The club was founded in 1946 as CS Zalău and since 1975 was owned by IAIFO (Interprinderea de Armături Industriale din Fontă și Oțel - The Industrial Fittings Cast Iron and Steel Enterprise).

Over time, notable players such as Mircea Bolba, Alin Chibulcutean, Claudiu Cornaci, Vasile Dobrău, Adrian Gongolea, Vasile Jula, Florin Sabou or Gabriel Vașvari wore the red and black kits of Armătura and managers such as Leontin Grozavu or Iosif Vigu, among others, led "the Steelworkes" from the technical bench.

In January 1975, the club was taken over by IAIFO (Interprinderea de Armături Industriale din Fontă și Oțel - The Industrial Fittings Cast Iron and Steel Enterprise) and under the guidance of Carol Călina finished the 1975–76 season in 1st place.

The promotion squad in Divizia B was composed among others by: Mircea Cornaci, Mihai Bumbuț, Ioan Nistor, Ștefan Both, I. Antal, Ioan Fabian, Alexandru Munteanu, Gheorghe Bumbuț, Arpad Mathe, Andrei Vaida, Aurel Petreanu, C. Mureșan, Zoltan Ardeleanu, Francisc Feierstein.

[3] In this period, "the Steelworkes" coaches Ioan Cotruț, Alexandru Constantinescu, Dorin Barbu, Vasile Stâncel, Iosif Vigu and Virgil Crăciunescu had the following players at his disposal: M.Lăzăreanu, M. Bumbuț, E. Terheș, Z.Ardeleanu, Vasiliu, A.Petreanu, Gyula Mathe, Gr.Pășcuță, Drăgan, Ioan Tașnadi, Ovidiu Darie, Radu Petruțiu, Moldovan, Stere, D.Crișan, Pop, V.Dobrău, Traian Bode, Gh.