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Traian Ionescu
Romanian footballer and manager From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Traian Ionescu (17 July 1923 – 4 October 2006) was a Romanian football goalkeeper and coach.
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Club career
Ionescu was born on 17 July 1923 in Văleni, Argeș County, Romania and began playing junior-level football at age 13 at TC Târgoviște where he stayed until 1939.[1][2][3] In the following years he went to play for Sporting Club Pitești, Vulturii Textila Lugoj and Sportul Muncitoresc Găvana.[1][2][3] He arrived at Juventus București where coach Emerich Vogl gave him his Divizia A debut on 6 April 1947 in a 4–1 victory against Libertatea Oradea.[1][2][3][4] In 1949, Ionescu was transferred by CCA București where he helped the team win the first title in its history in the 1951 season, being used by coach Gheorghe Popescu in five games.[1][2][3][5] He also contributed to three Cupa României victories, but played in only one final in 1949 when coach Francisc Ronnay used him the entire match in the 2–1 victory against CSU Cluj.[1][2][3][6][7] Ionescu went to play for CA Câmpulung Moldovenesc where he made his last Divizia A appearance on 27 November 1952 in a 3–0 home victory against Flacăra Petroșani, totaling 98 games played in the competition.[1][2][3]
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International career
Ionescu played five games at international level for Romania, making his debut on 20 June 1948 under coach Iuliu Baratky in a 3–2 home victory against Bulgaria in the 1948 Balkan Cup.[8][9] His following two games were in the same tournament, a 2–1 win over Czechoslovakia and a 0–0 draw against Poland.[8] Ionescu's last appearance for the national team took place on 22 May 1949 in a friendly that ended with a 3–2 loss to Czechoslovakia.[8]
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Managerial career
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Perspective
"Traian Ionescu was unique, one of the greatest Romanian football coaches."
–Cornel Dinu, former Dinamo player[3]
Ionescu (pictured, right) and Silvio Piola (left) at the Coverciano training center in 1965.
Ionescu started his coaching career at Divizia C team, Casa Armatei Craiovei, which shortly after his appointment had dissolved.[2][3] Subsequently, he worked as a youth coach at Flacăra Ploiești, where he discovered talents such as Mircea Dridea, Vasile Sfetcu and Constantin Tabarcea, reaching the 1957 national junior championship final which was lost to Universitatea Cluj.[2][3][10]
Ionescu went on to coach the senior squad of Dinamo București, where he demonstrated a remarkable ability to discover and promote young talent.[2][3] Among the notable players he developed was Ion Pârcălab, who, after being transferred from UTA Arad, evolved into one of Europe's premier forwards.[2][3] He also recognized Mircea Lucescu playing football on a gravel field and noticed Cornel Dinu during a Metalul Târgoviște match against Dinamo in the quarter-finals of the 1964–65 Cupa României.[2][3][11] Furthermore, he decided to transfer 16-year-old Florea Dumitrache after observing him for only ten minutes in a junior-level football game at TUG București.[2][3][12] Other significant players he coached at Dinamo included Constantin Frățilă, Ilie Datcu, Gabriel Sandu, Florin Cheran, and Alexandru Sătmăreanu.[2][3] These individuals, along with others he coached such as Ion Nunweiller, Lică Nunweiller, and Gheorghe Ene, became important members of Romania's national team throughout the 1960s and 1970s.[2][3] In his spells with The Red Dogs, Ionescu helped the team win four Divizia A titles and one Cupa României after a 5–3 victory in the final against rivals Steaua București.[2][3][5][13]
He had his first coaching experience outside Romania in Turkey at Fenerbahçe with whom he won the 1969–70 Turkish League and a TSYD Cup together with his former Dinamo players, Ion Nunweiller and Ilie Datcu.[2][3][14] Ionescu also worked at Sportul Studențesc București, Olimpia Satu Mare, Jiul Petroșani with which he reached the 1977–78 Balkans Cup final, SC Bacău, Petrolul Ploiești, Steaua București, Chimia Râmnicu Vâlcea, Olt Scornicești, CSM Reșița.[2][3][15] He also had a second coaching experience outside Romania at Morocco's Olympic team from 1983 until 1984.[2][3] Ionescu had a total of 287 matches as manager in Divizia A, consisting of 128 victories, 70 draws and 89 losses.[16]
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Death
Ionescu died on 4 October 2006 at age 83 in București.[3][7]
Honours
Player
CCA București
Manager
Dinamo București
Fenerbahçe
- Turkish League: 1969–70[7]
- TSYD Cup: 1969–70[7]
Jiul Petroșani
- Balkans Cup runner-up: 1977–78[15]
References
External links
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