Theodore "Ted" Dumitru (born Dumitru Teodorescu; 2 September 1939 – 26 May 2016) was a Romanian

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 ...

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 ...

who is best known for his time in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Dumitru was one of few coaches who have led South Africa's 'big three' clubs

Kaizer Chiefs Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) are a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premier Soccer League. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Lords" or "Chie ...

, Sundowns and

Orlando Pirates Orlando Pirates Football Club (often known as "The Buccaneers") is a South African professional football club based in the Houghton suburb of the city of Johannesburg and plays in the top-tier system of Football in South Africa known as DStv ...

. Dumitru was brought to South Africa by the owner of Kaizer Chiefs,

Kaizer Motaung Kaizer Motaung Snr OIS (born 16 October 1944) is a former South African association football player and founder of Kaizer Chiefs FC, of which he is chairman and managing director. He was nicknamed "Chincha Guluva". Early life Born in the Or ...

, in 1985, Dumitru went on to become the most successful coach in South African professional football. The veteran coach had an illustrious career during which he amassed 18 trophies with Chiefs and Sundowns, including two back-to-back league championships with each side.

Playing and coaching career

Early coaching career in Romania and Turkey

Dumitru started playing football with local side Sportul Studenţesc in the late 1950s, but a serious knee injury forced him to hang up his boots, as a result he began studying to become a coach. After obtaining his coaching license, Dumitru became the youngest manager ever in

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 ...

at age 25, when he joined Ştiinţa Craiova, currently known as Universitatea Craiova, in the middle of the 1965–66 season with whom he finished the season on the eighth position. Dumitru also coached the Romania U23 Olympic team between 1967 and 1968. In 1969, he went to

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 ...

where he managed Altay Izmir,

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

and then

Mersin Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Mersin Province, Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and dis ...

. In his first season in charge at Altay he guided the club to a top-three position in the Turkish Süper League.

Move to the United States and final destination Africa

In 1971, he moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and became head coach of the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

men's soccer team at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, before joining Rochester Lancers in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

in 1974. He coached that side through the 1975 season and went on to coach the

New York Apollo The New York Greeks was an American soccer club based in New York City that was a member of the American Soccer League. The team began as the amateur Greek-Americans. The club played lower Premier Division of the German American Soccer League w ...

in the old American Soccer League. In 1980, Dumitru moved to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and was appointed coach of

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

. He helped '' Chipolopolo'' qualify for the

1982 Africa Cup of Nations The 1982 African Cup of Nations was the 13th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the association football championship of African nations run by the CAF. It was hosted by Libya. Just like in 1980, there were eight teams, which were split into ...

, but was unable to coach them during the tournament itself due to his US passport. The Afcon tournament was hosted by

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

, a country where Americans were not welcome at the time. During his stint Zambia's President

Kenneth Kaunda Kenneth David Kaunda (28 April 1924 – 17 June 2021), also known as KK, was a Zambian politician who served as the first President of Zambia from 1964 to 1991. He was at the forefront of the struggle for independence from British rule. Dissat ...

once said of him: "He is more than a coach; he is a son of Africa. He is a humanist who puts sports well-being ahead of his profession." He left

and signed a contract with the African Football Confederation, in which he was sent to

Swaziland Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

, then in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

to help develop football in those countries. In 1985, Dumitru joined

n side

and won eight trophies with them during his three-year tenure. After leaving the club he worked in developing young players and local coaches across the country. In 1992, he established the Chibuku Youth Centre in Soweto, which was the first development program in the country. He was later responsible for the Esselen Park School of Excellence that has produced players such as

Steven Pienaar Steven Jerome Pienaar (; born 17 March 1982) is a South African former professional footballer and current assistant coach of the U18 team of the Ajax Youth Academy. He was a captain of the South African national team. He primarily played as ...

and Daine Klate. In July 1997, he took over as coach at

Mamelodi Sundowns Mamelodi Sundowns Football Club (simply known as Sundowns) is a South African professional football club based in Mamelodi, Pretoria in the Gauteng province that plays in the Premier Soccer League, the first tier of South African football l ...

and led ''The Brazilians'' to two consecutive PSL titles in 1998 and 1999, as well as both the

Nedbank Cup The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's Premier Soccer League, premier club association football, soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of givi ...

and Rothmans Cup. Dumitru managed among others,

and

Manning Rangers Manning Rangers is a now defunct South African football club based in Durban. The side is best remembered as the Champions of the Inaugural season of South Africa's Premier Soccer League. History The club was founded in 1928 by GR Naidoo who, ...

with mixed success. He was appointed manager of the Namibian national team in November 2000 replacing Lucky Richter, but resigned a few months later after an argument with former Chiefs midfielder,

Robert Nauseb Robert Cosmo Nauseb (born 23 August 1974 in Otjiwarongo) is a Namibian football midfielder who last played for Ikapa Sporting in South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmos ...

. He rejoined

and helped his side reach their first and only African Champions League Final in 2001, which they lost to record holders

Al Ahly AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

. In June 2003, he returned to

Kaiser Chiefs Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 2000 as Parva, releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their current name that same year. Since their formation the band h ...

and won back-to-back league titles in 2004 and 2005, after which he retired from club coaching. In South Africa, Dumitru was nicknamed "Master Ted", "Mr Magic" or "The Professor", because of his studious approach to the game. In November 2005, he was hired as

's manager ahead of the 2006 edition of the

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations referred to as AFCON (french: Coupe d'Afrique des Nations, sometimes referred to as CAN, or TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons), and sometimes as African Cup of Nations, is the main internati ...

, but he was shown the exit door soon after his team's dismissal performance at the tournament where they failed to score a goal. In 2009, Dumitru got involved with the Mamelodi Sundowns Youth Academy. Dubbed "The Puk Tawana Project", it produced 26 players who went on to play professional football that were on an accelerated development programme for 18 months. Breaking records for the number of graduates from academy to professional level. Among them included

Keagan Dolly Keagan Larenzo Dolly (born 22 January 1993) is a South African professional football player who plays as an attacking midfielder for Kaizer Chiefs in the Premier Soccer League and the South Africa national team. He won the Premier Soccer Leag ...

, Buhle Mkhwanazi, Samuel Julies and

Jabulani Shongwe Jabulani Shongwe (born 28 February 1990) is a South African soccer player who plays as a midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attac ...

. After leaving Mamelodi Sundowns in 2011, he joined the North West University Sports Institute from 2012 to 2013 briefly. Then in 2013 he played an instrumental role in the revival of the South African Football Coaches Association (SAFCA). He played a key role in setting up the structures, giving the organisation direction and leadership as well as rolling out workshops around the country. He was involved up until his day of passing 26 May 2016. Over 150 players were developed at the Sport School of Excellence under his guidance and through his coaching solutions. Over 180 local coaches were developed through his programmes at the SA Soccer Academy.

Death

Dumitru died on 26 May 2016, at the age of 76, after suffering a heart attack in a Johannesburg mall. A memorial service for the late coach was held on 2 June at Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg.

Honours

Manager

Club

;Kaizer Chiefs * PSL Champion (2): 2003–04, 2004–05 *

Vodacom Challenge The Vodacom Challenge was an association football pre-season tournament that featured Vodacom-sponsored South African clubs Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs plus from 2006 onwards an invited European club. Prior to 2006, the competition consisted ...

(1): 2003 *

BP Top Eight Cup MTN 8 is the current branding for a South African soccer cup competition launched in 1972 for teams who finished in the top 8 positions of the league table of the country's preceding top-flight league (currently the DStv Premiership) season. ...

(2): 1985, 1987 * Coca-Cola Cup (4): 1986, 1988, 2003, 2004 *

Mainstay Cup The Nedbank Cup is the current name of South Africa's premier club soccer knockout tournament. While many formats have been used over the years, the tournament has always been based on the idea of giving lower league and amateur teams a chance t ...

(1): 1987 * Charity Spectacular Cup (4): 1986, 1987, 1988, 2003 * NSL Runner-up: 1987 ;Mamelodi Sundowns * PSL Champion (2): 1997–98, 1998–99 *

(1): 1998 * Rothmans Cup (1): 1999 *

CAF Champions League The CAF Champions League, known for sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League and formerly the African Cup of Champions Clubs, is an annual football club competition organized by the Confederation of African Football and co ...

Runner-up:

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

;Orlando Pirates *

African Cup Winners' Cup The African Cup Winners' Cup was a football competition that started in 1975 and merged with the CAF Cup in 2004 to form the CAF Confederation Cup. It was a competition between the winning clubs of domestic cups in CAF-affiliated nations and was ...

Semi-final:

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...