Ion Motroc (born 14 February 1937) is a former

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

defender who played for clubs in Romania and Turkey.

Club career

Ion Motroc was born on 14 February 1937 in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, growing up in the

Giulești Giulești () is a neighbourhood in northwestern Bucharest, located in Sector 6. The Giulești Stadium, Giulești Theatre, Podul Grant are located in Giulești. Also, the Grivița Railway Yards and Lacul Morii are located nearby. History The ...

neighborhood, starting to play junior level football in 1950 at local club Locomotiva București, making his

Divizia A The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

debut for the senior squad under coach

Iosif Lengheriu Iosif Lengheriu (24 May 1914 – 11 September 1991) was a Romanian footballer and manager. International career Iosif Lengheriu played seven games at international level for Romania, making his debut in a friendly which ended with a 1–0 loss ...

on 17 May 1953 at age 16 in a 0–0 against Știința Cluj. He went to play for one season at Progresul CPCS București in

Divizia B The Liga 2, most often 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. It is currently Sponsor (commercial), sp ...

, afterwards going to play for

Dinamo 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 Yekaterinbu ...

where over the course of three seasons he won the

1958–59 Cupa României The 1958–59 Cupa României was the 21st edition of Romania's most prestigious football cup competition. The title was won by Dinamo București against CSM Baia Mare. Format The competition is an annual knockout tournament. In the first ro ...

. He returned to the team from his

neighborhood,

Rapid Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

where he accepted a lower salary because he wanted to come back to the place he grew up. Motroc spent 9 seasons at

in which he helped the club win the

1966–67 Divizia A The 1966–67 Divizia A was the forty-ninth season of Divizia A, the top-level football league of Romania. Teams League table Results Top goalscorers Champion squad See also * 1966–67 Divizia B References {{DEFAULTSORT:196 ...

which was the first title in the club's history, being used by coach

Valentin Stănescu Valentin Stănescu (20 November 1922 – 4 April 1994) was a Romanian football goalkeeper and manager. Club career Valentin Stănescu also known as "Tinel" or "Zimbrul" ( The bison) was born on 20 November 1922 in București, Romania and starte ...

in 25 matches, also being the team's captain. He also reached two

Cupa României The Cupa României ( en, Romanian Cup) is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. I ...

finals in

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

and

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

which were lost in front of Arieșul Turda respectively Steaua București and won two

Balkans Cup The Balkans Cup was an international football competition for clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1961 and was very popular in the 1960s (the 1967 final attracted 42,000 spectators), being t ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

and

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. Motroc played 5 games in European competitions (including one appearance in the

Inter-cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European Association football, football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecess ...

), taking part in the

1967–68 European Cup The 1967–68 European Cup was the 13th European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Manchester United, who beat Benfica 4–1 in the final at Wembley Stadium, London. The European Cup title marked the tenth ...

campaign in which he helped

eliminate

Trakia Plovdiv Profesionalen Futbolen Klub Botev, commonly referred to as Botev Plovdiv ( bg, „Ботев“ Пловдив, ) or simply Botev (within its associated city), is a Bulgarian professional football club based in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, that competes in ...

, being eliminated by

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

in the following round. He made his last

match on 15 June 1969 in a 3–0 victory against

Jiul Petroșani Jiul may refer to these places in Romania: * the River Jiu ( + ) ** Jiul de Vest ** Jiul de Est * A village in Țuglui Țuglui is a commune in Dolj County, Oltenia, Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroad ...

, having a total of 265 matches played in the competition scoring one goal in April 1961 from a scissors kick in a 2–1 victory against Dinamo, also having 34 matches and one goal scored in the

. In 1969, alongside his

teammate Viorel Kraus, Motroc went to play in the

Turkish First Football League Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

for half of season at Altay Izmir, appearing in 8 league matches, returning to Romania where he ended his career by playing two games in

at Sportul Studențesc București.

International career

Ion Motroc made two appearances for

, making his debut on 14 May 1961 under coach

Gheorghe Popescu I Gheorghe Popescu (8 August 1919 – 1 January 2001) was a Romanian footballer and also a manager. He played as a striker. International career Gheorghe Popescu I played 6 friendly games at international level for Romania, making his debut und ...

in a friendly which ended with a 1–0 away victory against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. His second game was also an away game against

, this time the result being a 2–1 loss at the 1966 World Cup qualifiers.

