Constantin Rădulescu (footballer, born 1934) explained

Constantin Rădulescu
Birth Date:1934 4, df=y
Birth Place:Comarnic, Romania
Death Place:Timișoara, Romania
Position:Midfielder
Years1:1948–1949
Clubs1:Vulturii Comarnic
Years2:1950–1958
Years3:1959–1966
Clubs3:Dinamo Bacău
Manageryears1:1966–1967
Managerclubs1:Dinamo Bacău
Manageryears2:1969–1974
Managerclubs2:Dinamo Bacău
Manageryears3:1974–1975
Managerclubs3:CS Botoșani
Manageryears4:1975–1977
Manageryears5:1977–1979
Managerclubs5:Politehnica Timișoara (assistant)
Manageryears6:1979
Manageryears7:1979–1980
Managerclubs7:UM Timișoara
Manageryears8:1980–1982
Managerclubs8:CSM Suceava
Manageryears9:1982–1983
Managerclubs9:CS Târgoviște
Manageryears10:1983–1984
Managerclubs10:SC Bacău
Manageryears11:1984–1988
Managerclubs11:Oțelul Galați
Manageryears12:1988–1991
Managerclubs12:Politehnica Timișoara
Manageryears13:1991–1992
Managerclubs13:Farul Constanța
Manageryears14:1993–1994
Managerclubs14:Vega Caransebeș
Manageryears15:1994–1996
Managerclubs15:Politehnica Timișoara
Manageryears16:1998–1999
Managerclubs16:UM Timișoara
Pcupdate:9 April 2023

Constantin "Costică" Rădulescu (17 April 1934 – 8 July 2002) was a Romanian footballer and manager.

Playing career

Constantin Rădulescu was born on 17 April 1934 in Comarnic and started his playing career in 1948 at local club, Vulturii.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] In 1949 he moved to Dinamo Brașov where he stayed until 1958, in the last year the team was playing in Cluj.[1] [2] [3] [5] He then signed with Dinamo Bacău, a team for which he would play the rest of his career which ended in 1966 when he scored a hat-trick against Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea, a game he did not finish on the field as he suffered a commotion.[1] [2] [3] [5] [6] Even though he was a fan of Rapid București, he never got to play for them.[1]

Managerial career

Constantin Rădulescu started his coaching career at Dinamo Bacău in 1966 at the request of his former coach, Constantin Teașcă who left the team, managing to promote it from Divizia B to Divizia A in his first year.[1] [2] [3] [6] While coaching Bacău, Rădulescu together with Valeriu Neagu led them in the 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup campaign where they eliminated Floriana, Skeid and Kilmarnock, reaching the quarter-finals where they were eliminated by Arsenal who would eventually win the competition.[1] [2] [3] [6] [7] In 1974 during a match with Dinamo București, a general brawl ensued in which Rădulescu hit Dinamo's president Paul Moga who had previously cursed him and following that scandal, eight players were suspended, and Rădulescu was forbidden to coach any Divizia A or Divizia B team for three years, thus taking over the Divizia C club, CS Botoșani where General Marin Dragnea promised him that he would lift his suspension if he promoted the team to Divizia B which he achieved.[1] [2] [3] [4] [6] In 1975 he went to coach Politehnica Timișoara, finishing the first season on the 5th place and from 1977 until 1979 he worked as Angelo Niculescu's assistant, together being close to win the championship in the 1977–78 season but eventually finished on the 3rd position.[1] [2] [3] [4] [6] After Niculescu left the club, he worked again as head coach but got replaced after 15 rounds with Ion "Jackie" Ionescu.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] In the following years, Rădulescu coached UM Timișoara, CSM Suceava, CS Târgoviște and SC Bacău before arriving at Oțelul Galați in 1984 where he stayed for four years, earning a 4th place in the 1987–88 season which granted the team the qualification to the 1988–89 UEFA Cup where they were eliminated in the first round by Juventus, however before the double with the Italians he was replaced with Cornel Dinu.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] He returned to Politehnica Timișoara in 1988 which was playing in Divizia B, promoting after one year and finished the next season on the 5th place which earned them a spot in the 1990–91 UEFA Cup where they eliminated in the first round Atlético Madrid with 2–1 on aggregate, being eliminated in the next round by Sporting Lisabona.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [8] He left Politehnica in 1991 after a conflict with the players who were unsatisfied with his training methods but after two spells at Farul Constanța and Vega Caransebeș he returned at Politehnica which was again in Divizia B, helping it promote after one season having 14 points above the team from the second place, Corvinul Hunedoara and in the 1995–96 Divizia A season he started the championship well, including earning a 9–1 victory in the 5th round in front of Politehnica Iași but the following results were poorer and eventually he was dismissed.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] His last spell as coach was at UM Timișoara which he helped promote from Divizia C to Divizia B and led them in the 1998–99 Cupa României campaign where they eliminated Divizia A teams Astra Ploiești and Naţional București, reaching the quarter-finals where they were eliminated by Dinamo București, also during this period Rădulescu told his players his most famous quote about their football careers:"Everything passes, money passes, but these...these you should tell them to your children and grandchildren".[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [8] Before a Divizia B game with UTA Arad he got a call from somebody who told him that 4 or 5 of his players got bribed to lose the game, the match ended with a 5–0 loss and he resigned from UM Timișoara and ended his career in which he has a total of 426 matches as a coach in Divizia A consisting of 176 victories 82 draws and 168 losses.[1] [2] [3] [4] [9] Constantin Rădulescu died on 8 July 2002 at age 68 in Timișoara after suffering from peritonitis and in October 2019 a street from Timișoara was named after him.[1] [2] [3] [4] [8] [10]

