Gheorghe Albu (born 12 September 1909 in Arad,

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, (now in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

) – died 26 June 1974 in

Făgăraș Făgăraș (; german: Fogarasch, Fugreschmarkt, hu, Fogaras) is a city in central Romania, located in Brașov County. It lies on the Olt River and has a population of 28,330 as of 2011. It is situated in the historical region of Transylvania, and ...

Brașov County Brașov County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Transylvania. Its capital city is Brașov. The county incorporates within its boundaries most of the Medieval "lands" (''țări'') Burzenland and Făgăraș. Name In Hungarian, it is kno ...

) was a Romanian football 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 ...

. He was a part of Romania national football team which played at the

1934 FIFA World Cup The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football championship for senior men's national teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934. The 1934 World Cup was the first in w ...

Player career

Club career

Albu started his career in 1924, playing as a youth for

AMEF Arad Vagonul Arad was a football club based in Arad, Romania. It was founded in 1911 and it soon became one of the best teams from Arad. It was affiliated to Astra Arad rail equipment manufacturing company. It was dissolved in 2006. History 191 ...

until 1928. In 1929, he moved to another Arad-based team, Gloria CFR, and played the final of the Romanian Championship 1929–30, against Juventus București. Gloria CFR Arad lost the final, 0–3. In 1933, he moved to Venus București and in his first season for ''The Blacks'' he was crowned Champion of Romania. Until 1940, when he left Venus, he won four championship titles. Between 1940 and 1944, the year of his retirement from professional football, Albu played for FC Craiova.

International career

Gheorghe Albu made his first appearance for the Romania national football team in May 1931, in a match against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, won by the Romanians, 5–2. After that, he made 39 consecutive appearances in the starting lineup for

, including the

match against

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

, lost by The Tricolours, 1–2. After a short break, he was called up again to the national team for another three consecutive matches. He was the captain of the national side of Romania nineteen times. He played his last match in December 1938, against

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

. In this match, Gheorghe Albu's opponent, the legendary

Josef Bican Josef "Pepi" Bican (25 September 1913 – 12 December 2001) was an Austrian-Czech professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the second-most prolific goalscorer in official matches in recorded history according to Rec.Sport.Soccer ...

, scored four goals, as

lost by 2 goals to 6.

Managerial career

After World War II, Gheorghe Albu trained a number of teams, including

FC Craiova FC Craiova Football Club was founded in 1940 by the merging of two teams from Craiova and Dolj County: Craiu Craiovan Craiova and Rovine Griviţa Craiova. The newly created team qualified for Divizia A immediately, ranking ninth in the 1940–41 ...

, Textila Sfântu Gheorghe,

Foresta Fălticeni Foresta Fălticeni (also known as ''Foresta Suceava'') was a Romanian professional football club from Fălticeni, Suceava County, Romania, founded in 1954 as ''Avântul Fălticeni'' and subsequently dissolved in 2003. History The club was fou ...

Dermata Cluj Dermata Cluj was a football club from Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, dissolved in 1967. History The shoes factory from Cluj-Napoca called Echo Cluj created the team and was the main sponsor of the team until 1948. Notable players from that time was Da ...

UT Arad Asociația Fotbal Club UTA Arad (), commonly known as UTA Arad or simply UTA, is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Arad, Arad County, which competes in the Liga I. The UTA acronym stands for ''Uzina Textilă Arad'' ("Te ...

, and was also, for a short time, the manager of the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

. In 1959, he returned to Arad, acting as manager of

until 1962 and

Vagonul Arad Vagonul Arad was a football club based in Arad, Romania. It was founded in 1911 and it soon became one of the best teams from Arad. It was affiliated to Astra Arad rail equipment manufacturing company. It was dissolved in 2006. History 191 ...

between 1962 and 1964. From 1964 until his death, he worked at

, where he trained the youth teams of Nitramonia Făgăraș.Mihai Ionescu, Mircea Tudoran ''Fotbal de la A la Z'', Bucharest: Editura Sport-Turism, 1984

Honours

Player

;Venus București *

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently Sponsor (commercial), sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It ...

(4): 1933–34, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1948–49

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Albu, Gheorghe 1909 births 1974 deaths Sportspeople from Arad, Romania 1934 FIFA World Cup players Romanian footballers Romania international footballers Liga I players Vagonul Arad players CS Gloria Arad players Venus București players Romanian football managers FC UTA Arad managers Association football defenders Romania national football team managers