Ion Pârcălab (born 5 November 1941) is a Romanian former

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 ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Club career

Ion Pârcălab, nicknamed "The

Carpathian The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Urals at and the Scandinavian Mountains at . The range stretches ...

Arrow" by foreign experts, started his senior career at

UTA Arad Uta or UTA may refer to: Universities *University of Texas at Arlington, in the United States * University of Tarapacá, in Chile *University of Tampere, in Finland Sports * FC UTA Arad, a Romanian football club based in the town of Arad * A ...

, 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 on 24 May 1959 in a 2–1 loss 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 ...

. In 1961 he went 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 in his first four seasons spent at the club, he won four consecutive

titles in the first he contributed with 7 goals scored in 24 matches, in the second he played 21 games and scored 7 goals, in the third he made 25 appearances with 10 goals scored and in the last one he scored 8 goals in 20 matches. He also won 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 ...

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

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

, at the first one scoring a goal in the final which ended 5–3 against

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

Steaua București and in 1965, he was awarded the title "Best Football Player" in Romania. Pârcălab's last

appearance took place on 19 July 1970, playing for Dinamo in a 1–1 against Politehnica Iași, having a total of played 232 matches played in the competition in which he scored 66 goals, also appearing in a total of 20 matches in which he scored 5 goals in European competitions.

Transfer at Nîmes

During Romania's communist era, transfers of Romanian footballers outside the country were rarely allowed, but in June 1970 dictator

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was ...

went on a visit in

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

where he was invited by the communist mayor of the town

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( , ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously was Prime Minister of France of President Charles de Gaulle from 1962 to 196 ...

. At that meeting they also talked about football and Pompidou complained about the poor results of the local football team,

Nîmes Olympique Nîmes Olympique (commonly referred to as simply Nîmes) is a French association football club based in Nîmes. The club was founded on 10 April 1937 and currently plays in Ligue 2, the second level of French football. Until November 2022, t ...

so Ceaușescu told him that he is going to send two Romanian footballers to the club. Some French people were sent to see the 1970 Cupa României final which was won with 2–1 by Steaua București against

and they selected

Florea Voinea Florea Voinea (born 21 April 1941) is a Romanian retired footballer who played as a striker. Club career Florea Voinea was born on 21 April 1941 in Puchenii Moșneni, Prahova County and started to play football at junior level at Rafinăria ...

from Steaua București and Pârcălab from Dinamo to come and play for Nîmes Olympique, where in the 1971–72 season they helped the team finish second in the championship, each of them scoring 11 goals.

International career

Ion Pârcălab played 26 games and scored three goals at international level for

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 ...

, making his debut on 8 October 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 4–0 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 following game was a 3–1 victory against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

at the 1964 European Nations' Cup qualifiers. Pârcălab scored his first goal for the national team in a friendly which ended with a 3–2 victory against

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

. He played six matches and scored one goal in a 2–0 victory against

Eusébio Eusébio da Silva Ferreira (; 25 January 1942 – 5 January 2014), nicknamed the "Black Panther", the "Black Pearl" or "O Rei" ("The King"), was a Portuguese footballer who played as a striker. He is considered one of the greatest players of ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

at the 1966 World Cup qualifiers. Pârcălab scored his last goal for the national team in a friendly which ended with a 2–1 victory against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and made one appearance at the Euro 1968 qualifiers and one at the 1970 World Cup qualifiers. Pârcălab also played 12 games for Romania's Olympic team and participated at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

where he scored two goals, one in a 3–1 victory against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and one in a 3–0 victory against

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

, helping the team finish in the 5th place.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pârcălab goal''.

Conviction

In 1980, Pârcălab was coach at Progresul Pucioasa in the

third division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

. After a victory in the championship, Pârcălab took his players to a restaurant in order to celebrate, but after a few drinks, a conflict between him and the goalkeeper Nicolae Stancu started because of a waitress. They went to the bathroom to solve their problem and it is assumed that there Pârcălab killed Stancu by introducing a broomstick in his throat or by hitting him in the back of his head. Pârcălab was sentenced to three years in prison but got released after two. In the early 2000s, Pârcălab claimed he was innocent and that he was wrongfully convicted.

Personal life

Pârcălab's stepbrother was

Nicolae Dumitrescu Nicolae "Coco" Dumitrescu (8 December 1921 – 17 March 1999) was a Romanian footballer and manager. As a footballer, he played mainly as a forward and throughout his career, he won four Divizia A titles and two cups with ITA Arad and as a manag ...

, who was also an international footballer and a manager.

Honours

Dinamo București *

: 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65 *

: 1963–64, 1967–68 Nîmes Olympique *

French Division 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

runner-up: 1971–72 *

Coppa delle Alpi Coppa delle Alpi (translated as ''Cup of the Alps'') was a friendly football tournament, first organized by the Italian national league as it started in 1960 and then they were aided by the Swiss League from 1962, for the reason that the majorit ...

: 1972

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Parcalab, Ion 1941 births Living people Footballers from Bucharest Romanian footballers Association football forwards Romania international footballers Olympic footballers of Romania Footballers at the 1964 Summer Olympics FC UTA Arad players FC Dinamo București players Nîmes Olympique players Ligue 1 players Liga I players Romanian football managers FC Gloria Buzău managers Romanian expatriate footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France