Ion "Țop" Voinescu (18 April 1929 – 9 March 2018) was a

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 ...

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 le ...

, who is often considered one of the finest goalkeepers Romania has ever produced. Voinescu joined his first club,

Olympia București Olympia București was a football club based in Bucharest, in southern Romania. It was founded in 1904 and it soon became one of the best teams in the country, winning two Romanian Championships. The club was dissolved in 1946. History The firs ...

, in 1939 just before the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, aged 10. After four years with Olympia, Voinescu left to join another club from

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 ...

, ASPIM, but left again after the war's conclusion in 1945, in order to sign his first professional contract with Carmen București, which was one of the best Romanian football teams during the interbelic period. However, he ended up leaving the club a year later, where he joined Solvay Uioara. Voinescu left Solvay Uioara a year later to join RATA Târgu Mureș in 1947, where he remained at for a year before leaving in order to return to

, where he signed for Metalul București. Following a three-year spell with Metalul, Voinescu moved to Steaua București, which was where he remained at before his retirement from professional football in 1963, following an eighteen-year professional career. Voinescu has won 21 caps for

, with his only honor being representing his country at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

. It was said that

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira (; ; c. 1460s – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and the first European to reach India by sea. His initial voyage to India by way of Cape of Good Hope (1497–1499) was the first to link E ...

were both interested in securing his services during his playing career, but was unable to as it was impossible for Voinescu to leave the country due to the strict restrictions of the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

. Voinenscu worked as a goalkeeper coach for his former club, Steaua București, on multiple occasions after his retirement, before permanently retiring from coaching in the late 1980s. On 9 March 2018, Voinescu died at the age of 88.A murit fostul portar legendar al Stelei, Ion Voinescu
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Honours

Club

;Steaua București *

Romanian League 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 ...

(6):

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the United ...

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

1953 Events January * January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma. * January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo. * January 14 ** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

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 ...

Romanian Cup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

(5):

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

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 ...

Notes

The 1950 appearances and goals made for Metalul București are unavailable.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Voinescu, Ion 1929 births 2018 deaths People from Giurgiu County Romanian footballers Association football goalkeepers Romania international footballers Olympic footballers of Romania Footballers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Liga I players Liga II players Olympia București players FC Carmen București players CS Târgu Mureș players Faur București players FC Steaua București players