The Bucharest architect Gheorghe Radu Stănculescu discovered in a document from the archives of the British Navy that English sailors were playing football in the Danube area in 1865.

In his report dated January 26, 1866 (see facsimiles), Lieutenant Gillson disclosed that he had ordered "the vessel's usual anchorage to be changed to another place, where she was now exposed to the breezes, and near which was a field which served as an excellent recreation ground for cricket, quoits and football".

In 1890, the dentist Iuliu Weiner brought to Arad - from London, where he had studied in England - the first rules of the game written on paper, as well as the first "real" soccer ball on the territory of today's Romania.

Weiner promotes the new game, demonstrating its practice on the field in front of the current Arada high school no.

On June 25, 1899, in Timișoara, the first football match on the current territory of Romania was organized on the Velocitas field, between students of the 6th and 7th grades of the Piarist High School, under the leadership of Professor Karl Müller.

Football was not allowed within the city limits, so the games took place on the meadow to the east (today Nicolae Titulescu Boulevard).

The first official football match in the Kingdom of Romania was played in 1907 near Kiseleff Street, Bucharest on an improvised pitch.

The chronicle of that game, published in the extraordinary magazine "From the world of sports", is considered a birth certificate for Romanian football.

At the end of the 30s, the Romanian teams make their debut in the European cups, a resounding victory achieved by Ripensia defeating AC Milan 3-0.

After the war, teams like UTA Arad, FC Argeș Pitești and the University of Craiova win the championship and qualify for the upper stages of European competitions.

Steaua reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, being eliminated on the edge of Middlesbrough FC and qualified three times in a row in the groups of the Champions League.

CFR Cluj opened the way for a decade of dominance in the province, teams like Unirea Urziceni, Oțelul Galați, Astra Giurgiu or Viitorul Constanța won the title for the first time in history.

Steaua București (FCSB) )is the most successful club in the history of Liga I, having won 27 league championships and being runner-up 12 times.

In case the same team achieves the double by winning both the Liga I and Cupa României, the Supercupa is disputed between that club and the league's runner-up.

Many old, traditional teams in the first division have experienced financial difficulties, eventually leading to relegation and even dissolution, such as Politehnica Timișoara, Universitatea Cluj, Universitatea Craiova, Rapid București, Petrolul Ploieşti, FC Brașov, FC Argeş, Oţelul Galaţi, Ceahlăul Piatra Neamţ, Politehnica Iaşi and Pandurii Târgu Jiu.

They were replaced by teams with less tradition in the first level of the Romanian league system, such as Botoşani, Concordia Chiajna, Dunărea Călărași, Hermannstadt Sibiu, Juventus București, Viitorul Constanța, Sepsi Sfântu Gheorghe or Voluntari.

The fact that they bore similar names and colors to the original teams made neutral fans call them "clones".