Constantin Stănici (born 17 September 1969 in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

) is a

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

n former

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 lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Stănici was born on 17 September 1969 in

, Romania, starting to play football at local club, Sportul Studențesc. He made his

Divizia A Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

debut on 28 May 1986 in a 2–2 draw against

Victoria București Victoria București was a Romanian football club based in Bucharest, founded in 1949 and dissolved right after the Romanian revolution of 1989. The club was sustained by the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs (the " Miliția", Police). In 198 ...

. He played his first three games in European competitions during the

1986–87 UEFA Cup The 1986–87 UEFA Cup was the 16th season of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The final was played over two legs at the Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden, and at ...

, helping Sportul get past

Omonia Nicosia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia (; ''Athlitikós Sýllogos Omónoia Lefkosías''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia (also transliterated as Omonoia), is a Cypriot professional multi-sport club, established on 4 June 1948 in Nico ...

, being eliminated in the following round by

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent ( Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, ...

. In the following edition of the same competition he played five games as the team got past

GKS Katowice GKS Katowice (; GKS stands for , ) is a Polish professional football club based in Katowice. They currently compete in the Ekstraklasa in the 2024–25 season after gaining promotion from the I liga in 2024. History In 1963 in Katowice a spe ...

, then

Peter Schmeichel Peter Bolesław Schmeichel (born 18 November 1963) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. During eight seasons at English club Manchester United, he won 15 trophies including five Premier League titles, three FA C ...

and

Brian Laudrup Brian Laudrup (, born 22 February 1969) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a winger, forward or as a midfielder, and was regarded as one of the most talented players of his generation. He currently works for the various T ...

's Brøndby, losing the away game with 3–0 but managing to win the second leg with the same score, obtaining at the penalty shoot-out a historical qualification to the next round where the campaign ended in front of Italian side,

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

. At the end of 1989, Stănici signed a contract with

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterin ...

, but it was annulled due to the outbreak of the

1989 Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily within the Eastern Bloc. The Romanian revoluti ...

. In the 1990–91 season he netted a personal record of eight goals. On 1 October 1995, he made his last Divizia A appearance in a 1–0 away loss to Dinamo, having a total of 228 matches with 34 goals scored in the competition, all of them for Sportul. In 1996 he went at Hungarian side,

Budapesti VSC Budapesti Vasutas Sport Club-Zugló commonly known as BVSC-Zugló is a professional football club based in Zugló, Budapest, Hungary, that competes in the Nemzeti Bajnokság II. The club was founded in 1911. Its football section became closed ...

where he was teammate with compatriot

Marian Popa Marian Popa (born 3 March 1964) is a Romanian former football striker. Club career Marian Popa was born on 3 March 1964 in Constanța, Romania and started playing football at age 11 for the youth side of FC Constanța under the guidance of ...

. He made his

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, ), also known as NB I or Fizz Liga after its title sponsor, OTP Bank's webshop subsidiary, is a professional association football league in Hungary and the highest level of the Hungarian football league system. Twelve ...

on 10 August as coach

László Dajka László Dajka (born 29 April 1959) is a Hungarian football manager and former player who manages Nemzeti Bajnokság II club Budafok. Playing career Dajka was born in Nyíregyháza. In the season 1980–81, he participated into the European Cha ...

used him the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 home draw against

Csepel Csepel (), officially known as the 21st District of Budapest ( Hungarian: ''Budapest XXI. kerülete'') is a district and a neighbourhood in Budapest, Hungary. Csepel officially became part of Budapest on 1 January 1950. Name The village and ...

. On 17 August, he scored his first goal in the league from a penalty kick in a 4–1 win against Stadler. Stănici also played in both legs of the

1996–97 UEFA Cup The 1996–97 UEFA Cup was the 26th season of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). It was won by German side Schalke 04, who beat Internazionale of Italy on pen ...

loss to Barry Town. On 10 May 1997 he made his last Nemzeti Bajnokság I appearance in a 2–2 against

Zalaegerszeg Zalaegerszeg (; ; ; ) is the administrative center of Zala County, Zala county in western Hungary. Location Zalaegerszeg lies on the banks of the Zala River, close to the Slovenian and Austrian borders, and west-southwest of Budapest by road. Hi ...

, having a total of 21 matches with five goals netted in the competition. Afterwards, coach Dajka used him as a starter in the first leg of the 1997 Magyar Kupa final as BVSC lost 8–0 on aggregate to

MTK Budapest Magyar Testgyakorlók Köre (Hungarian for "Hungarian Circle of Physical Practitioners") is a multi-sports club from Budapest, founded in 1888. It has sections for football, handball, basketball, volleyball, futsal, ice hockey, water polo, cycl ...

