History of Universitatea Craiova (football)

For the club which is recognised by LPF, a Romanian football governing body, to be the successor of the original entity, see CS Universitatea Craiova. For the other team which claims the record, see FC U Craiova.

Universitatea Craiova (Romanian pronunciation: [universiˈtate̯a kraˈjova]) was a Romanian professional football club based in Craiova, Dolj County. Between 1948 and 1991, Universitatea won four national titles and five national cups. In addition to its domestic success, its reputation as a major club in the country was established by being the first Romanian team to reach the semi-finals of a UEFA tournament, and remains the only one to have knocked out at least one club from each of five strongest countries in European football—England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

The team acted as a football section for the CSU Craiova sports club of which it was part of until 1991,[1] when its berth in the league championship was taken by FC U Craiova following privatisation. Generally considered the same entity with the old club, FC U continued its tradition for the next two decades, but was reorganised several times and retroactively deemed an unofficial successor. Most notably, under the ownership of Adrian Mititelu [ro], FC Universitatea was disaffiliated by the Romanian Football Federation in 2012, following their temporary banishment since July 2011, and consequently retired from every competition.

In 2013, the sports club refounded its football department,[2] which asserts the history and trophies of the original Universitatea Craiova. CS Universitatea Craiova has in truth been backed up by some court orders and the Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal, but the record remains subject of legal dispute with the also reestablished FC U team and uncertainty persists.[3][note 1]

  1. ^ "Istoric" [History] (in Romanian). CS Universitatea Craiova. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Primarul Craiovei prezintă noua echipă de fotbal CS Universitatea" [Craiova's mayor presents the new CS Universitatea football team]. Adevărul. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  3. ^ Buzărin, Alin (14 May 2020). "Ce înseamnă promovarea lui FC U Craiova în Liga a 2-a?" [What does FC U Craiova's promotion to the League 2 mean?]. Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian). Retrieved 14 May 2020. This step forward of FC U will ignite the identity flame in Bănie. It always burned, and CS Universitatea, the League 1 team, always felt its flicker, even when Mititelu's side was struggling in the Fourth League.
  4. ^ "Informare cu privire la palmaresul CS U Craiova" [Information about the records of CS U Craiova] (in Romanian). LPF.ro. 10 November 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  5. ^ "Profile: Clubul Sportiv U Craiova". UEFA.com. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  6. ^ "Marcel Popescu vrea Cupa la Craiova după 25 de ani: "În faza asta nu mai există bun şi rău"" [Marcel Popescu wants the Cup in Craiova after 25 years: "At this point there is no good or bad"] (in Romanian). Digi Sport. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  7. ^ "S-a întors circul în Bănie! Șefii lui CS U Craiova râd de rivala FC U și de Peluza Sud înaintea duelului de vineri din Liga a 3-a " A venit și replica lui Mititelu" [The show returns to Bănie! CS U Craiova's officials make fun of rival FC U and Peluza Sud before the Liga 3 match on Friday " Mititelu also replied]. Gazeta Sporturilor (in Romanian). 1 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.


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