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Liga I
Countries	Romania
Confederation	UEFA
Founded	1909
Number of teams	18
Relegation to	Liga II
Level on pyramid	Level 1
Domestic cup(s)	Cupa României; Supercupa României
International cup(s)	Champions League; Europa League
Current champions	Unirea Urziceni (2008-09)
Most championships	Steaua (23 titles)
TV partners	GSP TV, Digi Sport, Antena 1
Website	http://www.lpf.ro
	2009–10 Season

For other uses, see Liga 1 (disambiguation).

"Divizia A" redirects here.

Liga I or due to sponsorship reasons, Liga I Gamebookers.com^[1] is the official name of the top division of the Romanian football league system. It was established in 1909 and commenced play for the 1909-10 campaign. Until 1932 it had various play-off types. Liga I is part of Romanian Professional Football League (LPF). Before the 2006/2007 season, it was called Divizia A, but the name had to be changed following the discovery that someone else had registered the trade mark "Divizia A".^[2] It was reported that during the 2006-07 season 1,657,602 tickets were sold for the 306 games played, giving an average attendance of 5,417 spectators per match.^[3]

Liga 1 currently enjoys a ranking of 9th in UEFA's league coefficient ranking list.

[edit] History

The first football club's organization formula was "A Divisional College" ("Colegiul Divizionar A") founded on October 5, 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 October 10, 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 October 13, 1993, the B Division clubs members were included. On September 30, 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 1997-1998 edition.

In October 2000, Dumitru Dragomir has been re-elected president of the "Professional Football League of Romania"

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 2, the second level of the Romanian football league system.

Starting in 2007-08, the champions and runners-up of Divizia A are eligible to compete in the UEFA Champions League during the following season. The 3rd and 4th placed team is eligible to compete in the UEFA Cup.

The most successful teams over the years have been Steaua Bucureşti (23 titles), Dinamo Bucureşti (17 titles), UT Arad (6 titles), Universitatea Craiova(4 titles) and other notable teams being: Rapid Bucureşti and Petrolul Ploieşti, each with three titles won. CFR Cluj was the first non-Bucharest team to win the championship (in 2007-2008) since the 1990-1991 season.

[edit] Sponsorship

On December 19, 1998, SABMiller bought the naming rights for four and a half seasons, becoming the first sponsor in the history of the competition. SABMiller changed the name of the competition to "Divizia A Ursus", in order to promote the Ursus beer.^[4]

Starting with the 2004/05 season, European Food company took over as main sponsor and changed the league's name to "Divizia A Bürger", to promote the Bürger beer.^[5]

On May 11, 2008, Realitatea Media bought the naming rights for 5 years and changed the name of the competition to "Liga I Realitatea", to promote their Realitatea TV station.^[6]

[edit] Broadcasting rights

In 2004, Telesport, a small TV network, bought the broadcasting rights for $28 million. The four seasons contract ends in the summer of 2008. Telesport sold some of matches to other Romanian networks: TVR1, Antena 1, Naţional TV and Kanal D.

On March 31, 2008, Antena 1 together with RCS&RDS outbid Realitatea Media and Kanal D in the broadcasting rights auction with a bid of €102 million for a three seasons contract.^[7]

[edit] List of champions

[edit] Year By Year

Main article: Divizia A Final Tables

[edit] Performance by club

The bolded teams play in the 2009/10 season of Liga I. The teams in italics no longer exist.

