Rapid Bucuresti

1923–32: Beginnings

On 25 June 1923, in a classroom of the primary school from the Grivița neighborhood, Bucharest, the employees of the Grivița workshops created Asociația Culturală și Sportivă CFR ("CFR Cultural and Sports Association"). Teofil Copaci was chosen as the president of the association, while Grigore Grigoriu became the first captain of the team. The squad was formed in September, following the merger of the Ateliere and Excelsior teams. The first equipment was made out of burgundy fabric in the house of Grigoriu.

On 28 October 1923, the team played its first game against Unirea Timișoara, which it lost 4–8. The second match, played over ten days, was against Gloria Arad, and was lost 1–2. Until 1932 CFR played in the Bucharest Championship, not qualifying in the final tournament of the national league. During this period, the leaders of the team were: Teofil Copaci, Grigore Grigoriu, and Bozie Codreanu; other players included Stănică, Tudor, Molnar, Ștefănescu, Foran, Leoveanu, Constantinescu, Fetzko, Georgescu, Albert, Block, Filip, Itu I, Itu II, Pîrvulescu, Cichi, Schileriu, Svetcovschi, Oros, Ujlaki, Pop, Dobrescu I, Kelemen, Vlaiculescu, Ispas, Vintilescu, and Petrovici.

1932–45: Golden Years

The club entered the Divizia A at the start of the 1932–33 season, after several years of competing for the regional championship of Bucharest. During the pre-war years, Rapid was one of Romania's top teams, regularly winning the cup, but never the championship, although they came close. Once Rapid lost the title because of a player's candor. One of Rapid's players touched the ball with his hand in the penalty area during a decisive match against Venus București, when Rapid needed a win to finish first in the league. At first, the referee didn't see it, but when he heard the audience protesting asked the player if he had touched the ball with his hand. The player admitted that he had.

Venus converted the penalty kick and managed a 1–1 draw to finish first in the league, instead of "the Railwaymen". The team's final season's standings in the Divizia A were: 1932–33 – 2nd (Seria I), 1933–34 – 4th (Seria I), 1934–35 – 10th, 1935–36 – 7th, 1936–37 – 2nd, 1937–38 – 1st (Seria I) (with the team losing the national championship final against Ripensia Timișoara 0–2), 1938–39 – 6th, 1939–40 – 2nd, and 1940–41 – 2nd.

In this period, the club's most successful time in this competition, Rapid won seven Romanian Cups: 1934–35, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1941–42, six of them won in consecutive years. The players in this winning effort included Roșculeț, Ujlaki, Vintilă, Wetzer II, Rășinaru, Cuedan, Barbu II, Rădulescu, Bogdan, Auer, Moldoveanu, Baratky, Raffinsky, Lengheriu, I.Costea, Sipos, Gavrilescu, Sadowski, Silvăț, Ghiurițan, Wetzer III, and Florian.

In the summer of 1937, the club changed its name from CFR București to Rapid București, modeling their new name on that of the Austrian club Rapid Wien.

The "railway workers" were no longer topping the league standings, but they still had supportive fans, and some players were selected for the national team. During those years, the competition format changed after various reorganizations, and Rapid won the Bessarabia Cup in 1942. They qualified for the final of the Mitropa Cup (precursor of the UEFA Champions League). In 1940, Rapid played to two ties in the Mitropa Cup semi-finals and was drawn for the final, which was never played, due to the outbreak of World War II.

1945–1970: The Railwaymen, a solid team

After the war, Rapid returned to the Bucharest Championship in the 1945–46 season, finally finishing 4th. After this season the club returned to its old name, CFR (Căile Ferate Române – Romanian Railways), and entered the 1946–47 Divizia A season, the first official national season after the end of the war, and ended in 5th place, two points away from 2nd place (Carmen București) and 13 from 1st place (ITA Arad). In the following season, 1947–48, the team finished 3rd, behind CFR Timişoara and ITA Arad. In the 1948–49 season, "the White and Burgundies" finished 2nd, only five points behind IC Oradea. Also, on 20 March 1949, CFR București obtained the most lopsided victory in its entire history, 12–2 against CFR Cluj.