Managerial career

Ion Motroc started his managerial career in 1970 at Sportul Studențesc București, a team he helped promote to the first league, after which he coached Turkish team,

Mersin İdmanyurdu Mersin Talim Yurdu, formerly Mersin İdman Yurdu, is a Turkish sports club from Mersin, Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean Region. The team played in the Turkish first division for 15 seasons, and after the 1983–84 season the football team pla ...

. In 1974 he coached

Rapid București Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a '' cascade' ...

, helping the team win the

1974–75 Cupa României The 1974–75 Cupa României was the 37th edition of Romania's most prestigious football cup competition. The title was won by Rapid București against Universitatea Craiova. Format The competition is an annual knockout tournament. First round ...

while playing in

after eliminating

, Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț, Steaua București and defeating with 2–1 Universitatea Craiova in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, also earning the promotion to

at the end of the season. In the following season he coached

in the

1975–76 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1975–76 European Cup Winners' Cup was the 16th season of the European Cup Winners' Cup, a club football tournament organised by UEFA for the winners of its member associations' domestic cup competitions. It was won by Anderlecht of Belgium, w ...

where they were eliminated in the first round with 2–1 on aggregate by

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

who would eventually win the competition, this being his only experience in the European competitions as coach. He went on to coach

FCM Reșița The word FCM may refer to: Science and technology * FCM (chemotherapy), a chemotherapy regimen * Flow cytometry * Food contact materials * Fuel-containing material * Flight control module, a computer that assists in the control of an aircraft ...

, Politehnica Iași and Chindia Târgoviște in

, also having two more spells at

, the first in the

1980–81 Divizia B The 1980–81 Divizia B was the 41st season of the second tier of the Romanian football league system. The format has been maintained to three series, each of them having 18 teams. At the end of the season the winners of the series promoted to Di ...

season and the second as an assistant coach in the

1988–89 Divizia A The 1988–89 Divizia A was the seventy-first season of Divizia A, the top-level football league of Romania. Teams League table Positions by round Results Top goalscorers Champion squad See also * 1988–89 Divizia B References ...

season, having a total of 124 games managed in

and 111 in

. He also had some spells in Africa at

MC Oujda Mouloudia Club of Oujda ( ar, مولودية وجدة), commonly abbreviated to MC Oudja, is a Moroccan football club based in Oujda. Mouloudia, which closely translates to "birth" in Arabic, was named after the coincidence of the day of its ...

and

Raja Casablanca Raja Club Athletic ( ar, نادي الرجاء الرياضي, Nādī ar-Rajāʾ ar-Riyāḍī, zgh, ⴰⵙⵔⵉⵔ ⵏ ⵕⴰⵊⴰ ⴰⵎⴰⵏⵓⵏ), commonly referred to as Raja CA, Raja Casablanca or simply RCA is a professional Footb ...

from Morocco and

Al-Merrikh Al-Merrikh Sporting Club ( ar, نادي المريخ الرياضي) is a Sudanese football club based in Omdurman. Their home stadium is Al-Merrikh Stadium, which is locally known as The Red Castle. Founded in 1908, Al-Merrikh is one of the o ...

from Sudan.

Personal life

Ion Motroc is the father of

Florin Motroc Florin Motroc (born 8 August 1967) is a Romanian former footballer and current head coach, who previously coached Bahrain club East Riffa. He is the son of Ion Motroc, also a former footballer and the father of Vlad Motroc, currently player o ...

who was also footballer and a manager and the grandfather of Vlad Motroc, who played football in the Romanian lower leagues.

Honours

Player

Dinamo București *

: 1958–59 Rapid București *

: 1966–67 *

runner-up: 1960–61, 1961–62 *

: 1963–64, 1964–66

Manager

Sportul Studențesc București *

: 1971–72 Rapid București *

: 1974–75 *

: 1974–75

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Motroc, Ion 1937 births Living people Footballers from Bucharest Romanian footballers Romanian expatriate footballers Romania men's international footballers FC Dinamo București players FC Rapid București players Altay S.K. footballers FC Sportul Studențesc București players Liga I players Liga II players Süper Lig players Romanian football managers FC Sportul Studențesc București managers FC Rapid București managers CSM Reșița managers Mersin İdman Yurdu managers Raja CA managers FCM Târgoviște managers Romanian expatriate football managers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Morocco Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Sudan Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate football managers in Turkey Expatriate football managers in Sudan Men's association football defenders