Stephen "Steve" Negoesco ( ro, Ștefan Negoescu; September 12, 1925 – February 3, 2019) was a

Romanian-American Romanian Americans are Americans who have Romanian ancestry. According to the 2017 American Community Survey, 478,278 Americans indicated Romanian as their first or second ancestry, however other sources provide higher estimates, which are most ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player and coach. Considered one of college soccer's all-time greatest coaches, he led the University of San Francisco to more than 544 victories, five NCAA championships (the 1978 championship was later vacated because of an ineligible player), and the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

. Negoesco was the first coach in college soccer history to reach 500 career wins. He also coached several junior teams and won numerous championships. He was inducted into The

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The Hall of Fame honors soccer achievements in the United States. Induction ...

in Oneonta, New York; The West Coast Soccer Hall of Fame; The Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame; The United Soccer Coaches Hall of Fame; The WCC Hall of Honor; as well as receiving numerous awards and commendations. He was known as the "King of West Coast soccer". His overall career record was 544–172–66.

Early life and career

Born in New Jersey, the son of a

sea captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel.Aragon and Messner, 2001, p.3. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficie ...

. Negoesco returned with his father to Romania after his mother's death to live with his aunt and uncle, where he discovered and took up soccer. His skills would later help him survive and escape imprisonment by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

during their occupation of Romania during World War II; he was sent to a Nazi camp at 15 after the Germans discovered his American roots. Negoesco played in the Romanian League, then returned to his birthplace in New Jersey in 1945. Settling in California, Negoesco enrolled at the University of San Francisco in 1947 where he studied biology. He also resumed playing soccer, coached by Gus Donoghue. Negoesco led the Dons to the 1949 California collegiate title and the 1950

Soccer Bowl The Soccer Bowl was the annual championship game of the North American Soccer League, which ran from 1968 to 1984. The two top teams from the playoffs faced off in the final to determine the winner of the NASL Trophy. From the league's founding ...

co-championship with

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

, and he also earned two All-American honors during this period. After graduating in 1951, Negoesco taught in the

San Francisco Unified School District San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), established in 1851, is the only public school district within the City and County of San Francisco, and the first in the state of California. Under the management of the San Francisco Board of Educa ...

for twenty-five years. During that period he was also hired as USF's men's soccer coach in 1962, a post he would hold until his retirement in 2000. Negoesco would go on to coach the Dons to 544 victories, 22 conference titles, and five NCAA titles (1966, 1975, 1976, 1978, and 1980), the 1978 championship was later vacated because of an ineligible player. He made history when he won the US Open Cup championship in 1976 with the

San Francisco Italian Athletic Club The San Francisco Italian Athletic Club is a men's social and athletic club located at 1630 Stockton Street on Washington Square, North Beach in San Francisco, California. It sponsors the Statuto Race, an annual footrace event that has been ...

. It was the first time that a Northern California club lifted the US Open Cup trophy and he became the first coach in history to win a US Open Cup and an NCAA title. Among the players he mentored were former All-Americans John Doyle, Lothar Osiander,

Koulis Apostolidis Kyriakos "Koulis" Apostolidis ( Greek: Κυριάκος "Κούλης" Αποστολίδης; born 3 March 1946) is a Greek former footballer. He began his career in the North American Soccer League and finished it with PAOK Thessaloniki in Gr ...

and

Andy Atuegbu Andy Atuegbu (ah-two-ay-boo) is a retired Nigerian football midfielder. Atuegbu was a star midfielder for the University of San Francisco from 1974 to 1977. The Dons won the NCAA championship two of Atuegbu's four seasons with the team, 1975 ...

, as well as former Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo.

Retirement and death

After his retirement from coaching men's soccer, Negoesco was inducted to the

in 2003, National Soccer Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame in 2003, Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame (BASHOF) in 2010 and the

West Coast Conference The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...

Hall of Honor (WCC) in 2011. In 1982, the

Negoesco Stadium Negoesco Stadium is a 3,000 seat soccer stadium located in San Francisco, on the campus of University of San Francisco. The facility was named in honour of USF soccer coach Steve Negoesco. The stadium is also used by USF students and staff for ...

on the USF campus was named in his honor. Negoesco died on February 3, 2019, at the age of 93. He was predeceased by his wife Mercedes Coronado. Negoesco is survived by his children Stefan, Sandra, Sonia, Stuart, Sylvana, Sergio, 17 grand-children and 12 great grand-children.

Honors and awards

1966 USF Dons Men's Championship Soccer Team

*1947–60 Played on many Northern California All Star Teams *1948–50 All American at USF; First Team NCAA All-American player on the West Coast *1959 Member of University of San Francisco Hall of Fame *1961 Key to the City of San Francisco presented by Mayor

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

*1970 Member of the California Soccer Federation North Hall of Fame *1977 USF Maraschi Society Award (USF) *1982 Negoesco Stadium at USF, dedicated in his honor *1983 Commended by California Governor Deukmejian *1983 Commended by United States President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

*1988 Father William Dunne Award (USF) *1993 West Coast Conference Coach of the Year Award *1995 Lifetime Member NSCAA *1995 NSCAA Commendation *1996 NISOA Merit Award *2000 West Coast Conference Award *2001 San Jose Earthquakes Recognition Award *2002 NCAA The Bill Jeffery Award *2003 National Soccer Hall of Fame *2003 NSCAA Hall of Fame (National Soccer Coaches Association of America) *2010 Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame (BASHOF) *2011 WCC Hall of Honor (West Coast Conference)

Early life and career

Retirement and death

Honors and awards

References

Publications

Further reading