U Craiova 1948 Club Sportiv, commonly known as Universitatea Craiova (), CS U Craiova, U Craiova, or simply Craiova, is a Romanian professional football club based in Craiova, Dolj County. It competes in the Liga I, the top tier of the Romanian league system.
Initially founded in 1948 as the football section of the CSU Craiova sports organisation, it remained within the structure until 1991, when its league place was taken by FC U Craiova following privatisation. Between 1948 and 1991, the club won four championship titles and five national cups. Following a series of reorganisations and the eventual disaffiliation of FC U, the sports club re-established its football section in 2013. The current entity asserts the honours of the original Universitatea Craiova, a position recognised by several court rulings and the Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal, although they remain disputed by an also re-established FC U Craiova side.
In 2018, the club won the national cup, its first trophy following refoundation, and in 2021 secured its first supercup title. In European competitions, Craiova reached the semi-finals of the 1982–83 UEFA Cup and the quarter-finals of the 1981–82 European Cup. It was the first Romanian team to reach the semi-finals of a UEFA competition and remains the only one to have eliminated teams from each of the five major European leagues—England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. In the 2025–26 season, the club qualified for the league phase of a European competition for the first time, following success in the Conference League play-off round.
"The White-Blues" play their home matches at the Stadionul Ion Oblemenco, which has a capacity of 30,929. They maintain several rivalries, most notably with Dinamo București.
History
Early years of football in Craiova (1921–1958)
Football in the city of Craiova began in 1921 when the first two teams were founded: Craiovan Craiova and Rovine Grivița Craiova. In 1940, the two sides merged in what resulted to be one of the most successful Romanian clubs of the Interwar period, FC Craiova, who were the first team of the city that won the Romanian football championship. However, the 1942–43 title is not recognized officially by FRF and LPF.
Following the birth of university education in Craiova, a group of teachers and students founded CSU (Club Sportiv Universitar) Craiova in 1948, a sports club with athletics, volleyball, handball, table tennis, chess sections, and under the coordination of the Ministry of Public Education and the Uniunea Națională a Studenților din România (lit. National Union of Students in Romania), the football section was initially formed under the name UNSR Craiova and enrolled in the county championship. The first official match was held at Filiași, aganinst CFR Filiași, on 5 September 1948, with the Students being defeated 3–6. The team, led by head coach Nicolae Polojinski, wore white-and-blue shirts and was composed of Dumitrescu – Rădulescu, Mihăilă I, Carli – Ozon, Mihăilă II – Sabin, Ilie, Bădescu, Tudor, and Serghi.
In 1950, the football section changed its name from UNSR Craiova to CSU Craiova, the same name as its parent club. The early squads coached by Nicolae Polojinski included, among others, Vulpe, I. Popescu, Zorilă, Stănculescu, Brebenaru, Gh. Florigoanță, Șerbu, A. Bratu, Cricitoiu, Florescu, I. Florigoanță, Borosan, Dilă, and Cumpănașu.
In 1951, CSU Craiova recorded a 6–0 victory over Constructorul Craiova in what was also the club’s first official appearance in Cupa României. Two years later, the club was renamed Știința Craiova and reached the Round of 32 of Cupa României, where it was eliminated by Spartac București after a 2–2 draw following extra time, with the away team advancing according to the competition rules. The squad featured players such as Stoica, Dreșcă, Rizu, Pîrvuleț, Firu, Anuțescu, Dan Popescu, Dumitru Popescu, Babarada, Dilă, and Pădureanu.
The following season, under coach Nicolae Oțeleanu, Știința once again reached the Round of 32 in Cupa României, before narrowly losing 0–1 to Locomotiva Timișoara. They also won the Craiova Regional Championship, securing promotion to Divizia B for the first time in its history after finishing first in the promotion tournament held in Arad.
However, their spell in the second division lasted only one season, as they finished in 12th place in Series I and were relegated to the newly re-established Divizia C, with a squad that included Stoica, Urucu, Vulpe, Dreșcă, Rizu, Pîrvuleț, Razga, Dumitrescu, Ciulava, Anuțescu, Briac, Lambru, Căpitanu, Buldur, Ioniță, D. Popescu, V. Popescu, V. Lupu, Firu, Babarada, Pădureanu, Pantelimon, Iliescu, Coicea, and Matei.
+ Chronology of namesNamePeriodUNSR Craiova1948–1950CSU Craiova1950–1953Știința Craiova1953–1962CSO Craiova1962–1963Știința Craiova1963–1966Universitatea Craiova1966–1991Universitatea Craiova2013–present
Universitatea, a rising team (1958–1970)
In the following years, under the guidance of Bondoc Ionescu-Crum, the Students finished in 3rd place in Series IV of the 1956 season before securing a return to the second tier in the 1957–58 campaign. Știința won Series III after a tight battle for first place with Unirea Râmnicu Vâlcea, the two sides finishing tied on 34 points, with the White and Blues clinching promotion on goal average. The promotion-winning squad included Stoica, Matei, Căpitanu, Iliescu, Dumitrescu, Briac, Lambru, Scorțan, Anghel, Buldur, Croitoru, Coicea, Pantelimon, Dică, and Deliu.
In their first season after returning to Divizia B, coach Bondoc Ionescu-Crum was replaced during the first half of the season by Gheorghe Scăeșteanu, who led Știința to a 13th place finish out of 14 teams in Series I, avoiding relegation due to the expansion of the second division. Moved to Series II for the following campaign, the Students gradually established themselves among the division's leading sides, finishing in 10th place in 1959–60 under Scăeșteanu.