Under the influence of the communist regime installed in the country after 1945, the 1950s started with a change from an autumn-spring season to a spring-autumn one. In the 1950 season Rapid became Locomotiva, a name much closer to the Soviet version, Lokomotiv, a change imposed on all the teams that belonged to the Romanian Railways, but the Giuleștenii finished again in 2nd place. The first relegation to Liga II came in 1951 when the club was ranked 11th, losing a three-way contest by a goal against Locomotiva Târgu Mureș and Știința Timișoara. Promoted one year later, from 1st place in Liga II, with 10 points over the second-ranked (Locomotiva Iași), Rapid would finish the 1953 season in 5th place. In 1954 season Locomotiva, in 12th place, was relegated for the second time. However, "The White and Burgundies" returned after only one year to Divizia A, following a good showing for the team, including a 4th-place ranking at the end of 1956, only 5 points behind 1st place (CCA București).

In the 1957–58 season, Romanian football returned to the autumn-spring system and "the Railwaymen" finished at the middle of the table, 8th out of 12. The end of the Soviet system also meant the end of Soviet team names, and in 1958 the team returned to the Austrian-inspired name of Rapid. In the following years, the team finished 4th and 10th at the end of the 1958–59 and 1959–60 seasons, respectively.

In the 1950s, the squad included the following players: Valentin Stănescu, Gh. Dungu, Gh. Demeter, Dumitru Macri, Ion Mihăilescu, C. Simionescu, N. Cristescu, I. Ruzici, C. Socec, Ion Lungu, Bazil Marian, Andrei Rădulescu, Anton Fernbach-Ferenczi, Ștefan Filotti, Nicolae Roman, E. Avasilchioaie, D. Călin, L. Coman, A. Todor, N. Dodeanu, I. Langa, I. Olaru, Stere Zeană, and Gh. Milea, among others.

The 1960s was one of the best periods for Giulești football. In 1961, Rapid reached the final of the Romanian Cup, where they lost to Arieșul Turda, 1–2, with Nicolae Georgescu scoring in the 24th minute for the "White and Burgundy". The result was more surprising, as the winning team was, at that time, only a Divizia C member. The following season, Rapid—with a squad coached by Ion Mihăilescu and composed of valuable players such as Ilie Greavu, Ion Motroc, Dumitru Macri, Titus Ozon, Ion Ionescu or Teofil Codreanu, among others—eliminated CSM Mediaș, Laminorul Roman, Metalul Târgoviște, and Progresul București. However, they suffered a dramatic defeat in the final, 1–5, against a Steaua București squad that would come to be recognized as the golden generation of that club.

For most of these seasons, the team could be found in the top half of the league: 1960–61 – 3rd, 1961–62 – 5th, and 1962–63 – 8th. Then followed three great seasons for the squad, under the Grant Bridge, which finished 2nd three years in a row: 1963–64 (7 points behind Dinamo București), 1964–65 (1 point behind Dinamo București), and 1965–66 (6 points behind Petrolul Ploiești). Nevertheless, they finished behind their rivals Dinamo and Petrolul. This motivated "the Railwaymen", who, at the end of the 1966–67 season, had their best performance up until that time, their first Divizia A title, with the following players: Răducanu Necula, Marin Andrei – Dan Coe, Nicolae Lupescu, Ion Motroc, Ilie Greavu, Constantin Jamaischi – Constantin Dinu-Buric, Nicolae Georgescu, Constantin Năsturescu, Teofil Codreanu, Viorel Kraus – Ion Ionescu, Emil Dumitriu, and Alexandru Neagu. Valentin Stănescu and Victor Stănculescu were their coaches. In that season the title was won by two points over Dinamo București and the season's top scorer was Ion Ionescu, with 15 goals. In the 1967–68 European Cup, Rapid eliminated the Bulgarian champion, Botev Plovdiv, in the first round, but lost to Juventus, 0–1. In the 1967–68 Division A season the team reached the final game of the Romanian Cup, which it lost to Dinamo, 1–3 in overtime; placed 3rd in 1968–69; and 2nd in 1969–70.

