Marcel Pușcaș (born 12 October 1960) is a Romanian former professional

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 ...

, currently president at

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 ...

club Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț.

Club career

Pușcaș was born on 12 October 1960, starting his football career in his native

Oradea Oradea (, , ; ; ) is a city in Romania, located in the Crișana region. It serves as the administrative county seat, seat of Bihor County and an economic, social, and cultural hub in northwestern Romania. The city lies between rolling hills on ...

at FC Bihor, making 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 3 December 1978 in a 1–0 home loss to Sportul Studențesc București. At the end of his first season, the team relegated to

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 ...

but he stayed with the club, helping it promote back to the first league after two seasons. In 1983 he was transferred to Steaua București, where he won The Double in the 1984–85 season for which he contributed with two goals scored in the 21 league appearances given to him by coaches

Florin Halagian Florin Vașken Halagian (7 March 1939 – 12 August 2019) was a Romanian football player and manager of Armenian descent, hence the nickname ''Armeanul'' (The Armenian). With 878 games, he is the manager who has the most matches in the Liga I, R ...

and

Emerich Jenei Emerich Alexandru Jenei (also known as Emeric Jenei or Imre Jenei; 22 March 1937) is a Romanian former football player and manager. He is considered one of Romania's best managers, alongside Ştefan Kovács, Mircea Lucescu, and Anghel Iordăn ...

. In the same season he played in the both legs of the 1–0 aggregate loss to

A.S. Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: ) is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its exis ...

from the first round of the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

. In 1985, Pușcaș left Steaua to play 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 ...

, where in a match against Politehnica Timișoara, he had his leg broken by

Marcel Sabou Marcel Sabou (22 August 1965 – 9 June 2025) was a Romanian footballer who played for Romanian sides Politehnica Timișoara and Dinamo București, Spanish clubs Real Madrid Castilla, Tenerife, Racing Santander and Sporting Gijón and Portugues ...

, an injury that kept him off the field for about two years. After he recovered from the injury, Pușcaș played only a few matches for Rapid, including his last Divizia A appearance which took place on 18 October 1987 in a 3–2 win over ASA Târgu Mureș, having a total of 85 matches with 13 goals scored in the competition. Afterwards he went to

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club CS Târgoviște where he was a player-coach. Pușcaș ended his playing career after spending the 1988–89 season at Divizia B club, Steaua Mizil.

International career

Pușcaș played one friendly game at international level 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 ...

, being used by coach

Mircea Lucescu Mircea Lucescu (; born 29 July 1945) is a Romanian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, currently the head coach of the Romania national football team, Romania national team. He i ...

to replace

Aurel Țicleanu Aurel Țicleanu (born 20 January 1959) is a Romanian football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Playing career Club career Țicleanu began his youth career with Metallurgistul Sadu in 1974. He was quickly spotted there by ma ...

in the 72nd minute of a 1–0 victory against

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Managerial career

Pușcaș started coaching in 1988 at

club CS Târgoviște where he was also an active player. In 1993 Pușcaș was coach at

, managing to qualify the team in European competitions for the first time after 18 years, leading the team in the double defeat against

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

in the

1993–94 UEFA Cup The 1993–94 UEFA Cup was the 23rd season of Europe's then-tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final was played over two legs at the Ernst-Happel Stadion, Vienna, Austria, and at San Siro, Milan, Italy. The competition wa ...

After retirement

After his experience as coach at

Rapid 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 ...

, Pușcaș abandoned his coaching career at started his career as a football official at AJF Bihor, after which he became president at Viitorul Oradea. From 1996 until 1998 he was president at Steaua București, a period in which the club won two league titles, one

cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

and one supercup. From 2002 until 2004 he worked as a

sports agent A sports agent is a legal representative (hence agent (law), agent) for professional sports figures such as athletes and coaches. They procure and negotiate employment and Testimonial, endorsement contracts for the principal (commercial law), at ...

. In March 2014 Pușcaș ran for president of 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 ...

, but gave up his candidacy during the General Assembly of the elections in order to support

Răzvan Burleanu Răzvan Marian Burleanu (born 1 July 1984) is a Romanian business administrator and sports manager. Since March 2014, Burleanu has served as the president of the Romanian Football Federation (FRF). Prior to his appointment as president, Burleanu ...

, who would eventually win the elections and Pușcaș was co-opted into Burleanu's administrative team at the federation. In April 2018, Pușcaș ran again for president of the

, this time losing in favor of

. From November 2018 until July 2020, he was president at

FC U Craiova 1948 FCU 1948 Craiova Fotbal Club, commonly known as FC U Craiova 1948 or simply FC U Craiova, is a Romanian professional Association football, football club based in Craiova, Dolj County, that competes in the Liga II, the second tier of the Romanian ...

, a period in which the club won a promotion to the second league.

Personal life

Pușcaș graduated the

National University of Physical Education and Sport The Universitatea Națională de Educație Fizică și Sport (UNEFS), is one of the highest-profile state public higher education institution in Romania, and was founded on 1 December 1922, in Bucharest. It was the tenth institution of its kind ...

(ANEFS) and the University of Mechanics. On 27 October 2020, Pușcaș released an autobiographical book called ''Fotbalul în cârje'' ''(Football on crutches)''. On 26 March 2021 he released his second book called ''Cum devii fotbalist'' ''(How do you become a footballer)''.

Honours

Bihor Oradea *

: 1981–82 Steaua București *

: 1984–85 *

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 ...

: 1984–85

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pușcaș, Marcel 1960 births Living people Romanian men's footballers Romania men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Liga I players Liga II players FC Bihor Oradea (1958) players FCSB players FC Rapid București players FCM Târgoviște players Footballers from Oradea Romanian football managers FCM Târgoviște managers FC Rapid București managers Association football agents Romanian sports executives and administrators Romanian writers 21st-century Romanian writers Romanian male writers 21st-century Romanian male writers 20th-century Romanian sportsmen