In 1960–61, Virgil Mărdărescu was appointed as the new head coach, leading the White and Blues to a runner-up finish, nine points behind Dinamo Pitești. In 1961, former Romanian international Valeriu Călinoiu was appointed head coach, guiding the team to a 4th place finish in the 1961–62 season.
In 1962, the team was renamed CSO (Club Sportiv Orășenesc) Craiova, and Călinoiu was replaced after the first half of the season by Nicolae Oțeleanu, who led the team to a 5th place finish in the 1962–63 season.
The reorganization of Divizia B ahead of the 1963–64 season returned Știința to Series I, where the Students became involved in a four-way battle for promotion, finishing first, tied on points with runners-up Metalul Târgoviște and one point ahead of 3rd-place Poiana Câmpina, and three points ahead of 4th-place Dinamo Bacău. The historic promotion to Divizia A was achieved under the guidance of Nicolae Oțeleanu, with a squad that included Dumitrescu, Vasilescu, Geleriu, Lungan, Deliu, Bărbulescu, Tetea, Ganga, Anton, Lovin, Onea, Vișan, Stanciu, Papuc, C. Stănescu, and A. Stănescu.
The first season in Divizia A was challenging for the Students, who avoided relegation in the final rounds, finishing 11th, just one point above the first relegated team, Minerul Baia Mare. By the end of the following season, Știința had climbed to 8th place, laying the foundations of a side capable of challenging for the title.
In the summer of 1966, the club was renamed from Știința Craiova to Universitatea Craiova. Nevertheless, supporters continued to include in their chants and their encouragements the name Știința. Universitatea supporters tend to chant Hei, hei, hai Știința! at times of loss.
As Universitatea experienced seasons of contrasting results, the team alternated between challenging near the top of the table and more modest campaigns, but managed to remain in the first division throughout the period, finishing 3rd in 1966–67, 11th in 1967–68, 7th in 1968–69, and 4th in 1969–70.
"The Champion of a Great Love" (1970–1979)
Craiova started the 1970s with a team built around Ion Oblemenco, Petre Deselnicu, Teodor Țarălungă, Lucian Strâmbeanu and Dumitru Marcu, among others. The start of the decade had the club in 6th place at the end of the 1970–71 season and 8th place at the end of the 1971–72. In the 1972–73 season, they finished at the same number of points with Dinamo București, but lost the championship on goal difference. The season coined a new nickname, "the Champion of a Great Love", a nickname created by the poet Adrian Păunescu, a big fan of the team from Bănie, named Dinamo only as the champion of the country, indicating that Craiova lost the title.Craiova, campioana unei mari iubiri » O idee care a intrat în legendă . gsp.ro
In the 1973–74 season, the title fight was again between Universitatea and Dinamo. Craiova won the title by a point from Dinamo, with Craiova becoming the first university team to win a national title in Europe. Dinamo was considered to be the pet team of the communist regime, which often influenced the results as well and after the last season's incidents, Universitatea was increasingly seen as a representative of the people and simple man in the struggle with the communist regime, of pure football and football played on the pitch against the one dominated by arrangements and influences, so the nickname had gained a reputation.Campioana unei mari iubiri! Prima echipă de legendă a Universităţii Craiova s-a 'născut' în anii 70! . ProSport The squad that won the first title was coached by Constantin Cernăianu and Constantin Oțet and had the following players included: Oprea, Manta – Niculescu, Bădin, Deselnicu, Velea, Strâmbeanu, Ivan, Niță, Balaci, Berneanu, Țarălungă, Oblemenco, Bălan, Pană, Boc, Ștefănescu, Marcu, Stăncescu, Kiss, Chivu, Negrilă and Constantinescu.
The 1974–75 season brought a first UEFA European Cup presence against Swedish team Åtvidaberg, who lost 3–4 on aggregate but ranked third place at the end of the championship. The 1975–76 season had the team rank sixth place and announcing a generational change. For the last season of Ion Oblemenco, the team from Craiova won the Romanian Cup for the first time in its history in a final against Steaua București. In the Divizia A, the team finished in 3rd place.
With the generational exchange made, Universitatea continued to impress in 1978 by defending its Romanian Cup trophy, won a year before against Olimpia Satu Mare and a sixth place in the league. The 1978–79 season ended with fourth place and in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, Fortuna Düsseldorf eliminated the team in the first round.
Craiova Maxima (1979–1991)
Craiova Maxima (The Maximum Craiova) was the second generation of Universitatea. It was a squad composed of many players who grew up close to the first golden team and formed the basis of the Romania national football team including: Ilie Balaci, Rodion Cămătaru, Costică Ștefănescu, Zoltan Crișan, Ion Geolgău, Aurel Beldeanu, Costică Donose and Silviu Lung, among others.
At the end of the 1979–80 season, it was crowned the champion of Romania for the second time. The squad consisted of Boldici, Lung – Negrilă, Tilihoi, Ștefănescu, Ungureanu, Balaci, Beldeanu, Crişan, Donose, Cămătaru, Geolgău, Cârțu, Irimescu, Purima and Ciupitu – with coaches Valentin Stănescu and Ion Oblemenco. Universitatea's UEFA Cup campaign eliminated Wiener SC and Leeds United until it was beaten in the third round by German football club Borussia Mönchengladbach, 1–2 on aggregate.
In the 1980–81 season, the team was managing the historical double, the cup, and the championship. As a result of this performance, the students qualified for the 1981–82 European Cup, where Craiova Maxima became more and more visible by eliminating Olympiacos and KB, being stopped in the quarter-finals by Bayern Munich, 1–3 in aggregate, a historical performance for the Romanian football at that time.