Collapse of Olimpia Satu Mare and successor split In the winter break of the
2017–18 season,
Olimpia Satu Mare withdrew from
Liga II due to financial problems, also having 70 points deducted, effectively marking the club’s collapse. Following this, two separate initiatives emerged. A group of the club’s supporters, organized as
Voluntarii Olimpiști () and dissatisfied with the way the club had been administered in recent years, created their own club, Olimpia MCMXXI, a fan-owned phoenix club that claimed to be the successor of FC Olimpia, but had no legal connection to the old entity, although the club uses Olimpia’s traditional yellow and blue colours. In parallel, the local authorities founded a football section within Club Sportiv Municipal Satu Mare, which also claimed to be the successor of FC Olimpia, but again had no legal connection with the old club and uses white and red colours.
Rise of CSM Satu Mare and promotion to Liga III The football section of CSM Satu Mare was entered directly in the
2018–19 season of
Liga IV Satu Mare, and after winning Series B, the team defeated Talna Orașu Nou in the county league final before securing promotion by beating Minerul Rodna, the
Bistrița-Năsăud County winners, 5–0 in the first leg and 1–1 in the second. However, the club was not admitted to
Liga III by the
Romanian Football Federation because the financial guarantee required for participation had been paid late. The
2019–20 campaign was interrupted in March 2020 due to COVID-19, with CSM Satu Mare leading Series C. On 2 June 2020, the County Football Association announced that a championship play-off between the top two teams in each of the three zones would decide the county champion. The season officially ended on 24 July 2020, as the teams could not comply with the medical protocol. CSM Satu Mare was consequently declared county champion and secured promotion to Liga III after competing in the promotion play-off in
Zalău, drawing 0–0 against
Someșul Dej and defeating
CA Oradea 3–1. The squad for these two campaigns comprised
Curileac, Oșan, Cherecheș, Ionescu, Țoca, R. Ritli, Tincău, Chitaș, Svarczkopf, Vădan, Șimon, Bordac, Jakab, Portik, Patric, Maxim, Moroș, M. Nagy, R. Nyilvan, Negrean, B. Nyilvan, Faur, Kakab, and Cadar, with most players participating in both seasons under the guidance of coach
Zoltán Ritli. Ahead of the
2022–23 season,
Florin Fabian was appointed sporting director, while Csik remained head coach.
Mansour Gueye, one of the longest-serving foreign players in Romanian football at the time, also joined the squad. The changes were reflected on the pitch, as CSM Satu Mare climbed to 2nd place in the regular season and finished 3rd after the series play-off stage. In 2023, the club was renamed CSM Olimpia Satu Mare, reconnecting with the city’s traditional football identity and adopting the traditional yellow and blue colours. The coaching staff also changed, with Csik replaced by Cosmin Iuhas. Florin Fabian, who was also reportedly involved in an informal coaching role, departed the club in October 2023. Under Iuhas, Olimpia finished 2nd in the regular season and 3rd in the series play-off stage of the
2023–24 campaign, before he departed in April 2024 and was replaced by
Zoltán Ritli as head coach, with Alexandru Botoș as assistant. However, although Ritli remained the official head coach in match reports due to licensing regulations, Botoș effectively led the team from the bench. The
2024–25 campaign brought the club’s best results in recent years. The team, led by Zoltán Ritli and Alexandru Botoș, was further strengthened in January 2025 with the appointment of former international goalkeeper
Bogdan Lobonț as sporting director. Olimpia finished 3rd in the regular season and 2nd in the series play-off, and qualified for the promotion play-offs, where they eliminated
Minerul Lupeni in the first round and defeated
Politehnica Timișoara in the second round, securing promotion to
Liga II. The squad included, among others, Al. Maxim,
B. Miron, Văduva, Todoran, Copaci, Diomande, E. Negru, Oanea, Șanta, Lucaci,
Calugher,
Mustacă, Csatari, D. Pop, Corodan, R. Prodan, Chinde, Văsălie,
Zsiga, C. Zamfir and Hosu. ==Ground==