Victor Niculescu

Victor Niculescu (21 April 1949 – 22 August 2024) was a Romanian footballer who played as a right-back.^[2][3][4] He was part of "U" Craiova's team that won the 1973–74 Divizia A, which was the first trophy in the club's history.^[2][3]

Victor Niculescu

Personal information
Date of birth	(1949-04-21)21 April 1949[1]
Place of birth	Craiova, Romania[1]
Date of death	22 August 2024(2024-08-22) (aged 75)
Position(s)	Right-back[1]
Youth career
1967–1968	Universitatea Craiova
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1968–1975	Universitatea Craiova	195	(0)
1975–1977	Jiul Petroșani	29	(1)
1977–1978	Corvinul Hunedoara	13	(0)
Total		237	(1)
International career
1968–1972	Romania U23	12	(0)
Medal record Representing  Romania Universiade 1974 Nice Team
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Victor Niculescu, nicknamed Fonfo was born on 21 April 1949 in Craiova, Romania, starting to play junior level football at local club, Universitatea.^[1][5][6] He started playing at senior level in 1968 when he made his Divizia A debut on 11 August, playing for "U" in a 3–2 home win over UTA Arad.^[1] He was close to win the title in the 1972–73 season but "U" finished on the second place on equal points with Dinamo București, losing controversially on the goal difference for which poet Adrian Păunescu nicknamed Craiova as "Campioana unei mari iubiri" (The Champion of a great love).^[1][7][8]

In the first round of the 1973–74 UEFA Cup season, "U" Craiova got past Fiorentina, being eliminated in the following one by Standard Liège, Niculescu playing all four games from the campaign.^[1][9][10] In the same season he was part of Craiova's team that won the league title, which was the first trophy in the club's history, being used by coach Constantin Cernăianu in 28 games.^[2][3][11] The following season was his last at Craiova, playing in both legs of the 4–3 aggregate loss in front of Åtvidaberg from the first round of the European Cup, also the team reached the 1975 Cupa României final in which Cernăianu used him all the minutes in the eventual 2–1 loss with Rapid București.^[1][12][13]

From 1975 until 1977 he spent two seasons at Jiul Petroșani, a period in which he scored his only Divizia A goal.^{[1][5][6][14]} He spent the last season of his career at Corvinul Hunedoara where on 21 May 1978 he made his last Divizia A appearance, having a total of 237 games with one goal scored in the competition, also playing a total of eight games in European competitions, including two games in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.^[1][5][6]

International career

From 1968 until 1972, Victor Niculescu made 12 appearances for Romania's under-23 side.^[1][15]

He won the Universiade gold medal with Romania's students football team in the 1974 edition that was held in France, playing alongside László Bölöni, Gheorghe Mulțescu, Dan Păltinișanu, Romulus Chihaia and Paul Cazan.^[16]

Personal life

In 2023, Niculescu received the Honorary Citizen of Craiova title.^[17]

He died on 22 August 2024 at age 75.^[5][6][18]

Honours

Universitatea Craiova

• Divizia A: 1973–74, runner-up 1972–73^[1]
• Cupa României runner-up: 1974–75^[12]