Romania - List of Champions

Football was introduced within the current borders of Romania at the very end of the 19th century, in the current counties of Timiș (Timișoara, Lugoj) and Arad. On 25 June 1899, a match (over 45 minutes and with only 10 players on either side) was played in Timișoara, followed by one in Arad, seven weeks later, on 15 August 1899, which was played by full elevens over 90 minutes. Soon after, the first ever match in Romania between two official club sides was played in the same city, on 29 October 1899, when Aradi Atlétikai Club hosted Budapesti Műegyetemi FC from the Hungarian capital, losing 0-10. The first encounter between two club sides from currently Romania towns took place on 3 August 1901 in Grabaț, when Grabáci Sport Egylet (Grabatzer Sportverein) hosted Zsombolyai Football Club (Hatzfelder Fußballclub, from the town now called Jimbolia), winning 1-0. At the time, both Grabaț and Jimbolia belonged to the (Hungarian part of the) Habsburg Empire and were predominantly inhabited by Germans (Banater Schwaben). This match was played more than a year before the game between Temesvári Football Club and Lugosi Sport Egylet (from Lugoj) on 20 August 1902 in Timișoara, which traditionally was considered the first such encounter.

Only since 1921/22 a truly national championship was played for, involving the regional champions from most parts of the country (though some regions only entered after several seasons: Iași were first represented at the national stage in 1926/27 and Constanța not until 1929/30).
Before, various tournaments were played involving clubs from București and Ploiești, both south of the Carpathians. Until the end of World War I, the winners of those were considered champions of Romania, as Transylvania and Banat were part of the Habsburg Empire and ruled from Budapest; Bucovina also was part of the Habsburg Empire but ruled from Vienna.
In the capital of the Bucovina, Cernăuți, then Czernowitz, a city league was reportedly played as early as 1908, with five participants: DFK Jahn (for the German-speaking population), Sarmatia (later renamed Polonia, for the Polish population), Hakoah and Maccabi (both Jewish clubs) and Rumänischer FK (for the Romanian-speaking population, renamed Dragoș Vodă after World War I, when the area had become part of Romania).

1909/10 Olympia București
1910/11 Olympia București
1911/12 United A.C. Ploiești
1912/13 Colentina București
1913/14 Colentina București
1914/15 Româno-Americană București
1915/16 Prahova Ploiești
1916-19 no championship due to war
1919/20 Venus București
1920/21 Venus București
NB: the validity of the 1919/20 and 1920/21 "national" championships of Venus București
is doubtful; they only played competitions with clubs from the capital (and Ploiești)
and not with any clubs from Transylvania, and it is not entirely clear they actually
won those.
Campionatul Național
1921/22 Chinezul Timișoara 5-1 Victoria Cluj
1922/23 Chinezul Timișoara 2-0 Victoria Cluj
1923/24 Chinezul Timișoara 4-1 C.A. Oradea
1924/25 Chinezul Timișoara 5-1 U.C.A.S. Petroșani
1925/26 Chinezul Timișoara 3-0 Juventus București
1926/27 Chinezul Timișoara 2-2 4-3 Colțea Brașov
1927/28 Colțea Brașov 3-2 Jiul Lupeni
1928/29 Venus București 3-2 România Cluj
1929/30 Juventus București 3-0 Gloria C.F.R. Arad
1930/31 U.D. Reșița 2-0 S.G. Sibiu
1931/32 Venus București 3-0 U.D. Reșița
1932/33 Ripensia Timișoara 5-3 0-0 Universitatea Cluj
1933/34 Venus București 3-2 5-3 Ripensia Timișoara
1934/35 Ripensia Timișoara
1935/36 Ripensia Timișoara
1936/37 Venus București
1937/38 Ripensia Timișoara 2-0 2-0 Rapid București
1938/39 Venus București
1939/40 Venus București
1940/41 Unirea Tricolor București

1941/42 no league championship due to war
1942/43 unofficial war championship; winners: F.C. Craiova
1943/44 championship abandoned due to war
1944/45 no league championship due to war
1945/46 no league championship due to war

