| Competition: | Liga I |
| Season: | 2012–13 |
| Winners: | Steaua București |
| Relegated: | Rapid București Turnu Severin CSMS Iași Gloria Bistrița |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Steaua București |
| Continentalcup2: | Europa League |
| Continentalcup2 Qualifiers: | Pandurii Târgu Jiu Petrolul Ploiești Astra Giurgiu |
| League Topscorer: | Raul Rusescu (21) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Petrolul 5–0 Ceahlăul CFR 5–0 Brașov |
| Biggest Away Win: | Concordia 0–6 Steaua |
| Highest Scoring: | Petrolul 6–4 Brașov |
| Matches: | 306 |
| Total Goals: | 816 |
| Longest Wins: | Steaua (6) |
| Longest Losses: | Gloria (8) |
| Longest Unbeaten: | Petrolul (16) |
| Highest Attendance: | Steaua 4–0 Brașov (50,224)[1] |
| Prevseason: | 2011–12 |
| Nextseason: | 2013–14 |
The 2012–13 Liga I was the ninety-fifth season of Liga I, the top-level football league of Romania. The season began on 21 July 2012 and ended on 30 May 2013.[2] CFR Cluj were the defending champions.
Since Romania dropped from 14th to 22nd place in the UEFA association coefficient rankings at the end of the 2011–12 season,[3] the league has lost its second UEFA Champions League berth. Further, all teams who will qualify for a European competition via league placement at the end of this season will have to enter these a round earlier as in the season before. The champions will enter the second qualifying round of the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League, while the second- and third-placed teams will begin at the second and first qualifying rounds, respectively, of the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League. In addition, the winners of the 2012–13 Cupa României will also start in the second qualifying round of the Europa League, two rounds earlier than before.
Four teams from the 2011–12 season were relegated to their respective 2012–13 Liga II division, Târgu Mureș, Mioveni, Voința Sibiu, and Sportul Studențesc București.
Four teams, two from each division, were promoted from 2011–12 Liga II. From the Seria I, CSMS Iași and Viitorul Constanța gained the access because they finished first and second in the standings. From Seria II, the promoted teams where Gloria Bistrița and Turnu Severin. Politehnica Timișoara won their promotion place in the field, but they did not receive their licence for the first league, so the Romanian Football Federation decided that the third team in the division, Turnu Severin, should promote instead.[4]
Team FC Astra Ploiești were renamed FC Astra Giurgiu, effective to 1 July 2012.
| Steaua București | Universitatea Cluj | CFR Cluj | Turnu Severin | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arena Națională | Cluj Arena | Dr. Constantin Rădulescu | Municipal | |
| Capacity: 55,634 | Capacity: 30,201 | Capacity: 23,500 | Capacity: 20,054 | |
| Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț | Viitorul Constanța | Petrolul Ploiești | Dinamo București | |
| Ceahlăul | Farul | Ilie Oană | Dinamo | |
| Capacity: 18,000 | Capacity: 15,520 | Capacity: 15,073 | Capacity: 15,032 | |
| Oțelul Galați | Rapid București | |||
| Oțelul | Giulești-Valentin Stănescu | |||
| Capacity: 13,500 | Capacity: 11,704 | |||
| Politehnica Iași | Vaslui | |||
| Emil Alexandrescu | Municipal | |||
| Capacity: 11,390 | Capacity: 9,240 | |||
| Pandurii Târgu Jiu | Brașov | |||
| Tudor Vladimirescu | Silviu Ploeșteanu | |||
| Capacity: 9,200 | Capacity: 8,800 | |||
| Astra Giurgiu | Gaz Metan Mediaș | Gloria Bistrița | Concordia Chiajna | |
| Marin Anastasovici | Gaz Metan | Gloria | Concordia | |
| Capacity: 8,500 | Capacity: 7,814 | Capacity: 7,800 | Capacity: 5,123 | |
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astra Giurgiu |  | Valerică Găman | Puma | InterAgro | |
| Brașov | | Cristian Munteanu | Puma | Roman | |
| Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț | | Marian Constantinescu | Masita | SuperBet | |
| CFR Cluj | | Cadú | Joma | EnergoBit | |
| Concordia Chiajna | | Sorin Ghionea | Nike | — | |