1970–1990: Troubled times

Rapid's last strong season was in 1970–71, when it finished in 2nd place, after which it started to slide towards the bottom half of the league table: 1971–72 – 10th and 1972–73 – 14th. Despite these lesser performances, in 1972 Rapid reached the Romanian Cup final under coach Bazil Marian, a team player in the 1950s, and won 2–0 against Jiul Petroșani, with goals scored by Stelian Marin (3rd minute) and Alexandru Neagu (27th minute). In the 1971–72 UEFA Cup season Rapid had impressive results, eliminating Napoli and Legia Warsaw before being stopped by Tottenham Hotspur, 0–5. The 1972–73 European Cup Winners' Cup was another good European campaign, and, after a 3–1 against Landskrona BoIS of Sweden and a 4–2 against Rapid Wien, the team that had inspired the Romanian side so much in the past, Rapid was eliminated again by an English side, this time Leeds United, 1–8.

At the end of the 1973–74 season, the "White and Burgundies" finished 16th, with the same number of points as Jiul Petroșani, but this time the club from the Jiu Valley would win because of higher scores. Rapid was relegated for the third time in its history, only 7 years since its first national title. The squad had a strong following season and was promoted after only one year spent in the second league, finishing 1st in the 2nd series, 6 points ahead of 2nd place Progresul București. "The Railwaymen" seemed to want to convince everyone that relegation was nothing but a regrettable error; so, they also won the Romanian Cup in the same season, surprisingly, being a second echelon team. In the 1974–75 Cupa României campaign, Rapid advanced by eliminating strong teams such as Dinamo București (2–1), Jiul Petroșani (1–0), Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț (1–0), and Steaua București (1–1, 6–5 on penalties). In the final they encountered Universitatea Craiova, the Divizia A defending champions, a club that was fielding its first golden generation (known as "The Champion of a Great Love"), led from the pitch by its legend, Ion Oblemenco. Rapid won 2–1, in extra time, with goals scored by Nicolae Manea, and Ion Oblemenco scoring for Craiova.

Back in Divizia A, Rapid had two mediocre seasons: 1975–76 – 14th and 1976–77 – 16th, being relegated again, 10 years since being champions of Romania. After this relegation began one of the darkest periods in the history of the club at their stadium near Grant Bridge, with 6 consecutive Divizia B seasons: 1977–78 – 4th, 1978–79 – 6th, 1979–80 – 2nd, 1980–81 – 3rd, 1981–82 – 2nd and 1982–83 – 1st. This period led to a fierce rivalry with Petrolul Ploiești and Progresul București. A 1980 match, against Progresul, saw a record attendance, for a Divizia B match, of over 50,000 spectators. The subsequent return to the first division was due to coaches Valentin Stănescu (who also brought the first title in 1967) and Viorel Kraus. The players were Ion Gabriel, Manu, Popescu, Paraschiv, Pirvu, Șișcă, Tiță, Iancu, Cojocaru, Ion Ion, Nicolae Manea, Ad. Dumitru, Petruț, Ispas, C. Dumitriu, Avram, Marian Damaschin, Marta, Lazăr, Koti, Săftoiu, A. Mincu, and Petre Petre.

Rapid then had a disappointing record in Divizia A: 1984–85 – 11th, 1985–86 – 8th, 1986–87 – 14th, 1987–88 – 13th, and 1988–89 – 17th. In these five seasons "the Railwaymen" recorded the biggest loss in the history of the club, 0–9 against Corvinul Hunedoara (14 August 1985), as well as the biggest loss in Giulești Stadium, 2–8 against Steaua București (3 May 1989). After these poor performances, the 1988–89 Cupa României season saw the "White and Burgundies" gaining the semi-finals of the competition, when they were eliminated by Steaua București, 2–3, with a decisive goal scored in the last minute. The team was relegated to Divizia B for the fifth time. The Giuleștenii then had a good season in the 2nd series of the second league—finishing 1st with 22 victories, 5 draws, 7 defeats, 61 goals scored and 32 conceded, 49 points, 4 more than the second place (Drobeta-Turnu Severin) and 11 more than the third place (Unirea Alba Iulia)—and were again promoted.

