Liga 1 is Romanian first tier football league. During 1909/1910 to 2006/2007 first Romanian tier was named Divizia A (Division A). Starting with season 2007/2008 the named changed to Liga1.
– 2016/2017 is the 99th season in the history of Romanian first tier football championship.
– The very first football championship held in Romania was in 1909/1910 when only 3 teams participated: Olympia Bucharest, Colentina Bucharest and United Ploiesti. Olympia won after one win and one draw, Colentina placed second and United, 3rd.
– First national football championship as we know it today, took place in 1921/1922. Till this season there were only regional competitions.
– 13 of the 24 teams which won the title no longer exists.
– Most awarded champion holders outside Bucharest are UTA Arad (currently in Liga2) and Chinezul Timisoara (no longer exists), both with 6 titles.
– Steaua Bucharest is the most Liga 1 awarded team, 26 titles, followed by Dinamo Bucharest with 18 titles
– The player with most caps in Liga 1 is Ionel Danciulescu with 515 matches between 1993 and 2013. He’s currently in Dinamo’s staff.
– Best goalscorer of all times in Liga 1 is Dudu Georgescu (2 times Golden Boot winner – 1975 with 33 goals and 1977 with 47 goals): 252 goals scored during 1970 – 1986 seasons.
– Brazil is the nation with more footballers than any other who played or still plays in the Romanian first leagu: 28. Serbia follows closely with 27 footballers.
2016/2017 season:
– Current champions are Astra Giurgiu – the club’s first title.
– Rapid Bucharest has been relegated to second league due to financial problems, while relegated ACS Poli Timisoara took their place in Liga1
– Timisoara will start the season with -14 points, Mures and CFR Cluj with -6 points after they failed to pay players’ salaries on time or not at all.
– Steaua, Dinamo, FC Viitorul, FC Botosani and FC Voluntari are the only clubs that never relegated since their promotion
– FC Viitorul is the youngest team to play in the current season: age average is 22,1 and Astra Giurgiu is the oldest team in the current season: age average: 27,7
– There are 14 teams with a grand total of 402 players.
– Players’ average age is 25,6
– There are 93 foreigners in Liga 1 for 2016/2017 season (23,1 % of total players). The team with most foreigners is CFR Cluj, 12. Astra and ASA Tg. Mures have 10 foreigners each. In the other pole, there is ACS Poli Timisoara which has only one foreign player.
– Most expensive player: Nicolae Stanciu (Steaua) 3,50 mill. €
– Total market value for Liga 1 is 140,23 mill. €
