Laurențiu Aurelian Reghecampf (born 19 September 1975) is a Romanian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and former player.

Playing career

Club

Reghecampf was born in

Târgoviște Târgoviște (, alternatively spelled ''Tîrgoviște'') is a Municipiu, city and county seat in Dâmbovița County, Romania. It is situated north-west of Bucharest, on the right bank of the Ialomița (river), Ialomița River. Târgoviște was ...

and began his career in his native city with Chindia. In the 1993–94 season, at the age of 18, Reghecampf was given to

Austrian Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( , "Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Austria and the highest level of the Austrian football league system. The competition decides the A ...

side SKN St. Pölten. He later joined Steaua București where he won the league title twice. One year later, Reghecampf was loaned to Bulgarian side

Litex Lovech FC Lovech (; formerly Litex Lovech) is a Bulgarian professional association football, football club based in Lovech, that competes in the Second Professional Football League (Bulgaria), Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Spor ...

, with whom he won the 1999

A PFG The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

title. In 2000, he was bought by German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

team

Energie Cottbus FC Energie Cottbus (Lower Sorbian: ''Energija Chóśebuz'') is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Cottbus, Brandenburg. It was founded in 1963 as SC Cottbus in what was East Germany. After the German reunification, reunificatio ...

. In 2004, he joined

Alemannia Aachen Aachener Turn- und Sportverein Alemannia 1900 e. V., short Alemannia Aachen (), is a German football club from the western city of Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia. A long-term fixture of the country's second division, Alemannia enjoyed a three- ...

, with whom he would become a fan favorite his side won promotion to the

in his first season with the club. A few seasons later he was named captain of Alemannia. In the 2006–07 season of the

German Cup The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English, is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundes ...

, Reghecampf scored twice in a 4–2 victory over

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

, thus eliminating them from the competition. On 4 July 2008, he joined second-tier side

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

on a free transfer for the 2008–09 2. Bundesliga season, only being able to play two matches because of a gastric virus infection, announcing his retirement in 2009 after his contract had not been extended.

International

Laurențiu Reghecampf made one appearance for

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 ...

on 29 March 2003 when coach

Anghel Iordănescu Anghel Iordănescu (; born 4 May 1950), is a Romanian former footballer and former manager, who played as a forward. In 2007, Iordănescu retired from football, and the following February, after his predecessor resigned, he became a member ...

sent him on the field in the 62nd minute in order to replace Paul Codrea in a match which ended with a 5–2 home loss against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

at the Euro 2004 qualifiers.

Managerial career

Reghecampf started his managerial career with

Liga II 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 Liga II, 2006–07 football season. It is currently Sponso ...

side

Snagov Snagov is a commune, located north of Bucharest, in Ilfov County, Muntenia, Romania. The commune is composed of five villages: Ciofliceni, Ghermănești, Snagov, Tâncăbești, and Vlădiceasca. Snagov is a tourist and spa resort, but the nec ...

in 2009. At the end of 2009–10 season, he was brought at Universitatea Craiova to save the team from relegation. He ended his quest successfully, but he was not kept at Craiova for the new season. Instead, Reghecampf joined Gloria Bistrița. He was sacked after only 12 games because of poor results. Reghecampf returned to Snagov, but after only five games he was called back to Craiova, to help the team avoid relegation. He was sacked after only six games, following a conflict with several players. He started the 2011–12 season at FC Snagov, for a second spell. In December 2011, he signed a contract with Romanian

Liga I 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 ...

club

Concordia Chiajna Clubul Sportiv Concordia Chiajna, commonly known as Concordia Chiajna, is a Romanian professional Association football, football football team, club based in Chiajna, Ilfov County, which competes in the Liga II. Founded in 1957, the team's best ...

, with the main objective to avoid relegation, after a half-season the club was above the relegation zone 17th overall when he took over. He changed almost the entire squad, bringing 17 new players, most of them from Snagov, and after a series of wins, his side finished the season in ninth place.