1990–2008: A glorious period

Promoted back to the top league, in the next season Rapid finished 11th, 4 points away from the relegation zone. What followed was two seasons of progress in which "the Railwaymen" finished 7th, then 4th. In 1993, the club was bought by George Copos and began probably one of the most fruitful periods in the history of "the White and Burgundies".

After the 4th-place finish at the end of the 1993 season, Rapid returned to the European Cups after 18 years of absence, but was eliminated in the first round by the Italian side Inter Milan, 1–5 on aggregate. In 1994, the club finished 4th again in Divizia A, but no one risked a prognosis for a team whose fortunes so oscillated. The 1994–95 UEFA Cup season again brought two tough opponents for the Giulești side: Charleroi of Belgium, which they eliminated 3–2 on aggregate, and Eintracht Frankfurt, which eliminated Rapid 2–6 on aggregate, especially due to the 0–5 defeat by Waldstadion. In the Divizia A, they again finished in 4th place, but this time with no qualification for the European Competitions.

In the 1995–96 season the team finished 3rd, qualifying again for the UEFA Cup. After a 2–0 victory on aggregate against Lokomotiv Sofia, "the Railwaymen" were eliminated by Karlsruher SC, 2–4 on aggregate, the second time a German side eliminated them. The squad finished 8th at the end of the 1996–97 season.

With Mircea Lucescu as the new coach, Rapid had a very good 1997–98 season, the best one in the last 22 seasons. In the championship, the team finished 2nd, only two points behind Steaua București, missing the chance of a title, the first one since 1967. In the last match of the season, with over 20,000 fans travelling from Bucharest, Rapid only managed a 2–2 draw against Universitatea Craiova, a result which was heavily contested after Rapid had a clear goal denied by the referee. Without title, Rapid focused on the Romanian Cup, where they won their 10th title, but the first one since 1975. In the final, they again met Craiova, with Lucian Marinescu's 67th-minute goal securing the trophy. This triumph returned the team back to the UEFA Competitions, this time the 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The 1998–99 season started off badly. After an 8–2 on aggregate win against Grevenmacher in the qualifying round, Rapid was again eliminated quickly, this time in the first round by Vålerenga, with a 2–2 on aggregate and 2 goals scored in the Giulești Stadium by the Norwegian club. In the championship, Rapid had one of the best seasons in the history of Divizia A, finishing 1st with 89 points and winning the much-desired title of champion of Romania, the 2nd one in the history of the club. This performance was obtained under coaches Mircea Lucescu (24 rounds), Nicolae Manea (5 rounds), Dumitru Dumitriu (4 rounds), and Mircea Rednic (1 round), with the following players: Marius Bratu, Bogdan Lobonț – Daniel Chiriță, Adrian Iencsi, Dorel Mutică, Ștefan Nanu, Vasile Popa, Răzvan Raț, Mircea Rednic, Nicolae Stanciu (C), Ion Voicu – Bogdan Andone, Constantin Barbu, Mugur Bolohan, Zeno Bundea, Dănuț Lupu, Ovidiu Maier, Marius Măldărășanu, Ioan Sabău, Cezar Zamfir – Ionel Ganea, Radu Niculescu, Daniel Pancu, Sergiu Radu, and Marius Șumudică. The team also included Cristian Dulca, Lucian Marinescu, and Stefan Nanu, who left during the winter break.

The 1999–2000 season was again a good one for Rapid. However, despite the fact that they were in 2nd place, with 15-point over 3rd place (Steaua București), they could not equal the nearly perfect season of Dinamo București, who ended in 1st place, by 12 points. Rapid also could not retain the Romanian championship, being eliminated in the semi-finals by FC U Craiova, 2–3 on aggregate. The UEFA Champions League was a great disappointment, the team being eliminated by the Latvian side Skonto, 4–5 on aggregate.

