| Spiridon Niculescu | |
| Birth Date: | 8 April 1943 |
| Birth Place: | Vidra, Romania |
| Height: | 1.80 m |
| Position: | Goalkeeper |
| Youthyears1: | 1961–1962 |
| Years1: | 1962–1966 |
| Caps1: | 48 |
| Goals1: | 0 |
| Years2: | 1966–1968 |
| Caps2: | 15 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 1968–1972 |
| Caps3: | 74 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Years4: | 1973 |
| Caps4: | 2 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Years5: | 1973–1974 |
| Caps5: | 6 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Years6: | 1975–1976 |
| Totalcaps: | 145 |
| Totalgoals: | 0 |
| Manageryears1: | 1976–1977 |
| Managerclubs1: | Celuloza Călărași |
| Manageryears2: | 1984–1985 |
| Managerclubs2: | Corvinul Hunedoara (assistant) |
| Manageryears3: | 1985–1986 |
| Managerclubs3: | Dunărea Galați |
| Manageryears4: | 1990 |
| Managerclubs4: | Flacăra Moreni |
| Manageryears5: | 1994 |
| Managerclubs5: | Dunărea Galați |
| Manageryears6: | 2007–2008 |
| Managerclubs6: | Dunărea Galați |
Spiridon Niculescu (born 8 April 1943) is a Romanian former football goalkeeper and manager.[1]
Spiridon Niculescu was born on 8 April 1943 in Vidra, Romania, starting to play junior level football in 1961 at Dinamo București.[1] One year later he went to play for Divizia B club, Dinamo Pitești, a team which he helped promote to the first league after one season.[1] He made his Divizia A debut on 25 August 1963 in a 2–1 home victory in front of Știința Cluj. At the end of his third season, the team reached the 1965 Cupa României final where coach Virgil Mărdărescu used him as a starter and he conceded a goal from Remus Câmpeanu in the 11th minute, being replaced in the 17th minute with Constantin Matache in the eventual 2–1 loss in front of Știința Cluj.[2] In 1966, Niculescu was given in exchange to Dinamo București for fellow goalkeeper Narcis Coman where he played in another Cupa României final in 1968, coach Bazil Marian using him all the minutes in the 3–1 win over Rapid București.[1] [3] [4] [5] Afterwards Niculescu returned to Pitești, the team being now named Argeș and started playing in European competitions during the 1968–69 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, appearing in both legs of the 5–3 loss on aggregate from the second round in front of Göztepe.[6] In the 1971–72 season he won the league title with Argeș, but he played just one game as coaches Titus Ozon and Florin Halagian preferred Vasile Stan as first-choice goalkeeper.[1] [7] In 1973 he went for half of season at Rapid București, playing only two league games. He then returned to Argeș where he made one appearance in a 1–1 with Fenerbahçe from the first round of the 1973–74 UEFA Cup edition but they did not qualify further as the first leg was lost with 5–1.[8] [9] On 29 September 1975, Niculescu made his last Divizia a appearance in a 2–0 away loss in front of Politehnica Iași, having a total of 145 games in the competition with 216 goals conceded. He completely ended his career in 1976 after he spent one season and a half in Divizia B at FC Brăila.[1]
After he ended his playing career, Spiridon Niculescu worked as a coach in the Romania lower leagues for teams such as Celuloza Călărași or Dunărea Galați.[1] He was also Ion Nunweiller's assistant at Corvinul Hunedoara and had a short spell in the first league at Flacăra Moreni during the 1989–90 Divizia A season in which he led the team in 13 games but won just two and the team relegated at the end of it.[10] [11] [12]
Argeș Pitești
Dinamo București