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 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.

After the war, Transylvania joined Romania and the club accordingly changed its name to CFR Cluj, maintaining its links with the national rail organisation, this time the Romanian state railway carrier, Căile Ferate Române, hence the acronym.

However, the following spring CFR bounced back with a win over ASA Târgu Mureș (1–0), after a goal from Octavian Ionescu, and averted relegation.

Losses to Dinamo București (1–3); Crișul Oradea (0–1, after a last-minute penalty kick), and Jiul Petroșani (1–2 after two regrettable own-goals) meant CFR's demise after the first round of the championship – the team finished at the bottom, with only seven points.

The summer of 2003 was very important for CFR as many new talented players were transferred including Cătălin Bozdog, Adrian Anca, Cristian Turcu, and Sabin Pîglișan.

On 22 July 2007, CFR Cluj celebrated its centenary year by playing a friendly game against Benfica and inaugurating the new illumination system at its stadium.

They were drawn in Group A against Chelsea of England, A.S. Roma of Italy, and Bordeaux of France and given little chance of progressing, with odds of 300–1 being given on them winning the competition.

[9] In their opening game, CFR caused a shock by beating Roma in the Italian capital, 2–1,[10] with Argentine Juan Culio scoring the brace.

[11] The end of the 2008–09 season saw CFR finish fourth; the team had two coaching staff changes in the second part of the competition and did not manage to secure a second title.

The Romanian Cup was kept for a consecutive year at Cluj, and thus they played against Unirea Urziceni (the Liga I champions that season) in the Supercupa României.

In the 2009–10 season, the team won the league title for the second time in its history, exhibiting the heavy investments in the club's infrastructure, management, and squad transfers.

Managed by coach Andrea Mandorlini, CFR Cluj also kept the Romanian Cup and qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage.

CFR had a quiet 2013–14 season, finishing 5th and earning a Europa League berth, mainly due to the fact that 4th placed Dinamo filed for insolvency and thus were ineligible for European competitions.

During this time owner Pászkány faced legal charges and neglected the team, which lead to serious financial difficulties that would culminate in the following seasons.

CFR Cluj began the 2014–15 season well, but financial difficulties led to insolvency which subsequently started a period of poor performances.

[13] After failing to fully remunerate five former club players, the Romanian Football Federation decided to deduct 24 points from CFR, which placed them in the last position in Liga I.

[2] After finishing the 2016–17 Liga I campaign on the fourth place the same year on 30 May, CFR Cluj finally got out of insolvency and could participate in European competitions starting with the 2018–19 season again.

[15] In June 2017, Dan Petrescu replaced Vasile Miriuță as the head coach of the team, with the goal of a European cup return and an ambitious transfer campaign to support it.

[16] On 20 May 2018, "the Railwaymen" won 1–0 over defending champions Viitorul Constanța and clinched their fourth Liga I title as they finished one point above FCSB in the table.

After getting past Astana and Maccabi Tel Aviv, CFR Cluj defeated Scottish team Celtic in the Champions League third qualifying round.

On 3 August, CFR Cluj won the third consecutive title and sixth overall, after a final fixture win over rivals Universitatea Craiova.

[26] After their away match with Randers, which they lost 1–2, CFR were mathematically eliminated from advancing to the Round of 16 and finished in fourth place in Group D of the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League season.

This outcome remained unchanged despite their eventual 2–0 victory in the last home match against Jablonec, which earned them their first three points in the competition, bringing their total to four.

In 2006–07, with an investment of €30 million, the club upgraded the field with higher quality turf, built a state of the art lighting system, and updated its infrastructure.

[28] According to journalist Răzvan Toma, the first match between the two teams was played on 13 October 1920, when CFR thrashed Universitatea 8–0 on a field based in the Central Park.

[29] History and statistics website Romanian Soccer regards a 1–3 loss by CFR (which had just merged with Ferar Cluj on 7 December 1947) as the first Liga I meeting between the two teams.

[30] In 2019, Liga Profesionistă de Fotbal's website referred to a match between FCSB—formerly FC Steaua București—and CFR Cluj as "the Romanian Derby",[31] a name generally used for the meetings between the former club and their cross-town rivals Dinamo București.

This stems from the fact that after the 2000s CFR and FCSB were often some of the main contenders for the national title, and during the late 2010s the rivalry exacerbated further as Dinamo lost its power status.

[32][33][34] Notable wins Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.