Steaua Bucuresti

This evolution brought the attention of his former team, Steaua București, and at the end of the season, they offered him a contract for a season. His objective was to bring the first championship title for Steaua after a seven-year absence. In March 2013, he guided Steaua to the last 16 of the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

after eliminating

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

from the competition. The first leg away finished with a 2–0 win to Ajax in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. In the second leg home, Steaua took a 2–0 lead and the 2–2 aggregate pushed the game into

extra-time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

. Steaua beat the Dutch side 4–2 on penalties. Steaua were eliminated by eventual winners Chelsea after winning 1–0 in the first leg at home and losing 1–3 away at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in ...

. In May 2013 he mathematically won the Romanian League and later the

Romanian Supercup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

. On 9 May 2014, Steaua and Reghecampf won their second consecutive league title. He helped Steaua to qualify for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

group stages. Reghecampf also lead his side to the

Romanian Cup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

final which Steaua lost 4–2 on penalties to league runners-up

Astra Giurgiu Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club last based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spe ...

Al Hilal

On 27 May 2014, he signed a two-year contract with

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

n side Al Hilal. He led Al-Hilal to the

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

five months after his appointment, by defeating

Al-Ain Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al Ain is the largest inland city in ...

4–2 on aggregate in semi-finals. However, his side lost the

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, Wanderers, or simply as WSW) is an Australian professional association football club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in t ...

on a two-leg match. He was sacked on 15 February 2015 after another final loss, in the

Saudi Crown Prince Cup The Saudi Crown Prince's Cup () was the oldest Saudi Arabian annual cup competition. History The cup was the oldest and first domestic football competition in Saudi Arabia; the first edition was held in 1956–57; five editions were played betwe ...

Litex Lovech

In August 2015, he was appointed manager of Bulgarian side

. In December 2015, Reghecampf announced his decision to leave the club to join Steaua București for the second time. In May 2017, he stepped down as manager.

Al Wahda

On 3 July 2017, Reghecampf was announced as the new head coach of the Emirati club Al Wahda on a 2-year deal replacing

Javier Aguirre Javier Aguirre Onaindía (; born 1 December 1958), nicknamed ''El Vasco'' (The Basque), is a Mexican football Manager (association football), manager and former Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently manag ...

. According to sources, his salary will be $2.6 million per season plus potential bonuses up to another $1.6 million. On 16 September 2017, in his Arabian Gulf League debut, Al-Wahda defeated

Dibba Al-Fujairah Dibba Al-Fujairah () is a city in the emirate of Fujairah, located on the northeast part of the United Arab Emirates. It is geographically part of the Dibba region. Dibba Al-Fujairah is considered to be the second largest city in the emirate of ...

5–0.

Al Wasl

In January 2019, Reghecampf took over as manager of relegation-threatened

UAE Pro League The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system. The first team to w ...

club Al Wasl. Eventually, he heeded them from relegation after a strong run.

Al Ahli Saudi

On 1 April 2021, Reghecampf was announced as the new manager of

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

club Al Ahli Saudi. Less than two months later, after two wins, two draws and a loss, he was dismissed.

CS Universitatea Craiova

On 26 July 2021, Reghecampf returned to his native Romania, where he signed a two-year contract to become the new manager of

CS Universitatea Craiova U Craiova 1948 Club Sportiv, commonly known as Universitatea Craiova (), CS U Craiova, or simply U Craiova, is a Romanian professional football club based in Craiova, Dolj County. It competes in the Liga I, the top tier of the Romanian league ...

. After finishing the previous season third in the league table, the team saw themselves in sixth position in December 2021, triggering rumours of his premature departure from the club. As a result, Reghecampf transfer-listed several first-team players, including

Mihai Bălașa Mihai Alexandru Bălașa (born 14 January 1995) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Liga I club Farul Constanța. Club career Viitorul Constanța Bălașa made his professional debut for Viitorul Constanța on 20 ...

Matteo Fedele Matteo Fedele (born 20 July 1992) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Italian club Sestri Levante. Club career Fedele is a youth exponent from FC Sion. He made his Swiss Super League debut at 16 May 2013 a ...

, Antoni Ivanov and

Mihai Roman Mihai Roman (born 16 October 1984) is a former Romanian professional footballer who played as a winger. Club career Roman started his football career at the age of 17. He made his way up by being a hard worker, and with the help of Razvan Lu ...

. In June 2022, he stepped down as coach.

Neftchi Baku

On 21 June 2022, Neftchi Baku announced the appointment of Reghecampf on a two-year contract. After one year, on 21 June 2023, Reghecampf left Neftçi by mutual agreement.