.
In May 1998, he became a player of the American

Minnesota Thunder Minnesota Thunder was an American professional association football, soccer team based in Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1990, the team played in the USL First Division (USL-1), the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2009. T ...

, competing in the

USL First Division The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...

(second tier). In the

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

regular season, Stănici helped the team earn a second place in the Central Division group. In the later stages of the competition, he reached the play-off final for the league championship with Thunder, losing 1–3 to

Rochester Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-MLS team has won the U.S. Open Cup sinc ...

. Before the start of the 1999 season, in order to maintain his sports form, he played

six-a-side football Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper). Other differences from association football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals, and a reduced game duration. ...

for the

Kansas City Attack The Kansas City Attack, previously the Atlanta Attack and later known as the Kansas City Comets, were an indoor soccer team based for most of its existence in Kansas City, Missouri. In its various incarnations the franchise played in the National ...

team in the National Professional Soccer League. In the

1999 USL A-League The 1999 USL A-League was an American Division II league run by the United Soccer League during the summer of 1999. Regular season Eastern Conference Northeast Division Atlantic Division Western Conference Central Division Pacific Divis ...

season, he was a reserve player and during the competition he terminated his contract with Minnesota Thunder. Afterwards he signed a contract with

Drobeta-Turnu Severin Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. It is one of six Romanian county seats List of cities and towns on the river Danube, lyin ...

Divizia B The Liga 2, most commonly spelled as Liga II, is the second level of the Romanian football league system. The league changed its name from Divizia B just before the start of the 2006–07 football season. It is currently sponsored by Casa Pariu ...

. In April 2000, together with 16 other players, he accused the board of inducing the players to lose a match against Chimica Târnăveni. After examining the case, the

Romanian Football Federation The Romanian Football Federation (; FRF) is the governing body of football in Romania. They are headquartered in the capital city of Bucharest and affiliated with FIFA and UEFA since 1923 and 1955 respectively. The Federation organizes the men's ...

punished the clubs with mutual walkovers for both league matches and deducted six points from Drobeta-Turnu Severin. In May 2001, Stănici signed a contract with Valur, leaving a month later after only a few games played. He led as coach

Unirea Urziceni Fotbal Club Unirea Urziceni, commonly known as Unirea Urziceni (), was a Romanian professional Association football, football Club (organization), club based in Urziceni, Ialomița County. Unirea became Divizia A Final Tables, national champions ...

during the second part of the

2004–05 Divizia B The 2004–05 Divizia B was the 65th season of the second tier of the Romanian football league system. The format has been maintained to three series, each of them consisting of 16 teams. At the end of the season, the winners of the series promo ...

season in which he also played one game, helping the team finish on the fifth place.

International career

Between 1987 and 1992, Stănici made several appearances for Romania's under-21 squad, the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

team and also the B team. He played one game at international level for

when coach

Mircea Rădulescu Mircea Rădulescu (born 31 August 1941 in Bucharest) is a Romanian former football player and manager. Life and career Rădulescu was born in Bucharest and appeared in nearly 300 football matches. He was a member of Rapid București at junior l ...

introduced him in the 57th minute to replace Ioan Lupescu in a 6–0 victory against

San Marino San Marino, officially the Republic of San Marino, is a landlocked country in Southern Europe, completely surrounded by Italy. Located on the northeastern slopes of the Apennine Mountains, it is the larger of two European microstates, microsta ...

at the Euro 1992 qualifiers.

Personal life

His brother, Florin Stănici was an

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player. His nephew were also footballers, Andrei Cristian played in the second league for Sportul Studențesc București and Dinamo București II while Robert Stănici played in the first league for

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

.
He has two sons named Răzvan and Flavius.

Honours

Sportul Studențesc *

runner-up: 1985–86 Budapesti VSC *

Magyar Kupa The Hungarian Cup (, ), officially known as MOL Magyar Kupa for sponsorship reasons, is the Hungarian cup competition for football clubs. It was started by the Hungarian Football Association'','' in 1909, eight years after the commencement of ...

runner-up: 1996–97

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanici, Constantin 1969 births Living people Footballers from Bucharest FC Sportul Studențesc București players Valur (men's football) players Minnesota Thunder players Kansas City Attack (NPSL) players FC Unirea Urziceni players FC Drobeta-Turnu Severin players Liga I players Liga II players USL First Division players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Úrvalsdeild karla (football) players Romanian football managers FC Unirea Urziceni managers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Romanian expatriate men's footballers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Romania men's under-21 international footballers Olympic footballers for Romania Men's association football midfielders 20th-century Romanian sportsmen