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning Years
Steaua Bucureşti	23	13	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
Dinamo Bucureşti	18	20	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, 1999-00, 2001-02, 2003-04, 2006-07
Venus Bucureşti	8	0	1919-20, 1920-21, 1928-29, 1931-32, 1933-34, 1936-37, 1938-39, 1939-40
Chinezul Timişoara	6	0	1921-22, 1922-23, 1923-24, 1924-25, 1925-26, 1926-27
UTA Arad	6	1	1946-47, 1947-48, 1950, 1954, 1968-69, 1969-70
Ripensia Timişoara	4	1	1932-33, 1934-35, 1935-36, 1937-38
Universitatea Craiova	4	5	1973-74, 1979-80, 1980-81, 1990-91
Petrolul Ploieşti	3	1	1957-58, 1958-59, 1965-66
Rapid Bucureşti	3	12	1966-67, 1998-99, 2002-03
Argeş Piteşti	2	2	1971-72, 1978-79
Colentina Bucureşti	2	2	1912-13, 1913-14
Olympia Bucureşti	2	0	1909-10, 1910-11
CFR 1907 Cluj-Napoca	1	0	2007-08
CA Oradea	1	2	1948-49
Colţea Braşov	1	1	1927-28
Juventus Bucureşti	1	1	1929-30
Prahova Ploieşti	1	1	1915-16
CSM Reşiţa	1	1	1930-31
Româno-Americană Bucureşti	1	0	1914-15
Unirea Tricolor Bucureşti	1	2	1940-41
Unirea Urziceni	1	0	2008-09
United Ploieşti	1	1	1911-12

[edit] Cities

The following table lists the Romanian champions by cities.

City	Titles	Winning Clubs
Bucureşti	59	Steaua (23), Dinamo (18), Venus (8), Rapid (3), Colentina (2), Olympia (2), Juventus (1), Româno-Americană (1), Unirea Tricolor (1)
Timişoara	10	Chinezul (6), Ripensia (4),
Arad	6	UTA (6)
Ploieşti	5	Petrolul (3), Prahova (1), United (1)
Craiova	4	Universitatea (4)
Piteşti	2	Argeş (2)
Braşov	1	Colţea (1)
Cluj-Napoca	1	CFR (1)
Oradea	1	CAO (1)
Reşiţa	1	CSM (1)
Urziceni	1	Unirea (1)

[edit] All-time table (1932 - 2009)

The ranking is computed awarding two points for a win, one for a draw. It doesn't include matches played in the 2009/10 season. The teams in bold play in the 2009/10 season of Liga I. The teams in italics no longer exist.^[8]