| CSMS Iași | | Răzvan Tincu | Legea | — | |
| Dinamo București | | Cătălin Munteanu | Nike | Orange | |
| Gaz Metan Mediaș | | Cristian Todea | Joma | RomGaz | |
| Gloria Bistrița | | Cornel Predescu | Puma | Gomar | |
| Oțelul Galați | | Sergiu Costin | Masita | ArcelorMittal | |
| Pandurii Târgu Jiu | |  Ousmane Viera | Nike | USMO | |
| Petrolul Ploiești | |  Sony Mustivar | Macron | Romprest | |
| Rapid București | | Daniel Pancu | Puma | — | |
| Steaua București | | Alexandru Bourceanu | Nike | Mihai Nesu Foundation | |
| Turnu Severin | | Marius Bălău | Puma | Primăria Severin | |
| Universitatea Cluj | | Zsolt Szilágyi | Nike | Romprest | |
| Vaslui | | Lucian Sânmărtean | Adidas | New Holland Agriculture | |
| Viitorul Constanța | | Nicolae Dică | Puma | — |
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steaua București | | Contract terminated | 21 May 2012[5] | Pre-season | | 21 May 2012[6] |
| Concordia Chiajna | | Signed by Steaua București | 21 May 2012 | | 8 June 2012[7] | |
| Rapid București | | Signed by El Jaish | 21 May 2012[8] | | 18 June 2012[9] | |
| Astra Giurgiu | | Resigned | 23 May 2012[10] | | 14 June 2012[11] | |
| Petrolul Ploiești | | Sacked | 24 May 2012[12] | | 29 May 2012[13] | |
| Vaslui | Resigned | 4 July 2012[14] | | 5 July 2012[15] | ||
| Universitatea Cluj | | Resigned | 23 July 2012[16] | 17th | | 26 July 2012[17] |
| Astra Giurgiu | | Sacked | 10 August 2012[18] | 10th | | 13 August 2012[19] |
| Turnu Severin | | Sacked | 27 August 2012[20] | 16th |  | 27 August 2012 |
| CSMS Iași | | Resigned | 29 August 2012[21] | 17th | | 29 August 2012 |
| Oțelul Galați | | Resigned | 30 August 2012[22] | 15th | | 30 August 2012 |
| Brașov | | Sacked | 23 September 2012[23] | 11th | | 10 October 2012[24] |
| Vaslui | | Resigned | 24 September 2012[25] | 4th | | 28 September 2012[26] |
| Universitatea Cluj | | Resigned | 1 October 2012[27] | 13th | | 10 November 2012[28] |
| Rapid București | | Sacked | 20 October 2012[29] | 8th | | 20 October 2012 |
| CFR Cluj | | Mutual consent | 24 October 2012[30] | 10th | Paulo Sérgio | 30 October 2012[31] |
| Petrolul Ploiești | | Signed by Standard Liège | 26 October 2012[32] | 6th | | 29 October 2012[33] |
| Astra Giurgiu | | Sacked | 29 October 2012[34] | 3rd | | 29 October 2012[35] |
| Brașov | | Resigned | 11 November 2012[36] | 10th | | 13 November 2012 |
| Dinamo București | | Sacked | 15 November 2012[37] | 7th | | 15 November 2012 |
| Universitatea Cluj | | Resigned | 15 November 2012[38] | 14th | | 16 November 2012[39] |
| Turnu Severin | | End of contract | 21 December 2012[40] | 17th | | 9 January 2013[41] |
| Dinamo București | | Resigned | 27 December 2012[42] | 7th | | 28 December 2012[43] |
| Pandurii Târgu Jiu | | Resigned | 17 January 2013[44] | 4th | | 19 January 2013[45] |
| Gaz Metan Mediaș | | Signed by Pandurii Târgu Jiu | 19 January 2013 | 12th | | 21 January 2013[46] |
| Oțelul Galați | | Mutual consent | 30 January 2013[47] | 13th | | 30 January 2013 |
| Universitatea Cluj | | End of caretaker spell | 31 January 2013[48] | 16th | | 31 January 2013 |
| Astra Giurgiu | | Sacked | 6 April 2013[49] | 2nd | | 6 April 2013 |
| Vaslui | | Resigned | 7 April 2013[50] | 6th | | 9 April 2013[51] |
| CFR Cluj | Sacked | 13 April 2013[52] | 8th | | 13 April 2013 | |
| Astra Giurgiu | | Sacked | 13 April 2013[53] | 2nd | | 13 April 2013 |
| CSMS Iași | | Sacked | 20 April 2013[54] | 17th | | 22 April 2013[55] |
| Ceahlăul | | Sacked | 12 May 2013[56] | 13th | | 12 May 2013 |
1 Marius Niculae was transferred to Shandong Luneng during the winter transfer window.
John Ibeh (Pandurii Târgu Jiu) against Universitatea Cluj
Hamza Younés (Petrolul Ploiești) against Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț (stage 1) George Țucudean (Dinamo București) against CSMS Iași (4 goals, stage 2) Marius Niculae (Vaslui) against Concordia Chiajna (stage 10) Marius Onofraș (CSMS Iași) against Oțelul Galați (stage 18) Marius Pena (Oțelul Galați) against Rapid București (stage 19) Robert Maah (CFR Cluj) against Universitatea Cluj (stage 34)
