Early Years and First Ascents (1962–1975) The history of football in Motru traces back to 1962, when the initiative to form a football team was driven by Hariton Niculescu and Dumitru Dijmărescu, pioneers of the mining industry in the
Motru Basin. Initially named Minerul Horăști, the club was based in the village of Însurăței (now part of
Motru municipality), where the team members were housed. The club's first president was Ion Crivăț, the Director of the Leurda Mine, and the team's first coach was Vasile Eordogh, who was also a player and included among others, Bogdan Oprea, Dumitru Pop, Emil Cîșu, Petre Tănase, Petre Hoară, Horațiu Cuțui and the Râbu brothers. The team first played in the Baia de Aramă District Championship and promoted to the
Oltenia Regional Championship in 1964. In 1966, along with the attestation of the city of
Motru, the club changed its name to Minerul Motru. In the
1966–67 season, finishing 1st in Series II, Minerul won the Oltenia Region Championship in the final played against Progresul Goicea Mică, after three drawn matches, due to the younger average age of its players. However, the Miners lost the promotion in front of Victoria Boboc, the
Ploiești Region Championship winner, after eliminated in preliminary round Politehnica Brașov, the
Brașov Region Championship winner.
The Golden Period and Persistent Challenges (1976–1992) The Miners reached
Divizia C in
1968, finishing 2nd in the second series of the Oltenia Regional Championship. After five seasons in the third division, with rankings of 7th in the
1968–69 season, 12th in
1969–70—just one point above the relegation line—11th in
1970–71, and 4th in
1971–72, promotion to
Divizia B was achieved at the end of the
1972–73 season. The
first season in Divizia B was tough; Minerul finished 15th out of 18, tied on points with
Gaz Metan Mediaș, and was relegated back to Divizia C at
goal difference. However, the White and Blacks quickly returned to the second division, finishing 1st in the fourth series at the end of the
1974–75 season. Unfortunately, struggling to stay in Divizia B, Minerul ranked 15th once again in the
following season, and were relegated back to the third division. In
Divizia C, the Miners competed in the seventh series, achieving consistent mid-to-upper table finishes. The team ranked 3rd in the
1976–77 season and made a notable run in the
Cupa României, defeating
Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea 3–2, Metalurgistul Sadu 4–3, and
Politehnica Timișoara 2–1 before suffering a heavy 0–6 defeat against
Steaua București in the Round of 16. The squad included players such as Nae, Bălan, Firțulescu, Copil, Stere, Truică, Ciornoavă, Rădoi, Săvulea, Țurcanu, Mănăitu, Gutuie, Mateescu, Nicoloff I and Nicoloff II. Subsequent seasons saw finishes of 7th in
1977–78, 5th in
1978–79, 4th in
1979–80, and 5th in
1980–81. In the
1981–82 season, Minerul finished 1st in its series promoted to second division once again. The squad led by Titu Nicolicescu was composed from following players: Lupui, Anghel, Mircea Pruteanu, Bălan, Văduva, Nicolae Ciornoavă, Mirea, Ionel Catană, Cățan, Mihai Ghițulescu, Mircea Gașpar, Lazăr, Marcel Ploaie, Nicolae Laurențiu, Aspricioiu, Mircea Drăguț, Mihordea, Gutuie, Nicoloff, Dan Stoenac, Tudor Dobrică and Ion Alecu. Minerul competed in the second division for three consecutive seasons. In the
1982–83 season, the team finished a respectable 4th out of 18. However, in
1983–84, there was a slight decline, finishing 11th out of 18. Unfortunately, in the
1984–85 season, Minerul ended up in 18th place out of 18, resulting in relegation to the third division. In the following three seasons in the
third division, Minerul placed 8th in
1985–86 under the guidance of
Constantin Oțet. The team narrowly missed promotion in
1986–87, finishing as runners-up just one point behind
Gloria Reșița. Finally, in the
1987–88 season, Minerul secured 1st place, earning a return to Divizia B. In the
1988–89 season, Minerul secured a 13th-place finish out of 18, under coach
Costică Toma, successfully maintaining its status in the second division. The
following season showed improvement, with Minerul climbing to a safer 9th-place position. However, in the
1990–91 season, Minerul faced significant challenges and finished in 17th place, which ultimately led to relegation back to Divizia C. In the