Honours

Manager

Dinamo Bacău

1966–67[1] CS Botoșani

1974–75[1] Politehnica Timișoara

1988–89, 1994–95[1] Oțelul Galați

1985–86[1] UM Timișoara

1996–97[1]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Costică Rădulescu a murit. Apropotv.ro . Romanian. Costică Rădulescu has died. 10 July 2002 . 9 April 2023.
  2. Web site: Remember Costică Rădulescu: 11 ani fără cel mai iubit antrenor al Politehnicii. Druckeria.ro. Romanian . Remember Costică Rădulescu: 11 years without the most beloved coach of the Politehnica. 9 April 2020.
  3. Web site: Costică Rădulescu, antrenorul Oțelului modern. Ascotelul.ro . Romanian. Costică Rădulescu, the coach of modern Oțelul. 9 April 2023.
  4. Web site: O stradă din Timişoara va purta numele antrenorului Costică Rădulescu. Atribuire după trei ani de la memoriul fanilor Politehnicii. Pressalert.ro . Romanian. A street in Timisoara will bear the name of coach Costică Rădulescu. Award after three years from the Politehnica fans' memo. 9 October 2019. 9 April 2023.
  5. Web site: Antrenorul Costica Radulescu a incetat din viata. Ziua.ro. Romanian. Coach Costica Radulescu has passed away. 10 July 2002. 9 April 2023. 14 April 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230414032622/http://www.ziua.ro/display.php?data=2002-07-10&id=95201. dead.
  6. Web site: Trei decenii de la o mare victorie: Poli - Atletico Madrid 2-0. Welovesport.ro . Romanian. Three decades since a great victory: Poli - Atletico Madrid 2-0. 21 September 2020 . 10 April 2023.
  7. Web site: Jumătate de secol de la o calificare istorică în primăvara europeană. Gsp.ro. Romanian . Half a century since a historic qualification in the European spring. 13 January 2020. 30 November 2021.
  8. Web site: Ne-a parasit Costica Radulescu. Ziaruldeiasi.ro . Romanian. Costica Radulescu left us. 11 July 2002 . 9 April 2023.
  9. Web site: Top 60 antrenori. RomanianSoccer.ro. Romanian . Top 60 coaches. 9 April 2023.
  10. Web site: O stradă din Timișoara va purta numele lui Costică Rădulescu. Banatulazi.ro . Romanian. A street in Timișoara will be named after Costică Rădulescu. 9 October 2019 . 9 April 2023.