Claudiu Octavian Vîlcu (born 13 December 1987), is a Romanian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a centre-back for Haringey Borough. He can also play as a centre-forward.

Career

Born in

Brașov County Brașov County () is a county (județ) of Transylvania, Romania. Its capital city is Brașov. The county incorporates within its boundaries most of the Medieval "lands" (''țări'') Burzenland and Făgăraș. Name In Hungarian language, Hungari ...

, Vîlcu began his career in the FC Brașov youth team, and studied law at the

Transilvania University of Brașov Transilvania University of Brașov (; UNITBV, also stylised UniTBv) is a higher education and research institution in Brașov, Romania which comprises 18 faculties, with a number of over 20,880 students and over 700 teaching staff members. Current ...

, before playing in

Liga II The Liga 2, most commonly spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 Liga II, 2006–07 football season. It is currently Sponso ...

and

Liga III The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. It was founded in 1936 and was called Divizia C until 2006. An exception was the seasons 1992–93 to 1996–97, in which the league was call ...

with

Unirea Tărlungeni Unirea may refer to: Places in Romania * Unirea, Alba, a commune * Unirea, Brăila, a commune * Unirea, Călărași, a commune * Unirea, Dolj, a commune and village * General Berthelot, a commune in Hunedoara, called ''Unirea'' from 1965 to 2 ...

Minerul Lupeni Clubul Sportiv Viitorul Minerul Lupeni, commonly referred to as Minerul Lupeni, is a Romanian football club based in Lupeni, Hunedoara County, which competes in Liga III , the third tier of the Romanian football league system. Established in 192 ...

, Juventus București and

Dinamo II București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterinb ...

. He won Liga III with Juventus in the 2009–10 season. In the summer of 2010, he moved to

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

and joined Nistru Otaci, playing 48

Moldovan National Division The Moldovan Liga, officially known as Liga 7777.md for sponsorship reasons, is an association football league that is the top division of Football in Moldova, Moldovan football league system. The competition was established in 1992, when Moldov ...

games over the next two seasons, scoring nine goals. A short spell with Speranța Crihana Veche in the first half of the 2012–13 season gave him a further eight appearances in the top flight. In early 2013, he joined

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

Premier Division side

Wealdstone Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow, London, Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont, Harrow, Belmont and Kenton, London, Kenton, ...

, but did not make an appearance. Vîlcu played for

Histon Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road (England), A14 road which runs eas ...

in a pre-season friendly against a

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

XI on 16 July 2013. During the 2013–14 pre-season, Vîlcu went on trial at

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...

in the

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

. Director of football

Paul Fairclough Paul Fairclough (born 31 January 1950) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of the England C team. As a player, he made five appearances for Cheshunt in the 1981–82 season. Managerial career Stevenage In ...

announced that Vîlcu had signed for them on 7 August 2013, but there was no further news on the transfer until 4 September, when it was announced that the club had applied for a work permit for Vîlcu. This application was rejected. Vîlcu then signed for

Essex Senior Football League The Essex Senior Football League is an English men's football league. It contains clubs from the Essex FA, Hertfordshire FA, London FA, Middlesex FA and the Amateur Football Alliance. It is a feeder league to Division One North of the Isth ...

side

FC Romania Football Club Romania is a football club based in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, England. The club are members of the and groundshare at Cheshunt's Theobalds Lane. History The club was established in August 2006 by Ionuţ Vintilă, an immigrant fro ...

, and also joined

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

side

Banbury United Banbury United Football Club is a football club based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Spencer Stadium. History The club was established in 1931 as Spencer Sports Club, a works team of the Sp ...

on dual registration on 4 November. In the 2014–15 season, Vîlcu played for Cambridge City before joining

Enfield Town Enfield is a large town in north London, England, north of Charing Cross. It had a population of 333,587 in 2021. It includes the areas of Botany Bay, Brimsdown, Bulls Cross, Bullsmoor, Bush Hill Park, Clay Hill, Crews Hill, Enfield Hig ...

. On 29 July 2016 it was announced he had signed for

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

. He returned to

briefly before being released. Vîlcu then signed for Wingate & Finchley in October 2016. On 17 June 2017, Vîlcu joined

National League South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

side Hampton & Richmond Borough on a one-year deal. He then joined Kingstonian in August 2017. Later that season he re-joined Wingate. He signed for Haringey Borough in February 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vilcu, Claudiu 1987 births Living people Romanian men's footballers Men's association football defenders ASC Ciucaș Tărlungeni players ACS Minerul Lupeni players ASC Daco-Getica București players FC Dinamo București II players FC Dinamo București players FC Nistru Otaci players FC Speranța Crihana Veche players Wealdstone F.C. players F.C. Romania players Banbury United F.C. players Cambridge City F.C. players Enfield Town F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players Wingate & Finchley F.C. players Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C. players Kingstonian F.C. players Haringey Borough F.C. players Isthmian League players Southern Football League players National League (English football) players Romanian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Moldova Expatriate men's footballers in England Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Moldova Transilvania University of Brașov alumni Footballers from Brașov County 21st-century Romanian sportsmen