Al Tai

On 25 September 2023, Reghecampf was appointed as manager of

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

club Al-Tai. In April 2024, he resigned from his position.

Espérance de Tunis

On 5 November 2024, Reghecampf signed a contract with

Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 The Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1, formerly known as the Tunisian National Championship between 1956 and 1994, is the highest-level association football, football tournament in Tunisia and is organized by the Tunisian Football Federation and t ...

club

Espérance de Tunis :''See also Esperance (disambiguation)'' Espérance is one of the two French language, French words that can be translated into "hope", the other being "espoir". Whereas the latter is closer to the idea of "dream" or "fantasy" and corresponds to mo ...

until June 2026, with an annual salary of €500,000. This deal made him the highest-paid coach in Tunisian football. In February 2025, he guided the club to victory in the

Tunisian Super Cup The Tunisian Super Cup () or the Tunisia Premier Cup () previously called the Tunisian Cup Winners' Cup, is a Tunisian football competition organized by the Tunisian Football Federation. Established in 1960, it combines the champions of the first ...

, defeating

Stade Tunisien Stade Tunisien (; ), abbreviated as ST, is a football club based in Le Bardo, a western suburb of Tunis (formerly the residence of the Beylical patronage). It is considered one of the top teams in the Tunis region, alongside Espérance Sportive ...

2–0 in the final. He was unexpectedly released by the club on 17 March 2025, despite leaving Espérance in first place. During his four months in charge, he won 16 matches, drew 6, and lost only 2 games, while also qualifying the club for the quarter-finals of the

2024–25 CAF Champions League The 2024–25 CAF Champions League, officially the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, was the 61st season of Africa's premier club football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the 29th ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

Oțelul Târgoviște *

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 ...

: 1995–96 *

Divizia C The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. It was founded in 1936 and was called Divizia C until 2006. An exception was the seasons 1992–93 to 1996–97, in which the league was call ...

: 1994–95 Steaua București *

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 ...

: 1996–97, 1997–98 *

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

: 1996–97 *

Supercupa României The Supercupa României () is a Romanian football (soccer), football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994 Supe ...

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 ...

Litex Lovech *

: 1998–99

Individual

* Germany Goal of the Month December: 2006

Manager

Steaua București *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2013–14 *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Cupa Ligii The Cupa Ligii () was Romania's secondary club football tournament. Like the Cupa României, it was played on a knockout (single elimination) basis. History It is unclear when the competition was first created, as there are no official recordi ...

: 2015–16 Al Hilal *

runner-up:

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

runner-up: 2014–15 Al Wahda *

UAE League Cup The UAE League Cup () is a knockout tournament for clubs in the UAE Pro-League. The first edition of the tournament was played in the 2008–09 Etisalat Emirates Cup, 2008–2009 season. In the 2008–09 season, UAE League Cup replaced the UAE Fed ...

: 2017–18 *

UAE Super Cup The UAE Super Cup () and Charity Champions Cup in the first edition (1989–90), is the curtain raiser of the United Arab Emirates football season. It is played between the previous season's UAE League, Pro-League winners and UAE President's Cup, P ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

UAE Pro-League The UAE Pro League (), also known as the ADNOC Pro League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the highest level of the Emirati football league system. The first team to w ...

runner-up: 2017–18 Neftchi Baku *

Azerbaijan Cup The Azerbaijan Cup () is a major association football competition in Azerbaijan. In its original form, it started in 1936, when Azerbaijan was a republic of the Soviet Union and it was not disputed by Azerbaijani teams in the Soviet league pyramid ...

runner-up:

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Espérance de Tunis *

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Individual

*''

Gazeta Sporturilor Gazeta Sporturilor () is a Romanian sports website, originally founded in 1924 as a daily newspaper. It was the third-oldest daily newspaper in Europe, with 99 years of uninterrupted publication, before issuing its last edition on 31 October 2023. ...

Romania Coach of the Year The Romania Coach of the Year () is an annual association football award given by the ''Gazeta Sporturilor'' newspaper to the head coach in Romania adjudged to have been the best during a calendar year. Mircea Lucescu and Dan Petrescu hold the rec ...

: 2013

References

External links