Traian Georgescu

Traian Georgescu (20 March 1931 – 15 May 2008) was a Romanian football defender who spent his entire career at Universitatea Cluj. He was "U" Cluj's captain when the club won the 1964–65 Cupa României.^[4]

Traian Georgescu

Georgescu with the Cupa României trophy in 1965.
Personal information
Date of birth	(1931-03-20)20 March 1931[1]
Place of birth	Ploiești, Romania[2]
Date of death	15 May 2008(2008-05-15) (aged 77)[2]
Place of death	Romania
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position	Midfielder / Defender[2][3]
Youth career
1946–1948	Prahova Ploiești[2]
1948–1951	Concordia Ploiești[2]
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1951–1966	Universitatea Cluj[2]	303	(17)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 1 January 2020

Career

"The man of balance. An exponential player who was a conductor of the defense. At the same time, he would feed the midfielders or forwards with the precision of his passes. A special altruist and a special captain. The way he was, is the way a captain must be"

–Former "U" Cluj teammate, Remus Câmpeanu talking about Georgescu^[2]

Georgescu (left) with Mihai Adam in 1965

Georgescu was born on 20 March 1931 in Ploiești, Romania, and began playing junior-level football in 1946 at local club Prahova, switching teams in 1948, going to neighboring club Concordia.^[2] He went to college at the Faculty of Medicine in Cluj-Napoca, where he started to play senior-level football at Universitatea, making his Divizia A debut on 15 April 1951 under coach Iuliu Baratky in a 4–1 away loss to Flacăra Petroșani.^[2][5] In the same year, he scored a hat-trick in Universitatea's 3–1 victory against CCA București, the press considered the second goal the most beautiful of that season for "U", as Georgescu made a run from the center of the field and with a 20-meter shot he defeated goalkeeper Ion Voinescu.^[2][5] By the end of his first season he would score a total of six goals, in addition to the hat-trick against CCA, he scored once against each of Dinamo București, Locomotiva Timișoara and Flacăra Mediaș, the latter being in the Cupa României.^[2][5] In 1954 he was called up by Romania's national team coach, Ștefan Dobay for a friendly against Hungary but he did not play.^[2][6] After the team was relegated in 1956, Georgescu stayed with the club, also becoming the team's captain after Mircea Luca retired, helping it get promoted back to the first league after one year in which he scored four goals in 23 matches.^[2][7] He helped "U" Cluj win the 1964–65 Cupa României, being used the entire match by coach Andrei Sepci in the 2–1 victory in the final against Dinamo Pitești.^[2][4][8] In the following season, Georgescu made his debut in European competitions, playing three games in the 1965–66 European Cup Winners' Cup, helping The Red Caps eliminate Austrian team, Wiener Neustadt in the first round, being eliminated in the following round by Atlético Madrid.^[2][9] He retired shortly after the double with the Spaniards, having a total of 280 Divizia A games with 13 goals scored.^[2]

Personal life

He also worked as a surgeon and when his team colleague Remus Câmpeanu was diagnosed with appendicitis, Georgescu was the one who performed the surgery on him at Câmpeanu's request.^[10]

Georgescu died in 2008 a few years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.^[10]

Honours

Universitatea Cluj

• Divizia B: 1957–58^[2][7]
• Cupa României: 1964–65^[4]