The 2000–01 season started with Anghel Iordănescu as the new coach and finished with Mircea Rednic at the helm. Post-season competition consisted of a 3–1 victory over Mika of Armenia, in the qualifying round, and a 0–1 loss to Liverpool, in the first round, which resulted in a 4th place in the European championship and a quarter-finals elimination in the Romanian Cup, after a 1–2 loss to Dinamo. The next season, with Viorel Hizo as the new coach, Rapid made another good run and finished 3rd in the league, and lasted two-rounds in the 2001–02 UEFA Cup: a lopsided 12–0 on aggregate victory over Atlantas, followed by an unexpected 0–0 tie, at Parc des Princes, against PSG, losing in the second round 0–1, by a goal by Aloísio in the 93rd minute. Finally, the match was called 0–3 after the floodlight system shut down. On the other hand, "the Railwaymen" won their 11th Romanian Cup, after a final in which they registered a 2–1 victory against Dinamo București, with goals scored by Marius Măldărășanu and Daniel Pancu, and with Mircea Rednic as the new coach.

The 2002–03 season saw the club win its third league title, finishing 1st with by 7 points over Steaua București The team lasted the usual two rounds in the UEFA Cup: 5–1 against Gorica and 1–2 against Vitesse, being eliminated, by penalties, by FC Argeș, in the second round of the Romanian Cup. The squad was coached by Mircea Rednic and was composed of the following players: Ionuț Curcă, Emilian Dolha, Răzvan Lucescu, Boban Savič – Nicolae Constantin, Adrian Iencsi, Vasile Maftei, Dănuț Perjă, Răzvan Raţ, Florin Șoavă, Ion Voicu – Valentin Bădoi, Roberto Bisconti, Emmanuel Godfroid, Nicolae Grigore, Róbert Ilyés, Ioan Sabău – Florin Bratu, Daniel Niculae and Robert Niță.

The 2003–04 season was below expectations. Starting under coach Mircea Rednic, continued with Dan Petrescu, and ending under Viorel Hizo, Rapid finished 3rd, 15 points out of 1st place, which was held by Dinamo București. In the UEFA Champions League, the Rapidiștii met Anderlecht in a 0–0 tie, in the Valentin Stănescu Stadium, followed by a 2–3 defeat, in Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, after Rapid had led 2–0; and the team was again eliminated in the first rounds of the competition. The 2004–05 season started with a new coach, Răzvan Lucescu, and "the White and Burgundies" finished again in 3rd place, six points out of 1st place. In the Romanian Cup they were eliminated in the first round by the Divizia B side Dacia Unirea Brăila, 0–1.

The 3rd place in the league qualified the club for the 2005–06 UEFA Cup season. Rapid had the best European season in the history of the club, starting from the first round of the competition, qualifying for the first time for the group stage, and only being eliminated in the quarter-finals. The team's run was the following: 10–0 on aggregate against Sant Julià from Andorra, 4–1 against Vardar, and an unexpected 2–1 on aggregate against Feyenoord, and qualifying for the group stage. They were assigned to Group G, where they gained 3 victories: Rennes (2–0), Shakhtar Donetsk (1–0), PAOK (1–0), while losing only one match, against Stuttgart (1–2). If in the past Rapid was eliminated by German clubs such as Karlsruher SC or Eintracht Frankfurt, now the team was transformed in a real "killer" against the German sides, after a 3–0 victory against Hertha in the Round of 32 and a 3–3 tie, with an away goal scored against Hamburg. "The Burgundy Eagles" were stopped only in the quarter-finals by another Romanian side, FCSB, 1–1 on aggregate, with a goal scored by FCSB in Giulești. This was one of the most memorable seasons in the history of Rapid, FCSB, and Romanian football. Rapid also lost the Romanian title to FCSB, but won the Romanian Cup, after a 1–0 victory over Dinamo București. The squad in the 2005–06 European campaign was coached by Răzvan Lucescu and included the following players: Dănuț Coman, Ionuț Curcă, Apoula Edel, Mihai Mincă – Marius Constantin, Nicolae Constantin, Vasile Maftei, Dănuț Perjă, Marius Postolache, Ionuț Rada, Adrian Rusu, Ionuț Stancu – Valentin Bădoi, Emil Dică, Gigel Ene, Nicolae Grigore, Artavazd Karamyan, Marius Măldărăşanu, Valentin Negru, Romeo Stancu – Mugurel Buga, Lucian Burdujan, Viorel Moldovan, Daniel Niculae, Daniel Pancu, and Ciprian Vasilache.

