	18	9	3	6	30	21	21	p					Emil Țiereanu	13
1939–40		2nd	18	14	1	3	63	22	29	p					Paul Wieser	25
1940–41	Div A	11th	24	8	1	15	42	58	17	p					Hariton Dascălu	14	Moved to Sibiu due to Second Vienna Award	Universitatea Cluj-Sibiu
1941–42	Bessarabia Cup	SF	3	2	0	1	13	6	–	F
1942–43	War Championship	8th	22	7	6	9	48	51	20	QF					Hariton Dascălu	22
1943–44		4th	13	7	1	5	32	27	15	–					Hariton Dascălu	11
1944–45	No championship	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–					–	–		Universitatea Cluj
1945–46	District	1st	5	4	1	0	19	5	9	–
1946–47	Div A	9th	26	11	3	12	54	47	25	–					Hariton Dascălu	17
1947–48		4th	30	14	6	10	54	48	34	R16					Hariton Dascălu	18
1948–49		12th	26	7	5	14	31	50	19	F					Sever Coracu	10		C.S.U. Cluj
1949	Autumn Cup	5th	10	3	4	3	13	13	10	–					Iosif Lutz	4
1950	Div B	1st	22	14	6	2	47	16	34	R16					Silviu Avram	12		Știința Cluj
1951	Div A	6th	22	8	5	9	32	36	21	R32					Silviu Avram	10
1952		5th	22	7	7	8	24	23	21	R16					Alexandru Moldovan/Miron Dragoman	6
1953		8th	21	7	4	10	24	31	18	SF					Silviu Avram	12
1954		5th	26	11	6	9	32	32	28	R32					Miron Dragoman	9
1955		7th	24	8	7	9	27	35	23	R32					Miron Dragoman	9
1956		12th	24	6	5	13	22	48	17	R16					Miron Dragoman	6
1957	Spring Cup	3rd	12	6	2	4	25	23	14	–					Horațiu Moldovan	8
1957–58	Div B	1st	26	17	3	6	58	23	37	p					Horațiu Moldovan	14
1958–59	Div A	11th	22	2	11	9	23	36	15	R16					Horațiu Moldovan	6
1959–60		5th	22	7	10	5	34	32	24	QF					Viorel Mateianu	7
1960–61		4th	26	12	5	9	47	44	29	R32					Viorel Mateianu/Paul Marcu	11
1961–62		7th	26	10	6	10	46	44	26	R32					Paul Marcu	13
1962–63		4th	27	11	7	9	42	44	29	R32					Mihai Adam	15
1963–64		9th	26	11	2	13	39	38	24	R32					Ion Mureșan	11
1964–65		7th	26	9	6	11	40	38	24	W					Mihai Adam	18
1965–66		7th	26	8	10	8	34	35	26	R16	CWC	2R			Mihai Adam	8
1966–67		6th	26	9	8	9	31	30	26	R32					Zoltán Ivansuc	9		Universitatea Cluj
1967–68		10th	26	10	5	11	36	37	25	R16					Mihai Adam	15
1968–69		8th	30	13	4	13	47	39	30	QF					Vasile Oprea	18
1969–70		11th	30	9	10	11	40	37	28	R16					Mihai Adam	11
1970–71		12th	30	10	9	11	36	35	29	SF					Mihai Adam	12
1971–72		3rd	30	16	5	9	39	27	37	R16					Mihai Adam	10
1972–73		16th	30	7	9	14	25	50	23	QF	UEFA	1R			Viorel Mureșan	6
1973–74		10th	34	12	9	13	35	37	33	QF					Viorel Mureșan	8
1974–75		12th	34	12	9	13	29	38	33	QF					Alexa Uifăleanu	7
1975–76		18th	34	8	3	23	30	45	19	R16					Ion Batacliu	8
1976–77	Div B	12th	34	14	4	16	37	40	32	p					Septimiu Câmpeanu	7
1977–78		3rd	34	21	5	8	71	27	47	p					Vasile Vidican	16
1978–79		1st	34	21	4	9	73	23	46	R32					Septimiu Câmpeanu	19
1979–80	Div A	12th	34	14	4	16	44	43	32	R16					Septimiu Câmpeanu	24