1946/47 I.T. Arad
1947/48 I.T. Arad
1948/49 I.C.O. Oradea
1950 Flamura roșie Arad
1951 C.C.A. București
1952 C.C.A. București
1953 C.C.A. București
1954 Flamura roșie Arad
1955 Dinamo București
1956 C.C.A. București
1957/58 Petrolul Ploiești
1958/59 Petrolul Ploiești
1959/60 C.C.A. București
1960/61 C.C.A. București
1961/62 Dinamo București
1962/63 Dinamo București
1963/64 Dinamo București
1964/65 Dinamo București
1965/66 Petrolul Ploiești
1966/67 Rapid București
1967/68 Steaua București
1968/69 U.T. Arad
1969/70 U.T. Arad
1970/71 Dinamo București
1971/72 F.C. Argeș Pitești
1972/73 Dinamo București
1973/74 Universitatea Craiova
1974/75 Dinamo București
1975/76 Steaua București
1976/77 Dinamo București
1977/78 Steaua București
1978/79 F.C. Argeș Pitești
1979/80 Universitatea Craiova
1980/81 Universitatea Craiova
1981/82 Dinamo București
1982/83 Dinamo București
1983/84 Dinamo București
1984/85 Steaua București
1985/86 Steaua București
1986/87 Steaua București
1987/88 Steaua București
1988/89 Steaua București
1989/90 Dinamo București
1990/91 Universitatea Craiova
1991/92 Dinamo București
1992/93 Steaua București
1993/94 Steaua București
1994/95 Steaua București
1995/96 Steaua București
1996/97 Steaua București
1997/98 Steaua București
1998/99 Rapid București
1999/00 Dinamo București
2000/01 Steaua București
2001/02 Dinamo București
2002/03 Rapid București
2003/04 Dinamo București
2004/05 Steaua București
2005/06 Steaua București
2006/07 Dinamo București
2007/08 C.F.R. Cluj
2008/09 Unirea Urziceni
2009/10 C.F.R. Cluj
2010/11 Oțelul Galați
2011/12 C.F.R. Cluj
2012/13 Steaua București
2013/14 Steaua București
2014/15 Steaua București
2015/16 F.C. Astra Giurgiu
2016/17 F.C. Viitorul Constanța
2017/18 C.F.R. Cluj
2018/19 C.F.R. Cluj
2019/20 C.F.R. Cluj
2020/21 C.F.R. Cluj
2021/22 C.F.R. Cluj
2022/23 Farul Constanța
2023/24 F.C.S.B.
2024/25 F.C.S.B.

Number of Titles (107)

28 F.C.S.B. [includes C.C.A. București and Steaua București]

18 Dinamo București

8 C.F.R. Cluj
8 Venus București [includes 1919/20 and 1920/21]

6 Chinezul Timișoara
6 U.T. Arad [includes I.T. Arad and Flamura roșie Arad]

4 Ripensia Timișoara
4 Universitatea Craiova

3 Petrolul Ploiești
3 Rapid București

2 F.C. Argeș Pitești
2 Colentina București
2 Olympia București

1 F.C. Astra Giurgiu
1 Colțea Brașov
1 Farul Constanța [merger of Farul and Viitorul Constanța]
1 I.C.O. Oradea
1 Juventus București
1 Oțelul Galați
1 Prahova Ploiești
1 Româno-Americană București
1 U.D. Reșița
1 Unirea Tricolor București
1 Unirea Urziceni
1 United A.C. Ploiești
1 F.C. Viitorul Constanța

Notes: I.C.O. Oradea, previously C.A. Oradea, were later renamed
Progresul Oradea. They won the Hungarian championship in
1943/44 under the name of N.A.C. (Nagyváradi A.C.).

See also the list of Romanian Cup Finals.

About this document

Thanks to Hans Schöggl and Ståle Volleng; source for the first part of the introduction: Yves-Pierre Detemple, "Das allererste Spiel"

Prepared and maintained by Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

Author: Karel Stokkermans
Last updated: 14 May 2025