In the following two seasons, Rapid ended in 4th (2006–07) and 3rd (2007–08) places, with another Romanian Cup title in 2007, in a final won 2–0 against Politehnica Timișoara in Dan Păltinișanu Stadium. In the UEFA Cup, they were constant participations, with another group-stage presence in the 2006–07 season, but finishing 4th, in a group with PSG, Mladá Boleslav, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Panathinaikos, missing qualifying for the semi-finals. The next season saw a first-round elimination, to FC Nürnberg.

2008–2016: Rapid "in derailment"

After the 2007–08 season, the financial situation of Rapid was complicated, partly by the criminal conviction of the owner, George Copos, on charges of tax evasion, illegal transfers, and misuse of the lottery. The team performances also declined. After finishing 3rd in 2007–08, Rapid occupied mid-level places three times over the next five years: 2008–09 – 8th, 2009–10 – 7th and 2012–13 – 9th. Still, the team had a last burst of success in the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons, when, under coaches Marius Șumudică, Marian Rada, and Răzvan Lucescu, they achieved two consecutive 4th-place rankings, with a new presence in the UEFA Europa League. They finished the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League season in the group stage, after they eliminated Polish side Śląsk Wrocław in the play-off round, making only 3 points in a group with Hapoel Tel Aviv, PSV Eindhoven, and Legia Warsaw occupying last place. Next season was slightly weaker, with Rapid eliminated in the third qualifying round, after a two-legged match against Heerenveen, previously having eliminated the Finnish club MYPA, 5–1 on aggregate.

On 10 May 2013, the Disciplinary Commission of the Romanian Football Federation decided not to grant the Liga I license to the club for the 2013–14 season. At the end of the season the club was sold by George Copos to Nicolae Cristescu and Adrian Zamfir.

On 6 July the FRF Executive Committee decided that 18 teams would participate in the first league. Mircea Sandu announced that a play-off between Concordia Chiajna (which relegated on the pitch) and Rapid (which was relegated on legal terms) would be held to decide the 18th team. This match took place on 13 July 2013 in Dinamo Stadium and was won by "the Railwaymen" 2–1. Concordia challenged the legality of this play-off match, as Rapid had no license for Liga I. After two rounds had already been played, on 2 August 2013 the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decided that the organization of the play-off match was irregular and Concordia must remain in the top league, Rapid being relegated.

Relegated for the sixth time to the second league, and after a period of 23 years spent in the top league with excellent performances, Rapid gathered all its forces, despite a poor financial situation and an under-funding from the new owners. Under coach Viorel Moldovan, former player on the team, "the Burgundy Eagles" had a good season, finishing 2nd in the regular season, as well as in the play-off round of the 2013–14 season, right behind Politehnica Iași and two points above Unirea Slobozia, ensuring their promotion to the first league. On 17 May 2014, the Licensing Commission of the Romanian Football Federation again decided not to grant the necessary license, this time for the 2014–15 season of Liga I. Rapid decided to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but could not initially afford the €30,000, trial fee. The money for the fee was eventually donated by club supporters, and CAS admitted the appeal, forcing the Romanian Football Federation to grant Rapid a license for the Liga I season.

In the meantime, the club was bought by Valerii Moraru, a Moldovan businessman; but under coaches Ionel Ganea, Marian Rada, Cristian Pustai, and Cristiano Bergodi, the team had a very weak season, finishing only 16th, out of 18, and being relegated back to Liga II, for the seventh time.