1980–81		14th	34	14	4	16	47	57	32	R16					Septimiu Câmpeanu	19
1981–82		16th	34	11	8	15	34	49	30	R16					Septimiu Câmpeanu	11
1982–83	Div B	3rd	34	19	3	12	61	26	41	R32					Nicolae Bucur	14
1983–84		2nd	34	25	1	8	78	25	51	p					Cornel Fâșic	21
1984–85		1st	34	20	10	4	68	23	50	p					Septimiu Câmpeanu	11
1985–86	Div A	7th	34	14	5	15	51	52	33	R16					Septimiu Câmpeanu	12
1986–87		10th	34	14	4	16	54	47	32	R32					Septimiu Câmpeanu	12
1987–88		10th	34	11	7	16	39	54	29	R32					Septimiu Câmpeanu	11
1988–89		14th	34	11	8	15	43	55	30	R32					Zoltán Kádár	9
1989–90		13th	34	10	9	15	40	60	29	R32					Imre Bíró	9
1990–91		18th	34	5	6	23	26	67	16	R16					Marian Alexandru	6
1991–92	Div B	1st	34	26	7	1	82	10	57	p					Nicolae Ilea	16
1992–93	Div A	11th	34	14	2	18	43	51	30	QF					Marius Predatu	14
1993–94		12th	34	11	9	14	39	42	31	SF					Marius Predatu	13
1994–95		12th	34	13	4	17	39	42	43	SF					Marius Predatu	9
1995–96		9th	34	14	6	14	41	40	48	R32	IT	GS			Radu Sabo	12
1996–97		15th	34	11	6	17	52	67	39	QF					Ovidiu Maier	8
1997–98		13th	34	11	7	16	42	40	40	R32			League Cup	F	Marius Popescu	9
1998–99		17th	34	4	4	26	19	92	16	R16					Marius Predatu	5
1999–00	Div B	17th	34	6	6	22	30	76	24	4R					Daniel Dăscălescu/Adrian Trușcă	5
2000–01	Div C	1st	28	20	5	3	65	19	65	p					Alexandru Păcurar	11
2001–02	Div B	10th	30	11	7	12	51	40	40	p					Ciprian Prodan	12
2002–03		9th	28	8	10	10	48	44	34	p					Dan Codreanu	14
2003–04		6th	30	15	7	8	49	28	52	p					Răzvan Cociş	12
2004–05		7th	28	12	4	12	41	33	40	R16					Emil Jula	11
2005–06		3rd	28	15	9	4	44	16	54	4R					Dorin Goga	9
2006–07	L2	1st	34	21	9	4	49	21	72	R32					Radu Sabo	10
2007–08	L1	18th	34	4	11	19	32	58	23	R16					Dorin Goga	8
2008–09	L2	14th	34	11	12	11	37	33	43	R32					Flavius Băd	9
2009–10		2nd	32	20	7	5	60	24	67	4R					Valentin Lemnaru	13
2010–11	L1	8th	34	13	8	13	48	54	47	R16					Claudiu Niculescu	13
2011–12		7th	34	11	14	9	46	37	47	R32					Adrian Cristea	8
2012–13		12th	34	10	8	16	39	55	38	R32					Viorel Dinu	9
2013–14		11th	34	11	7	16	29	46	40	R32					Valentin Lemnaru	13
2014–15		15th	34	8	11	15	29	41	35	F			League Cup	QF	Justin Mengolo	5
2015–16	L2	10th	26	13	5	8	30	15	44	R32					Octavian Ursu	8
			10	3	3	4	11	13	28
2016–17	L4	1st	28	27	1	0	167	9	82	2R			Cluj County Phase	W	Brian Lemac	48
2017–18	L3	1st	28	24	2	2	88	16	74	R16					Dorin Goga	16
2018–19	L2	3rd	38	25	7	6	85	26	82	R16					Cristian Gavra	22
2019–20		14th	23	5	12	6	29	26	27	R16					Dorin Goga	5
2020–21		11th	20	10	2	8	24	20	29	QF					Idan Golan	5
2021–22		3rd	29	18	3	8	47	23	57	4R					Alexandru Boiciuc	6
2022–23	L1	10th	30	8	10	12	25	37	34	F					Mamadou Thiam	9
			9	5	1	3	12	9	33
2023–24		10th	30	10	12	8	35	38	42	SF					Dan Nistor	11
			9	3	3	3	12	10	33

