CFR Cluj

Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj (Romanian pronunciation: [t͡ʃefeˌre ˈkluʒ] or [ˌt͡ʃefere ˈkluʒ]), is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, which competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1907 as Kolozsvári Vasutas Sport Club, when Transylvania was part of Austria-Hungary, and the current name CFR is the acronym for Căile Ferate Române (i.e. "Romanian Railways").

CFR Cluj
Full nameSC Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj SA
Nickname(s)
  • Ceferiștii (The CFR People)
  • Clujenii (The Cluj People)
  • Feroviarii (The Railwaymen)
  • Frânarii (The Brakers)
  • Campioana Provinciei (The Provincial Champion)
Short nameCFR
Founded10 November 1907 (10 November 1907) (as Kolozsvári Vasutas Sport Club)
GroundDr. Constantin Rădulescu
Capacity22,198
OwnerIoan Varga
ChairmanCristian Balaj
Head coachAdrian Mutu
LeagueLiga I
2022–23Liga I, 3rd of 16
WebsiteClub website

Before its latest promotion to the Liga I in 2004, the club had spent most of its existence in the lower divisions. CFR Cluj has since relied increasingly on foreign players for its success, and in the 2005–06 season participated in its first European competition, the Intertoto Cup, where it finished as runner-up. With significant financial support from previous owner Árpád Pászkány, CFR took the national title away from capital-based teams after seventeen years and became national champion for the first time in the 2007–08 campaign.

Between 2017 and 2022, "the White and Burgundies" won five successive championships. In total, CFR has amassed sixteen domestic trophies, all of them in the 21st century—eight Liga I, four Cupa României and four Supercupa României. As well as becoming a highly esteemed figure in Romanian football, the team has secured three qualifications each to the UEFA Champions League and Europa League group stages and two qualifications to the Europa Conference League group stages.

Additionally, CFR has a fierce rivalry with neighbouring Universitatea Cluj, with matches between the two being known as Derbiul Clujului. Several, but minor rivalries also developed in the recent period against teams with which CFR has contended for the league title.

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