Liga I

Liga I
Country	Romania
Confederation	UEFA
Founded	1909
Number of teams	16
Relegation to	Liga II
Level on pyramid	1
Domestic cup(s)	Cupa României Supercupa României
UEFA cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League UEFA Europa Conference League
Current champions	FCSB (27th title) (2023–24)
Most successful club	FCSB (27 titles)
TV	Digi Sport Prima Sport Telekom Sport
Website	Official website
2023–24

Liga I (also spelled Liga 1) is the Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. It is also officially known as Superliga for sponsorship reasons. At the top of the Romanian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Liga II. Liga I was established in 1909 and commenced play for the 1909–10 campaign, and is currently ranked the 25th in UEFA's league coefficient ranking list. It is part of the Romanian Professional Football League (LPF). Before the 2006–07 season, it was named Divizia A, but the name had to be changed following the discovery that someone else had registered this trademark.

History

The first football club's organization formula was "A Divisional College" (Colegiul Divizionar A) founded on 5 October 1970 and led by Mircea Angelescu. Until 1990, the "A Divisional College" was formal without remarkable decisions. During the 90's a lot of changes were implemented, reflected in the new names of the organization, e.g. "A Divisional Team's League", " National Football League", "Professional Club's League", etc. On 10 October 1992, the organization's name became "Professional Football A Division League", led by Mircea Angelescu - president, Dumitru Dragomir - vice-president and Daniel Lăzărescu - general secretary. On 22 January 1993, the name of the organization became "Professional Football League of Romania", an A-Division professional football clubs representation. On 13 October 1993, the B Division clubs members were included. On 30 September 1996, Dumitru Dragomir has been elected president of the "Professional Football League of Romania". The headquarters is located on 47 Mihai Eminescu Street (since February 1997). In December the same year it was decided that the league will organize the A-Division Championship starting with 1997–98 edition.

In November 2013, Gino Iorgulescu has been elected as the new president of the Romanian Professional Football League, replacing Dumitru Dragomir, who had been in charge since 1996.

There are currently 18 teams at this level, of which the bottom four are relegated at the season's end. These teams are replaced by the champions of the two divisions that make up Liga II, the second level of the Romanian football league system.

Starting from the 2007–08, the champions and the runners-up of the Liga I were eligible to compete in the UEFA Champions League during the following season. The third and fourth placed team were eligible to compete in the UEFA Europa League. Since the 2012–13 season, only one team is eligible for the UEFA Champions League.

The most successful teams over the years have been Steaua București / FCSB (27 titles), Dinamo București (18 titles), CFR Cluj (8 titles), UTA Arad (6 titles), Universitatea Craiova, Petrolul Ploiești (4 titles each) and Rapid București (3 titles). CFR Cluj was the first team from outside of Bucharest to win the championship (in the 2007–08 season) since the 1990–91 season, starting a five-year period of non-Bucharest champions (CFR Cluj with three titles, Unirea Urziceni and Oțelul Galați with one title each).

Clubs

Wins by club

Bold indicates clubs currently playing in 2023–24 Liga I. Teams in italics no longer exist.

Club	Wins	Winning years
FCSB	27	1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1967–68, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2023–24
Dinamo București	18	1955, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2006–07
CFR Cluj	8	2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22
Venus București	7	1919–20, 1928–29, 1931–32, 1933–34, 1936–37, 1938–39, 1939–40
UTA Arad	6	1946–47, 1947–48, 1950, 1954, 1968–69, 1969–70
Chinezul Timișoara	6	1921–22, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27
Universitatea Craiova	4	1973–74, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1990–91
Petrolul Ploiești	4	1929–30, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1965–66
Ripensia Timișoara	4	1932–33, 1934–35, 1935–36, 1937–38
Rapid București	3	1966–67, 1998–99, 2002–03
Argeș Pitești	2	1971–72, 1978–79
Unirea Tricolor București	2	1920–21, 1940–41
Prahova Ploiești	2	1911–12, 1915–16
Colentina București	2	1912–13, 1913–14
Olympia București	2	1909–10, 1910–11
Farul Constanța	1	2022–23
Viitorul Constanța	1	2016–17
Astra Giurgiu	1	2015–16
Oțelul Galați	1	2010–11
Unirea Urziceni	1	2008–09
Club Atletic Oradea	1	1948–49
CSM Reșița	1	1930–31
Colțea Brașov	1	1927–28
Româno-Americană București	1	1914–15

2023–24 season

Main article:2023–24 Liga I

The following 16 clubs are competing in the Liga I during the 2023–24 season.

Club	Position in 2022–23	First season in Liga I	Number of seasons Liga I	First season of current spell in Liga I	Top division titles	Last Liga I title
Botoșani	00812th	2013–14	11	2013–14	0	N/A
CFR Cluj	0013rd	1947–48	29	2004–05	8	2021–22
Dinamo București	0024th in Liga II	1948–49	74	2023–24	18	2006–07
Hermannstadt	01211th	2018–19	5	2022–23	0	N/A
Oțelul Galați	0023rd in Liga II	1986–87	28	2023–24	1	2010–11
Politehnica Iași	0021st in Liga II	2012–13	9	2023–24	0	N/A
Sepsi OSK	0066th	2017–18	7	2017–18	0	N/A
FCSB	0022nd	1947-48	75	1947-48	26	2014–15
Universitatea Craiova	044th	1964–65	38	2014–15	3	1980–81
UTA Arad	00212th	1946–47	42	2020–21	6	1969–70
Farul Constanța	0031st	2012–13	12	2012–13	2	2022–23
Voluntari	0119th	2015–16	9	2015–16	0	N/A
Petrolul Ploiești	0118th	1933–34	60	2022–23	4	1965–66
Universitatea Cluj	01110th	1932–33	58	2022–23	0	N/A
FC U Craiova	0117th	1991–92	22	2021–22	1	1990–91
Rapid București	0115th	1932–33	69	2021–22	3	2002–03

External links

• Romanian Professional Football League official website
• Results and statistics since 1932
• Liga I table, fixtures and results, player info and team evolution

Football in Romania

League competitions The RFF Cup competitions Liga I, Liga II Romania Cupa României Liga III, Liga IV (U-21) Supercupa României Liga V, Liga VI List of clubs Cupa Ligii List of stadiums List of leagues