Notable former players

The footballers enlisted below have had international cap(s) for their respective countries at junior and/or senior level. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries at junior and/or senior level on through the time's passing. Additionally, these players have also had a significant number of caps and goals accumulated throughout a certain number of seasons for the club itself as well.

For a list of all former and current Universitatea Cluj players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:FC Universitatea Cluj players.

One-club men

• Traian Georgescu
• Mircea Luca
• Cristinel Pojar
• Zsolt Szilágyi

Romania

• Octavian Abrudan
• Mihai Adam
• Dan Anca
• Laur Aștilean
• Imre Bíró
• Mircea Bornescu
• Aurel Boroș
• Gabriel Boştină
• Dan Bucşa
• Remus Câmpeanu
• Septimiu Câmpeanu
• Horațiu Cioloboc
• Raul Ciupe
• Sever Coracu
• Marcel Coraş
• Nicolae David
• Anton Doboş
• Bogdan Dolha
• Vasile Dobrău
• Francisc Dican
• Adrian Falub
• Ioan Filip
• George Florescu
• Romulus Gabor
• Vasile Gain
• Dorin Goga
• Aurel Guga
• Elemer Hirsch
• Ovidiu Hoban
• Octavian Ionescu
• Zoltán Ivansuc
• Emil Jula
• Vasile Jula

Romania

• Marcel Lăzăreanu
• Valentin Lemnaru
• Paul Marcu
• Viorel Mateianu
• Alpar Meszaros
• Sebastian Moga
• Laurențiu Moldovan
• Lică Movilă
• Andrei Mureșan
• Alexandru Mustățea
• Zsolt Muzsnay
• Cătălin Necula
• Mircea Neşu
• Claudiu Niculescu
• Cornel Orza
• Emil Petru
• Silviu Ploeșteanu
• Adrian Popa
• Octavian Popescu
• Marius Predatu
• Florin Prunea
• Ioan Sabău
• Radu Sabo
• Graţian Sepi
• Andrei Sepci
• Lazăr Sfera
• Rareş Soporan
• Constantin Ștefan
• Ioan Suciu
• Alexandru Suciu
• Marius Suller
• János Székely
• Emil Szolomajer
• Alexa Uifăleanu
• Bogdan Unguruşan
• Călin Zanc
• Dorin Zotincă

Brazil

• Fábio Bilica
• Gabriel Machado
• Thalisson

Montenegro

• Milan Jovanović

Nigeria

• Anthony Nwakaeme

Poland

• Łukasz Szukała

Portugal

• Sérgio Ribeiro
• Nuno Viveiros

Senegal

• Gaston Mendy

Slovakia

• Robert Veselovsky

South Korea

• Park Jae-hong

Former managers

Source:

