CS Universitatea Craiova

Universitatea Craiova
Full nameU Craiova 1948 Club Sportiv SA
Nickname(s)
  • Alb-albaștrii (The White-Blues)
  • Juveții (The Oltenia People)
  • Știința (The Science)
  • Campioana unei mari iubiri
    (The Champion of a Great Love)
  • Leii din Bănie
    (The Lions from Bănie)
Short nameU Craiova
Founded
  • 5 September 1948 (5 September 1948) (as UNSR Craiova)
  • 2013 (2013) (refounding)
GroundIon Oblemenco
Capacity30,983
OwnersMihai Rotaru (95%)
Adrian Andrici (5%)
ChairmanMihail Emilian Dumitru
Head coachMirel Rădoi
LeagueLiga I
2024–25Liga I, 3rd of 16
Websiteucv1948.ro

U Craiova 1948 Club Sportiv, commonly known as Universitatea Craiova (Romanian pronunciation: [universiˈtate̯a kraˈjova]), CS U Craiova, or simply U Craiova, is a Romanian professional football club based in Craiova, Dolj County. It competes in the Liga I, the top tier of the Romanian league system.

Initially founded in 1948 as the football section of the CSU Craiova sports club, it was part of the club until 1991, when its birth in the league championship was taken by FC U Craiova following privatisation. Between 1948 and 1991, Universitatea had won four national titles and five national cups. In the next two decades, FC U was reorganised several times and disaffiliated, which led to it being retroactively deemed an unofficial successor to the old entity. In 2013, the sports club reinstated its football department, which asserts the history and trophies of the original Universitatea Craiova. They have since been backed up by several court orders and the Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal, but the record remains subject of legal dispute with another reestablished FC U team. In 2018 "the White and Blues" won the Cupa României, representing their first trophy following refoundation, and in 2021 won their first Supercupa României.

On the European stage, Universitatea Craiova's best performances are reaching the semi-finals of the 1982–83 UEFA Cup and the quarter-finals of the 1981–82 European Cup. They were the first Romanian team to reach the semi-finals of a UEFA tournament and remain the only one to have knocked out at least one club from each of the five strongest countries in European football—England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. "The Students" play their home matches at the Stadionul Ion Oblemenco, which has a capacity of 30,929. They have several rivalries, the most notable being the one with Dinamo București.