Mihai Ionescu (19 November 1936 – 19 January 2011) 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 played at both international and professional levels as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Club career

Mihai Ionescu was born on 19 November 1936

Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Blejoi commu ...

, Romania, playing all of his career at teams from his native town, first at Prahova from 1958 until 1960. Afterwards he went to play at Petrolul where he spent 13 seasons, 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 under coach

Ilie Oană Ilie Oană (16 August 1918 – 27 April 1993) was a football player and manager who represented and coached the Romania national football team. Career Oană was born in Indiana Harbor to Romanian parents who emigrated from Transylvania before ...

on 4 September 1960 in a 3–1 victory against Dinamo Bacău. Ionescu played for '' The Yellow Wolves'' in the 6–1 victory against

Siderurgistul Galați Siderurgistul Galați was a football club based in Galaţi, Galați County, Romania. It was founded in 1955 and dissolved in 1967. History In 1955 Dinamo Galați is founded and in 1961 the club was renamed CSO Galați, and one year later rena ...

from the

1963 Cupa României Final Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

when he was introduced by Oană in the 85th minute in order to replace

Vasile Sfetcu Vasile Sfetcu (10 May 1937 - 16 September 2016) was a Romanian football goalkeeper and manager. Club career Vasile Sfetcu was born on 10 May 1937 in Ploiești, Romania, starting to play football at junior level in 1951 at local club, Metalul, ...

and won a

title with the team in the 1965–66 season, being used by coach

Constantin Cernăianu Constantin Cernăianu (12 October 1933 – 22 June 2015) was a Romanian football player and coach. As a manager, Cernăianu won league titles with non-Bucharest based clubs, Petrolul Ploiești and Universitatea Craiova. Managerial honours P ...

in 26 games. He played two games for Petrolul in the first round of the

1966–67 European Cup The 1966–67 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won by Celtic for the first time in the final against Internazionale, who eliminated defending champions Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, making them the first British team in ...

against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

which include a 3–1 victory, however they did not manage to qualify to the next round. Ionescu also made some individual performances as being named the best goalkeeper from Romania by the '' Sportul'' newspaper in 1965 and 1966. He made his last

appearance, playing for Petrolul on 20 June 1973 in a 2–1 away loss against ASA Târgu Mureș, having a total of 256 matches played in the competition, also having a total of 9 games played in European competitions (including 6 games 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 ...

). After he ended his career, Ionescu worked as vice-president at Petrolul from 1973 until 1975, being also

Mihai Mocanu Mihai Mocanu (24 February 1942 – 18 June 2009) was a Romanian football defender. Club career Mihai Mocanu was born on 24 February 1942 in Constanța, Romania, starting to play football in 1952 at local club, Locomotiva, afterwards going to p ...

's assistant coach at the team from April until July 1975, head coach at Metalul Filipeștii de Pădure and president for 10 years at AJF Prahova. In 2002, Ionescu was awarded the Honorary Citizen of the Ploiești Municipality title. Mihai Ionescu died on 19 January 2011 at the age of 74, after suffering an operation on the head a few days earlier at the Emergency Clinical Hospital 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 ...

International career

Mihai Ionescu played 13 games at international level for

, making his debut on 19 September 1965 under coach

in a 3–1 away loss against

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

at the 1966 World Cup qualifiers. His second game was a 2–0 home victory against

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 ...

, which also took place at the 1966 World Cup qualifiers and he played four games at the Euro 1968 qualifiers, including his last appearance which took place on 24 May 1967 in a 7–1 away loss against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Honours

Petrolul Ploiești *

: 1965–66 *

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 ...

: 1962–63

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ionescu, Mihai 1936 births 2011 deaths Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Liga I players Liga II players FC Petrolul Ploiești players Men's association football goalkeepers Footballers from Ploiești