Constantin Rădulescu (footballer, Born 1924)

Constantin Rădulescu (30 May 1924 – October 2001), commonly known as Dr. Constantin Rădulescu, was a Romanian doctor, footballer and manager. As a footballer he played mainly as a midfielder.

In 2005, as a tribute to the work done in building and rising the club, CFR Cluj renamed its stadium as Stadionul Dr. Constantin Rădulescu.

Playing career

Rădulescu, nicknamed "Jumate" (Half) because he was speaking with a stutter was born on 30 May 1924 in Bucharest and started his senior playing career at age 14 in 1938 at local club, Olympia. In 1942 when he moved to Sportul Studențesc with whom he reached the 1943 Cupa României final which was lost with 4–0 to CFR Turnu Severin. In 1943 he signed with Universitatea Cluj, a team that played at Sibiu in that period as a consequence of the territorial agreement known as the Second Vienna Award, by which Northern Transylvania became part of the Kingdom of Hungary as a result of World War II events. His best season was the 1947–48 Divizia A in which he scored seven goals in 28 appearances which helped "U" Cluj finish on the fifth position, also in the following season the team reached the 1949 Cupa României final which was lost to CSCA București, however he did not play in it. In 1949 after making a total of 72 Divizia A appearances with 10 goals scored he left "U" as a result of some misunderstandings and would declare later in his autobiographical book:"Honestly, I split hard and regretfully from this wonderful team, which deserves all superlatives." After leaving "U", Rădulescu chose to continue his career at the rival CFR, known at the time as ''Locomotiva'', for which he played six years, retiring in 1956 at only 31 years old due to a serious injury. Rădulescu was a player known for his capacity of turning throw-ins into real corner kicks and his daughter, Ioana Stanca Gidro claimed that he refused to play for the Romanian national team because he did not want to lose his doctor's position.

Managerial career

Rădulescu started coaching in 1957 when he replaced Ștefan Dobay at CFR. After some seasons in Divizia B and Divizia C with ''The Railwaymen'' he signed with his first love, Universitatea Cluj, known at that time as ''Știința'' where in the first two seasons he worked as an assistant for Andrei Sepci and Neța Gheorghe and in the third one he was head coach as the team finished on the fourth place in the 1962–63 Divizia A. In the summer of 1963 he went back to CFR Cluj, known at that time as ''CSM Cluj'', and in 1969 he succeeded to promote the team to Divizia A, working on different positions in the club to maintain the team on the first stage of the Romanian football until 1976. At the end of the 1972–73 season he helped the head coach of that time, Laurențiu Munteanu to earn a fifth place, the best ranking in the history of the club until 2006, performances obtained as the team had inadequate training, organizational and financial conditions, Rădulescu saying in his book:"No finances and players, no headquarters, secretary or organizer. So we started in the first league in 1969." Afterwards he coached in the Romanian lower leagues, first he moved back to Universitatea for the 1976–77 Divizia B season when the team finished on the 12th position. Then in 1979 he returned at CFR until 1982 when he went at CUG Cluj and then at Sticla Arieșul Turda. In 1992 at 68 years, the doctor returned for a last time at CFR and managed it for three years in Divizia C, helping at the creation of the team that would promote a year later. Rădulescu has a total of 181 games managed in Divizia A consisting of 58 victories, 48 draws and 75 losses.

Managing style

As a manager he is considered a real Alex Ferguson of CFR Cluj by former player Marius Bretan and former player Romică Petrescu said:"Ajax and CFR used the same training methods. The training cycle was taken from Ajax, with two training sessions on Tuesday, two on Thursday, free on Wednesday. Everything was done counter-clockwise, after pulse, after tension." Augustin Țegean, a CFR legend described him:"A distinct character from all points of view: tough, severe, does not give up his principles. He always told us that he was the only one allowed to make jokes because he was from Bucharest. He was a strong personality, we all respected him. We were afraid of him. .I can say he was using new methods for those times. He explained the game schemes on the board. The marks were made man-to-man. Everyone knew exactly what area to cover on the pitch. His methods were the most modern." In 1972, the Minister of Transport asked him to take over Rapid București, but he refused by having a unreasonable demand which was that Rică Răducanu, a star of the team, to be kicked out.

Personal life

He grew up having three brothers, his father worked at a cigarette factory while his mother was a housewife and he started to play football as a child with his friends in the Regie neighborhood where he was born, going in 1935 to the Gheorghe Șincai high school. He also worked as a doctor, managing to become the head of the ENT Department at CFR Cluj Hospital and during his period spent with Universitatea Cluj in Sibiu he met a woman which he married in 1950, having a daughter together named Stanca Ioana Gidro. Rădulescu died in October 2001 in Cluj-Napoca and since 2008, CFR's stadium was named Stadionul Dr. Constantin Rădulescu in his honor.

Writing

Rădulescu wrote a autobiographical volume, called ''O viață închinată fotbalului'' (A life dedicated to football).

Honours

Player

Sportul Studențesc
*Cupa României runner-up: 1942–43
Universitatea Cluj
*Cupa României runner-up: 1948–49

Manager

CFR Cluj
*Divizia B: 1968–69

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radulescu, Constantin
1924 births
2001 deaths
Footballers from Bucharest
20th-century Romanian physicians
Romanian men's footballers
Men's association football midfielders
Liga I players
Liga II players
Olympia București players
FC Sportul Studențesc București players
FC Universitatea Cluj players
CFR Cluj players
Romanian football managers
CFR Cluj managers
FC Universitatea Cluj managers
Romanian writers
Romanian male writers
20th-century Romanian writers
20th-century Romanian male writers
Gheorghe Șincai National College (Bucharest) alumni
20th-century Romanian sportsmen