#	Team	S	M	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1	FC Steaua Bucureşti	61	1842	1020	419	403	3544	1892	2473
2	FC Dinamo 1948 Bucureşti	60	1812	1012	388	412	3567	1940	2412
3	FC Rapid Bucureşti	61	1730	785	390	555	2693	2103	1955
4	FC Universitatea Craiova	44	1424	642	311	471	2137	1627	1595
5	FC Argeş Piteşti	44	1404	571	276	557	1845	1797	1418
6	CFM Universitatea Cluj	51	1440	498	292	650	1877	2248	1288
7	FCM Bacău	42	1319	489	262	568	1538	1809	1240
8	FC Farul Constanţa	42	1299	473	260	566	1577	1839	1206
9	FC Petrolul Ploieşti	41	1223	466	267	490	1550	1546	1199
10	FC Braşov	40	1225	466	255	504	1537	1604	1187
11	FC Sportul Studenţesc Bucureşti	34	1086	422	242	422	1494	1461	1086
12	FCM UTA Arad	38	1071	419	244	408	1599	1522	1082
13	CS Jiul Petroşani	41	1197	402	250	545	1403	1845	1054
14	FC Politehnica Timişoara	35	1046	382	238	426	1374	1502	1002
15	FC Naţional Bucureşti	32	945	380	189	376	1355	1320	949
16	FC Politehnica Iaşi	27	847	290	177	380	1000	1214	757
17	FC Oţelul Galaţi	21	690	281	132	277	873	884	694
18	ASA Târgu Mureş	21	690	251	109	330	817	1025	611
19	CF Gloria 1922 Bistriţa	19	622	248	102	272	813	839	598
20	FC Corvinul Hunedoara	17	562	210	98	254	831	881	518
21	FC Bihor Oradea	18	572	181	118	273	683	893	480
22	FC CFR 1907 Cluj	14	440	171	118	151	532	563	460
23	CSM Reşiţa	16	482	154	103	225	667	891	411
24	FC Ceahlăul Piatra Neamţ	13	426	160	88	178	532	600	408
25	CA Oradea	17	378	145	80	153	630	635	370
26	FC Olt Scorniceşti	11	357	137	64	156	424	498	338
27	Unirea Tricolor Bucureşti (Dinamo Braşov, Dinamo Cluj)	16	347	128	78	141	625	669	334
28	CS Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea	10	340	121	64	155	368	533	306
29	FC CFR Timişoara	11	273	104	70	99	406	392	278
30	FC Inter Sibiu	8	272	110	47	115	358	276	267
31	FC Juventus Bucureşti	12	268	102	61	105	501	479	265
32	CF Chindia Târgovişte	9	298	95	64	139	312	469	254
33	Venus Bucureşti	9	180	108	35	37	499	248	251
34	FC Ripensia Timişoara	9	184	110	28	46	512	277	248
35	FC Timişoara	7	222	94	54	74	290	272	242
36	CS Târgu Mureş	10	241	85	46	110	360	418	216
37	FC Maramureş Baia Mare	7	230	83	35	112	267	370	201
38	Vagonul Arad	9	184	76	31	77	318	323	183
39	FC Olimpia Satu Mare	7	222	69	40	113	223	363	178
40	FC Victoria Bucureşti	5	153	70	33	50	242	203	173
41	FC Gloria Buzău	7	238	64	45	129	236	403	173
42	FC Astra Ploieşti	5	158	59	35	64	195	185	153
43	Gloria Arad	8	156	59	31	66	296	332	149
44	Victoria Cluj	8	154	61	23	70	266	294	145
45	FC Extensiv Craiova	5	170	54	36	80	171	213	144
46	FC Dacia Unirea Brăila	6	178	54	30	94	193	328	138
47	FC Vaslui	4	132	48	39	45	152	152	135
48	AS Flacăra Moreni	4	136	53	23	60	180	198	129
49	FC Unirea Urziceni	3	102	50	28	24	123	73	128
50	FC Dunărea CSU Galaţi	5	170	44	32	94	174	310	120
51	Chinezul Timişoara	6	120	46	21	53	281	288	113
52	CS Pandurii Lignitul Târgu Jiu	4	132	41	29	62	111	158	111
53	Crişana Oradea	6	110	40	20	50	199	232	100
54	CS Gaz Metan Mediaş	4	120	26	25	69	132	240	77
55	NC Foresta Suceava	3	98	24	27	47	102	145	75
56	CS Minerul Lupeni	4	101	30	15	56	106	204	75
57	FC Ploieşti	5	102	28	16	58	131	255	72
58	Phoenix Baia Mare	3	62	26	11	25	96	106	63
59	Ciocanul Bucureşti	2	56	24	10	22	100	87	58
60	AS Rocar Bucureşti	2	64	25	6	33	93	107	56
61	FC Unirea Alba Iulia	2	60	17	16	27	60	109	50
62	FC Oneşti	2	68	21	6	41	94	160	48
63	CA Câmpulung Moldovenesc	2	33	15	10	8	50	31	40
64	Siderurgistul Galaţi	2	52	13	10	29	62	104	36
65	Carmen Bucureşti	1	26	14	5	7	90	44	33
66	Metalul Câmpia Turzii	2	48	7	19	22	46	86	33
67	Gloria CFR Galaţi	2	46	13	7	26	54	100	33
68	CAM Timişoara	2	34	12	7	15	54	76	31
69	Ferar Cluj	1	26	13	4	9	44	29	30
70	Dermata Cluj	1	30	7	11	12	41	50	25
71	CSM Suceava	1	34	10	5	19	36	69	25
72	FC Craiova	2	50	10	5	35	61	171	25
73	Mica Brad	1	24	12	0	12	51	43	24
74	CS Dacia Mioveni	1	34	7	10	17	26	43	24
75	Şoimii Sibiu	3	48	5	12	31	42	131	22
76	CS Otopeni	1	34	5	7	22	32	54	17
77	Viitorul Bucureşti	1	14	6	3	5	33	26	15
78	Vulturii Lugoj	1	18	6	2	10	24	41	14
79	Metalochimic Bucureşti	1	26	5	4	17	50	80	14
80	CSP UM Timişoara	1	30	3	6	21	24	71	12
81	Aripile CFR Braşov	1	18	4	3	11	26	45	11
82	Prahova Ploieşti	1	26	5	1	20	26	97	11
83	Avântul Reghin	1	24	3	3	18	19	57	9
84	Dragoş Vodă Cernăuţi	1	18	4	0	14	26	57	8
85	Braşovia Braşov	2	26	1	3	22	28	85	5
86	Mureşul Târgu Mureş	1	14	1	2	11	15	53	4
87	FC Internaţional Curtea de Argeş	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

