Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (Romanian pronunciation: [universiˈtate̯a kluʒ]), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply U Cluj, is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I, the top flight of the Romanian league system.
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 seven Cupa României finals under four names, and won the trophy in the 1964–65 season after a 2–1 defeat of Dinamo Pitești. Historically the most prominent club in the region of Transylvania, it has been overtaken since the 2000s by 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.
Contents
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". Between 1930 and 1932, Hațieganu also funded a youth sports park on the southern bank of the Someșul Mic river, dedicating it to the memory of his deceased son. 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 facing Ferar Cluj, which had competed in the Hungarian league during the war under the name Kolozsvár AC and fielded more experienced players. "U" won the match 4–0, a result historian Gheorghe Bodea attributed largely to Luca's performance in defense.
Stadium
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. A Court of Accounts audit found that the company operating Cluj Arena had been liable for building tax to Cluj-Napoca Municipality from the venue's 2011 inauguration onward but had not paid it, leaving debts of over 15 million lei by 2016.
Support
"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.
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
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. Accusations over that case resurfaced in February 2026, when the presidents of both clubs traded claims about suspicious refereeing in the decisive 2008 and 2012 matches. The derby has continued to draw wide attention in the following years, including in the Cupa României, with local authorities urging supporters to keep the rivalry peaceful.
The second-most important rivalry is against UTA Arad due serious clashes between fans in 2006, 2011, 2019.
Another rivalries are Steaua București, Farul Constanța, FC Rapid București, FCSB, Petrolul Ploiești and SSU Politehnica Timișoara.
Universitatea's fans have a good friendship with Dinamo's fans, the main rivals of 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. The ultras group Students ‘12 have a friend relation with Strassbourg Offender, the of supporters of the RC Strasbourg Alsace, known for his many violent actions. The group was dissolved by the government in September 2025.
Honours
Leagues
Divizia A / Liga I
Runners-up (2): 1932–33, 2025–26
Divizia B / Liga II
Winners (6): 1950, 1957–58, 1978–79, 1984–85, 1991–92, 2006–07
Runners-up (3): 1939–40, 1983–84, 2009–10
Divizia C / Liga III
Winners (2): 2000–01, 2017–18
Liga IV – Cluj County
Winners (1): 2016–17
Cupa României
Winners (1): 1964–65
Runners-up (6): 1933–34, 1941–42, 1948–49, 2014–15, 2022–23, 2025–26
Cupa Ligii
Runners-up (1): 1998
Supercupa României
Runners-up (1): 2026
Players
First-team squad
As of 16 September 2026
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Other players under contract
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Records and statistics
History by season
The players in bold were the top goalscorers in the division.
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.
Former managers
Source: