Vasile Mănăilă (22 November 1962 – 10 June 2025) was a

Romanian 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 ...

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 ...

player and coach.

Club career

Mănăilă, nicknamed "Marinarul" (The

Sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. While the term ''sailor'' ...

), was born on 22 November 1962 in Bordușani,

Ialomița County Ialomița County () is a county () of Romania, in Muntenia, with the capital city at Slobozia. Demographics In 2011, the county had a population of 258,669 and the population density was 58.08/km2. Romanians make up 95.6% of the population, t ...

, moving with his parents at age 7 to live in

Constanța Constanța (, , ) is a city in the Dobruja Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Romania. A port city, it is the capital of Constanța County and the country's Cities in Romania, fourth largest city and principal port on the Black ...

. He started playing football as a child at Farul Constanța's youth center, his first coach being

Iosif Bükössy Iosif Bükössy (12 August 1936 – 30 October 2006) was a Romanian footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Playing career Iosif Bükössy was born on 12 August 1936 in Mediaș, Romania and he started to play footb ...

, afterwards working more with Constantin Tâlvescu. 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 26 September 1981 under coach

Emanoil Hașoti Emanoil Hașoti (14 September 1932 – 3 July 1993) was a Romanian football forward and a manager. Club career Emanoil Hașoti was born on 14 September 1932 in Kavarna, Kingdom of Romania in a family of Aromanians which were forced to leave th ...

, playing for Farul Constanța in a 3–0 away loss to

UTA Arad Asociația Fotbal Club UTA Arad (), commonly known as UTA Arad or simply UTA (''Uzina Textilă Arad''; ), is a Romanian professional football club based in the city of Arad, Arad County that competes in the Liga I. The team was founded in 1945 ...

. He played three seasons at Farul including one in

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 1984 Mănăilă went to play for Universitatea Craiova, his first performance being the reaching of the 1985 Cupa României final where coach

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 ...

used him all the minutes in the 2–1 loss to Steaua București. He spent seven seasons and a half there, the biggest achievement being the winning of The Double in the 1990–91 season under the guidance of coach

Sorin Cârțu Sorin Cârțu (born 12 November 1955) is a former football striker and football coach, currently honorary president at Liga I club Universitatea Craiova. Cârțu won two Romanian Championships and four Romanian Cups with Universitatea Craiov ...

in which he contributed with 30 league appearances and two goals scored, also he played all the minutes in the 2–1 win over FC Bacău from the Cupa României final. He also represented Craiova in 19 matches in European competitions, most notably helping the team get past the first round of the

1985–86 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1985–86 European Cup Winners' Cup was won by Dynamo Kyiv in the final against Atlético Madrid. It was their second title in the competition, and first since 1975. Reigning champions Everton, who initially qualified for the European Cup in ...

after a 3–0 win over

AS Monaco Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the French Football Federation (FFF) and currently ...

as the first leg was lost with 2–0, being eliminated in the following one by the eventual winners of the competition,

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

. After his spell at Universitatea Craiova ended, he returned at Farul Constanța for three seasons and a half, having a total of 299 Divizia A appearances with 24 goals scored. Mănăilă ended his playing career by spending two seasons as a player and an assistant coach at Divizia B team,

ARO Câmpulung Aro or ARO may refer to: People * Aro (surname) * Aro people, an Igbo subgroup in West Africa * Aro (murderer) (died 1957), last person executed in Papua New Guinea * Aro (Twilight), a character in the ''Twilight'' saga by Stephenie Meyer * Aro, ...

. Afterwards he worked as a coach at junior level at Farul Constanța and

Viitorul Constanța ''Viitorul'' ("The Future") was a daily newspaper published in the Kingdom of Romania, out of Bucharest, as a central organ of the National Liberal Party (PNL). It was formed just months after peasants' revolt of March 1907, being originally li ...

, also being an assistant coach of Ștefan Stoica at Farul's senior squad.

International career

Between 1982 and 1990, Mănăilă made several appearances for Romania's under-21 and B squads. He played a single match 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 ...

under 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 ...

on 28 August 1991 in a friendly against

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

which ended with a 2–0 loss.

Death

Mănăilă died on 10 June 2025 at age 62 in

, Romania.

Honours

Universitatea Craiova *

: 1990–91 *

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 ...

: 1990–91, runner-up 1984–85

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Manaila, Vasile 1962 births 2025 deaths Romanian men's footballers CS Universitatea Craiova players FCV Farul Constanța players Liga I players Liga II players Men's association football defenders Romania men's under-21 international footballers Romania men's international footballers Footballers from Ialomița County 20th-century Romanian sportsmen