U. Cluj

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.

In 1946, the name of the club was changed to Știința Cluj (Science Cluj) and in the summer of the same year, the Romanian Football Federation decided that they had to play a play-off against Victoria Cluj in order to earn the right to play in the 1946–47 Divizia A season. The first leg ended 1–1, but The Red Caps won the second leg with 3–1, thus earning their right to play in the first league where they would stay for the following three seasons, relegating in 1949. During this period the team also reached the 1949 Cupa României final for the third time, but it was beaten by CSCA București—now called Steaua București (1–2).

At the end of the 1950s and the beginning of the 1960s, the manager of Știința Cluj was Ștefan Kovács—a famous Romanian coach who later became the manager of Ajax Amsterdam. In 1964–65, Știința Cluj defeated with 2–1 Dinamo Pitești with goals scored by Câmpeanu and Ivansuc and won the Cupa României under coach Andrei Sepci who used the following players in the final: Simion Moguț – Paul Marcu, Traian Georgescu (c), Paul Grăjdeanu, Remus Câmpeanu – Vasile Alexandru, Mircea Neșu – Nicolae Szabo, Zoltán Ivansuc, Mihai Adam, Ioan Suciu. In the following season, the club made its debut in European competitions, participating in the 1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup, eliminating Austrian team, Wiener Neustadt with 3–0 on aggregate in the first round, the goals being scored by Ivansuc (2) and Adam but they got eliminated in the following round by Atlético Madrid.