Clubul Sportiv al Armatei Steaua Bucuresti was found on June 7th 1947 by the Romanian Army as a military association named ASA, whose activities embraced football (soccer), volleyball, rugby, target shooting, athletics, basketball and tennis. The club's first honour was achieved by a tennis player named Gheorghe Viziru. In 1956, a tennis coach spotted a little boy on the soccer pitch and persuaded him to change disciplines. His name was ILIE NASTASE. In 1948, ASA was renamed Military Central Sports Club only to become the Central House of the Army two years later. In the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, club athletes competed for the first time, winning the first of 19 gold, 26 silver and 24 bronze olympic medals. In 1956, the club's first world record was obtained by Iolanda Balas in a high jump contest. She won the Olympic championships twice and was elected Romania's Athlete of the year seven times (Nastase won this honour four times).
          In 1961 the club took the name Steaua (The Star) and, although 22 sporting disciplines are now practiced and altough the handball team was champion of Europe in 1968, the club has since then been renowned for its football (soccer) team than anything else. At this stage, the football side had played at various venues in Bucharest, but moved into the Steaua stadium on April 9, 1974, inaugurating it with a friendly match against OFK Belgrade (Yugoslavia). Floodlights were installed in 1992 and in 1994 the completion of the new stand transformed a previously plain, rectangular ground into one of the finest compact football stadia in Eastern Europe. In the meantime, Steaua were compiling a most impressive domestic record. The club now has 18 championships titles to its credit, 11 of them beeing won in the last 20 years. Steaua have also won the national Cup 18 times and the League and Cup triumphs last season (1995/1996) represented the ninth time that club has performed a League and Cup double.
           In Europe, the finest hour came in 1986, when the side coached by Emerich Jenei became European champions by holding FC Barcelona to a 0-0 draw in Seville and winning 2-0 in a penalty shoot-out. Marius Lacatus and Gavril Pele Balint scored for Steaua, while goalkeeper Helmuth Dukadam kept a clean sheet. Steaua clinched the European Supercup by beating Dinamo Kiev 1-0 in a single match played in Monaco (the goal was scored by the best romanian player ever, Gheorghe Hagi). Their second Champion Clubs' Cup Final in 1989 resulted in a 4-0 defeat by AC Milan. Despite the continual emigration of top players, this year Steaua qualified for the third consecutive time in the UEFA Champions League.