• Adalbert Kovács (1932)
• Otto Eckhardt (1933)
• Adalbert Molnár (1933–34)
• Fritsch (1934–35)
• Iosif Kovács (1935–36)
• Otto Eckhardt (1936)
• Janos Szaniszló (1937)
• Adalbert Kovács (1937–38)
• Janos Szaniszló (1938)
• Onoriu Chețanu (1938)
• Ferenc Nyúl (1938–39)
• Janos Szaniszló (1939–40)
• Iosif Kovács (1940–41)
• Onoriu Chețanu (1941–42)
• Maertens (1942–1944)
• Markos Imre (1946)
• Nicolae Kovács (1946–47)
• Nicolae Munteanu (1947–48)
• Ștefan Cârjan (1948)
• Andrei Sepci (1949)
• Iuliu Baratky (1949–51)
• Gheorghe Bărbulescu (1951)
• Ștefan Kovács (1952)
• Vasile Gain (1953)
• Ștefan Kovács (1954–55)
• Petre Rădulescu (1955)
• Ștefan Kovács (1956)
• Nicolae Munteanu (1956)
• Nicolae Szoboszlay (1957)
• Ștefan Kovács (1957–58)
• Virgil Mărdărescu (1958–59)
• Andrei Sepci (1959–61)
• Neța Gheorghe (1961–62)
• Constantin Rădulescu (1962–63)
• Andrei Sepci (1963)
• Mircea Luca (1964)
• Andrei Sepci (1964–66)
• Eugen Mladin (1966–67)
• Nicolae Szoboszlay (1967)
• Constantin Teașcă (1968)
• Ștefan Cârjan (1969–70)
• Silviu Avram (1970)
• Andrei Sepci (1970–71)
• Vasile Băluțiu (1971)
• Ștefan Onisie (1971–73)
• Mircea Luca (1973)
• Silviu Avram (1973–74)
• Vasile Băluțiu (1974–75)
• Paul Popescu (1975–76)
• Constantin Rădulescu (1976–77)
• Petre Moldoveanu (1977–78)
• Toader Pop (1979)
• Gheorghe Staicu (1980–81)
• Angelo Niculescu (1981–83)
• Constantin Ardeleanu (1983)
• Remus Vlad (1983–85)
• Alexa Uifăleanu (1985)
• Remus Vlad (1985–88)
• Cornel Dinu (1989)
• Dan Anca (October 1989 – March 1990)
• Ștefan Sameș (1990)
• Ion Ciocan (1990)
• Vasile Iordache (1990)
• Ioan Sdrobiș (1991–92)
• Remus Vlad (1992–93)
• Dan Anca (1993–94)
• Ioan Andone (1994–95)
• Dan Anca (1995–97)
• Adrian Coca (1997)
• Cornel Țălnar (1997–98)
• Tiberiu Poraczky (1998)
• Dan Anca (Dec 1998–99)
• Marcel Lăzăreanu (1999)
• Grigore Boca (1999)
• Alexa Uifăleanu (1999)
• Zoltan Iașko (1999)
• Petre Gigiu (2000)
• Mircea Cojocaru (2000)
• Ioan Ovidiu Sabău (2000–01)
• Mihai Marian (2001)
• Cristian Mustacă (2001)
• Vasile Gheorghe (2002)
• Dan Anca (2002)
• Vasile Gheorghe (2002)
• Dan Anca (2002–03)
• Ioan Ovidiu Sabău (2003)
• Mircea Cojocaru (2003 – 4 July 2004)
• Marin Ion (July 2004 – 5 July 2005)
• Leontin Grozavu (July 2005–06)
• Francisc Dican (2006)
• Adrian Falub (1 July 2006 – 7 October 2007)
• Gheorghe Mulțescu (19 October 2007 – 16 December 2007)
• Alpar Meszaros (8 January 2008 – 20 August 2008)
• Marius Popescu (August 2008)
• Dorinel Munteanu (26 August 2008 – 26 October 2008)
• Gheorghe Mihali (October 2008 – 9 April 2009)
• Marius Popescu (2009)
• Dorinel Munteanu (2009 – 30 June 2009)
• Carmelo Palilla (July 2009 – 9 August)
• Marius Popescu (August 2009)
• Cornel Țălnar (29 August 2009 – 4 October 2009)
• Cristian Dulca (5 October 2009 – 2010)
• Viorel Hizo (2010)
• Cristian Dulca (2010)
• Marian Pană (16 June 2010 – 8 November 2010)
• Claudiu Niculescu (November 2010)
• Ionuț Badea (19 November 2010 – 14 March 2012)
• Claudiu Niculescu (14 March 2012 – 23 July 2012)
• Cristian Dulca (26 July 2012 – 1 October 2012)
• Marius Popescu (interim) (1 October 2012 – 8 November 2012)
• Marius Șumudică (9 November 2012 – 15 November 2012)
• Marius Popescu (15 November 2012 – 1 February 2013)
• Ionel Ganea (1 February 2013 – 30 September 2013)
• Gheorghe Barbu (interim) (2 October 2013 – 23 October 2013)
• Mihai Teja (23 October 2013 – 4 September 2014)
• George Ogăraru (4 September 2014 – 2 March 2015)
• Adrian Falub (2 March 2015 – 30 June 2015)
• Marius Popescu (27 July 2015 – 27 October 2015)
• Mihai Teja (29 October 2015 – 9 April 2016)
• Zsolt Szilágyi (2016)
• Ovidiu Sărmăşan^c (2016)
• Marius Popescu (1 July 2016 – 16 September 2017)
• Adrian Falub (20 September 2017 – 18 October 2018)
• Mircea Cojocaru^c (19 October 2018 – 8 December 2018)
• Bogdan Lobonț (8 December 2018 – 14 June 2019)
• Cristian Dulca (20 June 2019 – 2 September 2019)
• Adrian Falub (4 September 2019 – 14 September 2020)
• Costel Enache (17 September 2020 – 10 May 2021)
• Erik Lincar (11 May 2021 – 24 August 2022)
• Eugen Neagoe (25 August 2022 – 31 December 2022)
• Ioan Ovidiu Sabău (1 January 2023 – 30 May 2023)
• Anton Petrea (9 June 2023 – 24 August 2023)

External links

• Official website
• Club profile on UEFA.com