AFC Gloria Arad

Original club (1913–2014)

The club was founded on 24 August 1913 under the name Clubul Sportiv Român Gloria Arad. Fifty-eight founding members attended the constituent meeting, among them Gheorghe Crișan, Emil Veliciu and Coriolan Lupșa. Gheorghe Crișan was elected president and Remus Moldovan served as secretary, football organiser and captain.^[1][10] Contemporary accounts identify Emil Veliciu and Remus Moldovan among the principal figures behind the establishment of the football team.^[11]

Gloria's colours were yellow and blue.^[6] In 1922, the club merged with CFR Arad, which had been founded a year earlier, and adopted the name Gloria CFR Arad.^[12]

Gloria CFR won the Arad regional championship in 1922–23 and qualified for the national championship tournament, where it was eliminated in the quarter-finals.^[5] The club returned repeatedly to the national championship during the second half of the 1920s. In 1928–29, Gloria again reached the quarter-finals, losing after a replay against Banatul Timișoara.^[5]

The club's greatest season was 1929–30. Coached by Virgil Economu, Gloria defeated TMTE Timișoara in the quarter-finals and Universitatea Cluj in the semi-finals before meeting Juventus București in the national final. Juventus won the match 3–0 and Gloria finished as Romanian runners-up.^[5][6] Among the players associated with the side were Deciu, Gheorghe Albu, Hustig, Cosma, Faur, Igna, Marienuț and Tisza.^[6]

With the establishment of a national league system in 1932, Gloria entered Divizia A. The club competed continuously in the top division from 1932–33 through 1938–39, finishing third in its group in 1937–38.^[5] After finishing twelfth in 1938–39, Gloria was relegated to Divizia B. It placed sixth in Series II in 1939–40 but was nevertheless promoted as part of the reorganisation of the top division.^[13] Gloria subsequently finished eighth in the 1940–41 Divizia A.^[5]

Regular national league football was interrupted by World War II. Gloria participated in the wartime Cupa Eroilor, which replaced the second division, finishing seventh in its series in 1942–43 and fourth in its series in the incomplete 1943–44 edition.^[13]

Following the restoration of the national league system, Gloria played in Divizia B. It finished twelfth in Series I in 1946–47 and fifteenth in its series in 1947–48.^[13] RomanianSoccer records that the club disappeared from the upper tiers after 1948.^[12] Local histories state that the team subsequently competed under the name ICA Arad from 1949 and restored the Gloria name around 1969.^[14]

Gloria won the Arad County Championship in 1969–70 but failed to obtain promotion after losing the promotion play-off. It won the county title again in 1970–71 and this time reached Divizia C.^[15] The club spent three seasons in the third tier before finishing last in its series in 1973–74.^[16][17][18]

Gloria immediately won another Arad County Championship in 1974–75 and returned to Divizia C.^[15] It finished eleventh in 1975–76, tenth in 1976–77 and fifteenth in 1977–78, after which it returned to county football.^[19][20][21]

In 1980–81 Gloria finished second in the Arad County Championship, one point behind Chimia Arad.^[22] The following season it won Series A of the county competition and contested the county championship final against Frontiera Curtici.^[23]

After spending much of the following two decades in the county competitions, Gloria finished runners-up in the 2003–04 Arad County championship before winning the competition in 2004–05 and earning promotion to the third tier.^[15]

The club returned to Divizia C in 2005–06 under the name Gloria CTP Arad, finishing ninth in Series VII.^[24] It remained in the third tier for seven consecutive seasons. Gloria finished 14th in 2006–07, sixth in 2007–08, eleventh in 2008–09, twelfth in 2009–10, eleventh in 2010–11 and fifteenth in 2011–12.^{[25][26][27][28][29][30]}

Relegation in 2012 returned Gloria to Liga IV Arad. It finished second in 2012–13 and also won the Arad County phase of the Cupa României.^[31] Gloria placed third in 2013–14, but severe financial problems followed. The senior side withdrew during the autumn of 2014 and was later excluded from the championship, bringing the original club's senior football activity to an end after 101 years.^[7][3]

Modern club (2021–2024)

Asociația Fotbal Club Gloria Arad was legally established on 8 April 2021.^[2] The senior football project became active in 2022, when a group led by Remus Borlean, Călin Pop, Răzvan Vida and Paul Kondrad prepared a team for entry into Liga VI Arad.^[8]

The organisers explicitly stated that AFC Gloria Arad was a new legal entity and was not the same company that had disappeared in 2014. They expressed the intention to reconnect with the older club's tradition and to obtain the historical name, crest and sporting record.^[8]

The team made its competitive debut in the 2022–23 Liga VI season. AJF Arad records AFC Gloria Arad as a Liga VI participant from September 2022.^[32] Gloria completed the 2022–23 campaign, including a 5–3 victory over Voința Mailat in the final round.^[33]

The club returned for the 2023–24 season. By early 2024 it was experiencing financial difficulties, and on 23 May AFC Gloria formally requested its withdrawal from the Liga VI championship. The AJF Arad disciplinary commission accepted the request under article 78.8 of its regulations.^[9] Gloria occupied fifth place in Series A at the time of its withdrawal, after which its remaining fixtures were awarded to its opponents.^[4]

The withdrawal ended the senior team's competitive activity, but it should not be confused with the legal dissolution of AFC Gloria Arad. Public company information continued to list the association as operational in August 2026.^[2]