1992–93 season, Minerul reached the Round of 16 in the
Cupa României, where it was narrowly defeated 0–1 by
Dacia Unirea Brăila. However, after an unsuccessful promotion attempt that season, club president Marcu Burtea decided to merge Minerul with the third-division team Venus Lugoj through absorption, renaming the club Minerul Venus Motru. Taking Venus' place in the
third division, the team finished the
1993–94 season as runners-up in Series IV. In the
1994–95 season, Minerul won Series III of the third division under the guidance of
Silviu Lung, earning a return to the
second division. Assigned to Series II, Minerul played four consecutive seasons in
Divizia B. In the
1995–96 season, the team ended in 11th place, but showed improvement in the
1996–97 season, finishing 4th. The next two years saw consistent mid-table results, with 7th place in
1997–98 and 9th place in
1998–99. However, the
1999–2000 season proved difficult, and a last-place finish resulted in relegation to the third division. In the
2002–03 season, Minerul finished 2nd in Series V of Divizia C and earned promotion to Divizia B. Under the guidance of Gabriel Zahiu, the team reached the Round of 32 in the
Cupa României, defeating
second division sides
Extensiv Craiova (1–1, 6–4 on penalties) and
Gilortul Târgu Cărbunești (2–0), before being eliminated by
first division side
FCM Bacău following a 2–2 draw and a 5–6 defeat in the
penalty shootout. The squad included players such as Antici, Ștefănică, Purcel, I. Constantin, Mirea, Ploscariu, Pătrașcu, Bertea, P. Gheorghe, A. Soo, Crișanov, Volocaru, Nueleanu and Glișcă. In
Divizia B, Minerul competed in Series II, finishing 10th in both the
2003–04 and
2004–05 seasons under Gabriel Zahiu, who was replaced in January 2005 by Pavel Buburuz.
Silviu Lung was appointed head coach for the
2005–06 season, but due to disappointing results, he left the team in April 2006. Although he initially reconsidered his resignation, he was ultimately replaced by Marcel Ploaie as Minerul finished 11th and was relegated following a league restructuring from three to two series, In the
2006–07 season of
Liga III, Minerul secured a 2nd place finish in Series IV, earning a spot in the promotion play-offs. Unfortunately, the team lost both matches, suffering heavy defeats against
Luceafărul Lotus Băile Felix (0–3) and
Mureșul Deva (0–5), finishing last in Group II. The squad, led by
Marin Tudorache, who replaced Marcel Ploaie with four rounds left in the season, included players such as Ciucă,
Naicu, V. Prodan, Bălan, Murdărea, Ioniță, A. Soo, Istinie, Ursu, Moican, Apostol, Nicoloff, Bucă, Trifu, and Glișcă. Minerul continued in Liga III for the following seasons, achieving mixed results. Under Gabriel Zahiu, the team finished 3rd in Series V in
2007–08, followed by a 7th-place finish in Series IV in
2008–09. Subsequently, Constantin Andriucă was appointed as head coach in October 2009, but a series of poor results led to
Ștefan Nanu taking over in April 2010, yet the relegation could no longer be avoided, as Minerul ended the
2009–10 season in 15th place in Series IV. To retain their
third division status, the White and Blacks acquired the place of
Minerul Mehedinți. Under Nanu, the team steadily improved, competing in Series IV and finishing 7th in
2010–11, 2nd in
2011–12, and ultimately winning the series in
2012–13 to secure a long-awaited promotion to the second division after seven years. Minerul struggled during the
2013–14 Liga II campaign, with Ștefan Nanu leaving the team after five rounds in October following four consecutive defeats. Following a brief interim period led by assistants Petre Gheorghe and Liviu Cojocaru, Gabriel Zahiu returned as head coach, under whom the team finished 12th in the regular season and 10th after the play-out stage of Series II, resulting in relegation. Returning to
Liga III, Minerul competed in Series IV and finished 11th in the
2014–15 season, then endured a difficult
2015–16 campaign, finishing last in the series. However, in the summer of 2016, faced with serious financial problems, the senior team was disbanded, and the club continued to operate only at youth level. In the summer of 2021, it was announced that the senior team of Minerul started again its activity, after five years. ==Honours==