[edit] Records

The ranking doesn't include matches played and goals scored in the the 2009/10 season.^[9]

**Top Ten Players With Most Appearances**^[10]
Player		Period	Club^[11]	Games
1	Costică Ştefănescu	1969–1988	Steaua Bucureşti, Universitatea Craiova, FCM Braşov	490
2	Florea Ispir	1970–1987	ASA Târgu Mureş	485
3	László Bölöni	1970–1987	ASA Târgu Mureş, Steaua Bucureşti	484
4	Costel Câmpeanu	1987–2005	SC Bacău, Dinamo Bucureşti, Gloria Bistriţa, Progresul Bucureşti, Ceahlăul Piatra Neamţ	470
5	Paul Cazan	1972–1987	Sportul Studenţesc Bucureşti	465
6	Cornel Dinu	1966–1983	Dinamo Bucureşti	454
7	Constantin Stancu	1976–1990	Argeş Piteşti	447
8	Ion Dumitru	1967–1988	Rapid Bucureşti, Steaua Bucureşti, Politehnica Timişoara, Universitatea Craiova	442
9	Octavian Grigore	1982–2000	Petrolul Ploieşti	441
10	Nicolae Ungureanu	1977–1993	Universitatea Craiova, Steaua Bucureşti, Rapid Bucureşti	438

**Top Ten Highest Goalscorers**^[12]
Player		Period	Club^[13]	Goals
1	Dudu Georgescu	1970–1986	Progresul Bucureşti, CSM Reşiţa, Dinamo Bucureşti, SC Bacău, Gloria Buzău, Flacăra Moreni	252 (Ø 0,68)
2	Rodion Cămătaru	1974–1989	Universitatea Craiova, Dinamo Bucureşti	198 (Ø 0,52)
3	Marin Radu	1974–1989	Argeş Piteşti, Olt Scorniceşti, Steaua Bucureşti, Inter Sibiu	190 (Ø 0,49)
4	Ionel Dănciulescu	1993–2009	Electroputere Craiova, Dinamo Bucureşti, Steaua Bucureşti	186 (Ø 0,44)
5	Florea Dumitrache	1966–1983	Dinamo Bucureşti, Jiul Petroşani, Corvinul Hunedoara	170 (Ø 0,47)
5	Ion Oblemenco	1964–1976	Rapid Bucureşti, Universitatea Craiova	170 (Ø 0,62)
7	Mircea Sandu	1970–1987	Progresul Bucureşti, Sportul Studenţesc Bucureşti	167 (Ø 0,41)
8	Victor Piţurcă	1975–1989	Olt Scorniceşti, Steaua Bucureşti	166 (Ø 0,55)
9	Mihai Adam	1962–1976	Universitatea Cluj-Napoca, Vagonul Arad, CFR Cluj-Napoca	160 (Ø 0,45)
10	Titus Ozon	1947–1964	Unirea Tricolor Bucureşti, Dinamo Bucureşti, Dinamo Braşov, Progresul Bucureşti, Rapid Bucureşti	157 (Ø 0,58)