Back in Liga II, with Dan Alexa as a coach, Rapid had a solid season, despite the fact that debts suffocated the club; and the under-funding by the new owner did not help. At the end of the 2015–16 season, Rapid was promoted, being in 1st place, three points ahead of Dunărea Călărași. However, the club did not recover financially; the team kept only a few players and no coaches. After filing for bankruptcy, FC Rapid could not sign any new contracts, so it could not build a team for the 2016–17 season. Finally, on 14 December 2016, Rapid was officially declared bankrupt, after a half-season of inactivity.

2016–present: Rebirth

In summer 2016, after it became clear that the team could no longer be enrolled in the championship, the idea of setting up somewhere in the lower leagues appeared, more exactly, in the Bucharest Championship, Liga V. A split between the supporters and the people directly involved in the club appeared, resulting in two new clubs, AFC Rapid București and Mişcarea Feroviară CFR, after initially not less than four teams had been announced; but most of the projects did not survive. If AFC Rapid, owned by ex-Rapid marketing director, Horia Manoliu, who was in fact an old executive of the parent club, between 2001 and 2006. Mişcarea Feroviară was founded by the members of the Rapid Aristocratic Club. Both teams had an excellent run and were promoted to Liga IV.

The two clubs did not seem to have the force to succeed in the with the new promotion. So, in summer 2017, at the initiative of Sector 1 Municipality, the sports association, Academia Rapid București, was set up and enrolled in the Liga IV – Bucharest series. This club is run by former Rapid players such as Daniel Niculae (president), Daniel Pancu (technical director), Nicolae Stanciu (manager), and Constantin Schumacher (coach). By the time the auction for the bankrupt company's brand was finalized, Academia Rapid concluded a lease agreement for a period of one year. This team has proven to be popular among supporters, who consider it the moral successor of the parent club. In the same summer, Mișcarea Feroviară disappeared.

Academia Rapid had a great season and won 2017–18 Liga IV Bucharest after a tough duel with Steaua București. Also, the Romanian Cup trophy for Bucharest preliminary rounds entered the club's treasury and the phoenix club of Rapid qualified for the next season's Liga III after a two-legged promotion play-off match against FC Singureni, the Giurgiu County champions, which they won 17–1 on aggregate.

On 12 June 2018, after 18 auctions which saw the price of the Rapid brand fall by about €3 million, Academia Rapid bought the FC Rapid București brand, officially becoming the successor to the original club. The transaction was made for the amount of €406,800, thus giving legitimacy to the new entity, even though it had already been accepted by most supporters and legends of the club as the successor of the original club, a fact confirmed in the championship match against Steaua București on 14 April, when 37,000 fans attended the match in the Arena Națională.

The start of the 2018–19 season came with a number of difficulties for Rapid. Despite being 1st in the league, the football produced by the team suffered, and, as a result, coach Constantin Schumacher was replaced with former-player Daniel Pancu, which also led to the departures of Daniel Niculae and Vasile Maftei. On 24 November, Rapid played its last game in Giulesti, which was going to be demolished later that year to make space for a new Category 4 Stadium. They would play future matches at Regie until the completion of their new stadium. On 12 May, Rapid mathematically obtained the promotion to Liga II with a 3–0 win against the main contender, Unirea Slobozia. They finished the season in first with 75 points, 11 ahead of second place.

The new 2019–20 season saw Rapid in the Romanian second Division, with Daniel Pancu as the head coach of the team. Victories against 1st and 2nd-ranked teams, UTA Arad (2–0) and CS Mioveni (5–1), gave the team hope for promotion, and Rapid found themselves in 3rd place after the first half of the season. The winter break came, and after a poor start to the second half of the season, Daniel Pancu was sacked from the club. Dan Alexa was appointed as the new head coach of the team. Exactly as with Daniel Pancu, Dan Alexa didn't succeed in giving the club a boost; so, he was sacked from the club in a few months' time. After Dan Alexa, Adrian Iencsi was hired as head coach; he also didn't perform. As the club had no more ideas of whom to bring on the team, they let Mihai Iosif, the assistant coach of the club, become the new head coach. Iosif did what none of his predecessors could do, and brought Rapid to the first Romanian League (Liga I). Rapid began the 2021–22 season in the Liga I very well, with five consecutive wins and no goals conceded in seven matches, which is a record in Romania.