Mihai Țârlea (footballer, born 1938)

Not to be confused with Mihai Țârlea (footballer, born 1964).

Mihai Țârlea (19 April 1938 – 28 February 1984) was a Romanian football forward and manager.^[1][2]

Mihai Țârlea

Țârlea standing in UTA jersey for the 1965–66 season
Personal information
Date of birth	(1938-04-19)19 April 1938[1]
Place of birth	Livada de Bihor, Romania[1]
Date of death	28 February 1984(1984-02-28) (aged 45)
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Position(s)	Forward[1]
Youth career
	Indagrara Arad
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1957–1968	UTA Arad[a]	206	(80)
International career
1964	Romania Olympic	1	(2)
Managerial career
1969–1972	Vulturii Textila Lugoj
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Țârlea was born on 19 April 1938 in Livada de Bihor, Romania.^[1] He started to play football at Indagrara Arad, afterwards he went to play for UTA Arad, making his Divizia A debut on 18 August 1957 under coach Eugen Mladin in a 1–0 away victory against Dinamo București.^[1]

Țârlea (fifth from the right, back row) with UTA in 1966

He remained at UTA for the rest of his career, consisting of 11 seasons, the highlights of this period being a third place as the top-goalscorer of the 1963–64 Divizia A season with 16 goals alongside Florea Voinea, a fourth place with the team in the 1967–68 season and reaching the 1966 Cupa României final, where coach Nicolae Dumitrescu used him all the minutes in the eventual 4–0 loss in front of Steaua București.^[1][3][4] Țârlea's last Divizia A appearance took place on 26 May 1968 in a 2–0 away loss with Universitatea Craiova, having a total of 206 games with 80 goals scored in the competition, including six goals in the West derby against Politehnica Timișoara.^[1][5][6]

International career

Mihai Țârlea played one game and scored two goals for Romania's Olympic team in a friendly which ended with a 4–1 victory against Czechoslovakia.^[7]

Managerial career

After he ended his playing career, Țârlea worked as a coach, leading along with his assistant, Christos Metskas, from 1969 until 1972 Vulturii Textila Lugoj, helping it earn promotion from Divizia C to Divizia B in the 1970–71 season.^[8][9]

Personal life

His son, who is also named Mihai Țârlea was also a footballer who played at UTA.^[10]

Death

Țârlea died on 28 February 1984 at the age of 45.^[1]

Honours

Player

UTA Arad

• Cupa României runner-up: 1965–66^[3]

Manager

Vulturii Textila Lugoj

• Divizia C: 1970–71^[8]

See also

• List of one-club men in association football

Notes

1. The 1957 championship called Cupa Primăverii is unofficial, so the appearances and goals scored at that competition for UTA Arad are not official.^[1]